Saturday 30 December 2017

Goring/Ferring, 30th December 2017

I've been staying in over recent days, trying to keep a light cold from turning bad before the New Year and getting some writing work out the way while I'm at it. However, I took a break today and got some much-needed fresh air, showing Canons Farm colleague Paul G and his lovely pooch, Jazz, around the patch. The strong tide and rough sea forced a good number of waders into the roost field, including 83 Grey Plovers, 97 Sanderlings, 355 Dunlin and 53 Ringed Plovers. 52 Turnstones and 38 Oystercatchers were counted on the shore once the tide started to drop. Small gulls amassing in the field north of the pumping station included a decent 540 Common Gulls and seven Mediterranean Gulls (six adults and a second-winter), as well as 160 Black-headed Gulls. Visibility was atrocious so the sea wasn't given a huge amount of attention, producing a Red-throated Diver, seven Dark-bellied Brent Geese, eight Red-breasted Mergansers, a Great Crested Grebe, two Gannets and two Kittiwakes. A Stonechat and two Redwings were also noted.

Ferring Rife was quiet, with a Grey Heron, a Green Woodpecker, a Kestrel, 10 Moorhens and a Pheasant logged. I was dismayed to see at least three Sanderlings oiled (two particularly heavily), at least one Oystercatcher and one Turnstone also suffering.

one of two particularly badly oiled Sanderlings on the beach at Ferring
Redwings and Song Thrushes at Goring
Paul and Jazz arriving on the scene