Island 2000 Trust Blog

Is this the year of the Lesser Whitethroat? I’ve never heard so many around as in the past couple of weeks. It’s great to hear such an obscure little bird it out and about shouting from gardens,the seafront, the railway embankments but its such a skulker you just can’t get more than the most fleeting of glimpses. Quite a pretty bird in a dark kind of way, especially when they’re all freshly arrived and still quite neat: slate grey with a darker face and blue legs. The song is a machine-gun-like rattle, not terribly musical but quite distinctive. Listen out for it and so long as you’re not near a war-zone or on MOD land you can be fairly confident that you too have heard the Lesser Whitethroat.

Enterprising sparrows have adopted an old swallows nest with interesting results (we found this in a shed while we were searching for Barn Owls). The swallows (writing in transit of course) have complained that the conversion is clearly unsympathetic to the original design. They go further and describe the new build as ‘hideous’ and ‘just typical of those chavvy sparrow types’.

Winter’s an excellent time to have a wander along Ryde sea front and look for birds. There a Mediterranean Gulls all over the place, grebes and sea-ducks just offshore, Redwings galore up in the park and who knows what else. One of the most delightful sights though is a flurry of Sanderling as they rush about at the water’s edge picking up whatever uncovers there. Somehow they look as if they’re on a different speed-setting to the rest of reality. This lovely picture of Sanderlings roosting on a shingle bank isn’t actually from the Island - it’s from Rye Harbour and the fabulous nature reserves there. To see more amazing wildlife photography visit their website: rxwildlife.org.uk