List of birds recorded in 2020
The Glossy Ibis that caused quite a stir on henfield Levels in 2020 There were a total of 136 species recorded in the Parish of Henfield during 2020. This included three new species added to the Parish list: Great White Egret, Glossy Ibis and Caspian Gull. Of these, it is Great White Egret that could well become a more regular visit to the Parish, with two records during the year. The list of species was accumulated from 7,760 records submitted through the year from two sources. The Sussex Ornithological Society's database provided 5,069, whilst Henfield Birdwatch members added another 2,691 directly to HBW (although there was inevitably some duplication between the two). During 2020 there was a welcome return to the Levels of White-fronted Geese after an absence of three years, whilst we had the first Goosanders seen in the Parish since 2012. There was only the Henfield Birdwatch 2020
Photo: Val Bentley
sixth record of Great Crested Grebe and the second of both Oystercatcher and Grey Phalarope. Hoopoe and Golden Oriole gave a couple of lucky birders good local finds during the year, a Black Redstart appeared for the second year running and we had only our second Water Pipit since the early eighties. The year also marked the earliest ever arrival dates for Spotted Flycatcher and Nightingale, and the year's first Swift was the joint earliest. A late Common Whitethroat set a new departure record, along with the latest Yellow Wagtail yet recorded. 2020 will be mainly remembered as the year in which a global pandemic wreaked havoc on an unimaginable scale, but it may be a small crumb of comfort that it was a very good year for birdlife in the Parish of Henfield. 7
