As I got out of the car, two
Ravens announced their presence as they flew west, a long-awaited patch tick! These were followed by two
Redwings, a species thin on the ground at the Gap recently. The
Snow Bunting was still on the coast path. Huge numbers of
auks, mostly or exclusively
Razorbills were instantly evident when I first looked out to sea this morning. I kept up counting as best I could for an hour, racking up some 6,600 individuals in that time, mostly heading east. Three
Eiders (an adult drake, a 2CY drake and a female) flew east together, and 24
Common Scoters added some quality.
Gannets were hard to keep track of, I'd logged 100 east and 25 west before a scattered feeding flock of 500 or so materialised. Eight
Red-throated Divers were on the sea and another 44 flew past, including a flock of 32. A
Kittiwake flew past. Decent numbers of
Red-breasted Mergansers and
Great Crested Grebes were also on the sea. 10
Ringed Plovers, 58
Dunlin and four adult
Mediterranean Gulls were in the roost field, and a male
Reed Bunting flew from the fenced rough.
Ferring Rife had a
Little Grebe - my first locally, so my second patch tick of the day - 13
Golden Plovers in a field on the west side. Two
Water Rails were showing on the north side of the road bridge. A
Chiffchaff, a
Grey Heron and two
Great Spotted Woodpeckers, a
Redwing, a female
Stonechat, a
Meadow Pipit and two
Jackdaws were among the other birds logged.
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| Little Grebe at Ferring Rife |
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| Golden Plovers at Ferring Rife |
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| Chiffchaff at Ferring Rife |
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| Collared Dove at Ferring Rife |
