Friday, 8th August: Dry with plenty of cloud, then becoming brighter and warmer with sunny interludes through the day, though sometimes hazy. Wind moderate to fresh W/SW 3-4.
I started with a fairly casual look around Atherington/Climping this morning, finding only common migrants and nothing unusual, with counts of 15 Willow Warblers, eight Whitethroats, a Lesser Whitethroat and four Blackcaps, amongst the regular species including Linnets, Greenfinches, Goldfinches and Skylarks. It wasn't too long before I met up with 'Mr Climping' alias Bola who was covering a much fuller area of his patch than I, so after a pleasant chat and a catch-up, I left Bola to it and it was time to move on.
Bilsham Farm: I opted to have another look at the reservoir and was pleased that at last there was something of interest to report - a Black-necked Grebe. This was an early date for a returning bird, but I was unable to get too close and it was surprisingly elusive at times, spending time with a party of six Little Grebes and diving frequently, only to re-appear some distance away. Also present were two Pochard - a drake and a female - together with 12 Tufted Ducks, whilst a Common Sandpiper was feeding along the water's edge.
There were up to 100 Sand Martins feeding out over the fields and above the water, plus about up to 20 House Martins and the same of Swallows. Two or three Willow Warblers and Whitethroats were along the hedgerows and several small gatherings of Goldfinches and Greenfinches.
This morning's Black-necked Grebe on the reservoir, above with a Little Grebe and below with a Tufted Duck. It was at times very elusive, diving and disappearing frequently, and given the viewing conditions these rather blurry and cropped images were the best I could do. To be honest I wasn't sure whether it was an adult or a juvenile at the time, but having considered the details including the extensively dark neck and bold red eye (not visible here) I now think it must be a moulting adult.
Common Sandpiper (above), Tufted Duck with drake Pochard (right) and (bottom pic) two Pochard (at back) with Tufted Ducks
Wednesday, 6th August: After a notably cool start with some hazy cloud and just a faint breeze, it soon warmed up considerably to give a dry, bright and sunny day in a light SSW force 2-3.
Elmer Rocks: A brief visit of little over an hour early this morning, due to commitments. There was very little activity offshore over the calm sea, although three Sandwich Terns eventually went west, as did two Little Egrets, whilst 12 Oystercatchers were on the beach and rock islands. There was some activity in the hedgerows behind the beach, with around ten Willow Warblers, three Whitethroats, four Greenfinches and 15 Goldfinches. A Buzzard, a Kestrel, two Green Woodpeckers and two Great Spotted Woodpeckers were also noted, before time ran out and I had to leave.
Sandwich Tern off Elmer Rocks
Climping Gap: A late morning visit, covering the area from Kent's farm - Atherington - Bread lane, produced a number of commoner migrants, though it was slow going at times and I failed to locate anything beyond the regular. My log was as below:-
Kestrel - 1
Buzzard - 1
Green Woodpecker - 3
Great Spotted Woodpecker - 2
Skylark - 12
Wheatear - 2
Willow Warbler - 15
Whitethroat - 12+
Lesser Whitethroat - 1
Garden Warbler - 1
Blackcap - 1
Greenfinch - 6
Linnet - 10
Goldfinch - 20
Yellowhammer - 1
Wheatear (above) and Willow Warbler at Climping
Tuesday, 5th August: A dry, cool and fairly cloudy start in a blustery NW wind force 4-6, but soon becoming warmer and brighter as the day progressed.
Climping - Atherington: There seemed to be nothing moving offshore on the high tide, so I concentrated on searching the trees and bushes for migrants. However, the strong and gusty wind didn't help and kept the migrants low. Disappointingly, there wasn't too much variety on offer, but good numbers of Willow Warblers and Whitethroats were present, and a couple of Wheatears. My log below:-
Buzzard - 2
Kestrel - 2
Swallow - 10
Skylark - 5
Green Woodpecker - 3
Great Spotted Woodpecker - 2
Wheatear - 2
Whitethroat - 20
Willow Warbler - 45+
Chiffchaff - 1
Long-tailed Tit - 10
Linnet - 10
Greenfinch - 4
Goldfinch - 20
Linnet - 8
Yellowhammer - 1
Bilsham farm: Another visit to the reservoir, but as I approached my first Clouded Yellow butterfly of the year was nectaring on vegetation beside the path. On the water were six Mallard, eight Tufted Ducks, a Pochard, six Little Grebes and a Common Sandpiper. Also, a single Curlew flew low over the reservoir, but kept on going, heading off west, whilst 25 Sand Martins were feeding above the water.
Clouded Yellow nectaring in pathside vegetation (above) and Common Sandpiper on the reservoir.
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