SPOTTED!
Wildlife in (and around) Hailsham
By Charlie Peverett
When you imagine a kingfisher, where do you imagine it being? Hovering over a wide, slow-moving river? Darting along a crystal-clear stream? Or perhaps sitting beside a secluded pond, deep in the countryside.
Kingfishers are not romantics. While they can be found in any of those wild places, what they’re really interested in is the fish. They seem to be finding plenty of those in Hailsham Common Pond, with at least two being seen there lately.
Though their colours are bright, especially for a British bird, they can be remarkably tricky to see. They can sit still, tucked into branches at the waterside, for long periods. And when they fly it’s fast and low over the water. The flash of electric blue along the back is unmistakable, but blink and you’ll miss it.
The easiest way to set your eyes on a kingfisher is to start with the sound. They have a high-pitched piping call, like a dog whistle, which they make when they fly. It’s usually this that gives you some warning one is about to speed past. And if you’re lucky it will land somewhere you can still see it.
The side of the Common Pond they like best is between the reed and the islands. Sit on a bench by Bellbanks Road for ten minutes, especially early in the morning when it’s quiet, and you stand a good chance of catching a glimpse.
Meanwhile as the nights draw in the redwings will begin to arrive. In the cold last winter, more redwings were seen in our gardens and parks than usual. A little bunch could be found in the trees by the Cortlandt building on George Street for several weeks.
If the weather’s not so severe this season we won’t see many in town again, but they are among the most reliable birds that you can hear on autumn nights, wherever you are, as they migrate from Russia and Scandinavia.
On a still, clear evening around Bonfire Night, listen out for their neat ‘seep’ calls as they pass through invisibly overhead.
Charlie Peverett
Charlie lives in Hailsham with his family and works for Rewilding Britain. You can find him on Twitter as @cuckootrailer.
Credits: Kingfisher – Flickr user Jason Thompson, reproduced under Creative Common licence CC BY 2.0
Redwing – Flickr user Dornenwolf, reproduced under Creative Commons licence CC BY-SA 2.0
[First published October 2018]
