Sunday, 31st August: Remaining changeable; cloudy at first but soon becoming bright and breezy, with sunny spells and periods of heavy cloud, with the occasional heavy and squally shower, in a fresh SW wind force 3-4, increasing to 5-6 later.
Climping - Atherington: I basically stayed in and around Atherington, trying for some of the scarcer species, but in the end my efforts failed to locate anything too exciting, although a small highlight was finding a Kingfisher on the new (but private) wildlife pond. There were a few of the regular migrants about, including at least 12 Chiffchaffs, four Willow Warblers, several Whitethroats and eight Blackcaps, plus at least two Whinchats. Other regular species included Little Egret (3), Buzzard (2), Kestrel, Skylark (10), Green Woodpecker (3), Great Spotted Woodpecker (2) and Jay (3).
The Kingfisher at the new wildlife pool Atherington
Jay and (below) Whinchat at Climping
The old Atherington sign that still exists, on a wall above a ditch near the Bailiffscourt entrance. It's overlooked by most folks that pass by, but I've looked at it many times over the years and felt I should at least document it for posterity. The hamlet of Atherington still partly exists - though nowadays included as part of Climping - but coastal erosion caused the majority of it to be washed away by the sea between the early 1600's to the late 1700's. A similar fate befell the adjacent hamlet of Cudlow, just to the west, where just a large agricultural field ('Cudlow's field') is now all that exists - and even that is subject to severe coastal erosion at the present time.
Saturday, 30th August: Another very changeable day of sunny spells, frequent grey cloud and some heavy showers, with blustery SW winds gusting at times up to force 6-7.
Elmer Rocks: There were many hundreds of gulls offshore in at least two massive flocks this morning, but mostly very distant and beyond identification range, though c.30 Gannets were amongst them, generally heading west. A Grey Heron flew east offshore and a couple of Little Egrets did likewise along the shoreline, but the most prominent species was Ringed Plover, with 45 feeding along the beach amongst the seaweed and including two colour-ringed birds. Oddly, there were just half a dozen Turnstones with them today, although a Common Sandpiper was a surprise as it flew up to settle on the rock islands.
A Grey Wagtail flew west along the beach and a single Willow Warbler was in the tamarisk by the Kiosk, whilst a couple of Blackcaps and a Chiffchaff were in the bushes by the set-aside area, but generally there were very few small birds on offer. Other species seen included Buzzard (2), Green Woodpecker (4), Great Spotted Woodpecker, Greenfinch (5), Starling (150+) and Swallow (10).
Ringed Plovers on Elmer beach this morning: (above) colour-ringed juvenile and (below) colour-ringed adult
Ringed Plovers feeding on the beach, and (below) adult squabbling with a colour-ringed juvenile, whilst (bottom) Grey Heron flying east offshore
Friday, 29th August: Low pressure and changeable conditions now dominating, with heavy thundery rain and strong winds overnight and into the morning, followed by a period of sunshine with a moderate W/SW wind, before heavy showers and thunder returned by mid afternoon.
Climping - Atherington: I waited for the wind and rain to subside before venturing out about 0930hrs, when the clouds broke and some sunshine came through. It was very slow with few birds noted along the hedgerows at first, though it picked up just a bit later. A total of at least 14 Blackcaps were feeding in the berry bushes, but the only other warblers seen were a couple of Whitethroats, a Willow Warbler and two Chiffchaffs. A smallish gathering of Swallows and House Martins was present, then a Grey Wagtail appeared on the new wildlife pond - at exactly the same spot as previously reported three days ago - though it didn't stay long. Other species logged included Skylark (15), Buzzard (2), Kestrel, Wheatear, Goldfinch (12) and Linnet.
Grey Wagtail at Atherington (Climping) - in exactly the same spot as my last visit several days ago.
Bilsham farm: A brief visit to the reservoir - dodging the roadworks and the threatening weather - found an influx of Tufted Ducks with a total of 29 birds present, plus two Pochard and ten Little Grebes, whilst feeding around the edges were three Common Sandpipers and two Pied Wagtails.
Two of the three Common Sandpipers at Bilsham reservoir this morning
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