Another Yankee

 With lockdown and the associated no-travel restrictions, many birds had arrived but had been "suppressed" by locals. With the loosening of those restrictions, and probably also with my starting to look at the bird-news feeds a bit more, targets started to appear. With my year-list never going to amount to much, it made sense to focus on any lifer potentials. One popped up only a few days after the mocking bird. Another American bird and another very common one on the other side of the Atlantic and also in Sussex - a white-throated sparrow. This one had been wandering around some allotments in a small village, Barcombe. Seemingly it had been there for many weeks if not a few months. As news had got out, it was now being tempted down to seed on a picnic table!

Another early start and on a frosty morning I pulled up into the rather small car park just after 7. It wasn't clear where to go but after wandering around for a bit I saw 3 other birders and a picnic table! Apparently the bird had been seen singing and showing well 15 minute before but now had disappeared. Those with better ears than mine claimed to hear it singing in the wood behind the table but I couldn't make it out. A nervous 45 minutes elapsed with no show. The crowd had grown to a dozen and those who had already seen it were sharing their photos with those who hadn't!! 

As so often happens in these cases, with no fanfare it suddenly appeared on the baited table. They are a very smart sparrow, much more colourful than our cheeky-chirpy Cockney sparrows. Its appearance was brief, only couple of minutes at most before it flitted back into the wood. I tossed up whether to stay hoping for a better view or to move on. To be honest, more shots of a sparrow, albeit a lifer sparrow, on a picnic table didn't excite so I picked up my gear and moved off.

Half an hour away a little bunting was behaving very well at a reserve I'd never been to before, Warnham. This wasn't a lifer - they are the sort of bird you hope to see every year - but are always sought after.  When I got there it was a very popular place with locals going on constitutional walks around the lake. A lady put me onto where to go for the hide where the bunting was normally seen which was only a few minutes walk. 

The hide was actually just a screen with bird feeders and a small pool. Lots of reed buntings were flitting around and a marsh tit was a bonus year tick for me. A vole also kept us amused feeding on the grain.

Two other birders joined me and we staked out the hide - which allowing for 2 metre distancing meant we basically hogged all the viewing spots! For some while it didn't show, then I spotted a smaller bird in the woods at the back. This drifted down to the floor but behind some grass, then eventually showed itself.

Little buntings are, as the name says, little, about 2/3 the size of a reed bunting. They all have a very distinct facial pattern, with a broad eye-stripe and a chestnut patch behind the eye. Although superficially like a reed bunting, when you see one it stands out as very different.

Another really good day. A lifer, two year ticks, good company on both twitches and nice weather. The drive back was a pleasure and I can only look forward to whatever the rest of the year brings. With a bit of luck I should get to 400 species this year, on the more generous LGRE list anyway, but even the stricter BOU list is in reach!