Red Kite etc, 10/4/2010

At an undisclosed location in Sussex, a pair of Displaying Lapwings, and two pairs of Little Egrets seen on nests. At Southease station and along the river from there-Glynde, 4 Cetti's warbler, 3 Blackcap and loads of Chiffchaff singing. A Red Kite and a Buzzard flew over the house, the former a year tick, and my 129th sussex species of 2010.

Photos 21/3/10

Not actually a later date, but about half an hour later, here are the photos from yesterday!

Wigeon in the Cuckmere, there were about 60 of them concentrated along one ditch and the surrounding grassland

one of the three White Wagtails that showed well by the horse paddock

and another one

Some Little Egrets, three were fishing together in one ditch and showing very well for the camera

Also, this morning I got a text from Matt Eade, saying he, Marc Read and Bob Self had seen a Serin flying over Hope Gap! I was on course to arrive at school a few minutes early, so I walked out for a brief circuit of the Golf Course. Unsurprisingly, I saw nothing at all, very jealous, if only every good bird could turn up at the weekend!

7 Feb 2010-the Egret again??

In the Ouse, saw what may have been the Cattle Egret again, in a field directly south of Rodmell. Was clearly an Egret, in a field about 500 metres away, picking up what I presume were small invertabrates from the ground. It appeared to have a fairly short neck, and looked quite stocky. However, at such a distance, and with only my binoculars, I couldn't see any detail on the bill, which wasn't helped by the fact it had its back to me most of the time. It also sometimes appeared to have too long a neck, although it still looked thicker than a Little Egrets, so it may just have been 'stretching'. Also around were 2 Kingfishers and 3 Little Egrets, with the Peregrine and Raven pairs seen at their breeding site near Lewes. 12 Redshank along the river between Lewes and Southease was an excellent count, and seeing as I didn't check Glynde Reach, where there are often a few, there may have been as many as fifteen in the Ouse today.