Two
Swifts, acting like locals as they screamed and circled in no particular direction, greeted me this morning at home, where later a noisy flock of nine
Lesser Black-backed Gulls was quite noteworthy.
In Goring, a
Willow Warbler sang as I cycled through.
The weather was just right. A fair bit of cloud cover, perfectly mild but with a little sun poking through. I felt quite content walking along Ferring Rife, where two
Garden Warblers not only sang but showed quite well and a male
Wheatear fed in the paddocks, where four
Swallows hawked. Two
Swallows looked very much like a pair on the wires by the sluice. A
Sedge Warbler and four
Reed Warblers were aso in good voice, the former and one of the latter also performed quite nicely. Three
Swifts moved east and a male
Kestrel hovered alongside the rife. Two
Reed Buntings were noted and I counted 15
Whitethroats, one being hassled by a male
Blackcap. Four
Turnstones were on the beach. Single calls were heard from a
Green Woodpecker and a
Great Spotted Woodpecker, while from the fields
Skylark could be heard singing. A
Mallard and eight
Moorhens were along the rife.
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| male Swallow singing and looking quite settled near the toilet block at Ferring Rife |
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| Reed Warbler at Ferring Rife |
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| male Whitethroat at Ferring Rife |
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| drake Mallard at Ferring Rife |
I decided to at long last properly explore neighbouring Kingston Gorse. This turned out to be a good move as a
Hoopoe caught my eye as it flew north over the west side at 9.58am! I was on the phone at the time, which I dropped without explanation. By instinct, I went for the camera, managing some very poor record shots but I lost the bird as I began to zoom in and a quick scout around drew a blank. Still, I certainly can't complain and it makes up for missing the other four local birds reported so far! Two more
Swifts were seen here, along with a couple more singing
Skylarks and my first juvenile
Robin and
Blackbird of the year. Two
Willow Warblers sang quietly and good brief views were had of a male
Great Spotted Woodpecker and a
Green Woodpecker. Along the beach, there were 18
Sanderlings and 16
Turnstones, while two
Sandwich Terns, three
Black-headed Gulls and a
Gannet flew past. A
Great Crested Grebe was on the sea, along with a
Lesser Black-backed Gull. A pair of
Pied Wagtails were in the paddocks and I also logged a
Moorhen, four
Swallows, a
Long-tailed Tit, two
Linnets, four
Blackcaps and three
Whitethroats.
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| Hoopoe over Kingston Gorse |
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| Hoopoe over Kingston Gorse |
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| juvenile Blackbird at Kingston Gorse |
As I cycled home through Goring Gap, two
Swallows overtook me and I heard
Skylark,
Whitethroat and
Blackcap.
