Wednesday, 2 January 2013

Waxwings in Sussex

Bohemian Waxwing, Bombycilla garrulus at Lewes
To  view  a  Slideshow,  click  here  then  choose  Fullscreen  (top  right)
Yesterday was Waxwing day. I headed to a local site, Elm Grove Road, where waxwings had been reported the day before. I met four other enthusiasts and we saw five Waxwings perched on a aerial from 9:30 to 9:45. Sue then joined me for a trip to Mayhew Way, Lewes where we joined up to 30 birders watching ten Waxwings on this sunny day. The Waxwings perched in tall trees on one side of the road, then flew in groups down to bushes covered in red berries on our side of the road. This continued for the 30 minutes we stayed. We then headed to the Giant’s Rest, Wilmington where I had excellent local ale and sausage, bubble & squeak and chutney.

 Waxwings come to Britain from Scandinavia during the winter to feed on the plentiful berries found further south. They tend to congregate in groups. One of the Lewes birds was ringed on 1st December 2012 at Newtown College, Powys, 175 miles away.

 Sussex Ornithological Society have an excellent sightings page to keep informed about sightings: http://bit.ly/twkKoT

Littlehampton:










Lewes:



Yummy!









What are all those people looking at?



at

13 comments:

  1. Sandra3 January 2013 at 17:44

    Lovely waxwing shots Colin! So you too had a fantastic waxwing day. :)

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  2. Colin Knight3 January 2013 at 18:19

    Thanks Sandra, Waxwings rule! I have linked your blog, no facility to be notified of updates :(

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  3. Papilio9 January 2013 at 07:46

    Some nice shots there Colin; I'm a big fan of the Waxwing!

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  4. Papilio9 January 2013 at 07:47

    Some nice shots there Colin; I'm a big fan of the Waxwing

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  5. Colin Knight9 January 2013 at 08:12

    Thanks Leigh, it was wonderful to see some a few minutes from home, but Lewes gave us some great views.

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  6. Papilio9 January 2013 at 12:19

    Yes the Lewes birds were very obiliging indeed. we were there briefly on the 1st and I took a near identical image to one of yours! On my Flickr page. m.flickr.com/#/photos/48896022@N08

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  7. Papilio10 January 2013 at 19:27

    Hi Colin, some more Waxwings at Rustington at East Preston. one group of 5 birds seen near the Sainsburys store at Rustington.

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  8. Colin Knight11 January 2013 at 08:23

    Thanks Leigh, I was there yesterday but no sighting. Reports of about 30 early am by Station Rd roundabout, off again now, wish me luck!

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  9. Papilio11 January 2013 at 15:37

    I saw you found them! I had a look at lunch but missed them :-( Were they near the entrance to the car park, by Halfords, or by the other end? Did you manage any photos?

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  10. Colin Knight11 January 2013 at 15:41

    by the service entrance from the A259, large bush with berries with roosting tree beside it. photos: http://www.colinknightimages.com/Blog-slideshows/2013/Rustington-Waxwings

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  11. Papilio11 January 2013 at 16:58

    Thanks!

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  12. PrimroseCopse26 November 2013 at 13:59

    Lovely shots. I suppose you know that in Sussex they were known as The Chatterer Bird (for fairly obvious reasons). They were always rare autumn and winter visitors. there actually seem to be more common now.

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  13. Colin Knight26 November 2013 at 18:28

    Fascinating, thanks, I didn't know that. Chatterer appears to have been applied to a few birds: http://www.thewonderofbirds.com/chatterer/

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