6 August-Hope Gap undercliff

walking along the undercliff from Hope Gap 1/2 a mile west and back, a pair of Fulmars were feeding a chick on the cliff, six Rock Pipits, some recently fledged juveniles, were along the undercliff. three Little Egrets and a Grey Heron were on the rockpools, along with 8 Oystercatchers, a Whimbrel and a Common Sandpiper. a few Cormorants flew past offshore, and about 100 yards out a stream of Kittiwakes, mostly adults, were moving west. Also seen 2 Ravens 6 Whitethroats, 5 Willow Warblers, 2 Lesser Whitethroats and a Chiffchaff, all of this mid-afternoon. 3 Jays and 20+ Magpies were on Seaford Head Golf Course, including one gang of 10 maggies. a few Swifts and House Martins were overhead.

In Seaford, a Goldcrest in the garden, while a few days ago were 15 Long-tailed Tits, mostly juveniles, and the same number of Swifts still screaming overhead. A Whimbrel flew over two nights ago.

catch up

this blog has now gotten incredibly out of date, so here is what has been happening in the past few weeks of my life wildlife-wise.

Since 5 May, Swifts have been around Seaford daily, filling the skies with their wonderful calls.

at Newhaven Tide Mills on 9 May I saw 2 Sandwich Terns offshire,  Common Sandpipers on the river mouth and a Hobby flying overhead.

A futile attempt to see the Red-rumped Swallows at Arlington Res on 10 May failed miserably, thanks to the freezing NE winds, the only creatures of note a Greater Spotted Orchid and a Common Sandpiper

on 12 May, a slightly better day at Arlington, with glorious weather, produced plenty of Swallows and House Martins, 3 Sand Martins, perhaps the same Common Sandpiper, a nice summer-plumed Dunlin and a fantastic Temminck's Stint.

will upload a few pics taken recently soon.

Egret in the Ouse

following up the Crane reported by Les Bird yesterday in the Ouse, I checked all the levels from Lewes-southease, with a lengthy detour to Glynde. Highlights were a Common Sandpiper and a Kingfisher on the river Ouse just South of Lewes and 4 Green Sandpipers along Glynde Reach, an excellent count. Some of these showed very well when they were flushed as I walked along. Also along the reach and the surrounding levels were 100+ Teal, 50+ Wigeon, 1000+ Lapwing and 3000+ Starling and a calling Chiffchaff, with 2 Water Rails 'squealing' from a small reedbed just south of Glynde. Also seen atleast 4 Grey Wagtails along the river. However, after spending six and a half hours in the field, The best bird came from the train back to Seaford, as at Southease, I saw a CATTLE EGRET!! It was in a field about 200 metres south of Southease station. I only saw it for about a minute, but I noted its short, dagger-like orange bill, short neck, compact and stocky appearance and a more rounded head than a Little Egret, It also appeared slightly smaller. My year list now stands at 103, with five addititons today, Common Sandpiper, Kingfisher, Green Sandpiper, Chiffchaff and Cattle Egret.