Tree Sparrows & Corn Buntings

Friday 11th March 

Sadly Tree Sparrow is one of those birds that is becoming increasingly difficult to find in SE England. Even at Dungeness, where they were more or less guaranteed at Boulderwall Farm until fairly recently, they have largely disappeared and I can't even remember when I last saw one in Sussex. Over the winter we have been carrying out bird surveys on Romney Marsh. Our survey site to the north of New Romney and St Mary's Bay has plenty of House Sparrows but up until today we had failed to record Tree Sparrow in an area where according to one of the local residents they used to be regular.

Over the last few autumns, I have made a number of visits to Spurn where large numbers of Tree Sparrows are still present and daily sightings are guaranteed. Their call is quite distinctive once learnt and, although the bird was not visible, I was confident that the call I could hear today coming from a hawthorn hedge adjoining a narrow lane across the marsh was one I recognised from Spurn. Fortunately it popped up and gave good views, confirming its identity before flying off after a couple of minutes with a second bird, not to be seen again.

Apart from the Tree Sparrows, a fairly quiet survey the highlights being 2 Teal, 2 Tufted Duck, 3 Little Grebes, Snipe, Mediterranean Gull, Kingfisher (BJ only), Great Spotted and Green Woodpeckers, Cetti's Warbler, Chiffchaff, 13 Fieldfares, 2 Redwings and 4 Reed Buntings.

Saturday 12th March

Corn Bunting like Tree Sparrow is a Red-listed bird of high conservation concern. Red-list birds (of which there are 70 in the UK) are those whose populations have declined severely (>50%) over 25 years/longer term. Fortunately Corn Bunting is nowhere near as rare in Sussex as Tree Sparrow and can still be found at various sites along the South Downs but it was still good to see a total of 15 birds (including 2-3 singing) between Woodingdean and Falmer today as Gareth and I walked to the football at the Amex stadium. That was about as good as it got with the Albion suffering a predictable enough 0-2 defeat at the hands of Liverpool. Perhaps we should have gone birding instead!

Sunday 13th March

A Ring-necked Parakeet on a TV aerial in Sandown Road, Southwick early morning was presumably the regular bird that roosts in Middle Road, Shoreham.

At Brooklands this afternoon, a brief 4cy Yellow-legged Gull that departed E, a pair of Teal, Little Grebe, singing Cetti’s Warbler, Chiffchaff and Grey Wagtail. On the Adur, 3 adult Mediterranean Gulls (two north & one south of the old toll bridge, 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls and 5 Teal.


  



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