The Elmer Birder: 27th - 30th July 2025

Wednesday, 30th July: Sunny periods and cloud through the day, but feeling quite warm and muggy, in a moderate WSW breeze 3-4.

Bilsham farm: A couple of afternoon visits to the local reservoirs, starting with the nearest one at Bilsham. There was nothing out of the ordinary today and it was all rather similar to my last visit, with just a single Common Sandpiper, six Tufted Ducks, five Little Grebes, a few Mallards and 20+ Coots. A small number of hirundines - Swallows, House Martins and Sand Martins - were coming and going to feed over the water - but the main difference was the number of gulls present, washing, preening and resting. There were c.120 Black-headed Gulls, 60 Herring Gulls, four Great Black-backed Gulls and a single adult Lesser Black-backed Gull, before about 60 Mediterranean Gulls began to arrive, dropping in from the fields. Nearby, a male Yellowhammer gave weak bursts of song and a Buzzard went over.

Common Sandpiper on Bilsham reservoir

Lidsey WTW area: The sewage works itself was rather quiet for birdlife, with three or four Swallows and a Pied Wagtail being the only birds of interest, but the nearby reservoir was more productive, although it is much smaller then the previous site at Bilsham. There were three Common Sandpipers present, plus four Little Grebes, six Gadwall, and two female Mallards each with a brood - one being of well grown young and the other much smaller ducklings - with nine other adults also present. Several House Martins and Swallows were also feeding over the water, a couple of Whitethroats were in the hedgerows and two Buzzards were soaring high above.

At Lidsey this afternoon: Common Sandpipers (top two), Gadwalls (lower) and Mallard with brood of young (bottom)

Monday, 28th July: Sunshine and cloud, but remaining dry in a pleasantly bright sort of day with a light to moderate W/NW breeze.

Climping Gap: I did a circuit taking in the Atherington - Bailiffscourt - old campsite areas, which produced a bit of variety, including a few Willow Warblers and a Yellow Wagtail - although none of the scarcer migrants I was trying for! My log below:-

Little Egret - 8

Grey Heron - 2

Curlew - 3W

Oystercatcher - 6

Mediterranean Gull - fewer today; c50 perhaps (no count)

Buzzard - 2

Great Spotted Woodpecker - 1

Green Woodpecker - 4

Skylark - 12

Swallow - 30+

Sand Martin - 20+

Yellow Wagtail - 1

Sedge Warbler - 1

Reed Warbler - 6

Blackcap - 2

Whitethroat - 12

Willow Warbler - 7 (one in full song several times)

Chiffchaff - 1

Greenfinch - 9

Linnet - 20

Yellowhammer - 2

At Climping this morning: (above) Common Buzzard, (below) Greenfinch, (lower two) Reed Warblers and (bottom) Sedge Warbler

Sunday, 27th July: Rather cloudy with some brighter intervals and a moderate N/NW breeze force 3-4.

Elmer Rocks: Having been away on a week's holiday I was still feeling a bit weary this morning after yesterday's late flight, but it was good to be back on the local patch again. However, there wasn't too much to report, apart from Mediterranean Gulls, which seemed to be everywhere. It was dead low tide and I scanned to the west with my scope, where several hundred Med's were present amongst the rockpools area at Middleton (M-o-S). I then walked as far as Poole Place, where I scanned east along the beach and especially the rockpools nearby, and easily estimated 500 Med's present, as far as Atherington/Climping. Overall then I think a reasonable estimate from M-o-S to Atherington would be c.1000 Mediterranean Gulls, with several hundred Black-headed Gulls present too.

A single Common Gull was on Elmer beach, plus a couple of Oystercatchers, and two Sandwich Terns went west. A count of eight Little Egrets was made from Poole Place. Behind the beach were several Linnets, up to ten Goldfinches, four Greenfinches and two Green Woodpeckers, before I decided to move on.

Just a single Common Gull was on the beach at Elmer amongst the throng of other gulls.

Bilsham farm: A check of the reservoir for waders this morning produced just a single Common Sandpiper, whilst on the water were five Little Grebes, six Tufted Ducks, a female Mallard with a brood of five and 24 Coots, four of the latter having a prolonged dispute. Hirundines were more obvious today, with perhaps up to 30 Sand Martins and a dozen House Martins passing through and a few Swallows also visiting. Two noisy Green Woodpeckers and a Buzzard were also noted.