Tuesday, 3rd September: A pleasantly fresh start of some sunshine and cloud, with a fairly light to moderate breeze W 2-3/4, before becoming warmer and sunnier as the day progressed.
Elmer Rocks: A reasonably early start found a mass of gulls offshore, with perhaps 2000 fairly distant and 1000 closer in, behind the rock islands, the latter number probably increasing to 1500 after a while. I gave this nearer flock some attention and eventually found at least six Common Terns and three Sandwich Terns amongst the melee.
I'd been watching some while, when an Arctic Skua suddenly appeared from the east and spooked the whole of the nearer flock, harassing some unfortunate gulls until they released their meal. The Skua then moved off west, after which many of the gulls and all the terns also began to drift away, the latter heading west also. A smaller gull flock then re-formed and I continued to scrutinise them, when my attention was drawn to a particular bird amongst them, which proved to be a juvenile Yellow-legged Gull, then two more Common Terns arrived from the east.
Away from the sea, there was a bit of activity, with several Yellow Wagtails passing over and calling, a Whinchat and a Wheatear together, and a Whitethroat, two Willow Warblers and a Chiffchaff. A few Swallows were on the move too, though no count attempted.
Juvenile Yellow-legged Gull at Elmer Rocks, and (bottom) Whinchat (left) and Wheatear on the beach
Monday, 2nd September: A fairly calm, grey and humid start, with persistent drizzly rain and heavy cloud for the first couple of daylight hours, slowly clearing to leave an overcast day with a moderate SW breeze force 3-4.
Climping Gap: I started off in the drizzly rain, struggling to find much at all, except two Chiffchaffs (one singing), a Willow Warbler, a Reed Warbler and a small flock of Linnets. Once the rain began to ease, I headed to the Kents farm area, when unexpectedly Richard Grimmet and his partner Helen arrived, so we set off together. Within a minute Helen had scored the first good bird of the morning - a Spotted Flycatcher - high up in the branches of a sycamore tree with rain dripping all around and difficult to see....well done Helen!
.
Spotted Flycatcher at Kents, Climping. This blurry image was taken in poor light and rain but at least gives the idea.
We then parted for some while, checking out various areas, which in my case produced two Whinchats, a Whitethroat, another Chiffchaff and 20+ Swallows. I then made my way to the beach, where we had agreed to meet up for a sea-watch, and in due course Richard arrived to join me. It was fairly quiet at first, but then a number of gulls began to gather offshore. Several Gannets went W, as did a Shoveler with three Teal and six Sandwich Terns in a flock also went through purposefully.
Whinchats at Climping
The gathering of gulls offshore had increased by now and had also attracted four Sandwich Terns and about the same of Common Terns. As we focused on the terns it became apparent that one other tern present was different, being slighter and darker than the Commons, with a different flight jizz, and closer scrutiny revealed it was the bird of the day - a Black Tern.
Sunday,1st September: A dry but cloudy start before becoming increasingly warm, sunny and humid, with a moderate E/NE wind 3-4, but also the increasing risk of thunderstorms.
Elmer Rocks: A rather leisurely start for me this morning, beginning with a brief visit to the beach. The were again large numbers of gulls offshore, together with two or three Gannets, some Mediterranean Gulls and a couple of Sandwich Terns, but it was otherwise quiet at sea, although a total of 25 Oystercatchers were feeding along the rockpools and beach, with a few Turnstones for company.
The fields and hedgerows behind the beach produced two Wheatears, a couple of Yellow Wagtails going E, two Meadow Pipits, a Chiffchaff and a Blackcap. Small numbers of Swallows were also on the move.
Climping - Atherington: I was just trying to decide where to go next, when news came in that Richard Grimmet's sharp eyes had located a juvenile Caspian Gull on the sea, close in to the shore....decision made! To the uninitiated, this is a 'birder's bird' and very similar to the many Herring Gulls present, but I thought it worth a try as it would be a 'patch tick' for me. To cut a long story short, the bird soon drifted further out amongst many other birds, and with the haze and glare of reflected sun it was lost to view before I even got there. On arrival I had a good look, but conditions were now beyond my ability, so I failed to connect.
There were a good few migrants around the area however and in a short time I had seen several Blackcaps, a Garden Warbler, a Whitethroat, two Chiffchaffs, a Willow Warbler and a Wheatear, whilst a small flock of Yellow Wagtails were heard, but not seen, passing overhead. (A full list of birds seen there today will appear on the blog 'The Birds of Climping Gap....') So, with several good birders covering the Climping area I decided to move on....
Climping: Looking west from Bread Lane to Atherington. It is just amazing how much the view has changed in recent times due to coastal erosion. I first watched here over 50 years ago and could never have imagined the differences there are today.
Bilsham farm: On the reservoir there were 90+ Coots, 5 Little Grebes, 32 Tufted Ducks, a Pochard, three Teal and a Shoveler. A couple of small flocks of Sand Martins and Swallows appeared briefly, for a quick feed before moving on, and a Yellowhammer was in the hedges.
Shoveler at Bilsham farm reservoir
No comments:
Post a Comment