June 2023 birding roundup

With Twitter seemingly in steady decline, it feels like the right time to try out a new format for sharing bird sightings and notes (with the added bonus of freedom from word counts). Better late than never, I thought I’d start with a recap of June 2023 birding my Hastings 10k. Dominated by fine and very dry weather, the month was not notable for its scarcities but was an enjoyable one spent recording breeding evidence for summering birds and getting into dragonflies (more on that in a future post).

At Pett Level, notable birds were a much anticipated Hobby circling the marsh on the 3rd June and a party of Bearded Tits on 18th including at least one juvenile — presumably local breeders. Away from Rye Harbour, Pannel Valley is the only reliable spot for waders at the moment and it’s already started to deliver the first smatterings of wader passage with 16 Black-tailed Godwit and a single Green Sandpiper on the 22nd.

Green Sandpiper at Pannel Valley, hopefully the first of many more.

Despite the effects of the ongoing dry spell, Combe Valley Countryside Park (CVCP) continued to delight, every new path explored revealing another patch of promising habitat. Here the most notable bird was a Spoonbill on the 5th, a new bird for me at this site.

Spoonbill feeding on wet grassland in the Combe Valley.

Swirling above it were some of the 32 Common Swift hawking over the valley that morning, my peak count there this spring. Unfortunately by the end of the month the ephemeral wetland habitats had mostly dried up so I fear it will be quieter at CVCP for a while. You have to wonder at the potential of this site were the water levels managed for wildlife…

The floods have receded revealing the long-obscured Combe Haven watercourse and leaving huge swathes of dry, grassless ground.

Nonetheless, some birds seem to be making use of the now dry floodplains, with 85 Jackdaw and 21 Rook seen moving in on the 26th. The Sedge and Reed Warbler along the river path seem to be more active than ever and I’ve had some great views of these usually elusive species, including a brief glimpse of a party of 4 young Reeds skirting a reedbed on the 26th.

A Reed Warbler briefly emerges from a Combe Valley reedbed.

This month I filled in for another local birder with a couple of visits to a BTO Woodcock survey site at Brede High Woods. No Woodcock sadly but nice to hear Nightingale, Tawny Owl and a intense chorus of singing Song Thrush as the light faded. The Nightingale have stopped singing by this time of year but I enjoyed listening to their odd whistle-and-croak call from the gloom, an excerpt of which is embedded below.

The view from the Woodcock survey watchpoint on the western side of Brede High Woods.

On the 30th, I decided to return to a spot I’ve only been to once before — a stretch of the Brede Valley directly north of Icklesham. It’s an interesting area and like much of the Brede Valley seems to be under-watched. On my first visit in February I saw Great White Egret and big flocks of Common Gull. The highlight of this visit was a Spotted Flycatcher perched on an isolated bush in relatively open country. It being too late for spring and too early for autumn passage, I can only hope this bird is breeding somewhere nearby — sadly all to rare in the county these days.

Looking out over the Brede Valley towards Rye, from the footpath that runs past The Queens Head pub in Icklesham.
Spotted Flycatcher in the Brede Valley.

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