16th - 18th August 2025

Monday, 18th August: Grey, cloudy and somewhat cool at first, in a moderate NE breeze 3-4, before becoming brighter and warmer with sunny interludes breaking through the cloud by afternoon, as the wind shifted more to the E/SE, still with no sign of any rain again. 

Climping - Atherington: I covered the Atherington - Bread Lane area for a couple of hours this morning, hoping for some of the scarcer migrants, but I found it fairly quiet with nothing unexpected found. The best was probably the six Wheatears seen, whilst other species seen included Sparrowhawk, Buzzard, Swallow (20+), Skylark (15), Whitethroat (10+), Willow Warbler (5) and Blackcap (2).

Wheatears at Climping (Atherington) this morning

Bilsham farm: Another visit to the reservoir, where this morning the highlight was four Common Sandpipers feeding around the water's edge, and there were eight Little Grebes, 20 Tufted Ducks, two drake Pochard and four Mallard on the water. Very little else to report; a few Swallows, plus a couple of Willow Warblers and Whitethroats.

Common Sandpipers at Bilsham reservoir this morning

Sunday, 17th August: A decidedly chilly start, with grey cloud and a moderate E/NE breeze, soon clearing to become a warm and sunny day, with a blue sky and a little wispy cloud as the wind backed SE 3-4, but remaining dry yet again.

Elmer Rocks: There was little happening offshore, but as the tide receded through the morning there was a notable influx of waders that dropped in, no doubt attracted by the rockpools, with their now thick layer of seaweed providing good feeding conditions all around. At times it seemed as if this area was alive with birds and although it was difficult to be exact, I estimated there to be 20 Sanderlings, 45 Ringed Plovers, 60+ Turnstones and 10 Oystercatchers. Also along the beach were four Little Egrets, a Common Gull and 40+ Mediterranean Gulls.

With the warm sunny weather attracting increasing numbers of beach-goers and walkers it was time to move on, so I did a circuit of the field and hedgerows behind the beach. There were rather few passerines to be found and I logged only three Willow Warblers, a single Chiffchaff (which oddly began singing for a couple of minutes before becoming silent again), two Blackcaps and several Whitethroats. Other species seen included Greenfinch (several), Goldfinch, Linnet, Buzzard, Kestrel, Green Woodpecker, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Swallow (several) and Song Thrush.

On Elmer beach this morning: (above) Sanderling and (below) Mediterranean Gull

A nice thick coating of seaweed, with me probably being the only human present who was pleased to see it!! (above) Ringed Plovers and (below two) Ringed Plovers with Turnstones.

Saturday, 16th August: A dry but notably cooler day, with the wind having shifted to a brisk E/NE and with cloudy conditions dominating through the morning.

Climping - Atherington: After yesterday's success I made another earlyish start, hoping for more interesting migrants, but it quickly became apparent that the rather blustery easterly had caused a bit of a clear out and numbers of birds were well down today, so I didn't stay more than an hour and a half. The tide was well out and a number of walkers were on the beach, so I didn't see a single wader in a brief look, but amongst the regular gulls were four Common Gulls and a Lesser Black-backed Gull, whilst two Sandwich Terns were just offshore. 

A few Blackcaps, Whitethroats and Willow Warblers were seen, and one was actually heard singing, whilst three Buzzards were soaring together over Bailiffscourt and a Kestrel was also there. Nearby, three Great Spotted Woodpeckers - apparently a family group - were feeding together in a dead tree near Atherington cottages.

At Climping beach this morning: (above) Common Gull, (below) Lesser Black-backed Gull (front) and three Great Spotted Woodpeckers (bottom) feeding together in the same tree - presumably a family party.

Bilsham farm: At the reservoir this morning were three Common Sandpipers feeding around the edges, whilst the number of Tufted Ducks had increased to 22, with seven Little Grebes and several Mallards still present, together with 35 Coots. A male Yellowhammer was seen carrying food into the perimeter hedge at the north end and a couple of Willow Warblers and a Whitethroat were also noted, but the hedgerows were otherwise quiet, although two Sparrowhawks were chasing each other around, probably an adult and a young bird. 

Common Sandpipers at Bilsham reservoir (lower with Coots)

Later, additional info was received (per D. Boon) of three Wheatears, a Whinchat and a Red Kite in the area of fields between the reservoir and the by-pass.