Thursday, 17th July: Cloudy with sunny periods, hazy at times, but quite warm with a light SW breeze 2-3, increasing to force 4 later.
Elmer Rocks: It was slow going again, but the first returning Common Gull was of note, whilst a steady westward trickle of Mediterranean Gulls was going on, together with a few flocks along the beach, giving an estimated total of c.150 during my visit, whilst there were also 15 Sandwich Terns, with most heading west. There was little else of note, though an Oystercatcher went east and a flock of four Curlews went west, and a small flock of ten Linnets were along the back of the beach.
Common Gull on the beach, my first returning bird of the autumn (above), Sandwich Tern (centre) and Mediterranean Gulls flying west (bottom)....there was a steady trickle of them passing through this morning.
Wednesday, 16th July: A generally warm and sunny day with plenty of scattered cloud, but still rather blustery with a fresh W/SW breeze force 4-5.
Bilsham farm: A fairly typical mid-July day with not a great deal to report, but still one or two things of interest. On the reservoir there were no waders today, but two Great Crested Grebes had appeared since my last visit, whilst four Little Grebes, 11 Tufted Ducks and a female Mallard with her brood were also present. There was a gathering of 50 Herring Gulls of various ages, washing and preening, but one bird roosting/sleeping away from all the others had an obviously darker mantle and turned out to be a near-adult Yellow-legged Gull, before the whole lot spooked and flew off for reasons unknown. There was also a small movement of hirundines passing through, consisting of c.30 Sand Martins, half a dozen each of House Martin and Swallow and a couple of Swifts.
At Bilsham reservoir this morning: (above) Great Crested Grebe, (centre) House Martins and (bottom) sleeping Yellow-legged Gull, which eventually showed briefly before suddenly flying off with all the other gulls present.
Shripney area: My circuit took in the farm reservoirs here but it was not productive today, producing just two pairs of Little Grebes (one with three young still being fed), a female Mallard with a well-grown brood, a lonely juvenile Black-headed Gull and a few Coots. A Yellowhammer was singing and a couple of Whitethroats were also seen briefly, with a family party of Linnets along the main path. Two Buzzards were fairly active and were probably a pair, whilst a single Kestrel was more distant.
Buzzard at Shripney
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