Sunday, 30th June: Rather cloudy and grey, and generally
dry, with a few periods of fine drizzle mid-morning, followed by some brief
spells of brightness, in a moderate NW breeze.
Bilsham farm: A brief visit to the reservoir this morning found little change, apart from two female Mallards which have appeared, each with a fairly new brood of 3 young. A dozen Coots were present, including the nesting pair, whilst 5 House Martins were feeding over the water. Nearby a Yellowhammer was calling from the hedgerow and 2 rival Whitethroats were still singing. In a recently worked field, a mixed gathering of gulls included at least 12 Great Black-backed Gulls with a single Lesser Black-backed Gull.
Saturday, 29th June: A lovely sunny day, with a little high cloud and a pleasantly light and variable coastal breeze.
Elmer Rocks: Although there was nothing unusual,there was a little more this morning than I anticipated. A Redshank flew E offshore, 2 Little Egrets were feeding along the shoreline and a Ringed Plover was roosting all alone on the rock islands before flying off W. Two adult Mediterranean Gulls were moving back and forth, stopping occasionally to feed on the shore; one of these was a green-ringed bird (indicating Belgian/French origins), although it was impossible to read any confirmatory numeric details due to distance.
Four Linnets were along the back of the beach, where a Green Woodpecker was also feeding before being disturbed, whilst nearby there were occasional brief bursts of song from a Chiffchaff, a Blackcap, 2 Whitethroats and a Greenfinch. Best of all though was a family of Swallows sitting on the telegraph wires for some while...there were I think 4 juvenile birds with at least one adult bird visiting, so presumably they bred nearby.
Non-avian interest today included the (presumed Grey) Seal well offshore, 'bottling' with just head and nose protruding, whilst a good number of commoner butterflies - including at least 5 Marbled Whites - were along the beachfront gardens eastwards between the Kiosk and the rife. There was also a fine example of the vegetated shingle specialist the Yellow-horned Poppy still in bloom at the Poole Place rocks.
(above) Ringed Plover on the rocks and (below) Mediterranean Gull (note green ring on left leg) on Elmer beach
Two of the recently-fledged Swallows on telegraph wires and (below) a fine example of the Yellow-horned Poppy around the rocks at Poole Place.
Friday, 28th June: Quite cool, cloudy and grey through the morning, but remaining dry, before brightening up later in a fresh breeze W 4-5.
Barnham Brooks: It was much quieter than of late, with just a brief burst of song from the odd Reed Warbler, Cetti's Warbler and Blackcap, but once again Swifts were the dominant feature of the morning, with at least 120 feeding over the whole area. Fifteen or so House Martins were also present, with just a few Swallows amongst them. The vast majority of the Brooks have now dried up, but a count of 12 Little Egrets and c.50 Mallards was made, although there was little else of note.
Swifts over Barnham Brooks - again
Elmer & Ancton: A casual look around the local area yesterday evening and today produced just a few of the expected species, with a Blackcap and a Chiffchaff on territory along the hedgerows in Ancton Lane still giving bursts of song. More of a worry though was the situation with Swallows....over the last few years at least, up to half a dozen pairs have nested in and around the Lane End stables and also raised several broods, but all I could find this time was what seems to be a single pair with up to 4 fledged young. In other words, just one family, all very worrying, but in keeping with other poor results being reported from elsewhere. Swifts too seem to have had a bad season; I have had no reported sightings of birds at the regular site of the Beresford Hotel, so far at least, although I did see a couple of Swifts over Ancton Lane, so there is perhaps a chance.
Swallow at Ancton - but numbers well down this year
Wednesday, 26th June: Another fine summer's day with unbroken sunshine, becoming hot by midday as the temperature reached into the high 20's, with little or no cloud and a light and variable breeze.
M-o-S beach: A westward walk for a change, along the beach at low tide, checking the rocks and shingle to the parish boundary, in fine weather. There were predictably few birds to report on, but among the many Herring Gulls, with a few Black-headed Gulls, were no less than 7 Little Egrets feeding, together with a Grey Heron, whilst a couple of Sandwich Terns flew west just offshore.
We are blessed in the parish to have a good amount of vegetated shingle all along our coastline, also stretching into the Climping area. Many folks may not be aware that this habitat is in fact one of the rarest coastal habitats on the planet. Many of the blooms have now 'gone over' for the year, but although less colourful now, it is always a joy to see (to me at least!) so it should be treasured.
Vegetated shingle on M-o-S beach; a valuable and rare habitat, even though the blooms have largely gone by now.
This excellent (new?) information and interpretation board (erected by M-o-S Association & Arun District Council) explains things in more detail on this rare and valuable habitat than I can manage, and gets a 'thumbs up' from me. (You might even see a ghostly birder!)
Bilsham farm: There was no sign of any Tufted Ducks today, but otherwise it was much the same as my last visit, with a Little Grebe, a dozen Coots (one pair nesting), 2 Pied Wagtails, a couple of Swallows and a House Martin. Nearby, in a small rife off Bilsham Lane, a small highlight was a Grey Wagtail, apparently coming and going with food, so presumably nesting in the area. At least 4 Marbled White butterflies also seen in the general area.
Grey Wagtail in the Bilsham farm area
Monday, 24th June: A fine, sunny and warm summer's day, with a blue sky, a little cloud and a light W/SW breeze.
Elmer Rocks: A flat calm, glassy sea with slightly hazy conditions offshore this morning made for difficult viewing early on, but there was very little of note bird-wise. The usual local gulls and Cormorants were the only things moving except for a couple of Sandwich Terns which drifted off E, whilst along the rocks and shoreline near Poole Place there were 4 Little Egrets. Away from the sea, a single Whitethroat was singing occasionally from the hedge by the set-aside, 4 Linnets were back and forth, a pair of Greenfinches were also present and a Song Thrush was singing full pelt from Poole Place for some while.
The highlights though were non-avian, with a single Pyramidal orchid flowering at the back of the beach, on the bank beside the lower path (with many thanks to the local lady who originally found it and informed me - sorry, I have forgotten your name), and also several Marbled White butterflies were on the wing today, literally along the main beach path in grassland and gardens.
Little Egret feeding along the shoreline at Elmer Rocks and Pyramidal orchid on the banks along the beach path.
Bilsham farm area: A short visit to check out the reservoir area produced a single Little Grebe, 10 Coots (one pair nesting), 12 Tufted Ducks and 3 Pied Wagtails (probably a family party). There was little else of note beyond 2 Swallows and a House Martin which arrived for a few minutes before departing again, a singing Yellowhammer, a Chiffchaff and a family of Whitethroats.
Sunday, 23rd June: A warm, dry and sunny start, with just a light breeze W/SW2, but clouding over later with the wind increasing slightly.
Barnham Brooks area: A circuit of the area produced nothing out of the ordinary this morning, with breeding species providing the only interest, and we've reached that time which many birders consider the 'summer doldrums' .....with no migration going on and very little happening, as resident species quietly get on with raising their broods.
In one area a pair of agitated Redshanks were present, whilst a number of Lapwings were still active over the whole area. In one of the outer areas a Gadwall and a Mallard still have 8 young each, with up to 50 other Mallards nearby. At least 200 Black-headed Gulls and 15 Mediterranean Gulls were feeding around the still wet fields and apparently also on flying insects above. I'm no butterfly expert, but of those species I'm familiar with I noted a good number of Meadow Browns on the wing and at least 6 Marbled Whites.
At Barnham Brooks: Redshank and Marbled White butterfly
No comments:
Post a Comment