By Paul James

December may seem a quiet month for birding, but Sussex offers rich rewards for those willing to brave the winter chill and short daylight hours. A mix of habitats — including coastal estuaries, inland wetlands, downland, heathland and woodland — make it a haven for wintering species.

Coastal Hotspots
As winter progresses, Chichester Harbour, Pagham Harbour and Rye Harbour become magnets for thousands of overwintering waterbirds. Expect large flocks of Brent Goose, Shelduck, Wigeon, Pintail, Teal, Lapwing, Golden Plover, Grey Plover, Curlew, Knot, Dunlin and Redshank, with increasing numbers of Avocet – now a regular winter feature – in both Chichester and Pagham Harbours.

Keen-eyed birders might spot a wintering Greenshank, Spotted Redshank or Whimbrel. Fishbourne Creek in Chichester Harbour has been a consistent location for these in previous winters and is also a reliable for Goldeneye, Red-breasted Merganser and Kingfisher.

Purple Sandpipers winter regularly at a handful of sites in Sussex, of which Brighton Marina and Newhaven Harbour are the most reliable. The walk out to the end of the east arm at Brighton Marina is long and often cold, so a better option may be the east pier of Newhaven Harbour (accessed from Newhaven Tidemills), where the birds can be viewed at very close quarters on a rising tide. Other possibilities at these sites include Fulmar, Guillemot, Razorbill, Shag, Black Redstart and Rock Pipit.

Sea Watching
Along the Sussex coast, seawatching in winter can produce both Red-throated and Great Northern Divers, Red-breasted Merganser and Slavonian Grebe, with Selsey Bill a reliable site for all these species. Flocks of Common Scoter may gather in Rye Bay, sometimes accompanied by a few Velvet Scoter. The sea wall at Pett Level is an excellent — if sometimes rather exposed — place to scan for these.

Inland Wetlands
Inland wetlands such as Pulborough Brooks RSPB Reserve and Amberley Wildbrooks are superb for waterbirds and raptors in December. Numbers of Shoveler, Wigeon, Pintail, Teal and Lapwing gather on floodwater, the latter sometimes accompanied by a handful of Ruff, while Marsh Harrier, Peregrine and occasionally a White-tailed Eagle patrol overhead. As dusk falls, there’s a good chance of seeing a hunting Barn Owl.

The real prize in the Arun Valley, however, is Bewick’s Swan, a species that has declined precipitously as a winter visitor in both Sussex and the UK. A handful still return each winter and may be encountered anywhere between Pulborough Brooks and Burpham — but be sure to make the most of them before they disappear from Sussex altogether.

Downland
Downland can seem almost birdless in winter, but a visit to The Burgh (north of Burpham) may be rewarded with sightings of Grey Partridge and Corn Bunting, both scarce birds in the county. The area is also excellent for raptors: sightings of Common Buzzard, Kestrel and Red Kite are guaranteed, while other possibilities include Sparrowhawk, Hen Harrier, White-tailed Eagle, Merlin and Peregrine.

Heathland
Heathland is another habitat that can seem devoid of birds in winter, but a visit to Old Lodge on Ashdown Forest or one of the West Sussex heaths such as Heyshott Common or Iping Common may, with patience, produce Siskin, Redpoll and even Crossbill, especially with the large numbers of the latter currently in the county.

Woodlands and Farmland
By December, Fieldfare and Redwing are busy feeding on hawthorn berries. Try West Dean Woods for both Brambling and the elusive Hawfinch — the latter often seen from the footpath to Monkton Farm in early afternoon as the birds come in to roost.

Tips for December Birding

• Arrive early – short daylight hours make mornings precious.
• Check both weather and tidal forecasts if planning to visit coastal hotspots. These sites are best on a rising tide as the birds are pushed towards you. Bring a telescope if you have one.
• Check local bird news services for recent bird sightings.

Chyngton Brooks: Pat Wilder	Redshank: Alison Playle

The National Trust has made a planning application to the South Downs National Park Authority to restore 42 hectares of land to saltmarsh and mudflats. The article on the National Trust website explains the proposals in some detail and contains a link to the planning application SDNP/25/04080/FUL

In summary, the habitat created is predicted to be saltmarsh with some intertidal mud areas: the area won’t simply be ‘flooded’ as some have claimed. This will create valuable habitat for waders and wildfowl especially and most importantly will give them an extensive secure area where they will be free from disturbance by people and dogs.

Although the footpath round the western edges of the estuary would be inundated at times a re-routed, all weather, path slightly higher up the slope is proposed, which would give good views over the new saltmarsh habitat.

Less than 1% of saltmarsh in the UK is in Sussex and SOS is of the opinion that the proposals will have a positive effect on avian populations, and will be of particular benefit to wintering birds. You can comment on the proposals here

Pat Wilder

Frontline Stories from Global Leaders in Bird Research, Conservation and Wildlife Broadcasting

Avian Odyssey is a major bird research and conservation event hosted by the Natural History Museum (NHM) in partnership with the British Ornithologists’ Club (BOC) and other leading organisations.

Originating as regional collaborations nearly fifteen years ago, it has since grown into a global conference featuring partners like the RSPB, BirdLife International, and the BTO.

This year’s programme includes nine talks on pressing issues such as plastics in the environment, the spread of Usutu virus, citizen science in China, and vulture conservation in Nigeria.

Highlights include RSPB CEO Beccy Speight’s keynote address and insights from BBC Natural History producer Giles Badger.

When: Saturday 20 September 2025

Where: Flett Theatre (Exhibition Road Entrance), Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD.

Tickets Prices:

• Standard In-person Adult Admission Price (18+): £10
• Concession In-person Ticket Admission Price: £7 (Children 13+, Student In-person (full-time education, Universal/Pension Credit).
• Disabled In-person Companion: Free
• Virtual (Live Stream) Online Ticket: £5

Website, info and tickets: here

Three new islands on the lagoon

New low point winding from the lagoon to the solar pump location

New scrape created on the wetland

We are pleased to share an update on the work at the Ferry Pool and Fields at Pagham Harbour provided by Downs to Sea.

The work so far
The Downs to the Sea project on Ferry Field is now well underway and is making great progress. Works began on 11th August and after only a few weeks, a huge amount had been achieved.

The contractors started by creating a new, shallow channel. This channel will connect the new solar pump to the lagoon, allowing water to be channelled to the lagoon as required. This will provide an input of freshwater to the lagoon, to allow staff to keep the lagoon at the correct water level and also the required salinity.

3 new islands have been created in the lagoon. 2 of these were simple to make, but the third provided quite a challenge. Even with the lagoon being the driest it has been in a long time, the area closest to the road was still too wet to hold the weight of a digger. We have discovered there is about 1.5m of silt in this area which has built up over years of flooding, so even with special bog mats to spread the weight of the digger, they could not reach this area. As a result, we worked closely with the contractors and our ecologists to come up with an alternative location for the third island. This means the island has been created in a location that could be accessed by the digger but will still be beneficial to wildlife. The gentle profile of the island edges will provide a lovely muddy edge and the non-linear shapes of the island will create sheltered areas. This will create ideal habitat for waders like Avocet to build their nests and feed their chicks.

A new berm has been created along the bank of the Broad Rife. This is an elevated area of ground that serves two purposes. The first is to provide some protection to the Broad Rife bank against wave and wind action in the lagoon. The second is to provide a raised area for the new predator exclusion fence to sit on.

The old bund running down the centre ditch of the field has been removed. This bund sat in a low area of the field and prevented water movement. This bund is now being moved to a higher point to separate the saline lagoon area of the field from the fresh water wet grassland. This will allow a greater area of the field to be managed for breeding waders and wildfowl effectively.

New spill out areas, rills and scrapes have begun being made. These are shallow dug out areas that wind their way through the wet grassland. They have shallow graded edges, so when filled with water, they will provide muddy edges for wader chicks to feed.

What’s Next ?
The contractors will continue their progress on the new bund and the spill out areas. They will also be installing a new sluice which will hold water on the wetland. They are going to be starting to get preparatory ground works done before the new solar pump arrives in October. Works will also be starting on the new predator exclusion fence.

We will continue to provide updates as soon as they are available.

Adam Huttly

Sidlesham Ferry Field and Pool near Pagham Harbour was an iconic place for birding as one of the county’s best places to see breeding, wintering, passage and roosting birds at close quarters. It even produced the occasional mega rarity. In recent years many know that the situation has declined, and plans are afoot to improve things.

Funding has been secured for £186k investment in the 17ha site. The National Lottery Heritage fund is supporting it with £108,000 through the South Downs National Park Trust’s Downs to the Sea programme. Other sources are £35,000 from Countryside Stewardship payments, £20,000 pledged from SOS’s core funds, and £10,216 from SOS’s Big Give Green Match Fund campaign. Additionally, a £5000 donation was received from Friends of Chichester Harbour.

This means the project can start almost immediately aligning with the long term vision for the area, despite the short term disturbance that will occur.

The project will involve:

• Creating more muddy areas around Ferry Pool and the ditch network in Ferry Field to establish a wider area for birds to feed for invertebrates, this includes breeding birds (particularly flightless wader chicks), wintering birds and those using the location as a feeding/resting ‘pitstop’ during migration. This will involve considerable earth moving by skilled contractors.

• Separating the saline water zone from the freshwater area by creating a bund using the arisings from the earthworks mentioned above to establish greater biodiversity between these habitats. Currently the saline water is encroaching into the freshwater grazing marsh area, impacting on its potential.

• Enabling easier hydrological controls within the freshwater system, to ensure they remain wetter for longer, especially later in the spring and summer when flightless wader chicks need to feed. This will be achieved by making the ditch network a little deeper with wider and shallower side profiles to maintain those important soft feeding areas for longer and by installing a fish friendly solar powered pump to extract fresh water from surrounding streams to top up when required. This technology has been successfully deployed in the Netherlands and may other RSPB reserves in recent years and replaces diesel pumps and their carbon impact.

• Installing a 1.9km anti-predator fence around Sidlesham Ferry Field and Pool to protect ground nesting birds and their eggs from mammalian feeding. Fox activity in the area leads to the failure of the nests of Lapwings, Redshanks and Avocets at this site due to this predation. This year there are only two Lapwing pairs are using the site; the potential is many more. To achieve a sustainable population and replace mortality in adults, Lapwings need to produce 0.6-0.8 fledged chicks per pair per year. This site’s breeding productivity is considerably below that requirement and could be considered a population sink. The installation of such fencing immediately increases breeding productivity above the threshold. Some sites with such fencing in Kent and Essex are getting 1.4-1.8 fledged chicks per year and they are breeding in much higher densities typical of the colonial breeding of this species.

SOS have had a long association with this site. Its early members may have been part of the work party that constructed the original hide that overlooked the pool in the mid-1960s. In the late 1970s or early 1980s a £5,000 grant from SOS (partly made via a fundraising campaign to members) secured the purchase of the field by providing funding to Sussex Wildlife Trust. In 2017 a splendid new hide was constructed partly funded through a £20k grant from SOS.

Please be aware that during this period of crucial work there will be a lot of disturbance, but the hope is that weather depending – the work can be completed in good time.

Adam Huttly

In recent years there has been a surge in popularity of birding apps, such as Birdnet and Merlin, which suggest an identification based upon the sounds or images presented to them. The use of such apps is great fun and to be encouraged since they make for excellent educational tools. However they do, fairly often, get it wrong and generate “false positives”. Because of this the SOS, in line with BTO guidelines, kindly asks users to refrain from adding any record into a database (such as iRecord, Birdtrack or eBird) which is unchecked and based solely upon an app reading.

One great advantage with Merlin is that recordings can be easily saved and stored on the app for future reference. And so the next time your device flashes up a Marsh Warbler or a Golden Oriole, remember to press the “save” button – it could make or break a fantastic record!

David Thorns

recorder@sos.org.uk