
A lamentable absence of blog posts this winter, more due to a lack of time than a lack of good birds seen. In fact, it’s been a great winter for birding locally and in this post I’ll do a highlights roundup of birding Hastings and area from December 2023 through to end of February 2024. Hastings Country Park quietens down during the winter months and my focus has shifted to wetland sites (primarily Pett Level and Combe Valley CP) and, more recently inland, woodlands.
In wildfowl news, Pett Level hosted a solid spread of wintering grey geese, with a Pink-footed Goose and a flock of Eurasian Greater White-fronted Geese moving onto Pett Level from late December into February. On the 17th Jan a second Pink-foot appeared (and then disappeared) and I made my highest White-front count of 32. I didn’t manage to see them but two Tundra Bean Geese were present from 9-10 Jan.

In November I took over the monthly WeBS counts at Combe Valley, which has forced a more methodical approach to my visits over the past few months. Wildfowl numbers have been excellent with high counts of 600 Eurasian Teal on the 19th Jan, 300 Eurasian Wigeon on the 13th Jan, 200 Northern Shoveler on the 19th Jan, 170 Northern Pintail on the 12th Feb. On the 19th there was also a fun Cinnamon Teal x Blue-winged Teal hybrid.

Rafts of Common Scoter were noted in Rye Bay throughout the winter months, my highest count being 300 on the 13th Jan. They were regularly joined by Velvet Scoter, although getting a true sense of numbers has been difficult with the distances and tricky light involved. My highest Velvet count was six on the 13th Jan.

A Red-necked Grebe briefly present on the NE pool at Pett Level on 28th Dec was a real treat (expertly picked out by David C despite the howling gale). Happily that wasn’t the only scarce grebe this winter, with Christian C, David C and I encountering a Black-necked Grebe on the floods at Combe Valley on 13th Jan.

Since the madness of November’s petrel influx, seawatching from West Hill and Hastings seafront has comparatively slow. A couple of Red-breasted Merganser east from West Hill on the 27th December were the only real standout.

Goosander have popped up all over the east of the county this winter, the most incongruous being those which started regularly roosting on a small pond in Alexandra Park (Hastings) from late December to mid-February.

I won’t go back over the fun of Hastings gulls during December but it exceeded expectations with Yellow-legged and Caspian Gulls aplenty – more in the dedicated blog post. An update on comments in that post regarding intermedius Lesser Black-backed Gull: the adult pictured below, seen along Hastings seafront on 24th Feb, is ringed with what looks to be Danish colour ring. This would confirm it as belonging to the intermedius subspecies. I haven’t had confirmation back yet from the scheme but it certainly looks the part.

A frosty morning at Combe Valley CP on the 19 Jan was a good chance to better appreciate numbers of Water Rail (5) and Common Snipe (12). Thanks to David C and his thermal camera, I was able to catch-up with a couple of new species locally: Jack Snipe on Brede Level (Doleham end) and Woodcock in Brede High Woods. How many of these must I be missing on non thermal-enhanced visits!

On the 19th Jan I finally managed to satisfactorily pin down a Water Pipit at Combe Valley CP (a known wintering site). I’ve had one or two on subsequent visits, although usually invisible as they move overheard along the floods. Black Redstart have been a regular presence around Hastings seafront and West Hill, with at least two individuals (a female-type and 2CY paradoxus male) seen.

A group of Waxwing moved onto the Hastings-Bexhill link road embankment at Combe Valley CP for a few days in late December, feasting on the Hawthorn berry crop to the soundtrack of traffic noise.

On the 27th Feb David C and I found a Mealy/Common Redpoll among a small group of Lesser Redpolls at Brede High Woods. This really stood out from the crowd with its larger size and cooler, paler plumage tones. There have also been mobile flocks of Crossbill present at the same site throughout Feb (David C counted 25 on the 24th Feb).

My first watch from the famous Penhurst Lane gate on the 27th Feb lived up to the hype, with three Goshawk seen circling nearby woodlands and a Hawfinch perched up and calling from a nearby tree.

The Hastings CP Snow Bunting present on the 1st December, a definite highlight of the winter, has already been written up on the blog. Reed Bunting were fun to watch at Combe Valley CP, bringing life to the otherwise quiet reedbeds throughout the winter months.
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