Henfield Birdwatch

Area Walk 19 October

SJT — Wed, 28 Oct 2026 01:00:50 +0000

Angela, myself and Ezio on the patch walk today. We were pleased to see that the path by Springlands which leads down to the fields has been upgraded and you don’t have to take your life in your hands to go down there.

There was an almost complete absence of wildfowl (for the wetland bird count), single Swan, single Lapwing, only a single Greylag (maybe because of the bird scarer gas gun in the fields to the east?) two Herons and small groups of Mallards, the most being 22 which flew up from the overflow pit. But good to see that Stonechats have returned, with one seen on the fields near Rye Farm and two along the river on Sharon & Chris’s farm, where we also had a nice flock of a dozen Linnets. We noted that the awkward stile has been repaired and is now firm and supported by new wood – thanks to Chris & Sharon if it was they who repaired it!

The unknown was a bird Angela caught sight of in a tree in one of the field hedgerows. I didn’t manage to see it but she said it was streaky with a light eyestripe and after some research wondered if it was a Woodlark as it didn’t quite fit anything else.

The surprise was a chaffinch-sized bird in a tree by the tin shack, which had the wrong colour breast (orange rather than pink) and turned out to be a lone Brambling. Record shot attached.

A Buzzard flew over, harassed as always by the local crows, we saw a Kestrel perched in the distance while going through the fields, then another eating prey on the path as we came up from New Inn.

iNaturalist identified some fungi as Trooping Crumble Cap, which appeared to be enthusiastically marching along lengths of exposed root.

Thanks to Angela for her spotting skills enabling us to clock up 37 species. Lovely morning for the walk, looks like the weather’s going downhill from tomorrow!

Marek Borkowski talk on Birds, Bison & Bill Oddie – 18th November

SJT — Sun, 20 Sep 2026 20:27:06 +0000

Please note that, unusually, this talk is on a Wednesday.

18 November @ 7:30 pm – Henfield Village Hall

We welcome back to Henfield, Marek Borkowski, Poland’s leading wildlife conservationist, photographer and wildlife film-maker who came and gave us a talk way back in 2004 on the wildlife of Poland. Poland has a fantastic range of wildlife and Marek has been at the forefront of conserving habitats and species in the country for 40 years. He was the first to set up a non-governmental nature reserve in his beloved Bierbrza Marshes but his influence extends throughout Poland and way beyond its boundaries. He has also bred a herd of Konig horses, the nearest equivalent to the native horses that were once widespread across Northern Europe. It was he who introduced these ponies to the UK and you can now sometimes come across them on reserves in Sussex.

There is a link between Marek, Bill Oddie and those of you who have come with me on Wildlife Travel trips over the last 25 years: it was Bill’s television programme ‘Birding with Bill Oddie’ that featured Marek and the birds of Poland that inspired me to organise a trip to that country which Marek led and we have been back four times since!!

Free for members, £3 for non-members.

Hope for Turtle Doves

SJT — Wed, 09 Sep 2026 13:29:50 +0000

This year, the South Downs National Park Authority have been taking part in a project to bring back Turtle Doves to the west of the National Park. In partnership with a local landowner, 30 Turtle Doves were released on private land and showed evidence of breeding. Their instinct will be to fly south for the summer and the hope is that they will make it back to the area next year. You can read about the project on the SDNP website.

Just walking in the rain!

SJT — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 21:04:03 +0000

It’s been a while since I’ve walked the river between Stretham & New Inn, but as this morning was cooler, Angela, Ezio and I went round pretty well the whole of the Area 9 circuit. Rain was supposed to clear by about 9, but actually continued all morning – we weren’t really complaining though!

Not that many species today. A Jay called as we came out from the bridge under the railway line, and a young Buzzard called plaintively. As we got to the fields we saw scores of Swallows and House Martins over the brooks, two Herons flew along, passing a third that was on the bank, and a Kestrel was on the top of a dead tree. A loud Cetti’s was somewhere to the west, and the cormorant roost site was occupied by a young Red Kite. Flock of over 100 Rooks and Jackdaws in the field to the east. Very quiet along the Adur other than yet more House Martins and Swallows flying low over Sharon’s fields and the river. Couldn’t tell if there were any Sand Martins there too – still raining, and any birds I could focus on were not that species! A well-camouflaged moth, was a Vestal – migrant species from Europe according to UK Moths, which appears in good numbers in some years from August-October. A little vole scurried across in front of Angela. Along the Hollands Lane bridleway a Buzzard flew off from a tree, a Wren sang, and a Chiffchaff called.

And that was about it!

Perseid walk 12th August

SJT — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 13:12:24 +0000

Hazel & I were joined by John D, Tony F (our new newsletter editor – excellent first one, thanks Tony!), Sam H & her friend Ruth, Maureen, Tina and Hilary. Along Stonepit Lane, we saw several folk returning from eclipse watching on the hill. Hazel kindly gave us background information on St Hugh’s monastery visible in the far distance (though we couldn’t see any peregrines on there!), and later on Chanctonbury Ring when we reached the river. The sunset was gorgeous and along the riverbank we spotted a Blood-vein moth, but sadly no Barn Owls put in an appearance yet again. Too dark to see the lovely Purple Loosestrife bordering the river but it does look lovely in daylight!

We lingered at the bridge, seeing a few bats, which set off clicking on my & Maureen’s bat detectors, and Hazel explained about the meteor shower. Just after we headed back I waved my arm to the side and said “sometimes the glow worms can be quite far back”, and amazingly we could see a bright green glow quite a way down the bank. That was the only one, though we kept looking all the way back.

We stopped at the usual spot just south of the seat and started to look skywards for meteors, with varying success. Hilary was delighted to see the first, I saw one very bright one, and most of us caught a glimpse of one or two.

And that was about it – thanks to Hazel for all the information, and to everyone for coming.

World of Owls with David Plummer

SJT — Thu, 30 Jul 2026 13:23:32 +0000

18th September 2026 at 7.30pm

Burrowing Owl by David Plummer

Local Wildlife photographer and naturalist David Plummer will take us on a journey through the world of owls, looking at all the owl species that can be recorded in and around Henfield while also showing us a range of these wonderful birds from around the world. David is currently writing a book on Tawny Owls and recently ‘his’ Tawny Owls that come to his garden in Small Dole have featured in Hamsa Yassin’s BBC’s ‘Wild Isles’ and ‘Strictly Birds of Prey’ programmes.

Entrance Fee for non-members £3.

300 Swifts!

SJT — Thu, 30 Jul 2026 12:43:58 +0000

Lesley and I had a walk around the village last night just to see if our legs still worked after sitting watching all that football! Walking back down Lower Faircox, we bumped into Tony Fitzgerald who was checking out Swift nest boxes for any signs of activity when eagle-eyed Lesley noticed way in the distance some birds flying across the face of the half-moon. We latched on to them with our bins and there were quite a number of them and saw that they were Swifts. They kept on coming in waves heading in an easterly direction and we watched them for about 10 minutes and estimated that there were at least 300 passing through, but were probably more. It’s possible that they were heading towards Beachy Head where, along with Swallows and House Martins, they congregate before waiting to cross the channel. As we tried to get our necks back into the right position, it was lovely to bask in the sight we had just witnessed.

When we got back to home, we sat on the balcony for a while and it was lovely to see that our Swifts that had been with us for the last week or so were still racing around us, so hoping they will stay around for a wee bit longer.

Photo credit Alison Playle

Swift Talk Saturday 4th July 7:30pm

SJT — Fri, 03 Jul 2026 09:38:09 +0000

Debbie will be giving a talk on swifts in Henfield. Including how to attract them and providing nesting sites.

Henfield Hall Garden Room – Refreshments provided.

Nightjar Success

SJT — Thu, 25 Jun 2026 08:42:16 +0000

Tony F, Pete T, Sam H, Mary F, Helena and myself went to Heyshott Common last night. A272 was shut in Petworth, so had to double back and go via Fittleworth, which took me some thinking about, so arrived late at destination. Hence most of the daytime birds were quiet apart from a rattling Dartford Warbler and a cheesy Yellowhammer. Temperature still about 30C as the sun disappeared over the pines to the west. There was an early short churr about 9.20 but then at least three got going about 9.40. One dropped down from a tree fairly nearby, wing clapped and flew off. Then we all had lovely views of two flying around a clearing almost in front of us. As we walked back there was one churring nearby which continued without a break for at least five minutes!

A first Nightjar encounter for Sam, Mary and Helena and the first time Pete has actually seen one after three previous attempts.

Apart from one chap standing near the car park watching, we were the only people there – just the way it should be!

(The photo is from a previous visit as I didn’t take any last night – the moon was somewhere different yesterday!)

Val

Garden Bird Survey Submissions June 2026

SJT — Thu, 11 Jun 2026 12:56:41 +0000

Again, apologies for this being a week late. Hopefully though, we’ll have some better weather this weekend!

I don’t know about you, but my garden has never homed so many blue tit fledglings, they are just everywhere! In general, it seems to have been a very good year for successful fledgling and all the small birds have done well here. But no woodpigeon youngsters yet, despite plenty of ‘courtship behaviour’ going on! I look forward to analysing the reports from your gardens. This time there’s the normal bird count and a box to update us about your fledglings.

Thanks again for taking part in this survey. Another update bulletin will be issued towards the end of June.