Back to realty, with a bump, after a very enjoyable time on Unst. Or so I thought ...Friday 20 October. Adur with Cookie: Lapwing 24, Ringed Plover 25, Dunlin 8, Great Black-backed Gull 65, Yellow-legged Gull 1 near adult.near adult...
Back to realty, with a bump, after a very enjoyable time on Unst. Or so I thought ...
Friday 20 October. Adur with Cookie: Lapwing 24, Ringed Plover 25, Dunlin 8, Great Black-backed Gull 65, Yellow-legged Gull 1 near adult.
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| near adult Yellow-legged Gull on the Adur |
Saturday 21 October. Brooklands with Megan and Cookie: Little Grebe 3, Cetti's Warbler heard.
Sunday 22 October. Adur with Megan and Cookie: Goosander 3 roosting on island N of Old Toll Bridge, Lapwing 24, Ringed Plover 54, Dunlin 10, Skylark 3, Cetti's Warbler heard, Long-tailed Tit 5, Chiffchaff 1, Stonechat 1, Meadow Pipit 2. Afternoon visit to Cuckmere Haven: Brent Goose 2, Wigeon 10, Curlew 2, Bar-tailed Godwit 2, Knot 2, Dunlin 6, Long-billed Dowitcher 1 juvenile, Osprey 1, Green Woodpecker 2, Rock Pipit 8.
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| Industrial Units on the airport going up fast |
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| 2 of 3 Goosanders roosting on the Adur |
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| the third was a bit more away |
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| Knot and Bar-tailed Godwit on the Cuckmere |
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| the Long-billed Dowitcher had been with them when they were further away and against the light, a paddle-boarder flushed them and all but the dowitcher returned and landed much closer. Unfortunately I didn't see the dowitcher again. |
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| Osprey in the Cuckmere |
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| it's blue ring enabled it to be traced from a nest in Scotland |
Monday 23 October. Mill Hill with Megan and Cookie: Stock Dove 1, Kestrel 1, Skylark 1, Goldfinch 1. Coronation Green: Curlew 1, Redshank 15+, Greenshank 1.
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| airport developments just about visible from Mill Hill |
Tuesday 24 October. Lapwing 27, Grey Plover 1 (returning white-headed individual), Ringed Plover 83, Turnstone 41, Dunlin 14, Redshank 16, Cetti's Warbler heard, Goldfinch 17.
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| airport developments from the riverbank |
Wednesday 25 October. Pulborough Fungi Trail with Megan and Cookie: Jay heard, Coal Tit 1, Great Tit 14, Blue Tit 6, Long-tailed Tit 1, Goldcrest 3, Nuthatch heard, Chaffinch 2.
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| Amythist Deceiver, perhaps the best fungi seen on the trail |
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| Fly Agaric ran it close |
Thursday
26 October. Mill Hill with Cookie: Sparrowhawk 1, Kestrel 2, Skylark
4, Chiffchaff 2, Linnet heard, Goldfinch 2.
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| Painted Lady on Mill Hill |
Friday
27 October. Adur Saltings and Rec (high tide) with Cookie: Teal 15, Lapwing
1, Curlew 1, Common Snipe 36, Redshank 44, Greenshank
1, Sparrowhawk 2, Kestrel 1, Cetti's Warbler heard, Long-tailed
Tit 9, Stonechat 2, Meadow Pipit 5, Grey Wagtail 1, Chaffinch
2, Goldfinch 15.
Saturday 28 October. Harbour Way/Adur Saltings/Boardwalk/Fort circuit with Megan and Cookie (high tide/poor weather): Curlew 1, Common Snipe 6, Turnstone 3.
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| Adur Saltings at a very high tide |
Sunday 29 October. Widewater seawatch 07:10-10:10), mod/strong SW, mod viz: Common Scoter 8E:1W, Great Crested Grebe 1 on sea, Kittiwake 10W (single flock), Sandwich Tern 2E, unidentified shearwater 1E, Gannet 6E:89W. Widewater Lagoon: Mute Swan (pair with 9 cygnets + adult with 4 cygnets + pair), Little Grebe 1, Turnstone 6 on beach, Rock Pipit 1 on beach. Buckingham Park with Megan and Cookie: Lord Derby's Parakeet heard, Ring-necked Parakeet heard.
Monday 30 October. Adur with Megan and Cookie: Lapwing 77, Grey Plover 1 (not white-headed individual), Redshank 40+, Greenshank 1, Skylark 4, Meadow Pipit 2, Linnet 5, Goldfinch 4. Late afternoon parakeet search with Cookie: Short-eared Owl 1 flew high west in direction of Eastern Avenue was seen a few minutes later over the Adur dropping down behind the railway line.
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| flooding at the Panatoni development |
Tuesday 31 October. A decent weather forecast so I took Cookie up to Beeding Hill and we set out on our usual circuit: SE along the Monarch's Way, north to Truleigh Hill and back west above Room Bottom. Half way along Monarch's Way as we dropped almost to the valley bottom I glimpsed a large thin pale grey warbler as it flew west behind me and appeared to dive into a Hawthorn. I was pretty certain it was a Barred Warbler, something I'd seen on Unst three weeks earlier, but totally unexpected on the Sussex Downs! I followed it and had an obscured view as it flew out of the back of the bush. Still struggling to think what else it could possibly be I slowly approached and had another equally poor flight view but at least this time I saw where it went. A minute or so later I detected a movement behind some dead vegetation/moth nest at the top of the Hawthorn it had gone into. I could just about make out part of its head and obtained a couple of images after switching to manual focus. They just about confirmed my identification but weren't great. The bird dropped out of the back of the bush and I lost it, flushing it again 5 minutes later and over 50m further back up the track. It dived into another Hawthorn and this time I saw movement as it worked its way up, a minute or so later appearing in the open near the top. I watched/photographed it for 2-3 minutes before it suddenly flew up high SE across the field and was lost from view. We continued on our circuit seeing 2 Buzzards, 4 Ravens, 27 Skylarks, 6 Stonechats, 5 Meadow Pipits, 2 Chaffinches, 23 Linnets, 19 Goldfinches and single Corn and Reed Buntings. I'd hoped for some winter thrushes but came no closer that hearing a Blackbird. Not that I was complaining, well not much.
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