Friday, 13th June: A touch of summer; prolonged warm sunshine, blue skies and little or no cloud through the day and feeling quite humid with just a light S/SW breeze....though with a sting in the tail as heavy thunderstorms are predicted overnight!
It's now that time of the year which some birders consider as the 'summer doldrums,' with migration virtually now at an end, many birds absent whilst breeding in the Arctic, and those that remain here now becoming increasingly quiet as they are busy with parental duties or moulting. There is also a feeling of repetition with the same species being repeatedly encountered, and this is certainly true on the patch at the moment. I therefore had a welcome change of scenery very recently, heading for the inland heathlands of north-west Sussex, where during late evening to dusk I managed to catch up with such delights as Nightjar, Woodcock, Woodlark, Tree Pipit, Dartford Warbler and Stonechat. A change is as good as a rest, and feeling duly 'refreshed' so to speak, it's now back to the local patch.....
Elmer Rocks: There was a flock of 2-300 gulls feeding offshore, which contained several Mediterranean Gulls and at least five Sandwich Terns, with another six of the latter moving through westwards, as was a single Common Tern. Along the beach on the low tide was a Little Egret and a solitary Oystercatcher.
A circuit of the woods and fields behind the beach produced a pair of Greenfinches, with the male still giving his wheezy song, two different Great Spotted Woodpeckers apparently returning to their nesting areas, a Green Woodpecker and a Buzzard.
Greenfinch singing behind the beach at Elmer Rocks
Bilsham Farm: There was again little of note on the reservoir. On the water were five drake Tufted Ducks, half a dozen Mallard, a Little Grebe and five Great Black-backed Gulls amongst other gulls. A small flock of six Swallows and four House Martins was feeding above the water from time to time, whilst in the perimeter hedgerows a couple of Whitethroats and a Chiffchaff called briefly.
The highlight for me was seeing my first Marbled White butterflies of the season, with at least five along one bank and corner of the reservoir - doubtless there were plenty more around - whilst a good few Meadow Browns were also on the wing.
Tufted Ducks on Bilsham reservoir and (below) Marbled White butterflies on the reservoir bank
Wednesday, 11th June: The weather forecasts I watched yesterday evening were some way off the mark and the prolonged sunshine with plumes of warm continental air today didn't really materialise locally! A cool, grey and cloudy morning, with some mist and a brisk SE wind never less than a force 4-5...and it was well into the afternoon before skies cleared and the sunshine finally appeared.
Elmer Rocks: A casual visit this morning, with a couple of hours spent looking at the sea on and off. There was a smallish flock of gulls offshore, which held around eight Mediterranean Gulls and a couple of Sandwich Terns, with up to another ten of the latter fishing offshore later, before they eventually drifted off eastwards. A single Gannet flew west well offshore, whilst a Little Egret flew west close in, but there was nothing much else on the move, except for a total of 12 Oystercatchers which flew in to roost on the rock islands at high tide.
There was little else to report except for a couple of Greenfinches, three Linnets and ten Goldfinches along the hedgerows and on the telegraph wires and a Whitethroat which sang briefly.
Mediterranean Gull (above) amongst gull flock, Oystercatchers arriving to roost and (bottom) Sandwich Terns feeding offshore.
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