A song thrush photographed by DKG on midsummer morning. The recording is by Vincent Pourchaire XC422440 CC
Song thrush
Buzzard
This is the park's buzzard. It has come to the park for some years and hunts regularly here and across Southwick Court's old parkland. Buzzards breed when they are three years old but this bird is always seen alone. The first set of photographs were taken early yesterday morning by DKG. The second set were ... Continue Reading →
The world is full of little brown birds. Small and brown seems to be some kind of default programme for birds and accurate identification can depend on an extra millimetre in a brown tail feather or the exact shade of a brown eye-stripe. Until they are otherwise identified, the RSPB calls them all LBJs: little... Continue Reading →
Song thrush or mistle thrush?
It is difficult to tell if this is a song thrush (Turdus philomelos) or a mistle thrush (Turdus viscivorus). DKG, who took the photograph, thinks it is a mistle thrush but there is dissent among the FoSCP. A mistle thrush or a song thrush? Here is a link to a British Trust for Ornithology article... Continue Reading →
An evening stroll with DKG
by DKG. . . A few photos of an evening stroll in the park on Wednesday (23rd May). I have been visiting the blue tits' nest in Sleepers Field every day for the past two weeks and I am sorry to report that the nest may have been predated. On each visit this week I... Continue Reading →
Blue Tits Delay Nesting
For the last two years, a pair of blue tits has nested in a hole in an oak tree in one of the copses at the southern end of the park. There, they successfully raised broods of chicks under the watchful eye of DKG's camera. Oak trees are a favourite haunt of nesting blue tits.... Continue Reading →
DKG heard this year's first cuckoo in the park on Sunday morning.
Chiffchaffs migrate to the Mediterranean and West Africa for the winter, though an increasing number over-winter here. When they return, their song is one of the first signs of spring. Click to listen to the chiffchaff's song.
Sunday Morning in the Park
BY IAN B. Pleasant saunter with Pat and all the hounds this morning round Southwick Country Park. The long tailed tit’s nest is now finished with a cladding of lichen. Two reports: a little egret at the pond and a barn owl hunting on Lambrok Meadow but we didn't see either. We looked for the... Continue Reading →
Good news: the pair of barn owls photographed by David on March 10th are still in the park. They appear to have chosen a nest site in a hollow oak tree. Both were seen early in the morning last week; the cock bird hunting, the hen near what we hope is the nest.
Pop goes the Weasel
Hats and scarves was the order of the day for Wednesday's work party, and hedges and ditches, out of the east wind, were the best places to spend the morning. The park, however, was getting on with spring to an accompaniment of birdsong. Trish saw a weasel hunting through the hedge; it ran across the... Continue Reading →
Owl nesting boxes
In 2016, a pair of tawny owls nested in the owl box in Sheep Field and reared these two owlets. The parent birds returned in 2017 to inspect the box, but it obviously didn't meet their standard and they left. This year a pair of barn owls is hunting across the park, roosting in one... Continue Reading →
One of a pair of barn owls seen hunting over the park this weekend by DKG and Chris Seymour. Photograph: DKG
Listen to the robin's song. Robins sing all year round but their spring song is louder and more confident. Picture by DKG
Predation……
Last spring DKG, our in-house photographer, found a bluetit's nest in a hole in one of our veteran oaks. A couple of days later, he set up a hide, hoping to photograph the parent birds bringing food to their young. He found no bluetits.. . . . . . . A stoat is a fearsome... Continue Reading →
Seed Eaters
Goldfinches eat seeds almost exclusively. Even this late in the winter, they come to the park to find seeds in the dried heads of composite flowers like teasel and burdock. In their gardens, people often leave the dried heads of sunflowers standing through the winter as food for finches without realising that many other garden... Continue Reading →
