image credit: Alan Everard
FIRST PUBLISHED:
PEVENSEY BAY JOURNAL: EDITION 31: Saturday 25 January
I am delighted to be able to start with Sue’s enviable sightings of birds.
Sue lives in Innings Drive not far from the sea which explains the fact that she frequently sees Linnets. Vi and I walked our dog Mickey along the shingle stretch near Innings Drive and noticed the dense Gorse patches there .which we thought would be an ideal habitat for Linnets.
Her best sightings, however, were birds of prey. She saw what she thought was a Kestrel perched on a fence post in her garden. It took off on seeing her and confirmed her opinion with its warm cream breast streaked with patches of dark brown, its pointed wings and long tail. ( It’s long tail helps steady it when hovering in search of prey ). It reappeared a little later perched in a tree.
Sue also regularly sees a Sparrow Hawk, that fierce, fast bird of prey, catching its prey as it hedge-hops from garden to garden. One morning she saw one on her patio having just caught a Sparrow. On seeing her the Sparrow Hawk shrouded it’s prey with it’s wings – a typical reaction.
Having read in the late Summer of the huge numbers of Butterflies I had seen in our garden on the Dwarf Buddleia, Sue says that she now knows where her butterflies had gone. From her report I now know where my birds of prey had gone !
Not to be outdone, Vi saw a Little Egret fly along Tower Ditch outside our house. This magical member of the Heron family is all white with a black beak, black legs and yellow feet. It is increasing in numbers in Britain in tandem with the all white, Albino Squirrel.
This brings us to Claire Brimacombe of Stone Cross who has opened four websites dedicated to Albino and Leucistic Squirrels so that sightings, photos and news can be shared with anyone who has an interest in them. You’ll get all the facts you may wish to know by searching Claire Brimacombe on the web and she would be happy to hear from you to share any news of these incredible creatures.
I mentioned Brenda’s sighting of a Cormorant in our last article but can confirm that we often see them flying in off the sea. Unmistakeable with their stiff, slightly plump, dark bodies, long outstretched neck and fast flapping wings. They are usually on their way to their nests to feed their young or simply rest. Cormorant’s nest sites can be on the coast in rocky areas or cliffs with ledges. In the absence of these sites ours, mostly, fly to the trees around Arlington Reservoir.
Sitting with a coffee in my hand and looking out upon our garden and to the sea beyond I had the good luck to see our local Robin darting about under our Dwarf Buddleia. His movements were swift and interspersed with moments of complete stillness. Britain’s favourite bird! later he’ll be higher up in the trees, proclaiming possession of his territory and/or attracting a mate with that musically strident song. I am grateful to Jon Lauper for his photo which captures the essence of the Robin in full song.
We are so lucky if we appreciate and enjoy our wildlife, it adds so much to our lives. In the modern idiom I’ll just say “ Enjoy”.
Alan Everard is a local artist specialising in Thames Sailing Barges and Nature. He says he ‘feels lucky to have a wall of his own in the Ocean View Bakery & Restaurant’.
