Ignore the news have a cuddle? A Great Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo (a parson as a VN here in Sussex) looking very resplendent in breeding plumage at #RyeHarbourNR Castle Water. I always think they are rather unfairly overlooked.
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Egyptian Goose family at #RyeHarbourNR. This introduced species first bred in Sussex in 2000 and the 2024 Sussex Bird Report notes the “inexorable and rapid rise of this species continues” - I saw 3 families at the weekend with these being at Castle Water.
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‘Is this my best side?’ A Skylark at #RyeHarbourNR posing for the @sussexornitholo.bsky.social walk at the weekend. Previously these were eaten or exported or caged but had an affectionate place in literature: “Hail to thee, blithe spirit”.
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A pair of Grey Partridge Perdix perdix showing obligingly for the @sussexornitholo.bsky.social #RyeHarbourNR walk at the weekend. Sadly a scarce resident in Sussex with most in West Sussex and this pair one of the few in East Sussex.
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10 joined me for the @sussexornitholo.bsky.social walk at #RyeHarbourNR this morning, the wind a bit enthusiastic but a good selection of birds: Black-headed, GBB, Herring & Med Gull; Common & Sandwich Tern; Dunlin; Golden Plover; Grey Partridge; Spotted & Common Redshank; Turnstone
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As we move towards the breeding season at #RyeHarbourNR presumably the difference between male and female Larus ridibundus is clear for pairing up… Size may matter (males are bigger) and here I imagine the female is on the left…
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Tringa totanus (L) and T. erythropus (R), Common & Spotted Redshank, at #RyeHarbourNR on 14/3/26. Common and very scarce winter visitors respectively but this is a good Sx location for both.
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Recurvirostra avocetta, the impossibly elegant Avocet, in Saturday sunshine at #RyeHarbourNR 14/3/26. Other waders there: Common & Spotted Redshank; Curlew; Dunlin; Golden Plover; Lapwing: Oystercatcher; Snipe.
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Oops too late for #WildflowerHour but here is the only Colts-foot I have noticed this Spring (here at #RyeHarbourNR) - the Sx Flora notes “decreased greatly and it is difficult to explain such an extensive loss”. Tussilago farfara (and Coughwort is another name).

In North America this is the Mew Gull (there was an attempt for that name to be used here) but we tend to stick to Common Gull (the Sussex Bird Report says “very common”). We could say Larus canus (canus though is linked to grey & white, which is all gulls). This one on its own at #RyeHarbourNR

Having discovered that there are more Egretta garzetta in the U.K. than first realised more effort is needed to stand out (A Little Egret at #RyeHarbourNR last weekend.)
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Avian crowds at #RyeHarbourNR this past weekend with Lapwing and Golden Plover, plus Pintail (other ducks available included Wigeon, Shoveler & Teal).
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Just stepping out together: 2 Larus argentatus argenteus, Herring Gull the most widely recorded Gull in Sussex (60% of tetrads in 2024) - these 2 at #RyeHarbourNR at the weekend.
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Waders at #RyeHarbourNR on the last day of January incl: Avocet; Curlew (L); Dunlin; Golden Plover (R); Knot; Lapwing; Oystercatcher; Ringed Plover; Turnstone
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It feels a bit Siberian here and perhaps these 2 Brent Goose Branta bernicla at #RyeHarbourNR at the weekend are wondering whether they hadn’t left. The 2014-23 county average for Jan is 12341 but East Sussex only has a few (Sussex Bird Report 2024).
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Apart from Bar-tailed Godwit waders on the @sussexornitholo.bsky.social walk at #RyeHarbourNR on 3/1/26 included: Avocet; Curlew; Dunlin; Golden, Grey & Ringed Plover; Knot; Oystercatcher; Redshank; Sanderling; Snipe; Turnstone.
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8 braved a piercing nor-westerly to join me at #RyeHarbourNR today for the first @sussexornitholo.bsky.social walk of 2026. We started with 2 Brent and ended with Spoonbill and Barwit with a good selection of ducks and waders in between.
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Will the Spoonbill feature on the first @sussexornitholo.bsky.social walk of 2026 at #RyeHarbourNR this Saturday? Coot and Lapwing will!
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Another from the weekend at #RyeHarbourNR - the Spoonbill is said to feed mainly by touch, is this also true of preening I wonder?
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Fulica atra, the Coot, forms large winter flocks - eg at #RyeHarbourNR at the weekend - gregarious now but aggressively territorial in the breeding season! Perhaps this gave rise to the expression ‘as queer as a coot’ and perhaps its white ‘blaze the ‘bald as a coot’.
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Ciconiiformes members at #RyeHarbourNR yesterday included a ‘just stretching after a snooze’ Spoonbill plus Great and Little Egret (Grey Heron was AWOL).
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Common (L) and Spotted Redshank (R) at #RyeHarbourNR 22/11/25. Quite different in some ways but both have red shanks.
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Tadorna tadorna, the Shelduck, a female at #RyeHarbourNR this past weekend. Maybe a winter visitor or a scarce local breeder here. ‘Sheld’ is thought to derive from the Dutch (Schillede ie variegated but I think they call this duck Bergeend).
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A quiet scattering of Chroicocephalus ridibundus, the Black-headed Gull, at #RyeHarbourNR last weekend but late spring and summer there can be almost 700 noisy pairs here. Seen somewhere in Sussex every day of the year.
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In the past couple of weeks Plovers at #RyeHarbourNR have included: American Golden, European Golden, Grey and Ringed. Here are the Grey from the past weekend - largest winter numbers tend to be in West Sussex but enough can be found here.
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Dabchick, divy duck, divedapper or Little Grebe Tachybaptus ruficollis. Around 10 popping up and down like corks in front of Denny hide #RyeHarbourNR on Saturday. Some resident some perhaps visiting.
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Through the Discovery Centre windows at #RyeHarbourNR on 22/11, not often one gets to watch Goosander over coffee & cake - I can highly recommend it on a wild windy day!
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Wild day at #RyeHarbourNR Saturday with a forceful SouSouWesterly and for birders peering through wind-buffeted bins at hunkered-down birds challenging! Waders to be found though, Spoonbill & Little Egret, a fine male Marsh Harrier quartering very close to the ground.

Other types of bio-beads at #RyeHarbourNR… These on a plant from the Far East just off the path down from Cuckoo Corner. Not sure which Cotoneaster (Franchet’s?) or how it got here, or when, as I hadn’t noticed it before.

A pair of Mallard, at #RyeHarbourNR on 8/11. Other Ducks were available: Gadwall; Pintail; Shelduck; Shoveler; Teal; Tufted; Wigeon; but the male Mallard was looking particularly dapper and I think this most widespread of ducks is often overlooked.
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