WILDPARK LNR RECORDS FOR 2008
Spring migrants were well down in numbers, the only highlight being a male Pied Flycatcher and three Red Kites, but there were few Wheatears and no Whinchat, Spotted Flycatcher or Redstart. It has become the norm for there to be no Spring records of Turtle Dove or Grasshopper Warbler, but it was nice to hear and see a Cuckoo! If there was any significant feature at all of a poor summer, it was the occasional records of fly-over Crossbills. Numbers of autumn warblers seemed lower than average but there was a good Sept passage of Siskins and a Wryneck was reported.
It is a pleasure to be able to include records from the LadiesMile section of the LNR again, thanks to regular visits by David Harper. His highlights overshadow some of those from the Wildpark with a singing Serin, a Quail and a Wryneck.
A flock of Herdwick and mixed breeds of sheep were introduced on a slope behind the pavilion in the coomb on 1/10. This small area was part of a grass slope favoured by butterflies in the past, the Council hoping that the shorter grass as a result of their grazing will attract bigger numbers next year.
BIRDS
Cormorant 1S on 31/3, 4 over on 13/9, 1NW on 2/10 and 10/10, lastly 1SW on 27/10.
Grey Heron Singles W on 16/9 and 27/10.
Honey Buzzard A small influx occurred during Sep with 2 flying south on 8/9 (IW). Others were seen from the hillfort around this time. Further birds on 12/9 and 2 on 15/9.
Red Kite 1W at 9.42 on 6/6, followed by 2E at 11.20 on the same day (IW, PW)
Marsh Harrier 1W on 1/9 (GLC).
Sparrowhawk Only 1 pr bred this year.
Common Buzzard 2E on 14/4, 1NW on 15/4, 1 over on 31/5 and 1 circling over on 9/6. Those reported in autumn were singles on 28/8 and 30/8; 6 on 12/9 and 2 on 15/9. One sitting in tree on hillfort 4/11 pm.
Osprey 1W from Stanmer over ASDA and Ladies Mile on 8/9 (IW).
Kestrel 2 prs bred.
Hobby 2 seen on 17/9.
Peregrine 1 over on 25/3, another on
31/5, and 1 on 15/9.
Red legged Partridge 1 present from Oct to year end around Cuckmere Way area gardens (BS, PT, et al)
Quail One was calling near the radio mast at LadiesMile on 7/6 (DH).
Pheasant 2 prs bred.
Snipe One flushed from hillfort on 3/4, followed by another flushed from old arable field on 12/4. Two more were seen in the autumn on 30/10 and 6/12.
Curlew 1NE on 21/4.Another over on 1/6.
Woodcock One in canopy area on 9/2 (BS) and 1 flushed by dog walker late autumn but no date given.
Mediterranean Gull 1E north of hillfort on 15/9 (IW, PW).
Black headed Gull A flock of 46NE was the only significant count.
Common Gull No counts of more than 15
Were received.
Lesser black-backed Gull Three singles over on 29/3, 9/6 and 28/10.
Great black-backed Gull 1 over allotments on 8/3.
Herring Gull No significant counts but regularly seen feeding on golf course.
Stock Dove 2 prs bred. 2-6 noted on 9 dates in Sep, then 11W with pigeon movement on 29/10.
Wood Pigeon Increased to 83 breeding prs, a record high. Small local flocks of 30-54 in early Oct then passage commenced with 230 on 17th. High counts included 770 on 22nd, 2180 on 28th, 840 on 29th and 1365 on 31st.
Collared Dove A slight increase to 38 prs breeding.
Cuckoo Heard on 25/4 and 26/4, but a male seen flying into bushes NW of old arable field on 10/6 was the first sighting for a good few years.
Barn Owl One seen in LadiesMile section at end Feb, whilst another was seen from headlights just south of the by-pass bridge on 30/3.
Swift First was a single on 28/4, 5 on 3/5, then 2 on 8/5 and peak in Spring 60 over on 31/5. Birds preparing to depart were 100 over Hollingbury Woods on 20/7, and 40 over on 8/8. Last was 1W from hillfort on the late date on 15/9.
Wryneck A probable was seen by a dog-walker w/c 7/9 near hillfort and one seen LadiesMile section on 13/9 foraging on track near radio mast (DH).
Green Woodpecker An increase to 4 prs breeding with mixed success.
Great spotted Woodpecker 2 prs bred.Drumming first noted on 11/12 in Hollingbury Woods.
Woodlark 1SE over on 12/10 (PW).
Skylark 19 prs bred. Very few days of overhead passage in autumn with highest count 36 on 9/10, 119W on 28/10 and 54 the following day.
Sand Martin None in spring and scarce in autumn with just 6 on 30/8, 10 on 9/9 and a single on 15/9.
Swallow First of the Spring was on 3/4, followed by a few singles, 8 on 22/4 and 6 on 5/5. A trickle in early Aug, then 56 on 30/8, 285 on 9/9, 1200 on 15/9, 315 on 17/9 and the last 2 on 29/10.
House Martin The only Spring record was a single on 5/5. Small numbers over from 9/9, then 1300 on 15/9, 416 on 17/9, and the last on 18/10.
Tree Pipit None in Spring. A total of 37 from 6/8 to 21/9, peak 9 on 13/9.
Meadow Pipit Hardly any Spring passage with peaks 4 on 13/3 and 6 on 15/3. 1sm was in the fields at Coldean on 15/6 and was recorded as breeding. First real passage was 23 on 12/9, then 68 on 14/9 and 64 on 25/9 and 8/10. These were much lower peaks than usually recorded.
Yellow Wagtail 1N on 16/4 was the only spring record. A total of 30 from 28/8 to 18/9 with peaks 12 on 17/9 and 10 the next day.
Grey Wagtail A poor autumn by recent standards with just 12 from 13/9 to 11/10. A late record was 1 on 10/12.
Pied Wagtail A pr feeding by the mast at Ladies Mile on 29/5 may have indicated breeding nearby. One's and two's seen early autumn, then 9 on 25/9 and 16 over on 29/9. Regularly noted until 23/10, then back to smaller numbers.
Wren 95 prs bred.
Dunnock A slight downturn to 44 prs from the peak of 59 in 2003.
Robin 137 prs bred.
Nightingale One singing in coomb on 27/4 and the next day (PW), and remained until at least 14/5 (GLC)
Black Redstart 1at Ladiesmile on Jan 25 was a good record for the time of year (DH).
Redstart Probably the worst year on record with just 2 in LadiesMile in spring, a single on 3/9 and a pr on 8/9.
Whinchat 2 were noted in Ladiesmile in spring. A fairly good autumn with total of 44 from 30/8 to 13/10, peaks 5 on 3/9 and 6 on 12/9.
Stonechat Another species with lower than average numbers. A single on 24/9 stayed a week, then further singles on 2 dates in Oct.
Wheatear A rather poor spring with the first on 15/3, then 3 on 17/4 and 1 on 1/5, but a stonking male 'Greenland' race bird was seen in LadiesMile. The autumn total was 86 from 15/8 to 9/10. Peaks were 14 on 30/8 and 7 on 26/9. Birds remained for a period at end Sep behind the school and soccer pitch, sheltered from the NE winds which predominated.
Ring Ouzel A female flew E on 4/4 (PW) and a pair were on the hillfort on 16/4 (GLC). The only autumn record was on 18/9 (PT).
Blackbird 121 prs bred. No real autumn influxes, best count 26 on 13/11.
Fieldfare 5 on 18/10, then 18 on 27/10, 122 on 29/10 and 102 on 31/10, and none after 13/11.
Song Thrush The breeding count was 14 again, with 7 singing males in LadiesMile in Mar. 17 on 25/9 and seen regularly throughout Oct, max 76 on 18th and 21 on 28th.
Redwing A flock of 20-30 was in Hollingbury Woods on 28/2. Fly-overs were 10 on 12/3, and 1-3 on five other Mar dates. First of the autumn were 42 on 18/10, then followed good numbers with the best days of 73 on 28/10, 115 on 30/10 and 125 on 31/10. Still noted in Dec with 35 on 8th.
Mistle Thrush 2 prs bred again. A surprising number of small flock fly-overs noted in autumn. Max count was 21NW over LadiesMile on 17/9.
Grasshopper Warbler The only record was 1 showing well on a fence at Hollingdean allotments on 28/9 (PC).
Sedge Warbler 1 in Cuckmere Way on 22/4.
Reed Warbler 1 on 8/9 was the only record.
Lesser Whitethroat Two heard on 24/4 and 1 seen the next day. 1sm was in the shrubs to N of carpark on 15/6.Only 1 pr bred. A rather poor autumn with 21 from 6/8 to 27/9.
Whitethroat First was on 15/4 but lower than average numbers seen in Spring, and only 20 prs bred. Reasonable numbers in autumn with total 93 from 6/8 to 6/10, peak 20 on 8/9.
Garden Warbler None bred again. Singles in autumn on 21/8, 28/8, 3/9 and 23/9.
Blackcap Always difficult to prove arrival dates as singing birds may be from wintering birds. Three were noted towards the end Mar. 19 prs bred. Small numbers noted Aug/early Sep, then 9 on 12/9 and 9 again on 19/9 from an overall total of only 76.
Chiffchaff 1-2 present during Feb in LadiesMile and Wildpark. First migrant was on 15/3, and 4 on 31/3. A slight increase to 20 prs breeding. Similarly with Blackcap, no double figure counts until 12/9, then 15 on 14/9 and 14 on 26/9 which are very low peaks for a species which generally produces a good passage.
Willow Warbler First was on 4/4 and 1-2 noted on five days to end Apr. Probably 1 bred as was still singing at NW of coomb in early May.A reasonable total of 102 from 6/8 to 13/9, peak 25 on 29/8.
Goldcrest The only early year birds were 1 on 3/1, 2 on 14/3 and 3 the following day. One noted defending territory at southern end Hollingbury Woods on 27/3 and subsequently 2 prs bred. Autumn sightings were from 10/9 with peak counts of 21 on 12/10 and 16 on 17/10. A late count of 12 on 19/11 was high for the time of year.
Firecrest The only records this year were on 30/3 at LadiesMile (DH) and along nature trail, Coldean on 11/12 (PC).
Spotted Flycatcher None in Spring. Only 12 noted from 28/8 to 27/9, peak 3 on 8/9.
Pied Flycatcher A fine male was in the canopy on 15/4 (PW) whilst the only autumn sighting was 1 just E of hillfort on 8/9 (PC)
Long-tailed Tit 9 prs bred.
Blue Tit 72 prs bred, the highest number since counts began.
Great Tit Another tit species doing well – 58 prs bred, again the highest ever recorded here.
Jay 2 prs bred. 6W on 6/10 were probably migrant birds.
Magpie 40 prs bred.
Jackdaw 3 prs bred. 24S on 9/10 and 8E on 17/10 were almost certainly migrants.
Rook An occasional visitor in small numbers.
Carrion Crow A group of c30 waiting to be fed on 3/4 by Bill Quinleven, usually a daily occurrence towards the N of the area. Also 42 noted on 16/4. 18 prs bred.
Raven 2 over N of the area on 8/9 (IW).
Starling 19 prs bred. Early morning foraging flocks noted from 14/9 varying from 40 up to 100, on 30/10, but lower numbers than in previous years.
House Sparrow 16 prs bred.
Chaffinch 46 prs bred. Although birds seen regularly in autumn, very few were passage birds. 16 over on 19/9 and same number on 11/10, and a definate movement of 53 on 29/10.
Brambling Just 2 on 18/10.
Serin A singing male was seen in LadiesMile on 8/5 (DH). This is only the second record for the LNR.
Greenfinch 28 prs bred.
Goldfinch 2 prs bred. Flocks of up to c40 noted end Aug. Similar numbers, though erratic through Sep, peaks 58 on 29/9, 90 on 8/10 and 72 the next day. Counted almost daily during Oct but more or less absent from 6/11.
Siskin 17 recorded from 2/4 to 16/4, max5NE over hillfort on 15/4. Daily sightings of small flocks occurred every visit from 9/9 into mid Nov. Peaks were 79 on 13/9, 72 on 29/9, and 77 on 8/10, although nowhere near as many as the hundreds recorded elsewhere closer to the Sussex coast. Nonetheless the autumn total was a massive 812.
Linnet 14 prs bred. Feeding flocks of up to 16 local birds were noted early autumn. Max count was only 20 on 2/10, and on many days noted by their absence.
Redpoll 1 on 26/9, then almost daily to 15/11. The total was a high 233, with peak 66 on 8/10 - a record count.
Crossbill A good year for this species with 5 over on 2/7, singles on 25/7, 26/7, 27/7, 1 on 6/8, 10 over on 21/8, 2 on 22/8 and finally 4 on 28/8 (PT, PW)
Bullfinch This species just about hanging on in the area with only 1 pr breeding.
Hawfinch 1 over on 28/10 (IW)
Yellowhammer 7 prs bred. 1-2 around the area end Sep, 4 on 9/10 and 2 on 13/11. As usual they disappear from the area from Dec.
Reed Bunting Only 1 on 9/10.
Annual species total recorded: 93
PLANTS
The spread of Grass Vetchling and Fox and Cubs continue in the old arable field, and over 200 Salsify plants including some hybrid Goat’s-beard/Salsify were amongst them:
Verbena bonariensis appeared again by the entrance to the golf clubhouse off Ditchling Road and other garden escapes such as Dotted Loosestrife, Montbretia and Pink Candytuft were found on an earth bund to the N of the carpark.
Campanula, Marigold, Yellow Foxglove and Aquilegia show in patches, and are beginning to naturalise.
The annual count of Early Purple Orchids on the hillfort was 3110, almost equalling the record count. An approx 2100 Fragrant Orchids were on the east and south banks of the reservoir on 6/6. Bee Orchids also flowered again, and single Pyramidal Orchids were found in four new sites. One of the area’s rare plants, Knapweed Broomrape is still doing well, and new plants were found at the Coldean end of 39 Acre field.
Newly recorded for the Wildpark were Sticky Groundsel, Stone Parsley and Hoary Mustard, but the most important find were two plants of Balkan Spurge on a golf tee which was prepared a year or so ago and never used:
MISCELLANEOUS
There were no reports of early year butterflies. Small Whites were noted from Apr 1 and the spring was generally poor. Once again, butterflies were noted on a very casual basis, but it was clear many species were low in numbers, particularly Chalkhill Blue and Small Copper. No Hairstreaks were seen, no Clouded Yellow and very few Painted Lady, Small Copper or Small Tortoiseshell.
Day-flying moths included Six-spot Burnet (above) and Cinnabar but no Humming Bird Hawkmoths were seen this year. It is of interest that in Ken Whiteman’s study of Hollingbury Wildlife, he mentions the area has three species of Burnet and also Scarce Forester which has records annually from 1908 to at least 1985. These day-flying moths obviously need some further investigation! Evidence of Moles, a couple of Weasels, the occasional Grey Squirrel and Fox, and Common Lizard were seen.
Thanks are due to the dedicated watchers and botanists of the area: Messrs Champion (particularly for their breeding counts), Philip and Sharon Thompson, and the editor Peter Whitcomb. Other contributions came from Paul Cole, David Harper, Peter Sheppard, Barbara Summerfield, and Ian Whitcomb.
This Report is collated and typed by Peter Whitcomb, 99 Barnett Road, BrightonBN1 7GJ. Tel 01273 500416. Email: .
All relevant sightings are welcomed. The Report is circulated to all contributors and other interested parties. The breeding counts, migration totals and the more important bird records are submitted for publication in the Sussex Bird Report and the Shoreham District Bird Report. Some records and photos are now also logged on to the local website: