Pagham Harbour Spoonbills

Was pleased to see 2 out of 4 Spoonbills that was reported at Pagham harbour today. One showed at a greater distance whilst the other 1 was feeding close by. Other birds sighted were 1 Male Sparrowhawk, 1 Peregrine, 4 Whinchat and 1 Male Stonechat. Nice evening!

Real Birders are out No Matter the Weather!

An early start to school, and I was a free man today by 12:00! Lewes Railway Land beckoned me first. The afternoon's are never brilliant around here, but at least the weather was still nice, for the hour or so I was here! 

Birdwise- a small amount of vismig, with 7 Swallow, 4 Siskin, and singles of Meadow Pipit and House Martin heading south. there were still quite a lot of Robins (I'd guess 25), and 12 Chiffchaff. Plus 2 Treecreeper, a Jay, and a Kingfisher around the heart of reeds. Patch bird no.55 was heard only, 2 PEREGRINE calling distantly over the cliffs. I also saw the remarkable spectacle of a Speckled Wood flying into a spider's web, getting trapped and devoured, and then rolled up into a neat, silk-wrapped parcel. I chose the wrong day not to bring a camera! As I sat for 30 minutes waiting for the train, an estimated 300 hirundines passed over Lewes Station in a constant stream, seeming to consist primarily of Swallows.

On the way home I called into Newhaven, trying to relocate a Wryneck reported yesterday on RBA. I failed in this assignment, but there were a few good birds in the area;

• a SHAG was offshore, fishing to the east of the pier about 100 metres o/s. My first in Sussex since 1 September 2011 surprisingly!
• a small flock of waders flew down to bathe in the puddles immediately south of the industrial land, about 100 metres NE of Newhaven East Pier. They consisted of 17 Ringed Plover, 6 Dunlin and 2 Turnstone. Turnstone is a fairly unusual bird for Tide Mills in my experience, bizarrely I have only seen them here three times previously!
• 2 Wheatear. One at Tide Mills showed a bright supercilium, long primary projection and uppright, dick's pipit like stance, typical of GREENLAND WHEATEAR (oenanthe oenanthe leucorrhoea), while one, perched on the viewing screen at the Ouse Estuary Project, looked a much more typical 'british' Wheatear. 
• 1 YELLOW WAGTAIL, my latest ever and first ever record for October! it called three times as it headed over

However, whether it was worth the soul-chilling south-westerlies and the dismal rain is another matter! The highlight of the day was probably the GREENLAND WHEATEAR, great birds that still feel like a bit of a rarity, depsite being pretty regular. Slightly commoner stuff included 30 Lapwing and 20 Curlew, a handful of Gibbugs (Great Black-backed Gulls), my first Common Gull for a few weeks in Sussex, and a handful of Chiffchaff. The tide on Mill Creek was sadly too high for the Pectoral/Buff-breasted Sandpiper that hasn't arrived yet...

Wet, bad light and terrible winds. Must be time for birding!

I decide to get to college an hour early to get some much needed birding done as I had not been out for a while, I chose today (02/10/12) to go brilliant choice (not). The weather was bloomin awful, the birds where hiding the only thing that kept me mildly happy was the massive flock of 24 magpie, if 1 is for sorrow and 2 is for joy what on earth is 24? Eventually the sun came out and the birds started to move around a bit more nothing special though just a small tit flock which comprised of, well tits. Oh and a Robin. However I noticed a bird of prey coming towards me I was delighted to watch a peregrine flying towards me and over me before disappearing behind some trees, only to return a few minutes later from the same directions it came from. Besides that terribly exciting moment the only other birds where; 1 kingfisher, 3 grey wagtails, 1 buzzard and a couple of ravens. All in all not terribly exciting but this is my first post on here. Ill try harder when the weather is nicer.