BIRD NEWS: 886

 

Our next excursion started at the old cement works just north of Shoreham. We parked in the layby just north of it and began our hike where we usually stopped to turn around when hiking the River Adur from Shoreham. I clicked pics of the bird ID board and we walked the Downs Link north, towards Bramber, our destination.

Liz counted 15 swans as we strolled along and spotted a group of mute swans. It was nice to see them swimming freely and peacefully along, near a bunch of blackheaded gulls.

Here is a map of part of our route, including plenty of the local birdlife.

Here is the map showing our route for the Saturday hike. The red line is the route we took to get to Bramber, the yellow one was our wandering around a bit and returning after we explored Bramber.

In Bramber we came across a lot of historical stuff - including a castle ruins and church from 1079, a Tudor house, and several quaint cottages. In one garden I spotted this:

I don't think I have ever seen anything like it in my life before!! But then, Bramber has a lot of stuff I don't often encounter - such as the ancient castle ruins and the Tudor house...

We wandered along the river towards Upper Beeding to find a spot to munch lunch just past the town and encountered more swans. We concluded that the giant bunch of 15 might be 1-3 year olds not yet ready to mate, and any pairs were the escapees who had found a partner. Another info board covered in birds ends today's post.