An hour at Goring Gap early morning produced eastbound
Whimbrel and
Curlew, a female
Wheatear, 41 eastbound
Dark-bellied Brent Geese, a
Sandwich Tern, 11
Linnets overhead, a
Sparrowhawk, two
Mediterranean Gulls, a 3CY
Common Gull and five
Great Crested Grebes. The beach held an unusually tight flock of 73
Turnstones, along with 32
Sanderlings, a
Ringed Plover and two
Dunlin.
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| Canada Geese on the sea off Goring Gap then launching themselves on to the beach |
I dropped Ingrid off at work then took a route around the Sheepcote Valley, yielding a delightful but brief male
Redstart but little else of note - just small numbers of
Chiffchaffs,
Blackcaps,
Meadow Pipits,
Skylarks and
Linnets, and a sole male
Stonechat. I also saw my first Speckled Wood of the year.
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| male Redstart in the Sheepcote Valley |
A late afternoon visit to Chantry Hill with Gareth saw us cross paths with a spectacular
Short-eared Owl. A few
Yellowhammers were present and later we heard a
Barn Owl and up to four
Tawny Owls.
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| Short-eared Owl at Chantry Hill |
