Birds

Barn Owl

Barn owls can be seen hunting in daylight, as well as at night, in winter when food is often harder to find. Tawny owls mate for life. They’re very territorial and tend to stay on their ‘patch’ for life. Their eggs (2-3 in a clutch) are usually laid in late March and hatch about a month later. They will stay in the nest until late May.

We currently have 3 Owl Boxes on the Course(Apr22). The boxes appear to be in good use but it’s difficult to tell because we’re not allowed (by law!) to inspect them - we need a licence to do that and so have to rely on the South Downs National Park (SDNP) to monitor them. We used to have more but some of them have fallen down over the years after storms etc.

Black redstart

Infrequent transitory visitor. The black redstart is a small robin-sized bird that has adapted to live at the heart of industrial and urban centres.

-

Blackbird

While male blackbirds live up to their name, confusingly, females are actually brown, often with spots and streaks on their breasts. You'll quite often spot these birds hopping along the ground with their long tails up in the air. In winter, migrant blackbirds from northern Europe join our resident birds.

Must be one of the most recognisable bird in the UK and can be seen and heard all around the course.

Blackcap

A distinctive greyish warbler, the male has a black cap, and the female a chestnut one. Its delightful fluting song has earned it the name 'northern nightingale'.

-

Blue Tit

A colourful mix of blue, yellow, white and green make the agile blue tit one of our most attractive garden visitors. In winter, family flocks join up with other tits as they search for food - flitting onto bird feeders, or feeding on seeds and scraps left on bird tables and on the ground.

Very common all around the course and a pair have nested near the 4th tee for the last few years.

Brent goose

A small, dark goose - the same size as a mallard. It has a black head and neck and grey-brown back, with either a pale or dark belly, depending on the race.

-

Bullfinch

The male Bullfinch is unmistakable with his bright pinkish-red breast and cheeks, grey back, black cap and tail, and bright white rump. The flash of the rump in flight and piping whistled call are usually the first signs of Bullfinches being present. They feed heavily on the buds of various trees in spring and were once considered a pest of fruit crops.

-

Buzzard

The commonest UK bird of prey

Frequently seen and heard flying above the course with up to 7 seen in 2012.