It was a beautiful morning at Pulborough Brooks, where Scott and I started by watching the feeders along the path from the visitor centre. Greenfinches and Goldfinches appeared in the bushes at the back while Blue and Great Tits came and went. A large bird of prey appeared in the sky above, its long tail, protruding head and wings held flat giving it away as a Honey Buzzard! The female bird circled a few times before heading strongly north-west -- a very lucky encounter!
The area around Fattengates produced views of Treecreeper, Willow Warbler, Long-tailed Tit, Goldcrest, Grey Wagtail, Bullfinch, Robin, Dunnock and, best of all, a Spotted Flycatcher feeding busily in an oak.
After this flurry of activity, we headed to view over the North Brooks, hearing Great Spotted Woodpecker and Green Woodpecker, and enjoying Chiffchaffs, along the way.
A delightful variety of waders on the floods included Snipe, Green Sandpiper, Ruff, Greenshank, Black-tailed Godwit, Avocet and Lapwing, as well as a heard-only Common Sandpiper. There were also around 80 Teal, a couple of Shoveler, a Pied Wagtail and Lesser Black-backed Gull.
We moved round to the Winpenny and Westmead Hides, enjoying great views of Kestrel, Grey Heron, Little Egret and Greenshanks.
After wrapping up our birding at Pulborough, we headed to do a quick bit of downland birding above Worthing, where we added a few species to the day list, including Yellowhammer, Meadow Pipit, Skylark and Red Kite.
