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 pretty much perfect, until yesterday afternoon at least, with frosty mornings and blue skies, just as winter should be.
Within the National Park, Iping Common started things off for Phil and I with views of the Little Bunting wintering there among the flock of about 15 Reed Buntings. Little Bunting is a species which breeds in Fennoscandia and across Siberia but largely winters in south-east Asia, however a tiny number of this tiny bird arrive in Britain in the autumn and some winter. They are rather rare in Sussex.
We went round for a bit of a circuit, encountering a pair of Stonechats. It's always worth giving it a few moments to watch for a small, dark, long-tailed bird following them around, and sure enough this time two Dartford Warblers were in attendance. The two species can often be seen associating with each other.
