Bird Race - 2nd January 2010: The Hen Harriers met on Ashdown Forest in the freezing pre-dawn, the full moon lighting their way. A pheasant was the first bird logged, closely followed by blackbird and bullfinch; crows were calling, and a wren was heard nearby. By 07.15, the first redpolls were flying, and soon after, a group of crossbills passed over our heads. A good omen. Six fieldfares flew over, too, and a yellowhammer “chipped” from the scrub. A couple of linnets passed us, and coal tit was heard, too. Meadow pipits were the next birds seen, but our attention was drawn to four crows mobbing a ringtail hen harrier leaving its roosting place at 08.05. Time always seems to accelerate on Race Day, and we had to move on to our next location – the churchyard at Isfield. On the way, we saw magpie, woodpigeon, starling and jackdaw. At Isfield, we found greenfinch, chaffinch, nuthatch, robin, song thrush, blue tit, dunnock, great tit, great spotted woodpecker, treecreeper; common buzzard was heard calling (and one seen later at Darwell); rook, mallard (two overflying) goldfinch, Canada geese, collared dove, stock dove, jay. Onward to Uckfield, where we looked in vain for barn owl, but saw the usual house sparrows and feral pigeons, and more blue tits, coal tit, nuthatch etc. Back into the car for the dash to the coast, noting sparrowhawk as we drove through Cross in Hand. We stopped at Darwell Woods, which didn’t look promising, as there were masses of dog walkers and a shooting party in the woods opposite the car park. We crossed over and scanned the meadows, which only revealed yet more pheasants. But our second common buzzard, flying from the wood edge, was good to see. Herring gulls were flying over, as were black-headed gulls (of course, we saw plenty of these later at the coast). As the dog walkers were by now far away, we scanned the trees beyond the car park and found marsh and long- tailed tits and yet more nuthatches. Pied wagtail was the next bird for the list, together with a snipe, presumably flushed by the shooters. (Two more snipe were subsequently seen at Pett Level). With the guns getting closer, it was time to move on to Pett Village. Here we were able to find a small party of redwings, a couple of mistle thrushes, and an obliging green woodpecker. Cliff End at Pett was our next stopping place, and we saw fulmar, a turnstone, two red-throated divers, cormorants, scoter, great crested grebes and a red-necked grebe. No peregrine or raven, alas, and the tide was high, so it was time to look at the levels. Here we soon logged redshank, curlew, lapwing, mute swan, dunlin, grey plover, little egret, moorhen, shoveler, greylag geese (and more Canada geese), white-fronted geese, common gull, gadwall, coot, wigeon, pochard, teal, tufted duck, pintail, a goldeneye, and Cetti’s warbler. A lone gannet was seen offshore as we ate lunch on the sea wall. The next venue was Northpoint Pit, where we found another red-throated diver and two little grebes. We finally saw grey heron, and a large flock of golden plover was in the field by the road. Scotney Pit was next, and here we saw a barnacle goose, shelduck, lesser and great black- backed gulls and a marsh harrier. A drake goldeneye flew across the water, twice. We were well into the afternoon now, so a dash back to Rye Harbour was called for. It was very busy there, and we only added sky lark to the list. The Castle Water viewing point seemed to be our best bet, and we were lucky there. Several Cetti’s were heard from the reed beds, as were water rails. A bittern gave one of our number a brief view, but luckily a second bird came in which we all saw. A kestrel was also seen here. By now it was almost dark, and no barn owl, or little owl, was seen. So we headed home, stopping in a layby on the road to Netherfield. No sooner had the car windows been opened than a tawny owl called from the woods. We’d had a happy time, and beaten our last year’s score – a good result all round. Total species: 89.