After a busy weekend working at Birdfair, it took a little while for me to get out this morning. My first port of call was Highdown, where I managed to cover a small part of the site before the heavens opened. The highlight was my first - and long overdue -
Whinchat of the year! Two
Sand Martins, seven
Swallows and a
Swift flew through. Other birds included singles of
Kestrel,
Green Woodpecker and
Nuthatch, along with four
Skylarks, three
Whitethroats and six
Blackcaps.
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| Whinchat at Highdown |
The visit to Cissbury Ring paid off with a scattering of half-a-dozen vocal
Redstarts, mostly females but including one well-marked male, as well as two heard fly-over
Tree Pipits, two
Stonechats, a
Willow Warbler, a
Swallow, four
Blackcaps, two
Whitethroats, a
Yellowhammer, two
Buzzards and three
Kestrels among the other species logged.
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| female Redstart at Cissbury Ring |
A reasonable number of large gulls were gathered at Brooklands Park in the late afternoon, including two showy juvenile
Yellow-legged Gulls and two
Lesser Black-backed Gulls (an adult and a juvenile). The
Mute Swan family and a
Grey Heron were the best of the other birds seen.
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| juvenile Yellow-legged Gull at Brooklands Park (bird 1) |
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| juvenile Yellow-legged Gull at Brooklands Park (bird 2) |
At home in West Worthing, a
Swift flew over the garden.
