A few days ago, the government announced that the iconic landscape and chalk cliffs of the Seven Sisters had been designated as Britain’s newest National Nature Reserve. 1500 hectares of chalk downland, heath and floodplains are part of the King’s legacy to create or extend 25 National Nature Reserves by 2028. Part of the South Downs National Park, the cliffs and sinuous River Cuckmere are a popular tourist attraction, and a beautiful place to visit whatever time of the year. The chalk hillsides are a good place to spot Short-eared Owls during the summer, and Corn Buntings, Stonechats and Wheatear are commonly seen. Horses are often seen conservation-grazing the meadows, and waders, ducks and swans patrol the shallows and mudflats.
I love the diversity of the Sussex countryside, with so much history, geology, and wildlife for anyone who enjoys the outdoors. Once Bran the pup is a little bigger and able to join his older brother on longer walks, I can’t wait to show him the churches of the Cuckmere Pilgrim Path with the Red Kites, Bo Peep Bostal for the Skylarks and his namesake, the Ravens, and of course a walk along the South Downs Way to Cuckmere Haven for him to see the Seven Sisters cliffs.
For the Birds of the Seven Sisters birdwatching logbook, I wanted to make a logbook showing some of the more illustrious birds that can be seen in the area. They are sold at the Visitor Centre shop, and while I always need to keep in mind the audience (many visitors won’t necessarily be birdwatchers) I have my habitat titles for the usual favourites so I didn’t want to just reiterate those, hence some of the species being quite tricksy to see, such as Hawfinch and SEO. I took a similar approach with Birds of the South Downs where a number of the birds are passage migrants. My aim with the logbooks is to both inform and spark curiosity, rather than the usual I-Spy model of pocketbook where it’s more about ticking things off. I suspect some of the birds features in SotSS won’t be at all familiar, but showing that there’s more to a habitat than Blue Tits and Wrens is important, and championing the less common species has always been my aim, particularly with the site-specific titles.
I really wanted an opportunity to paint the cliffs as the cover pages, a bit like my wanting to paint the Houses of Parliament for Birds of Westminster!
The double-page ticklist spread in the centre of the logbook has the curves of the Cuckmere river as its backdrop – another scene I was keen to paint.
Having the freedom to choose my own design and aesthetic is one of the things I relish about self-publishing, although I have learnt a great deal about book design, colour contrasts and branding since I started the birdwatching logbook project 5 years ago.
The Seven Sisters logbook is available from the shop, as mentioned, or here on my website. As with all my logbooks, they are sustainably printed right here in Sussex, and make a great little memento of a visit to the area.
