Worthing and Cuckmere Haven

An hour at the end of my road in Worthing produced a Wheatear, a Common Scoter, a Dunlin, a Grey Wagtail, two Sandwich Terns and 73 Gannets.

I dropped Ingrid off in Brighton and spent the time before I needed to collect her at Cuckmere Haven. The highlight there was a showy adult Knot. Other waders included a Greenshank, a Common Sandpiper and eight Dunlin. A juvenile Peregrine had a brief go at a pair of Ravens, a Kingfisher flew along the river and a juvenile Common Gull was one of the very few I've seen so far this autumn. Two Yellow Wagtails flew over, four Rock Pipits were along the banks, 19 Swallows flew through and five Little Egrets were seen. Seven Little Grebes were having great success catching small fish in the main meander.

Cuckmere Haven and Newhaven

I chickened out of going to Derbyshire again today and ended up spending the afternoon with Phil in East Sussex. Cuckmere Haven was quiet, with four Rock Pipits, three Common Sandpipers, two Stonechats, 45 Swifts, five Sand Martins, 22 Little Egrets, 15 Grey Herons and a feral Barnacle Goose about the cream of the crop...

Common Sandpipers at Cuckmere Haven

A quick stop at Newhaven on the way home saw a Fulmar, a juvenile Common Gull and a Polish-ringed Black-headed Gull.

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juvenile Common Gull at Newhaven

Lyminster, Long Furlong and Cuckmere Haven

My late BBS visit to Lyminster featured a pair of Mute Swans with four cygnets, a Little Egret, two Buzzards, two Lesser Black-backed Gulls, three Swifts, a Green Woodpecker, two Kestrels, three Skylarks, six Swallows, a Pied Wagtail, a Reed Warbler and a Reed Bunting.

While driving Long Furlong, I clocked a Red Kite.

Walking with Ingrid at Cuckmere Haven in the afternoon we had eight Oystercatchers including two youngsters, an Egyptian Goose, five Shelducks, three Grey Herons, six Little Egrets, a Redshank, a Kestrel, eight Skylarks, two Swallows, a Lesser Whitethroat and four Meadow Pipits.

Oystercatcher with two young at Cuckmere Haven

Goring Gap, Cuckmere Haven and Lavington Common

Feeling considerably re-enthused, I got to the Gap first thing. Three Little Egrets and an Oystercatcher were on the beach, while three Sandwich Terns were offshore (one carrying a fish back to Pagham Harbour) and 12 Swifts moved east, possibly related to the incoming storm. Skylark, Whitethroat and Chiffchaff were in song. An adult Mediterranean Gull was on the greensward.

A stroll through Cuckmere Haven in the afternoon featured a Hobby, a Little Ringed Plover heard calling, two Egyptian Geese, six Teal, a scattering of Little Egrets, a juvenile Stonechat, a few Reed Buntings, Whitethroats, Skylarks and Meadow Pipits, and a Swallow. I saw a Painted Lady too.

Meadow Pipit at Cuckmere Haven

juvenile Stonechat at Cuckmere Haven

In West Worthing later, a Jackdaw heard calling was notable for home.

An atmospheric evening at Lavington Common, a site with wonderful echoing acoustics on a calm night like this, made for a satisfying close to the day. Five Nightjars were singing, all but one (heard across the road from the car park) in the northern section, so the entire site must host a considerable population. A pair of Cuckoos, a roding Woodcock, two Tawny Owls and dusk-singing Dartford Warbler and Stonechat were other stars of the soundscape. An Indian Peafowl was also heard, and is perhaps worth noting in light of the paper on the species' status in this month's British Birds.

Cuckmere Haven

I was unable to escape yesterday so the first order of the day was to visit Cuckmere Haven in the slim hope of the Kentish Plover still being around. Of course, it had indeed moved on but a pair of Little Ringed Plover was a year tick, and other waders included Greenshank, Bar-tailed Godwit,  Whimbrel, Ringed Plover, Grey Plover and three Dunlin. Singles of Peregrine and Rock Pipit were logged, along with a pair of Black Swan. A hunting adult male Kestrel afforded superb views as I got back to the car.

Greenshank

Goring Gap, Brooklands Park and Cuckmere Haven

Goring Gap was quiet this morning, save for three fly-over Siskins. There was barely anything offshore: a Kittiwake, three Gannets and four Red-breasted Mergansers. 14 Mediterranean Gulls included a yellow-ringed adult but I was unable to get the full code. The male Reed Bunting was still singing and now looks as though it's intent on holding territory, and a Meadow Pipit was still present. Waders on the beach included 17 Turnstones, nine Sanderlings and 20 Dunlin.

Brooklands Park had three Firecrests affording excellent views near the stream, where a Cetti's Warbler called briefly. 10 Teal and two Little Grebes were on the lake and a Chiffchaff was in song. A Siskin flew over.

Firecrest at Brooklands Park

Ingrid and I popped in to Cuckmere Haven later on, where we got nice views of the Glossy Ibis on the north side of the road before it was spooked by two sparring Peregrines.

Glossy Ibis at Cuckmere Haven

Cuckmere Haven

I eventually secured the Glossy Ibis and a bonus Spoonbill at Cuckmere Haven today, thanks to Gareth and Max. Other stuff noted included two Dark-bellied Brent Geese, 90 Wigeon, a Red-legged Partridge singing, a Raven, five Little Egrets, two Curlews, two Oystercatchers, two adult Mediterranean Gulls, two Rock Pipits, 400 Common Gulls, three Skylarks, a Kestrel, three Stonechats (including two singing males), two Reed Buntings and 23 Meadow Pipits.

Glossy Ibis

Burpham/The Burgh and Cuckmere Haven

It was a case of revisiting old friends this morning, with the 10 Bewick's Swans again west of Burpham church, and the Siberian Chiffchaff showing nicely with 10 Chiffchaffs at the sewage works. I walked a little bit of The Burgh too, and in my meanderings logged a Cetti's Warbler, a male Stonechat, two Marsh Harriers (including an adult male), 16 Fieldfares, three Redwings, three Yellowhammers, six Reed Buntings, 23 Linnets 20 Skylarks, three Grey Partridges, 65 Lapwings, two Greylag Geese, six Mute Swans, etc.

Bewick's Swans and Mute Swans

Siberian Chiffchaff (left) and Chiffchaff

Siberian Chiffchaff

Cuckmere Haven was too misty and a bit of a waste of time, though 300 Wigeon, six Redshanks, a Sparrowhawk and a Redwing were logged through the murk.

Cuckmere Haven

I had a good feeling about the gulls in the Lower Cuckmere in the afternoon so headed down to Cuckmere Haven, where a huge gathering was evident at the southwest end. Among them, to my delight, was a 2CY Glaucous Gull (presumably the same bird seen in Newhaven and Eastbourne recently), a 2CY Caspian Gull and two Yellow-legged Gulls (an adult and a 4CY).

2CY Glaucous Gull

4CY Yellow-legged Gull

adult Yellow-legged Gull

2CY Caspian Gull

Piddinghoe Boating Lake, Cuckmere Haven and Goring Gap

A look around Piddinghoe Boating Lake for Bearded Tits produced only a Rock Pipit of note.

In the hope of an interesting gull or two, Cuckmere Haven was checked but there was nothing unusual among the 590 Great Black-backed Gulls and 17 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, though the latter species was new for the year for me. Curlew, Grey Plover, Redwing, Little Egret, Teal and Shelduck were among other species logged.

We raced back to Goring Gap for a spanking first-winter Caspian Gull found by Garry Messenbird. Two Mediterranean Gulls and a Lesser Black-backed Gull were in the same field.

2CY Caspian Gull at Goring Gap

2CY Caspian Gull at Goring Gap

Cuckmere Haven, 29th November 2016

Ingrid and her mum came down to visit so little birding was done, but we called in to Cuckmere Haven briefly. Ingrid and Tina wanted to catch a glimpse of the sunset so rushed down to the beach while I had a look across the floodplain. A Peregrine, a Rock Pipit, two Kingfishers, a couple of Little Egrets, a few Wigeon and Redshanks were the highlights. I'm off to Thailand tomorrow evening, so over and out for now!

Little Egret

Rook

Recent

On Saturday I had a session at the patch which included a mooch around Banstead Woods towards the end of the day, successfully locating (to my surprise) the Marsh Tit that Ian Ward found recently. This bird represented a massive sigh of relief for me, being my 100th species at the patch this year.

On Sunday morning I headed to the Isle of Sheppey with Josh. We started at Capel Fleet at first light; unfortunately we didn't see any Hen Harriers or owls or anything like that but got nice views of a flock of twelve Corn Buntings and numerous Marsh Harriers. A quick call in at Harty Ferry saw us bag the Cattle Egret, a lifer for a Josh and only my second in Britain (both have been in Kent) before we headed to Swale/Shell Ness NR where Josh enjoyed some wader photography and the highlight was a fly-over Snow Bunting that we frustratingly couldn't get a decent look at.

Corn Buntings at Capel Fleet

Today I had the day off and was on stand-by for the Yellow-breasted Bunting in Norfolk, which didn't show up so I spent most of the daylight walking through Cuckmere Haven to Crowlink NT. The haven produced a selection of common wetland birds including Kingfisher and Rock Pipit along with strong numbers of Great Black-backed Gulls. It was all made worthwhile when a gorgeous male Black Redstart appeared on the clifftop between the two sites.

Male Black Redstart today along the cliffs between Cuckmere Haven and Crowlink NT

Dark-bellied Brents at Cuckmere today