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JOURNAL


Two owls and a moth-hunter
Yesterday evening I guided James, Richard, Myra, Mike and Deborah on a short private tour for three target species in the South Downs....

Wildstarts
Jul 17, 20222 min read


Night safari
Seven of us had a brilliant night walk on our 'No-Man's-Land After Dark' event last night. We started by listening to a Grey Partridge...

Wildstarts
Jul 10, 20221 min read


West Sussex Summer Delights
A full day out in wonderful West Sussex with Mel and Adam who had kindly booked us for a customised day tour. The day started nice and...

Nick Bond
Jul 3, 20223 min read


Summer Honey
Honey Buzzard is one of two regular summer-visiting birds of prey in Sussex (the other being Hobby), but their scarcity and elusive...

Wildstarts
Jun 29, 20221 min read


Adur afternoon
The River Adur, between Upper Beeding and Shoreham, is always a rewarding walk at any time of year. There was nothing particularly...

Wildstarts
Jun 27, 20221 min read


Spoonbill and fawns in the South Downs
It was a lovely morning of birding at Pulborough Brooks, guiding James and his dad. We recorded 56 species of bird, including a typically...

Wildstarts
Jun 25, 20221 min read


Among Nightjars
We got into place in good time for our Dusk Delights walk, with busy pairs of Stonechat and Dartford Warbler, then a Redstart, breaking...

Wildstarts
Jun 13, 20221 min read


Birds, butterflies and foxgloves at Cocking Down
Just some highlights from a recent walk, loosely along the South Downs Way at Cocking. It's a lovely area of Sussex to go looking for...

Wildstarts
Jun 6, 20221 min read


Dodging showers!
The forecast looked a little bit wet for yesterday's day tour for Dipten and Sudip, visiting from Mumbai. It turned out to be one of...

Wildstarts
May 25, 20223 min read


Redstarts and terns — a May tour in Sussex
Yesterday we guided James for a full day of birding as a birthday treat, and we couldn't have hoped for a better spring day to visit some...

Wildstarts
May 22, 20222 min read


A postcard from Georgia
Having a partner whose interests include brutalist Soviet architecture, you can be sure of some interesting holiday suggestions. Birds...

Wildstarts
May 1, 20228 min read


South Downs Bird Discovery Walk — Wetlands: at Waltham Brooks
It was a bright and slightly breezy morning in the Arun Valley, with plenty of birds to see! We we walked through the entrance gate, we...

Wildstarts
Apr 23, 20222 min read


South Downs Bird Discovery Walk — Wetlands
It was a perfect day for the first of our new series of Bird Discovery Walks, which took place at Burton and Chingford Ponds as the sun...

Wildstarts
Mar 26, 20222 min read


Desert Wheatear
This afternoon local birder Stephen Simpson found a first-winter male Desert Wheatear on the beach at Goring Gap — a rare bird in...

Wildstarts
Mar 20, 20221 min read


Identify & Draw workshop
Andy Ashdown led the Identify & Draw - Gulls, Ducks and Water Birds workshop at Swanbourne Lake today. The weather was superb, bringing...

Wildstarts
Mar 19, 20221 min read


Little Ringed Plover
I took Bentham on the dog-friendly route around Pulborough Brooks today, where a Little Ringed Plover was on the North Brooks, my first...

Wildstarts
Mar 16, 20221 min read


Caught by the river
There were few signs of spring, beyond a couple of bright yellow clumps of narcissus, when I set out to walk from the Adur Estuary to...
Ingrid Allan
Mar 7, 20224 min read


Firecrests
A bright morning tempted me to go looking for Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers in the Arun Valley. It was a little cold and breezy, so I didn't...

Wildstarts
Mar 7, 20221 min read


Scouting for hares
Ahead of our upcoming 'Hare March!' I took a stroll around the Burpham area this morning as a recce, to get a feel for which fields are...

Wildstarts
Mar 5, 20221 min read


Rare day at Rye Harbour
I headed over to Rye Harbour on Wednesday in the hope of seeing some of the variety of special visitors which have been on the reserve...

Wildstarts
Mar 4, 20222 min read
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