1st March 2019 - A Crazy Hour in the Cuckmere Valley

After news on the SOS website the night before of a Glossy Ibis found by the Eastbourne SWT in the Cuckmere Valley, I called Max and suggested the possibility of twitching it in-between lectures at university as long as it was still present today. Max was keen on the idea, a lifer for him and and a Sussex tick for myself. I arrived at uni around 8am and news had already come out at 07:25am that the bird was still showing well on the first meanders. Max shortly arrived after and I let him know the news and we both sat through an interesting lecture on plant defences albeit quite anxiously. The lecture finished at 11am and we both hastily grabbed our bags and headed for my car. At this point there had still been no news on whether the bird was still there or not.

We set off from Brighton and whilst I was driving through Tarring Neville I received a phone call from DKC who was on site to say that the bird hadn't been seen since this morning. I suggested to Max in the car that we start a search, North of Exceat upon arrival as I had a feeling if the bird was still around thats where it would be. We arrived at the Cuckmere and headed North of Exceat and as Max and I started scanning the fields, Max said "I've got a Spoonbill". We set up the scope and enjoyed great views of this bird before it was sadly flushed by a dog off a lead charging towards it and the Canada Geese. The Spoonbill then done a couple of laps of the sky and then quickly departed South. Luckily DKC was not far away and a quick phone call enabled him to get onto it as it flew towards the sea potentially heading towards the scrape.

Spoonbill, Cuckmere Haven, East Sussex

We carried on North and much to our great excitement we relocated the Glossy Ibis after it had been missing since the morning. It was about c500m North of Exceat and visible in a field to the right from the first bend in the river. We again both enjoyed good scope views before 3 Common Buzzards went over flushing it. We tracked it in the bins and it soon pitched down in a nearby field but out of sight. A quick walk further up the river bank quickly relocated it again, actively feeding in a ditch. DKC and JWK were not far behind and again we all enjoyed great views. 

Glossy Ibis, Cuckmere Haven, East Sussex

The time was now getting on so, Max and I headed back to the car. We arrived back at Uni just in time at 13:56pm for our second lecture of the day which started at 14:00pm. A fantastic start to the month of March!