Crowborough 14/10/2018 - 20/10/2018

20/10/2018
Not much garden birding today, as I went down to Shooter's Bottom this morning.

Hurtis Hill
Buzzard: 4

My Garden
Chaffinch: 2 (very active flying low over)
Pied Wagtail: 2 (flying over)
Siskin: 5 (flying over)
House Sparrow: 4 (two pairs)
Woodpigeon: 8 (burst out of the trees as usual)

Highlights from Shooter's Bottom this morning included a single Wheatear, and a good passage of Skylarks, Goldfinches, and Siskins, as well as the regular Stonechats, Robins, Blackbirds, and a migrant Chiffchaff, but despite closely examining every Blackbird there were no Ring Ouzels amongst them.

19/10/2018
Today I did a reasonable amount of birding from my garden, where I saw Crowborough's 2nd record of SKYLARK. I also made a brief trip up to the Pocket Park NR, with a diversion to North Beeches Road where the WHITE WAGTAIL was still showing. Also, I walked along the woods bordering Green Lane, where there was nothing much of note.

Beacon Academy/North Beeches Road
WHITE WAGTAIL: 1(on the school buildings)
Pied Wagtail: 3 (with the WHITE WAGTAIL)
House Sparrow: 8 (in the hedges at the entrance to the school)

Pocket Park NR
Carrion Crow: 2 (flying over)
Magpie: 1 (flying over)
Blue Tit: 4 (feeding in the copse)
Blackcap: 1 (in the scrub)
Goldfinch: 5 (flying over before landing in the copse)
Song Thrush: 1 (flying into the scrub)
Dunnock: 2 (male and female mating)
Blackbird: 1 (male in the copse)

Green Lane
Nuthatch: 1 (calling from deep in the woods)
Great Spotted Woodpecker: 2 (calling to one another)
Robin: 1 (one singing from the scrub bordering the road)

My Garden
Wren: 1 (calling early morning)
Jackdaw: 3 (again I was not present for the roosting count)
Chaffinch: 2 (flying over but not migrants)
Woodpigeon: 12 (heading South so likely migrants)
Song Thrush: 1 (singing quietly early morning)
Starling: 3 (I was not present for the roosting count)
Carrion Crow: 2 (usual pair)
Siskin: 6 (usual group flying over several times)
Goldfinch: 1 (low numbers, a possible migrant)
Robin: 1 (singing from the conifers)
Blackbird: 1 (male feeding on the lawn)
House Sparrow: 3 (one adult, two juvenile)
Blue Tit: 1 (calling from the conifers)
Collared Dove: 1 (flying over)
SKYLARK: 7 (heading South, Crowborough's 2nd)
Herring Gull: 3 (usual autumn numbers, including one juvenile)
Magpie: 4 (two pairs)

18/10/2018
The most exciting news from today was of Crowborough's second 'White Wagtail', the continental subspecies of our Pied Wagtail. The first bird was a returning adult which overwintered on Pilmer Road in the winters of 2015 and 2016. Today's bird was on North Beeches Road, at the far end, on the roofs near the school entrance. I saw it at around 1000 hrs but the views were hardly good, but later I revisited the area and got much better views, although sadly no photos.

Beacon Academy/North Beeches Road
WHITE WAGTAIL: 1 (on the roofs of the houses on the corner)
Pied Wagtail: 4 (mostly adults)

Pocket Park NR
Blue Tit: 1 (feeding with LTTs)
Long-tailed Tit: 8 (at least 8 feeding in the treetops)
Carrion Crow: 1 (flying over)
Nuthatch: 1 (calling)
Wren: 2 (calling from the scrub)
Dunnock: 1 (singing from deep in the willow scrub)

My Garden
Blackbird: 1 (on the lawn)
Blue Tit: 2 (in the lilac)
Robin: 1 (one calling from the gardens beyond)
Wren: 1 (one calling loudly early morning)
Carrion Crow: 1 (one flying over)
House Sparrow: 2 (low numbers in the lilac)
Jackdaw: 2 (two on the chimney pots)
Woodpigeon: 2 (feeding on the lawn)
Starling: 3 (flying over)
Siskin: 2 (flying over)
Herring Gull: 2 (flying over)
Goldfinch: 1 (one landed in the conifers)
Coal Tit: 1 (in the conifers)
Collared Dove: 1 (feeding on the lawn)
Magpie: 2 (in the line of trees)
Great Tit: 2 (singing)
Goldcrest: 1 (singing)
Greenfinch: 1 (calling as it flew over)
Chaffinch: 1 (calling)


17/10/2018
I was out for a similar length of time as I was yesterday in my garden, so I recorded a decent number of species, including my second Great Spotted Woodpecker in my garden, and also my second Marsh Tit, also for the garden, but I was unable to get to any other part of Crowborough today.

Pilmer Area
Nuthatch: 1

My Garden
Blackbird: 1 (male on the lawn)
House Sparrow: 8 (my biggest count this year)
Great Tit: 1 (one male singing)
Blue Tit: 2 (calling from the conifers)
Woodpigeon: 2 (flying out from the conifers)
Jackdaw: 7 (I did not see the roosting flock so there were probably more than this)
Robin: 1 (male singing from our elder bushes)
Goldfinch: 3 (an improvement on yesterday's pitiful one, and more like the normal count)
Siskin: 6 (one large flock, although small flocks of 1/2 birds flew over throughout the day)
Starling: 5 (again, I did not see the roosting flock)
Black-headed Gull: 20 (building up to the large winter flocks)
Herring Gull: 10 (of which at least half were juveniles)
Carrion Crow: 2 (the usual pair again)
Greenfinch: (two flew over)
GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER: 1 (second for my garden list)
Magpie: 4 (two pairs)
Goldcrest: 2 ( the usual two, I imagine)
Pied Wagtail: 2 (average number for this time of year)
Chiffchaff: 1 (singing?!)
MARSH TIT: 1 (feeding in the conifers/calling with Blue Tits)

16/10/2018
I was out in my garden for quite a long time today, and I made another visit to the Pocket Park NR, which was very quiet. The highlights from my garden included a Jay from inside the woodland, and a single Siskin that flew South around late afternoon.

Pocket Park NR
Blue Tit: 1 (feeding in the treetops)
Carrion Crow: 1 (flying over)
Herring Gull: 2 (flying over)
Woodpigeon: 4 (flying over)
Chiffchaff: 1 (calling, but not singing this time)

My Garden
Robin: 2 (probably the same two males singing)
Starling: 6 (I was not present at roosting time)
Blue Tit: 1 (in the lilac)
Black-headed Gull: 1 (flying over)
Woodpigeon: 5 (erupted out of the trees again)
Song Thrush: 1 (very quietly singing)
Blackbird: 1 (male feeding off rotten apples on the lawn)
Jackdaw: 50 (put up by a raptor which I could not locate)
Collared Dove: 4 (two pairs as far as I can tell)
Carrion Crow: 1 (flying over)
Goldfinch: 1 (flying over)
House Sparrow: 2 (in the lilac and later on the roof as usual)
Goldcrest: 1 (in the conifers)
Siskin: 1 (flew over around late afternoon)
Jay: 1 (my first record for a while)

15/10/2018
Very much the same again, despite rather nicer weather. In my garden, the highlight was a singing Chiffchaff, possibly the same one as I had last Friday. I also visited the Pocket Park NR, and the best bird there was another singing Chiffchaff.

Pocket Park NR
Chiffchaff: 1 (singing from the scrub)
Nuthatch: 1 (calling from in the copse)
Blue Tit: 2 (feeding in the treetops)
Pied Wagtail: 1 (flying over)
Herring Gull: 2 (flying over)
Great Tit: 3 (feeding with the Blue Tits)

My Garden
Chiffchaff: 1 (singing)
Blackbird: 2 (on the lawn)
Robin: 1 (behind the lilac singing)
Blue Tit: 1 (in the lilac)
House Sparrow: 2 (also in the lilac)

14/10/2018
Not such a nice day. I was out in the morning, and by the afternoon rain had set in, and the rest of the day was almost a washout. I logged a few species, mostly from my dry and warm house, but there was nothing out of the ordinary by any stretch of the imagination.

My Garden
House Sparrow: 2 (male and female in the lilac)
Robin: 2 (probably the two males still going at each other)
Blackbird: 1 (male feeding on the lawn)
Blue Tit: 1 (one calling from the conifers)
Goldcrest: 1 (seen on the conifers through the window with binoculars!)