Thursday, 21st August: A brighter sort of day, with plenty of sunshine and white scattered cloud, but still with a brisk NE wind force 4-5, taking the edge off the temperature in unsheltered locations.
Elmer Rocks: Only limited time available today, but an hour or so was enough, as wader numbers were much reduced after yesterday's good totals. I logged just a dozen Oystercatchers, 25 Ringed Plovers and a couple of Sanderlings, but I struggled to find a single Turnstone, although a Grey Plover flew over westwards. A Yellow Wagtail flew over calling, but remained unseen, and the bushes were generally quiet, producing four Whitethroats and four Willow Warblers. Three Green Woodpeckers, two Great Spotted Woodpeckers and a few Goldfinches and Greenfinches were the best of the rest. A nice Small Copper butterfly also caught my attention on the set-aside behind the beach.
Willow Warbler and Small Copper butterfly on the set-aside area behind Elmer beach
Elmer & Ancton: A brief visit to the Ancton horse paddocks area found things very quiet this morning, the highlight being a Raven, which flew over cronking but was only briefly seen as it passed overhead, quickly disappearing from view when it was obscured by the woodland edge. Other species recorded included Willow Warbler, Whitethroat (2), Swallow (4), Stock Dove (4), Green Woodpecker (2) and Goldfinch (10).
Stock Dove at Ancton horse paddocks
Wednesday, 20th August: Fairly similar to yesterday weather-wise; a cool, dry and cloudy start with a blustery NE wind force 4-5, especially along the coast, before becoming much brighter and warmer with sunny periods as the cloud eventually cleared.
Elmer Rocks: There was quite a gathering of waders this morning, roosting on the rock islands and adjacent beach as the high tide approached. Turnstones were the most numerous species and I counted at least 85, whilst there were also 40+ Ringed Plovers, eight Sanderlings and 23 Oystercatchers. Offshore, a total of five Sandwich Terns were moving back and forth and two Shelduck flew west, though it was otherwise quiet bar just a few Mediterranean Gulls and several Little Egrets, whilst along the rocks at the back of the beach were two Wheatears.
The persistent and blustery NE wind and bright sky that we have at the moment does no favours for the coastal birder, with most small birds laying low or keeping well hidden, and a search around the woods and fields behind the beach produced little. A total of two Blackcaps (one singing occasionally), five Whitethroats, four Willow Warblers, several Greenfinches, a few Swallows and two Jays were the best I could muster.
At Elmer Rocks this morning: Turnstones (above) and Oystercatchers (below) roosting near high tide, with Sandwich Tern (bottom) offshore.
The two Wheatears on the rocks at Elmer
Tuesday, 19th August: Cool, grey and cloudy again to start, in a brisk NE wind force 4-5, but warming up through the day as the wind eased a notch or so and some hazy brightness broke through, though remaining very dry.
Elmer & Ancton: A visit to the nearby horse paddocks this morning produced a nice Tree Pipit, which popped up conveniently on a fenceline for a short while, inviting a photo; not the best moment then for my little camera to flash up 'lens error' and malfunction! So be it - and this bird of the morning quietly slipped away.
It was generally fairly quiet here, but a total of eight Willow Warblers included no less than six chasing around in one large bush, whilst at least two Blackcaps and two Whitethroats were also nearby. Four Swallows overhead may have been resident birds that nested at the stables, and two each of Green and Great Spotted Woodpeckers were present. Six Greenfinches were very active and a noisy, presumably juvenile Buzzard was flying around giving begging calls and a second bird was more distant.
Buzzard over Lane End horse paddocks, Ancton
Bilsham farm: A quick visit to the reservoir didn't really pay off today and it was clear that a number of birds had moved on since my last visit yesterday. There was just one Common Sandpiper, eight Tufted Ducks, one drake Pochard and eight Little Grebes, so I called it a day and left early.
Today's Common Sandpiper at Bilsham reservoir
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