Cissbury Ring

A gentle-paced and enjoyable morning's ringing with Val. We caught a small number of Blackcaps and a few Long-tailed Tits, a couple of Song Thrushes, etc. A Great Spotted Woodpecker was drumming all morning and a couple of Green Woodpeckers yaffled. A Tawny Owl hooted briefly. Skylarks were in voice in the surrounding fields and a walk around the top later on revealed a pair of Stonechat and half a dozen Yellowhammers. A Red Kite and seven Buzzards soared overhead.

adult male Blue Tit, ringed as a juvenile in 2014!

male Blackcap

Linnets

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 and Rustington

There was nothing moving offshore first thing, other than two Sandwich Terns, a Gannet and a procession of 19 adult Mediterranean Gulls so I set off on a walk around the Gap to start mapping out breeding bird territories. This was very enjoyable, the biggest surprise being a pair of Jackdaws entering a cavity in a tree in The Plantation - they certainly didn't breed here last year but I'm not sure what their historical status is at the site. Light overhead movement involved 15 Linnets, three Meadow Pipits and a Pied/White Wagtail. Four Willow Warblers, four Chiffchaffs and five Blackcaps were logged on my route, along with a Green Woodpecker, three Skylarks, a couple of pairs each of Jay and Stock Dove. Other birds noted included a Sparrowhawk and a 2CY Common Gull.

Garry Messenbird texted with news of a summer-plumaged Red-necked Grebe on the sea off Rustington. Despite connecting with a bird off Goring the other day, have a soft spot for this species and fancied seeing one loitering so drove the 10 minutes over there. It was nice to catch up with Garry, and indeed the grebe, while other species seen included five Whimbrel, a Bonxie, five Red-breasted Mergansers and a Great Crested Grebe.

Red-necked Grebe off Rustington

Weir Wood Reservoir

After work, I dashed up to Weir Wood Reservoir, where the Black Tern first reported yesterday was still hawking around off the dam, accompanied by two fine adult Little Gulls. About 15 Swallows and a couple of Sand Martins were skimming the surface, too, Great Crested Grebes were displaying and two Egyptian Geese and a Grey Wagtail were present.

Black Tern

adult Little Gull

Hastings Country Park and Pett Level

I met up with Christian for a look round Hastings Country Park and Pett Level, both sites which will hopefully soon be local to him. I'd only briefly visited a small part of the country park before so a proper explore left me very impressed with the potential of the site. Highlights there included a Red Kite, a Siskin, a Raven, two Bullfinches and several Yellowhammers; offshore were 14 Dark-bellied Brent Geese, two Fulmars, a Curlew, three Sandwich Terns, 21 Common Scoters, seven Great Crested Grebes and two Gannets.

The wind put us off staying long at Pett Level but we witnessed a Marsh Harrier food pass and noted singles of Mediterranean Gull and Avocet.

Goring Gap and Ferring Rife

An hour at Goring Gap first thing produced my first patch Swallow of the year, a Little Egret, a Red-throated Diver, four Common/Arctic Terns, five Mediterranean Gulls, 27 Linnets (mostly moving east), two Gannets, 11 Sanderlings, eight Turnstones, three Oystercatchers, two Meadow Pipits, two Green Woodpeckers, a singing Skylark, a Goldcrest and Pied/White Wagtails.

Ferring Rife added my first patch Willow Warbler of the year, 27 Linnets, a Mediterranean Gull, a Pheasant, four Mallards, two Chiffchaffs, two Blackcaps, a singing Goldcrest, four Meadow Pipits and a Green Woodpecker.

Goring

I arrived at George V Avenue for sunrise and was soon joined by Gareth. The following four hours made for some of my best Goring seawatching. Skuas started before long, finishing on six Bonxies and eight Arctic Skuas east, with three Bonxies west, two of which were perhaps earlier birds backtracking. All of the Arctic Skuas so far this spring have been dark morphs. Common Scoters went through at a steady pace, my personal total finishing on 630 east. A trio of Velvet Scoters - seen at various other points along the coast today - flew east, along with 12 Teal and six Red-breasted Mergansers. To my particular delight, having basically resigned myself to having to see this species in the early winter now, was a Red-necked Grebe which tracked east at 7.30am. A 2CY Little Gull was another nice year tick and a forerunner to a strong push of Sandwich Terns and Commic Terns, which finished on 337 and 122 respectively. 39 of the Commics came within reasonable range to assign them as our first Common Terns of the year. Wader passage involved a Bar-tailed Godwit, two Whimbrel, two Grey Plovers and two Curlew. A Shelduck, 11 Dark-bellied Brent Geese, 215 Gannets, 20 Red-throated Divers, 14 Fulmars, five Kittiwakes and six Great Crested Grebes were also logged. Two Linnets and a Meadow Pipit flew over.

dark morph Arctic Skua

Goring Gap and Rye Harbour

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.

Goring Gap, Sheepcote Valley and Chantry Hill

An hour at Goring Gap early morning produced eastbound Whimbrel and Curlew, a female Wheatear, 41 eastbound Dark-bellied Brent Geese, a Sandwich Tern, 11 Linnets overhead, a Sparrowhawk, two Mediterranean Gulls, a 3CY Common Gull and five Great Crested Grebes. The beach held an unusually tight flock of 73 Turnstones, along with 32 Sanderlings, a Ringed Plover and two Dunlin.

Canada Geese on the sea off Goring Gap then launching themselves on to the beach

I dropped Ingrid off at work then took a route around the Sheepcote Valley, yielding a delightful but brief male Redstart but little else of note - just small numbers of Chiffchaffs, Blackcaps, Meadow Pipits, Skylarks and Linnets, and a sole male Stonechat. I also saw my first Speckled Wood of the year.

male Redstart in the Sheepcote Valley

A late afternoon visit to Chantry Hill with Gareth saw us cross paths with a spectacular Short-eared Owl. A few Yellowhammers were present and later we heard a Barn Owl and up to four Tawny Owls.

Short-eared Owl at Chantry Hill

Canons Farm

A walk around my old patch this morning produced a female Wheatear, a pair of Little Owls, a flyover Siskin, 37 Fieldfares, five Redwings, 20 Linnets, a Buzzard, three Green Woodpeckers and a drumming Great Spotted Woodpecker.

female Wheatear