10th - 12th October 2024

Saturday, 12th October: A grey, cool and gloomy start with heavy grey cloud and a fresh SSE wind force 4-5: just about remaining dry to 08:00hrs before heavy and frequent showers commenced. Gradually drying up by late morning, but with further showers forecast in the afternoon.

Elmer Rocks: Another morning when sea-watching was the only realistic option, and I managed an hour before my battered umbrella was called into use again, although the wind direction made shelter difficult and visibility offshore was sometimes dire or impossible as the rain swept in.

There appeared to be very little going on in the way of visible migration, but the sea was more productive than of late. Most of the birds were heading east today, as was a Red-throated Diver, my first of the autumn, whilst Gannets totalled 19E and 5W and 36 Common Scoter passed in small flocks. A number of auk flocks were just faintly visible along the horizon (at times!) but two Razorbills were much closer, again heading east before dropping onto the sea. Several Meadow Pipits and Skylarks and two Pied Wagtails on the move could just about be heard above the noise of the wind and sea, but that was about it.

In the fields behind the beach, four Little Egrets were feeding amongst gulls, a Kestrel was active and at least 12 Buzzards were again all up at once, soaring above the trees; presumably at least two family groups involved here. Chiffchaffs were in very short supply this morning after the good numbers of recent days, my count being just three - and one Goldcrest.

Fairly dire visibility at times this morning; (above) Gannets and (below) Common Scoters passing in the rain!

Buzzards over the back fields at Elmer: cropped shots of part of the group of 12

Friday, 11th October: A cold, bright and clear start with a light to moderate N/NE breeze, though no frost, the sun soon raising the temperature to give a fine autumn day.

Climping - Atherington: Conditions looked promising for migrants and given the number of interesting species such as Yellow-browed Warbler around the country, including Sussex, it had to be worth a good search around with some decent bush-bashing. As it turned out, local birder Bola had the same idea and was working the patch too, but despite our best efforts we both drew a blank for such highlights.

There were compensations though with a good bit of migration going on, whilst Chiffchaffs seemed to be everywhere. My personal log was as follows;-

Great Crested Grebe - 2 o/s 

Little Egret - 6

Mediterranean Gull - 50

Kestrel - 2

Skylark - 12N, 15 fields

Stonechat - 8

Pied Wagtail - 15

Grey Wagtail - 1E

Meadow Pipit - 50

Rock Pipit - 1

Goldcrest - 1

Chiffchaff - c.45

Blackcap - 10

Goldfinch - 120E, 25 fields

Siskin - 12E

Linnet - 25E, c.100 set-aside

(above) Linnet and (below) Stonechat at Climping

Elmer Rocks: An early afternoon visit for about an hour and a half found it quiet at sea, but a single Common Scoter and then a single Brent Goose both flew east, whilst a dozen Med Gulls were moving west. There were plenty of Chiffchaffs here too and I saw at least a dozen on my short circuit. Up to six Little Egrets were again feeding in the fields, before some took a break to rest in nearby trees. Overhead, a flock of 20 Goldfinches went east and a couple of Skylarks went north, with a few Meadow Pipits also buzzing about the fields with a couple of Pied Wagtails. A female Kestrel was seen to take a young Blackbird and at least 12 Buzzards were seen soaring together over the back fields.

A single Brent Goose going east in front of an array of windmills and (below) a couple of Little Egrets roosing in the trees at Poole Place

Thursday, 10th October: A grey and fairly miserable start, with prolonged showers and heavy cloud, whilst also cooler than of late with the wind having gone round to a moderate northerly. Becoming drier and brighter by afternoon with the odd glimpse of the sun and the wind easing a tad to force 3. 

Elmer Rocks: I made a visit during a brief lull in the showers, but it wasn't long before I was watching from under my umbrella once more. A large flock of gulls was out near the horizon again, with about six Gannets amongst them, then some while later several small groups of auk species were noted (6E and 15W), somewhat closer, but still too far out for specific identification (though some were considered probably Razorbills). A small number of Mediterranean Gulls were also back and forth amongst other regular gull species, whilst along the beach were 52 Ringed Plovers, 10 Turnstones and several Oystercatchers.

There was also some vis.mig going on, the majority of which was Swallows heading east and a proper count this morning logged a total of 124. Also noted were Pied Wagtail - 8E, Meadow Pipit - 35N, Skylark - 2N, Linnet - 6E, Goldfinch - 20E and Siskin - at least one heard. Chiffchaffs were also still in evidence with eight counted.

Bilsham farm: An early afternoon visit to the reservoir, where there were lots of birds present, but after patiently sifting through them for quite a while, I could find nothing unusual amongst them - except perhaps for the group of 24 Canada Geese, notably more than the odd one or two which occasionally appear. There were also 142 Coots, eight Tufted Ducks, six Mallard and six Little Grebes, plus a gathering of c.250 mixed gull species, including 20 Mediterranean Gulls. Along the hedgerows five Chiffchaffs were also present.

Canada Geese on Bilsham reservoir - a count of 24 was well above the norm, but you know it's not a great day when this species is the highlight!