An excellent 4-hour seawatch from the car at Goring Gap this morning produced 10
Manx Shearwaters west (a group of eight, then two singletons) and three
Arctic Skuas east (both year ticks), as well as five
Bonxies, 232
Dark-bellied Brent Geese, 33
Common Scoters, a
Shelduck, eight
Red-throated Divers, 28
Fulmars, two
Great Crested Grebes, eight
Kittiwakes, a
Guillemot, 37
Sandwich Terns and an eastward flurry of 24
Mediterranean Gulls. It was great to witness a busy sea again, and the onset of spring migration along the Channel!
Later, Gareth and I headed to Rye Harbour for a late session. We started with a scope around the Flat Beach from the John Gooders Hide. Surprisingly, we picked up the three
Twite feeding to the south of the hide - surely these birds with move to their breeding grounds soon! Singles of
Bar-tailed Godwit,
Knot and
Turnstone lurked around the edges, along with small numbers of
Grey Plover,
Ringed Plover and
Dunlin.
Black-headed and
Mediterranean Gulls argued the toss as on their breeding islands, while
Avocets (a year tick for me!) sweeped the water's surface close to the hide. Lone
Dark-bellied Brent Goose and
Egyptian Goose were also present.
|
Avocet at Rye Harbour |
We moved on to Castle Water, where a
Willow Warbler was singing behind the viewpoint and a more distant
Sedge Warbler was heard chattering away. A group of around 40 hirundines headed through, mostly
Sand Martins but with around five
Swallows were in the midst, the latter being my first of 2019. The
Bittern we'd heard booming on our last visit thankfully erupted from nearby reeds before long then proceeded to boom a couple of times. A couple of
Bearded Tits were heard calling but remained unseen. A
Marsh Harrier patrolled the reedbeds, and we also logged a couple of
Cetti's Warblers and a
Peregrine.