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  • Christian Cogley

And So It Begins...

Updated: Jul 18, 2019

The last few months for the Cogley family have been something of a blur. We’ve left jobs, we’ve prayed, sometimes barely getting beyond ‘Lord I believe, help me in my unbelief.’ I’ve enjoyed a brief stint as a barista whilst writing various job applications. We’ve travelled up and down the A21 numerous times in the hope of finding a home. We’ve left family and our church behind, all the while trusting, and attempting to trust, that we were being led in the direction of East Sussex and more specifically, the Hastings area. And here we are, proud residents of St. Leonards, Hastings. And here I am, sat at my desk, an employee of Ashburnham Place; the still potent afternoon sunlight streaming through the window whilst a family of House Sparrows ‘chirrups’ from a roof nearby.

My journey to becoming employed at Ashburnham Place is itself a story. Having enquired about the job some seven or eight months ago, I was told that the post was a live-in position and with a growing family there wasn’t the space to cater for us all. A few months later, and serendipitously around the time of my leaving my full-time managing position, the same job became available again, and this time without the stipulation of residency on site. One job application and one interview later and I am now nearly two weeks in to my new job helping to run Ashburnham’s extensive volunteer programme. The last few days have been a flurry of activity, learning many new names, building new friendships and hopping from one meeting to the next. One of the absolute highlights has been having the opportunity to explore, albeit only on the surface, some of the woods and wild-spaces that make up the 210 acres of pristine woodland and garden habitat at Ashburnham Place. The variety of flora and fauna on site is extensive and I am sure that over the course of my employment here there will be the opportunity to improve my knowledge of plants and insects. As a keen birdwatcher though, I have already noticed a considerable diversity of species around the grounds and, as a result, have been inspired to try and record what I have been seeing. And so, welcome to the very first Birds of Ashburnham blog! Whilst I anticipate that the majority of my writing will be spent describing the habitat, behaviour and idiosyncrasies of the many common species around, I’m convinced that with a bit of time and searching I’m bound to stumble upon something rarer.

In bringing this first post to a close, it would be amiss of me not to mention at least one of the Avian highlights from my first couple of weeks. This particular bird must be well known to many of the community of Ashburnham given his (or her) preference for hanging out, either on the main lawn, or around the edge of Broadwater. At first glance, you might not spot him hiding amongst the flock of similarly sized Canada Geese. Look a bit further however, and his bright orange legs and marbled plumage clearly set him apart from the rest of his kin. His tangerine feet and grey mantle indicate that he comes from Greylag stock, but his white head and the yellowish base to his bill are more indicative of the Bar-Headed variety. Whilst his eccentric plumage might lead one to presume he comes from an exotic location, both of the species mentioned above, that make up his parentage, are commonly found amongst farming stock across the UK. Still, the fact that he has chosen to set up camp at Ashburnham is testimony to his adventurous spirit and for that he should be commended.



A Greylag/Bar-Headed hybrid

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