it's about taking a fall

it seems to have been a great day for Black Redstarts generally! one in Seaford (seen by yours truly), one at the Cuckmere (seen by my Dad), and a minimum of six at Seaford Head (per Matt Eade and Bob Self), who also reported a Merlin, and large numbers of Redwing and other Thrush species. There were a few more Black Redstart scattered around the sussex coast as well, but none in quite as high a concentration as the 8-9 in the local area.

Even this was small scale compared to the east coast though. A friend at Holme reported 10,000 Redwing, 5,000 Fieldfare, hundreds of Song Thrush and Blackbird, 300 Brambling 500 Robin and 5 Black Redstart. Spurn Bird Observatory had 20 Black Redstarts, 420 Robin, 57 Ring Ouzel, 1020 Blackbird, 9345 Fieldfare, 835 Song Thrush, 21,100 Redwing, 800 Goldcrest and 2675 Brambling! I'm hoping some of these will filter down over the coming days! 

I realise I'm not really posting my own sightings here, but when it's dark by the time you get home from school this is sometimes a bit difficult! Tomorrow I'm Rouzel hunting on Malling Down, so I'll post back with news of my dismal failure in good time! 

Merlin at Rodmell

a female MERLIN was the highlight today, seen from the train as I headed back from School. It flew across one of the fields and over the River Ouse where it forks of to Glynde Reach, and the falcon was heading in the direction of Rodmell Brooks. My first returning record from the Ouse, but presumably the same bird Cliff Parrott (great name for a birder!) reported on 15 October on the Sussex Ornithological Society Website. A few Skylarks and Goldfinches do still seem to be moving over, but other than that vismig has really dropped off! Butterflies are now vanishing quickly too- only Red Admirals remain easy to see, and today was the first day for many months that I failed to see a single white butterfly! Perhaps my last Speckled Wood of the year was in Seaford on Sunday 14th October, and other than that there's not a lot to report!