Birding FC

I really haven't got my act together since I returned from Dungeness at the end of May - besides a family holiday to Cornwall at the beginning of July my time in the field has been woeful. A lack of oomph, missing mojo, the relentless heat, you name it and I'll re-christen it as an excuse. Last Friday I decided that enough was enough and I was long overdue some time out 'in the wild'. Surrey Hills? No, no way, parched dry and lacking in birds at the best of times, I needed a bit of an ornithological shot in the arm and my destination was to be a little further afield. 

I settled on the Arun Valley in West Sussex. I've searched the river valley either side of Arundel before and have always had a great day out. PLUS... Arundel FC were playing at home to Ringmer AFC in Division One of the Southern Combination at 3pm on Saturday afternoon, so I put one and one together and came up with a big fat two (birding and football!) - what wasn't to like?

I arrived at Arundel at 05.30hrs, a ghost town of a tourist trap that was heaving just a few hours later. I started with a walk around Swanbourne Lake, the whole place all to myself until a couple of early joggers appeared, but well after a handful of Mandarin Ducks had shuffled off the path and into the water which was awash with scruffy ducks, mostly Mallard and Gadwall. A footpath took me through scrubby woodland and onto the riverbank where views along the water towards the Black Rabbit Pub and the South Downs were enjoyed. Instead of heading this way and decided to turn southwards and follow the river to Littlehampton. Once through Arundel itself the river bank loses a lot of vegetation and the water is channeled by flood defence work. The following images demonstrates the change of vibe that is experienced, top picture north of Arundel and the bottom one to its south.

The birding also changes, with more shoreline to the south and clearer views across a wider flood plain. I was a bit early for numbers of passage wagtails, chats and warblers but still clocked up a respectable 70 species with little effort. Highlights included 22 Cattle Egret (top image), 3 Little Egret, 4 Mandarin, 15 Red Kite, 20 Common Buzzard, 1 Hobby, 2 Curlew (below), 2 Greenshank, a Green Sandpiper, 2 Common Sandpiper, a Turtle Dove (a juvenile flying across a stubble field and alighting on a Hawthorn bush), 1 Yellow Wagtail and a calling - croaking - Nightingale.

I had all but packed up birding by 14.00hrs when I made my way to the ever-so picturesque ground at Mill Road where Arundel FC play (with added castle as a backdrop) and treated myself to a long, cold drink. I had noticed that one side of the ground was bordered by a reedy dyke and wandered over in the hope that I might be able to add another species to my 'birds seen at football' list. I was not disappointed, as two Reed Warblers were easily located, taking the total to 72. There are plenty of 'common' birds not yet on it, such as Skylark, Meadow Pipit, Goldcrest, Coal Tit, Siskin and Redpoll and I'm sure that a visit to Lydd Town FC when I'm next at Dungeness will provide an added bit of class to the list. It was a good game and I did not have the need nor the inclination to look skywards too often, but when I did no Cattle Egret flew over and onto the said list...