Time with Ingrid on Saturday included a gorgeous donder along the undercliff at Saltdean, east of Brighton, featuring a few
Fulmars and
Rock Pipits. This was rudely interrupted by an unmissable event at Pagham Harbour - I left Ingrid to visit her friends in Brighton and rushed over to Church Norton where I spent a wonderful evening watching the adult
ELEGANT TERN stealing fish from and cavorting with Sandwich Terns. It sometimes required patience for it to materialise amid the colony of Mediterranean and Black-headed Gulls, Little, Sandwich and Common Terns but when it did, enthralling flight views were available. Other bits included a Whimbrel, Cuckoo and Lesser Whitethroat. After a mess of a trip which amounted to a dip and run yesterday, I returned to Frensham Common today, successfully latching eyes on the 2cy male Red-footed Falcon, a great Surrey rarity, as it hunted by hovering and diving from dead trees; among a nice selection of other birds were Redstart, Dartford Warbler, Woodlark, Stonechat, Siskin, Garden Warbler, Common Tern, Egyptian Goose and a number of Swifts and Sand Martins.
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| Fulmar along the cliffs at Saltdean |
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| Elegant Tern at Pagham |
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| 2cy male Red-footed Falcon at Frensham |
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| ♂ Redstart at Frensham |
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| Dartford Warbler at Frensham |
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| ♂ Stonechat at Frensham |
