The Year Ends with mud and sloes

December started with mostly overcast but dry days, sometimes feeing very cold in the north wind. Towards the middle of the month the weather changed, becoming warmer and very wet.

On Boxing Day, Thursday 26th December, a cool misty start with no wind and an uncommon sight - blue skies - after floods on Christmas Eve and hail on Christmas Day. The river was still fast  and muddy - but down to the level it was before the storm, about 1.5 meters below the top of the banks along Boldings Brook.
Robins were singing loudly, bringing the riverside to life (26) each in charge of its own territory. House sparrows too were active inside their hedgerows and bramble patches (30) and woodpigeons (34) could be seen in most trees, with some cooing in the ivy - they could well be nest-building even at this time of the year. Blue tits (48) and great tits (20) were all busy foraging for insects emerging in the sun or on seeds. The sun lit up the colours of our winter visitors, the redwing (19) making their way gradually along the riverside Blackthorn thickets; there were certainly more than could be seen, hiding amongst the tangled twigs and branches, swallowing sloes......but seldom posing, unlike this blackbird:

A Blackbird enjoying a few of the sloes in a Blackthorn thicket

on the river bank.

Many more birds were in the same thicket feeding, some on the fruits and others collecting insects on the floating islands of debris on the river surface - all manner of good things, seeds too from the riverbank grasses and flower heads. Birds delight in floating debris made up of twigs, branches, grasses leaves, fruits, berries and stalks from riverbank plants - as these islands are usually rich sources of food and provide platforms for bathing and preening, sheltered by the high banks.
These islands are shared by blue and great tits, house sparrows, blackbirds, goldfinches, chaffinches (8) today - and a moorhen.

Eleven song thrushes were seen, foraging under hedges, on the river debris, some chasing each other and some just singing from prominent branches - all were much easier to see than the shy redwings. Blackbirds (20) too were easily seen and sometimes heard uttering alarm calls but none heard singing yet. A loose party of long-tailed tits (23) flew into an Ash tree, foraging for a few seconds then moving on to an old oak, leaving some of the group behind. Quiet contact calls kept the large party together, all following in the same direction.
The other winter visitors, the fieldfares (13) were mostly keeping to the trees with one or two foraging on the saturated ground around the pond.  A fine large mistle thrush was lit up by the low sun on a high branch in an oak, where a crow, starling and group of fieldfare were also perched. It was good to see large numbers of starlings - a close-knit group of about 50 flying across over the trees and splitting up to circle around, choosing their trees. Others were already perched together, whistling as if roosting (76).  The soggy conditions had attracted numbers of carrion crows (22), with jackdaws (3) and rooks (2), 4 magpies, 8 black-headed gulls and 6 herring gulls. A small group of goldfinches (5) flew across to join others, invisible in their thicket.
Looking south, droplets of water, melted frost, on the dog rose and blackthorn glistened in the low sun, shining with all the colours of the rainbow - and a great-spotted woodpecker flew from a riverside oak across into another oak where it clung to a branch, a fine sight in the sun, then a second one flew across too, from tree to tree (2).
At last! a loud yaffle from a green woodpecker from the long grasses and another yaffle further down the river revealed a second green woodpecker flying low over grass (2).  Amongst the trees - a good view of a nuthatch quietly foraging, then in another tree, a glimpse of a redwing and an angry call from another nuthatch. In a thicket occupied by elusive redwing, a third nuthatch was seen together with the roaming party of long-tailed tits and a very active squirrels (3). Under the trees and brambles, wrens (5) were too busy foraging to sing. A treecreeper was seen upside down rapidly moving along a branch and 3 dunnocks were seen, one perched high in a tree, starting to sing as if it was fooled into thinking it was spring....
Facing into the sun, looking amongst the dense branches of a conifer, some tiny birds were moving fast. These were 3 goldcrests, choosing the sunlit side to forage. Another small bird, probably a summer visitor which has decided to stay put - a silent chiffchaff - a fine view in the sunshine in a blackthorn thicket.
It is worth noting that both the floating islands of debris and the tangled blackthorn thickets today were full of birds all sharing the available food, with no bickering, attacking or chasing!

The Arun under blue skies 2 days after the storm when it burst 

its banks

After a stormy sleepless night with very strong winds and torrential rain, Christmas Eve dawned with the rivers in flood. The wind and rain abated and eventually the flood waters receded, the muddy waters of the Arun flowing out into the sea at low tide at Littlehampton.

The view from 'the seat on the hill' on 24th December 2013.

The Arun is flowing from the left and Boldings Brook from

the right, forming a vast lake all the way to the A24 and beyond.

On the grass a group of Fieldfare had moved in to take advantage of the fine feeding to be enjoyed on the waterlogged ground. A pair of Mallard were also quite unconcerned.

A Fine Place to Overwinter

What better place to spend the winter?

The Little Egrets seem to think it's fine here on the Riverside

Tuesday 10th December - a fine day after a frosty start and one Little Egret is enjoying the sun

perched on an Ash branch with a view of the river below.

The egret is silent and doesn't attract attention but has to listen to the loud winter calls of the nuthatches 

now very active again in the nearby oaks.

The river is running clear, there's no wind and the river bank is alive with voices - song thrushes singing, nuthatches calling, squirrels cursing, starlings whistling and amongst them a few redwing can be heard.

Now, at last, the oaks are almost bare and Cowparsley shoots are appearing

from under the dry carpet of leaves. 

Little Egrets bring Winter to the Riverside

Old oaks are still colouring the landscape 

December 1st - very dark, overcast all day, cold but no wind. A quick look on the Riverside here, all was still with hazel and oak leaves slowly falling one by one, with the distinct smell of early winter on the banks - of damp fallen leaves and vegetation.

Quiet, yes, but song thrushes were taking full advantage of this, with loud song echoing along the river. At least four singing within about half a mile, each trying to out-sing each other, and now easily seen, taking up prominent perches on base branches, showing perfect plumage. Prospective mates chasing. One singing then another arrives on the same tree and both fly off. In the background of dense Hawthorn and Blackthorn thicket a small group of Redwing could be glimpsed whilst several Fieldfare flew across the sky.

Robins could not match the song thrushes and most remained quiet but numerous, now easily visible, now moving across paths into the undergrowth. Quiet blackbirds were numerous too, with males chasing each other. One female was observed reaching out to pick the last remaining Hawthorn berries (haws) from the tips of twigs, using the fine curved hook at the end of her beak to grab the berry and with a quick flick swallow it. Sometimes a berry would be dropped - food for a small bird or mammal.
In the air over the riverside thicket - flying low - a LITTLE EGRET, neck curved back and feet trailing, with white plumage.
How good to see it! I thought perhaps it was just out on a recce up along the river from the south as they usually decide to visit this area later in the winter when conditions become worse near the coast - and sightings have always meant that bad weather was on its way - usually ice and snow!
As if that wasn't good enough - after walking a short distance south, a white form was just visible down on the river, hidden by overhanging hazel branches. Suddenly it flew up and I could see that it was a second Little Egret. They are usually silent and even though brilliant white, are often elusive.
This sighting early in the winter may mean that they are a pair, possibly prospecting for a nest site, as they breed early in the year, like grey herons. Maybe they will share the heronry at Warnham with the grey herons although they have not been known to breed this far north of the coastal areas which they inhabit.
Maybe, however, their appearance is just a sign that snow is on its way....
Other birds active were pied wagtails, magpies removing moss from a roof (to get at insects hiding underneath), and a very good view of a silent green woodpecker flying low over the grass. Like many birds they have been quite silent recently. A nuthatch was heard calling whilst a jay bounced around from branch to branch in an oak. Dunnocks are more easily seen now, one was seen quite close up on a  tree. Chaffinches, house sparrows and a 'charm' of eight goldfinches flew across and the usual dense thicket was full of singing, mainly starlings. Numbers were seen flying over and black-headed gulls too. Blue and great tits always present were very active foraging in small groups from tree to tree and squirrels were bounding along the grass, pausing to survey, then up into the old oaks in search of the remaining acorns.
Not only the sight of the little egrets but the high activity levels of all the creatures on the riverside predict bad weather to come - they all know when it's time to concentrate on food, eating and storing for future winter weather.