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JOURNAL


A bird-filled week!
We've led two exciting personalised birding tours over the last few days, with a packed day tour for John and Lizzie from Tennessee on...

Wildstarts
Mar 3, 20231 min read


Woods, coast and downs — a winter birding day tour!
On Monday I had the pleasure of guiding Ben, who was on a break in London from Chicago, on a day of winter birding and a quest for...

Wildstarts
Jan 25, 20232 min read


New Year raptors
The raptors were performing on the downs near Steyning during today's outing. A ringtail Hen Harrier was the highlight, but was too...

Wildstarts
Jan 1, 20231 min read


Identification workshop
We were very excited to host a professional development day for Lizard Landscapes and Ecology, focussing on advancing bird identification...

Wildstarts
Dec 23, 20221 min read


Flocking
Birding on the South Downs around Burpham in West Sussex yesterday afternoon featured three amazing flocks. Grey Partridges were heard...

Wildstarts
Dec 1, 20221 min read


Mill ponds and open fields
A splendid afternoon guiding John, Suzanne and their dog Skylar on a Sussex Birding Mini-Tour produced over 60 species. We selected two...

Wildstarts
Oct 19, 20221 min read


Heatwave travellers
Cissbury Ring never disappoints at this time of year, being a fantastic place to enjoy early autumn migration as birds begin to trickle...

Wildstarts
Aug 14, 20222 min read


Pulborough butterfly delights
I met nine participants at the entrance to RSPB Pulborough Brooks reserve late morning on Saturday just gone. It had been a pleasantly...
Matt Phelps
Aug 10, 20222 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


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


Hare March!
We had such a fantastic Hare March! at Burpham this afternoon. After some initially spotting some at great distance, we tracked down...

Wildstarts
Mar 12, 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


A sunny morning at the brooks
The filter beds were busy with birds at Waltham Brooks this morning, with a Grey Wagtail singing his metallic song being very hard to...

Wildstarts
Feb 26, 20221 min read


February's Raptor Ramble
We were excited to run our second Raptor Ramble event near Burpham on Saturday, following the success of the first last November. We and...

Wildstarts
Feb 7, 20222 min read


Sunshine finches
It was another beautiful winter morning, calm, cool and bright. The harsh, yet subtle, sounds of Hawfinches and the bizarre notes of...

Wildstarts
Jan 9, 20221 min read


Little Bunting, big days
The two days just gone saw me tour widely across the South Downs National Park and the nearby Sussex coastline in the EV. The weather was...

Wildstarts
Jan 7, 20222 min read


West Sussex 2022 Year List Booster
An early start in the Arun Valley got the day off to a good start. I met with Sally and Andy from Hampshire who joined me for the day to...

Nick Bond
Jan 4, 20222 min read


Bird walk diaries -- Raptor Ramble!
We were very excited to lead our first Raptor Ramble at The Burgh, near Burpham, on Saturday. The conditions were promising, with...

Wildstarts
Nov 8, 20212 min read
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