Goring Gap first thing produced another juvenile
Yellow-legged Gull, this one flying east offshore.
Gannets increased, with 51 past during my hour's vigil, along with seven
Mediterranean Gulls and 30
Sandwich Terns (including several juveniles following their parents).
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| adult and juvenile Sandwich Terns at Goring Gap |
The rest of the day was just brilliant, spent in the company of my oldest birding friend Phil. We spent seven hours at Pulborough Brooks, notching up 63 species. We enjoyed a couple of incredibly exciting encounters in the first half-hour, with a recently fledged juvenile
Cuckoo being fed by its
Dunnock parents being followed by an adult male
Peregrine tucking in to a juvenile
Green Woodpecker it had just caught (we later saw the rest of the family in the same tree!). I was really hoping for waders, and was pleased enough with four
Green Sandpipers, 60
Black-tailed Godwits, six
Avocets, four
Little Ringed Plovers, two
Dunlin and 21
Lapwings. Four adult
Mediterranean Gulls sailed silently overhead and a family party of
Egyptian Geese on the North Brooks included five young. A
Mandarin, 11
Sand Martins and 12
Teal were also at the North Brooks and further raptors included a
Red Kite, four
Buzzards and two
Kestrels. A
Lesser Whitethroat sang by the Hanger Viewpoint and other birds included a
Grey Wagtail, seven
Pied Wagtails, four
Reed Buntings, six
Swallows and a handful of
Treecreepers and
Nuthatches.
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| juvenile Cuckoo with Dunnock 'foster parent' at Pulborough Brooks RSPB |
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| juvenile Cuckoo at Pulborough Brooks RSPB |
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| Black-tailed Godwits at Pulborough Brooks RSPB |
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| adult male Peregrine with juvenile Green Woodpecker at Pulborough Brooks RSPB |
Warnham LNR was visited on a whim in the mid-afternoon. Here we enjoyed a male
Kingfisher, eight
Common Terns (including two juveniles, though one seemed stuck outside the raft), a
Little Grebe, two
Great Crested Grebes, a
Lesser Black-backed Gull, a
Mandarin, two
Treecreepers, a
House Martin and a
Reed Warbler.
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| male Kingfisher at Warnham LNR |
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| Mandarin at Warnham LNR |
On a further whim we stopped briefly at Ifield Mill Pond, where the best on offer included three
Great Crested Grebes (a pair and a full-grown juvenile), a
Grey Wagtail, four
House Martins and a
Nuthatch.
