Iford Brooks, Lewes & The Burgh, Burpham. Geese, Grey Partridges and raptors. 28.02.21

I went birding with a friend on Monday 28.02.21. I returned to Iford, to show him the Tundra Bean Geese, Russian White-Fronted Geese and Pink-Footed Geese that I had seen two weeks ago. The Bean and White-Fronted Geese were there; bit not the Pink Footed Goose.

Iford Brooks

The three Tundra Been Geese, with two Greylag Geese

Six White-Fronted Geese (from behind) with two Canada Geese

A female Reed Bunting

Ashcombe Mill (near Kingston); seen from the path back to Iford Village; for its history see: https://sussexmillsgroup.org.uk/ashcombe.htm

Lewes Castle; seen from the path back to Iford Village; for its history see: Lewes Castle & Museum - Sussex Past

The Burgh / Burpham

Pair of Buzzards and a Herring Gull

One of the Buzzards from the above

Mutes Swans - in the meadows of the Arun (there are sometimes Bewick's Swans here in winter)

A Chaffinch

A Herring Gill and a Red Kite

Grey Partridges (native)

The recently published European Breeding Bird Atlas (EBBA2) has shown that Grey Partridge has declined by 94% across Europe since 1980.

Dr Francis Buner, senior conservation scientist at the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT), who co-authored the Grey Partridge species account in the EBBA2, commented: "The dramatic decline of the grey partridge across its entire Western European range should act as a wake-up call to us all. Europe's farmland biodiversity is under severe threat with unprecedented declines and even complete losses to wildlife in all corners of the EU and the UK.

"Europe's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) clearly failed to take care of the fundamental entity that allows for a healthy life on our planet – biodiversity. Following Brexit, the UK now has a chance in a lifetime to move on from the unsustainable policy regulations imposed by the CAP and implement its own green policies to undo the damage before it will be too late." Grey Partridge declines by 94% across Europe in four decades - BirdGuides

A Kestrel

The back of a Stoat

Red-Legged Partridge (introduced)

Dog Violets

A female blackbird

A Cattle Egret and a South Downs Sheep

A Red Kite

A curious jockey grave in the churchyard at Burpham

A Mandarin duck; at Swanboure Lake, Arundel.