Barwit bonanza and other stuff

on 23 Feb I recorded a pretty impressive number of Bar-tailed Godwits, atleast for the local area. But there was something slightly odd about it. For starters, it was in fog so thick you could barely see 20 metres. secondly, I recorded them all from my bedroom window, in very suburban Seaford. Thirdly, they were all between 22:00 and mignight...

Two flocks moved over the house in an eastwards direction, their beautiful, somewhat haunting calls reverbarating through town, giving it a somewhat more wild feel than the usual fornicating Foxes do. One of these flocks was accompanied by atleast one Dunlin, it's shrill call piercing through the calls of the Barwits. Two Curlew also flew over calling during the night, as did three Redwing.

On the 24th, I was doing volunteer work for the Sussex Wildlife Trust in Stanmer Park, Brighton. Very little to report there though, a Mistle Thrush, a Green Woodpecker and a Kestrel were the best birds, I saw a few Long-tailed Tits and Goldcrests, Common Frogs and Smooth Newts were in the ponds and I heard that very high-pitched little squeak of Voles/Shrews/Mice from the long grass. Probably Bank Voles, which are apparently the commonest of those species in Stanmer. Insects included a few Buff-tailed Bumble Bee and an early Honey-bee. On the train into Brighton I saw 15 Dunlin on the Mill Creek at Newhaven Tide Mills, along with 25+ Redshank, while on the train out (around 4pm) I saw a flock of 30 Fieldfare on the downs near Falmer. Probably my last of the winter and I'm sure they'll be my last sizeable flock. That night another flock of Bar-tailed Godwits flew over, as did a Golden Plover. Both birds have been garden ticks for me in the past few days, as has Curlew.

On the 25th, I've been treated to fly-overs from the resident Peregrines (1 adult) and Ravens (2 juveniles) in Seaford, and a Blackcap briefly sang from near Blatchington Pond. Their are also Common Frogs out in our garden pond, but no Toads or Newts yet.

ending scotland trip

well, it's been a whle bloody mnth since I was up there, but school, social life and general teen lethargy have prevented me from doing much on this blog since then. October 29th was my last day in Scotland, and on the 30th we took the ten-hour drive back down to East Sussex.

We spent the late morning birding on the 29th. At Longniddry, a Sparrowhawk came in/off, disappearing inland. A female Long-tailed Duck flew west, and other ducks were 3 Velvet Scoter, 20+ scoter sp (probably all Velvet), 1 drake Eider and 1 female Goldeneye. A Slavonian Grebe (yeartick 193) and a Guillemot were also offshore. Waders on the shore were c10 Sanderling (yeartick 194), c10 Dunlin, 1 Turnstone, c40 Lapwing, 2 Grey Plover, c250 Golden Plover and c100 Bar-tailed Godwit.



Golden Plover on the shore east f Longniddry. and No, they aren't Starlings!


At Mussleburgh Lagoons, I didn't bother with a camera. A mistake in retrospect, as Razorbill, Shag, Goldeneye, Slavonian Grebe and Velvet Scoter all showed well within photographic range. The totals were c20 Velvet Scoter, 3 Slavonian Grebes (together, and very close inshore), 1 Guillemot, 1 Razorbill (also very, very close), and 3 Shags. On the lagoons were c100 of Golden Plover and Lapwing, and c20 Curlew.

In the same field (off the A27) where we had seen 2 Roe Deer on the 24th, there were 13 today!

On the 30th, we stopped in Kieltner Forest, Northumberland. On a beautiful morning walk in the stunning scenery, a flock of 40 Crossbills were brilliant and my best ever views of this normally elusive species. Also seen were 60 Siskin, a sole Mistle Thrush and several Goldcrests. Dad also saw another Dipper.

two Red Kites were seen over the A4, and several flcks of Golden Plover and Lapwing were seen from the A68 (Pennines), A1 (the NE) and A14 (E Midlands). Totalling 600 Golden Plover and several thousand Lapwings.

Splash Point-24 April 2010

With SE winds from the off, and 25 birders keeping their eyes on the sea, this was always going to be a fantastic day. And so it proved to be.

The most constant feature of the 2.5 hours dad and I spent at Splash this morning were Terns. They were constantly streaming past, a never ending flow of dainty, persil white flying machines on loose, powerful wings. Commic terns were ab absolute constant, many coming very close. I would estimate we saw upwards of 400 during our stint. Most of the flocks went very close, allowing the short-billed, long-tailed Arctics to be picked out in good numbers, I identified at least 50, probably about 70 or 80 (it was a week ago, my memory has gone a bit fuzzy since then!), and there were almost certainly well over a hundred moving through. Sandwich Terns went through in three-figures too, and among the hundreds of these commoner terns were 8 Little Terns, which they really were among their big cousins, and 4 Black Terns, looking for all the world like huge swifts, plowing accross the sea in such a haphazard way I half-expected them to crash land into the water.

Skuas were a fairly big feature too. One Arctic Skua circled right over our heads before carrrying on east, and two went ENE towards Seaford Head Golf Course, being lost from sight as they vanished over the cliffs. Overall about 12 Arctic and 8 Great Skua went through, but sadly no Poms.

100 Little Gulls flew past, their very ability to actually fly without being blown about in the wind like a butterfly amazing me as much as anything else. Unsurpisingly though, a fairly strong SE wind did push a few inland. 40 went over our heads, including one spectacular flock of 30 birds, all heading towards Arlington Reservoir. No Bonaparte's were among them, though!

A fair few waders also went past. about 60 each of Whimbrela and Bar-tailed Godwit, the latter in tight compact flocks that zipped by so fast you could miss them if you blinked. Thankfully, one mixed flock did put down on the beach briefly, giving good views, but quickly flew off, passing us quite close in. Most bizarre of all, though, was a group of 4 Avocet. First picked up at a ridiculous distance of about 2 kilometres, they were sitting on the sea! After a few minutes, the unsure little group took off, flying past us in quite unsteady fashion (though that is normal for any Avocets). However, their nerves showed when they put down again, about 100 metres east of the groyne! They only stayed for a minute or two before finally finding their wings again, but I got a fairly good look at them, thanks to the birder who kindly let me use his scope.

Other than all that has been mentioned, their were a fair number of wildfowl. About 50 each of Common Scoter and Brent geese, including one Pale-bellied bird, and two Shoveler, two Pintail and 13 Shelduck.

A Brilliant day's seawatching!