fine birding on the suburban coast

Like all good days, this one began with a glorious lie-in, and I lazily dragged myself out of the house at about 9.00. My first port of call was the lovely SNOW BUNTING, once again showing brilliantly along Seaford seafront for myself, Peter Wilson, and several inquisitive passers-by, who I'm glad to say had great views without even needing any optics. Once we explained to people what the bird was they were also a lot more concerned to not flush it, which made for a far less stressful viewing! Bringing a tripod meant I also got considerably better photographs today than I had managed on Friday.

showing off the streaky mantle, reddish tertials, pale brownish nape, white wing flash

perched on the sea wall

just generally being too cute!

While watching our proud plectrophenax, I also picked up two Brent Geese passing high and to the east about 100 yards offshore- I used to think they were only to be seen moving along the coast on migration, but it does seem a few wandering birds move around East Sussex through most of the winter! After about 20 minutes of pure joy with my new best friend, I carried on west along the coast, checking Newhaven as I went.

it was generally very quiet- there was the regular winter flock of 200 Greenfinch, in which I tried and failed to string something rarer (I did briefly see a bull-necked, brownish looking bird with what looked like a short yellow beak, I think this was probably me just trying to string an odd view of a juvenile Greenfinch into a Twite though!). There were also plenty of Skylarks and Meadow Pipits, but not a lot else. Not even a Ringed Plover or a Stonechat was noted! The Mill Creek held only the resident Redshanks and Little Egrets, alongside the two Little Grebes that have taken up winter residence at the port-end of Mill Creek, I first noted these birds on the train on Monday and have seen them twice since; quite remarkably, my first ever for Newhaven Tide Mills! Now they're here they'll probably stay the whole winter. It does leave the question, why are they here now and not before? My best guess is that these two are part of the small number that winter along the River Ouse, often being seen between Southease and Pidinghoe in the winter months, and decided to wander a bit further downstream for the winter. Alternatively, may they have wandered from the more substantial population about four miles further east, in the Cuckmere? I suspect the latter is more likely but who really knows? anyway, Newhaven wasn't quite as dead as I've described, a female Wigeon flew over my head from on the Mill Creek, before heading NE towards Arlington and the upper Cuckmere, and there were also several flocks, amounting to about 200 more Wigeon, that flew south to roost offshore of Newhaven. One of my latest ever migrant Siskins also flew over, heading east.

Little Egret fishing in Mill Creek

Walking through the port at Newhaven, I noticed quite a lot of gulls- in one group of seven Herring Gulls on a factory roof was one bird with a noticeably darker mantle than the surrounding birds- I tried to set up the camera to get a photo but they all took off, the dark mantled bird flying right over my head, and showing a lot of white in the primaries, including an extensive white tip to p10- a nice clear-cut Argentatus Herring Gull. You may wonder why I was walking through Newhaven port, and it certainly wasn't for the scenery! But I decided to have a walk around Peacehaven today as well, and this was the quickest way to get to a bus-stop. 

Not a lot was there to see on most of Peacehaven Undercliff, but I did eventually find my target bird, a WATER PIPIT. Barny Worsfold reported a probable around here about a week ago which had a very convincing description, so I've wanted to check it out for a while, and was delighted to find one! I noted the following on the bird;

• white outer-tail feathers, the most diagnostic feature
• a clear, whiteish double-wing bar
• a pale, orangey lower mandible
• the upperparts were a greyish, neutral brown in colour, lacking the stronger olivey tones of a Rock Pipit
• the underparts where a lot paler, with a slight yellowish tinge, but generally a lot clearer
• streaking on the breast ended quite abruptly about halfway down the breast, and there wasn't the same olivey-tinge to the flanks shown by Rock Pipit
• the streaks were slightly finer and cleaner looking, lacking the dirty, suffused look of Rock Pipit. 
• the call was, to my ears, slightly lower-pitched, and more pleasing to the ears, than Rock- and though I've yet to find any literature that supports this it is something I've noticed on the other two local Water Pipits I've found. 
• In stance, it was quite upright and wagtail-like, frequently pumping it's tail to reinforce the expression. it held it's head higher than the Rock Pipits I normally see, which generally have a more 'slanted' posture, you could run a line from head to tail running in an almost 45 degree angle on a Rock Pipit in typical posture I find, whereas it would be more like 60 degrees on a Water Pip. 

I was also quite lucky to get some decent photos of the bird, which may hopefully come in useful for a description

It wasn't as pale underneath as some very 'classic' birds I've seen, but I'm fairly happy with said birds ID. It was on the area of undercliff immediately below Malinee Avenue, Peacehaven, while I think Barny reported a bird slightly further west, at Portobello Sewage Farm. Is it the same bird wandering, or a different one? I think this bird is quite easy to pick out, due to the mass of downy feathering on the left side of the breast, where it looks like some feathers have been pulled out (I noticed it tussling with Rock Pipits quite a lot). 

Heading to the bus stop at Peacehaven, I got quite a surprise when five SWALLOWS flew over heading East! They didn't hang around long, hardly surprising, as they must be in quite a hurry to leave by now! I had recently seen y latest every Swallows at Pagham, on the 11th, and this was pushing the dates back even further! To see five was remarkable as well, and it does give me hope that a few of these extreme straggling summer migrants might make it back ok. 

On getting the bus, I met up with Jake at Brighton Marina, which gave some great birding! Along the east arm, a delightful and fairly confiding juvenile Common Scoter was swimming about among boats, probably enjoying the easy life of a placid water with probably a lot of shellfish on the bottom! A Guillemot was offshore, and on the rocks of the west arm we could distantly see a Mute Swan and a few PURPLE SANDPIPER, a year-bird for me and the main reason for coming to the Marina, I have missed on these beauties since my last sighting in January 2011! We opted to trek accross the marina to the West Arm, and got a remarkable surprise in two Shag fishing in the channel just opposite the West Quay! They were so close they were attracting quite a spectacle from the passers-by, something I have never noticed occurring where Phalcrocorax are concerned before at all! But when you're that close, the up-ending dives are quite a spectacle, and certainly splash loud enough to attract a curious crowd- who were probably enjoying the antics of one poor juvenile who hasn't quite mastered fishing yet! He attempted to swallow A Flatfish that was almost larger than him, and ended up giving up on most of his hard-earned prey, which the entrepeneuring gulls instead stole away. 

It was a truly fantastic experience, the frantic energy of this inexperienced juvenile, combined with his gusto for catching fish and disappointing failures to engulf them, made for gripping but also slightly saddening viewing. There is something cute, endearing and wryly affectionate about a Shag, being far skinnier and more elegant than his common cousin. The up-ending dive is also rather spectacular from such a close range, and we were literally so close that, when he resurfaced, you could hear the sound of water being forced out of nostrils! It was perhaps my favourite point of the day, even including the magnificent views of Purplie we managed once we pulled ourselves away from them! There were 8 Purple Sandpiper among 20+ Turnstones on the rocks on the marina side of the east arm- alongside the very out of place Mute Swan sitting on the beach! They seem to be quite a coastal species in the Solent and can often be seen paddling aimlessly past the beaches between Christchurch and Keyhaven among pedalo-lookalikes, but this probably the first time I've seen a coastal Mute in Sussex! 

juvy Scoter, enjoying the placidity of a Marina

Great Black-back, pirate of the unfortunate Shag!

diving Shag!

Phalcrocorax Aristotelis

Purple Sandpipers- no zoom

the creme de la creme of Sandpipers!

"I have no idea what I'm doing"

shore lark, hume's warbler, young birders field trip!

sorry for the unimaginative title, it's been a long day!

There can't have been many times my patch has played host to four young birders at once.  We're a rare enough breed as it is, to see four together borders on the ridiculous! there have also been few times I've walked as far for birds, and even fewer when I've been so well rewarded!

Perhaps, to begin this post, I'll tell you my predictions, that I'd made the past few days. we would be walking from Seaford to Beachy Head, a decent walk taking in Seaford Head, Cuckmere Haven, the Seven Sisters and Beachy. The winds were NW, and it was set to be a good day weatherwise, with a bit of fog to ground migrants.

I predicted the NW winds would bring some northerly birds down- I was thinking maybe the likes of Lapland Bunting, Snow Bunting, Twite or Shore Lark. It seemed to me the best place to see any of these would be the clifftop of the Seven Sisters- on a similar walk perhaps five years ago I'd missed out on a Shore Lark along here, found on one of the sisters on 1 Oct 2007, and one of the most recent sussex records. Would lightning really strike twice?

My second, more hopeful, prediction was of a phyllosc of some variety. The one at the forefront of my mind was Hume's, though Pallas's and Dusky I also considered good candidates for late October. The winds weren't very good for a new arrival, but maybe a bird had arrived on the east coast, and would be blown down here on it's southward migration?

as it turns out, I think I should consider a career in clairvoyancy! But lets start at the beginning, and move on to the wonderful birds later.

I woke up early, planning to meet up with Jake Gearty, George Kinnard and Luke Dray at 7.30 in Seaford. by 7.23 I was out the door, and almost the first bird I heard was a Siskin in the garden. three Meadow Pipit then flew over, heading due south, and a FIRECREST was in with a small crest/tit flock at Blatchington Pond; there was a lot of activity, and all this before I was really awake!

Having met up with the other three muskateers, we headed towards the seafront. In a very brief seawatch, the first bird Jake saw in his scope was a Red-throated Diver heading west very close in! a few Gannets were offshore, and three Brent Geese passing east were most unbrent-like, going high above the horizon. From Seaford Head, George managed to pick out a female-type Common Scoter, sitting distantly on the sea.

It was around now that the mist started to roll in, and for a while visibility was probably only about 50-100 metres. As we walked up the slope from Splash Point to the Golf Course, the first of several Skylarks were picked up coming in/off, and a MISTLE THRUSH did the same before flying off to the west. This is my first record for Seaford Head, and the species is probably the rarest of the six thrushes on passage in Sussex! This was already and early highlight, and the day was shaping up to be a good one!

On the Golf Course, five Siskin dropped down into the bushes of the northward facing hill, and by the radio mast was a decent concentration of birds, with a few Redwing, Song Thrush, Blackbird and a single Fieldfare, seen by myself and Jake only and the only bird of the day! Non avian highlight of the day was a WEASEL seen here, again a very brief spot by Jake, that I also connected with as it darted across the path. Walking along the clifftop was quiet, though Skylarks and Meadow Pipits were both coming in/off in small numbers.

record shot of the very showy Siskin
(Liam Curson)

Hope Gap was also fairly quiet. We managed a House Martin overhead, perhaps 20 Redwing, 4 Jay, 2 Blackcap, a few Blackbirds and Song Thrushes, 2-3 Goldcrest, and two very showy Siskin feeding in the thistles alongside the path. These were superb views, compared to my typical fly-over views of the species on patch. In fact, I've only really ever had views to match this at feeding stations before! a flock of seven Redpoll also flew overhead, heading down into Hope Gap as we were leaving it. These being my only my second records this autumn, it's not been a great one for Redpolls to my knowledge? After leaving Hope Gap we checked Harry's Bush, which did it's usual trick of failing to live up to all our expectations! 15-20 Goldcrest, 5 Chiffchaff and a Treecreeper were as good as it got! However, George's eagle eyes did notice one Goldcrest had a ring on it's leg, quite a spot on such a small, fast-moving and hard-to-see bird!

My overall estimate for the migrants on Seaford Head today was- 40 Blackbird, 40 Robin, 30 Redwing, 25 Goldcrest, 25 Song Thrush, 25 Meadow Pipit, 20 Skylark, 8 Siskin, 7 Redpoll, 2 Blackcap, 1 House Martin, 1 Fieldfare and 1 MISTLE THRUSH. 

The walk then continued on, to Cuckmere Haven, where there were 250+ Wigeon on the flooded levels, among smaller numbers of Canada Geese and Gulls. In the bushes along the west side were small numbers of Song Thrush, Blackbird and Redwing. a YELLOWHAMMER heard might just be one of the last ones left locally! Last year I counted one singing male in Greenway Bottom and one at Exceat, and these were the only two in an area where you could have, a few years ago, seen 20! It's a sad state of affairs when I'm capital-ing what should be a common bird...

Brent Geese, Cuckmere Haven
(Liam Curson)

two juvenile Brent Geese had found themselves on the River, and were quite literally tame as ducks! Brents are a regular winter visitor/passage migrant in the Cuckmere in small numbers, but this was the first time I'd ever been close enough to hear their grunting calls. There's something quite lonely about hearing them call alone, a sort of parallel to the frenetic energy given off by the sound of a whole flock on an estuary. Meanwhile there were three Dunlin on the meanders, and seven Swallows hawking over the river- will those today be my last of the year? From the riverbank near the sea, the two resident Little Owls could be heard calling from the hawthorn bank the herons and egrets like to roost in- the first time I've heard them in quite a while.

A short seawatch off Cuckmere Haven produced another Red-throated Diver west, and a Common Scoter east- we were going to check the beach for Shore Larks and Snow Buntings but the tide was too high. So we proceded to climb the steep slope of Haven Brow, and see what we could find the rest of the walk to Hope Gap.

The answer resolved itself within about 10 minutes; we first saw a small, dark passerine with a bouncing, skylark-like flight, silhouetted and flying out of sight over the brow of the hill. We joked about this being everything from a Black Redstart to a Black-eared Wheatear, but about three minutes later found ourselves once again looking at the mystery bird- I'd decided it was either a Wheatear or a Skylark without really laying bins on it- but George, ever observant called out (minus the expletives), "Oh My God, a Shore Lark!". That's right, a SHORE LARK on my patch!!

what a stunner!

We called news out, to Birdnet and RBA, to Jake Everitt, Jon Curson and Nick Pope, and hoped they would spread the news among the local birders. The first sussex Shore Lark in two years (since another showy bird on the beach at Cuckmere Haven!), and what a stunning, stunning bird! The yellow and black face, the little black tufts, the plaintive, soft, gentle little whistle of a call- this has really become one of my favourite birds in a matter of hours! It was happy feeding on the short grass of the clifftop- though it was getting flushed quite a lot by ramblers and their dogs (when are the two ever apart?). It generally fed on it's own, avoiding the company of nearby Meadow and Rock Pipits and Skylarks.

(Luke Dray)

our plan was to stay around until other birders arrived to see the lark, but that plan was hampered slightly when a HUME'S LEAF WARBLER was discovered at Belle Tout. Now, there are two very good reasons to leave the bird, a) we kinda wanted to see this warbler!, and b) most, if not all, local birders, would go for the warbler first, meaning it might be a few hours before anyone else came for the lark. We reached a diplomatic decision, and trundled over the seven sisters!

my favourite shot! (Luke Dray)

It was a long walk, with not a lot to see other than a Peregrine patrolling the cliffs. But steely determination is a wonderful way to make time fly, and it felt like in next to no time we arrived at Belle Tout. At first the area seemed completely lifeless, a small gathering on the east side of the wood having seen nothing for half an hour. Jake and I took a wander into the wood, and picked up on a Goldcrest who seemed to have a sore throat, the quiet calls even softer than usual. Knowing the warbler might well be with it, we scanned the treetops, but the thin, monotonal call gave it away first. We'd relocated the Hume's Warbler! We called the other birders over, and after a bit of persistence everyone had pretty good views- and over the next hour and a half the bird continued to show well on occasion and call frequently. The following are my notes on a great bird;

• thin, generally soft but at times quite piercing, monotonal call. Slightly lower pitched than a yellow-browed warbler to my ears
• very cold grey above, with hardly any greenish colouration on the mantles and wings
• double wing bar made up of pale fringing to the greater and lesser coverts
• pale supercilium, with hardly any hint of yellow at all. 
• was roving Belle Tout Wood with a flock of Goldcrest, and seemed even more 'fidgety' than it's counterparts, and also engaged in flycatching more often (generally a good way to pick it out without bins was as the bird flycatching in the crest flock!)
• overall impression- a greyer, colder version of a Yellow-browed Warbler

A terrific bird, and an amazing end to the day. While watching the Yellow-browed at the top of Belle Tout, Jake and I picked out a bird flying over eastwards with a harsh, high-pitched chirp- having been prepared for this moment via xeno-canto we both immeditately picked it up as a large pipit sp! The odds of it being a Richard's are of course far greater than a Blyth's, and we feel we can eliminate Tawny- not only is the date very late, but the calls we heard had a higher-pitched, more explosive and harsher quality more typical of a Richard's. Problem is, Blyth's sounds very similar! Probability dictates it is a Richard's, but I'm not sure I want to submit a description of a species I'm not certain of- I know it was rare, just not how rare! And it is partly to do with my suspicion the records comittee would flat-out reject a heard-only Richard's, unless the observer had extensive experience with both Richard's and Blyth's. Am I being paranoid? maybe- but it can hardly rob from one of my finest days birding ever! Thanks to Jake, George and Luke for making it so enjoyable! :)

some great record shots of the Hume's Leaf warbler.
(Luke Dray)

Stonechats and Sabine's Gulls

I was in an understandabl tired state this morning, having turned 17 and been out with friends last night! I woke at about 9.30 to Dad on the phone, saying he was watching the SIBERIAN STOENCHAT at Beachy Head! Being a very kind father (and probably still in birthday mode), he came back to pick me up, and about half an hour later we were stood with a crowd of 20+ other birders at Birling Gap, watching this gorgeous bird fly from perch to perch, in a set-aside field of thistle and kidney vetch. At times it came up to perch on the barbed wire fence on the side of the road, showing at a fantastic fifteen feet!

The white rump in flight was very distinctive, as was a larger white wing panel than on a nominate Stonechat. I was also surprised at just how pallid 1st-winter Sibe Stone looks compared to ours. I couldn't find my camera, but Peter Denyer has kindly donated me some photos to use... 

Also around at Beachy Head were 20+ Swallows moving through, 200+ Goldfinch, a few Skylark overhead and a tinkling of Goldcrests in Belle Tout. 

I thought this was going to be the highlight of my day- how wrong I was! Brian Cox (the birder, not the physicist or the thespian!), came over to say hi to the family/steal my birthday cake, and his pager alerted us to the reappearance of the Hove SABINE'S GULL seen yesterday. I sent a text to Jake Gearty who was still out, and him, Peter, Jamie Wilkinson and Luke Dray relocated the bird on the way back from the Stonechat. I got down there for 4.00, and met Jake, Luke, Dave Boddington, George Kinnard and the maverick himself along Hove seafront! The gull showed ridiculously well, down to about four metres! 

How to see; the bird is incredibly obliging, generally present along the seafront west of the burnt-down pier. it is often flighty but can allow remarkably close approach at times! It is apparently also a fan of chips, so birders, splash out a bit for some fabulous views! 

One feather on the left wing (not visible here) is also already moulted into it's winter plumage. If this bird hangs around for a while (which I hope it will) it'll be interesting to see whether it's moult develops any further.

thanks to Peter for letting me use his photos and Jon, Brian, Jake, Luke, Jamie, George and everyone else for a great day's birding! 

bits and bobs

Not much the last three days, as school has largely dicated the pace. Yesterday morning was poor in a morning on Lewes Railway Land, though Redwing and Skylark were new patch birds (57 and 58 respectively), and 13 Siskin, a Mistle Thrush and a few Goldcrest were scattered about, as well as two more Siskin and a handful of Meadow Pipits heading over. Splash Point the morning beforehand was dreadful beyond belief- a Common Scoter was the sum of 20 minutes before I gave up and headed home!

However, today was at least notable for some good numbers in the sunny conditions! A flock of 200+ Woodpigeon headed over Seaford, along with a few Skylark, Meadow Pipit, Goldfinch and Siskin. , there were about 400 Goldfinch in the fields around Tide Mills and a flock of 150+ heading south over Piddinghoe Pond, where about 500 Swallows and House Martins were gathered. Remarkably, another HOBBY flew over Newhaven from the train, eight days after I'd seen one previously here. Lewes was full of Goldcrests, and a few Skylarks were still piling overhead late morning, Red Admiral, Speckled Wood, Large White and Migrant Hawker were also all out on the wing. Not a lot, but more than I would hope for on the days largely dominated by school!

Mass migration as the sun comes out!

Jake again,

Decided what a better way to spend my after college hours than to walk from Lewes to Newhaven following the Ouse all the way along. Besides the Strong SW winds the birds didn't seem all that bothered! The river itself was incredibly high and so I wasn't expecting any common sandpipers but to my surprise one was happily bobbing up and down along a tiny stretch of mud happily feeding away! Plenty of swallows moving over head and the odd group of 3-4 wheaters using the fences that run along side the river as stopping points. The fields either side where very flooded and the local herons seem to be gathering as I counted about 10 in total during my walk, little egrets where also present in a few of the ditches to. A flock of swans flew in from the South and I had my fingers crossed they where early returning bewicks but alas just mutes. A small bunting caused me some confusion for a bit showing some characteristics of a little bunting but after going through some books I feel it was probably just a juv reed bunting also more wheaters. A buzzard flew ahead down river which got my attention on to a raven flying the opposite direction back towards Lewes, I assume this being one of the birds from the cliffs. As I approached Southease a stonechat flew up from underneath my feet and landed on a post in front giving lovely views. By this stage I had already counted about 40 meadow pipits going overhead and my wheater numbers must have been up to at least 20 but as I got over the Southease bridge both their numbers easily multiplied. The muddy area which runs all the way down to Newhaven was littered with birds, mainly meadow pipits, pied wagtails and wheaters. But with some checking I managed to pick out at least 10 yellow wagtails, 1 grey wagtail and a couple of possible green land race wheaters too. Today seem to be the day that everything was moving/ singing as during my walk I heard; willow warbler, chiff chaff, reed warbler, cettis warbler and a squealing water rail. The latter two birds I didn't even no lived in the area! As I approached Piddinghoe there was a flock of at least 15 yellow wagtails moving through briefly landing in one of the fields full of sheep, my highest number in a while. It all sort of went quiet as I approached the towns and the only other real bird of note was a group of 4 curlew at Newhaven Incinerator.

I'm pretty tired now, thanks for reading.

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...

29 Sep '12- mahoosive movements in the Cuckmere

Early morning reports and garden birding

early on, Jon Curson reported a few Yellow Wagtails and Tree Pipits in a brief search of Seaford Head. It's been, to my understanding at least, a pretty good year for Yellow Wagtails, I've seen more of them (and til later in the year) than I've managed probably since autumn 2008, when they seemed so numerous I could count flocks of 20+ on the suburban fields I played football in! I normally don't see many Yellow Wagtails past about the 20th, but have had a few trickling through throughout this week, including 10+ at Portland Bird Observatory on the 22nd.

The morning/early afternoon were not especially bird-orientate for me, but I love autumn because migration is evident anywhere you go, at least around here. Hanging the washing up at around 12:30, I counted a small stream of Meadow Pipits, generally heading W or SW over the garden. This is the time of year when Siskin and other finch become evident on migration, and I picked one up by call as it flew over the garden. It was heading very low and in a NE direction, and almost landed in a Leyland Cypress 40 yards away before veering off to the north, Jon saw one do something similar earlier, I expect it's the same bird hanging around to feed up before continuing it's journey south. I've noticed an increase in reports of Siskin at garden feeders on the SOS, are these the returning winter birds or migrants, gratefully stocking up on an easy meal? Also seen was a Great Spotted Woodpecker, a none-too-common bird in the garden.

Cuckmere Haven- 13:30-15:00

A daylist for the Cuckmere managed 28 birds, but that wouldn't tell the full story at all! There were 2000+ Hirundines, with a ratio of about 70% Swallows and 30% House Martins. three SAND MARTINS felt almost like a rarity for me, they've been really hard to catch up with locally this year, and today smashed my previous 'last-of-year' record for the species by several days!  Also moving over were 2-300 Meadow Pipits, unsurprisingly a great day for one of the commonest autumn migrants on my patch. I picked up the calls of at least 10 YELLOW WAGTAIL as they passed south, these also being a record date! Is this year, which has been fantstic for them so far, the year I finally see an October Yellow Wag? (one of my odder birding ambitions).

As if that wasn't enough, I recorded four more record dates! Three were for Butterflies, Large White (of which there were still 100's), Small Heath (1), and Small Copper (4, and all the better as this is by far my favourite butterfly!). The latter two species were present in a small area (20 yards or so) about 50 metres NE of the Coastguard Cottages. Also seen today were 50+ Small Whites, 3-figure numbers of Red Admirals and a single Comma. The other record date of the day was a SPOTTED FLYCATCHER, feeding near the horse paddocks by the Golden Galleon. Otherwise grounded migrants where few and far-between, with perhaps 20 Chiffchaff, and a single, late Willow Warbler near Harry's Bush.

Small Copper (a.k.a the best butterfy in britain!) and
Small Heath, photographed near the Coastguard Cottges

However, migration was still in evidence, even in some of the commoner birds. seven Little Grebes on the meanders were the first returning birds of the winter (I can't wait til there's 30+ here!), and there was a slight inflation in gull numbers, with 200 Black-headed, 30 Herring and 12 Great Black-back at an estimate. However, the only ducks seen were 10-15 Mallard (the Shelducks go elsewhere to moult, but I'm surprised there are no Wigeon back yet), and the only waders were 5 or so Curlew heard calling from the fields of the west side of the valley.

one of several Black-headed Gulls present today

How much really moved through today?

when you think about it, this was the quietest time of day for birding, and yet the number of birds was phenomenal. so How many birds were migrating through the Cuckmere today? vis-mig is often at it's peak from first-light for about two hours, in this case 06:30-08:30. it then gradually tails off, and by the time I visited the Cuckmere should really be at quite a low rate. of course there are exceptions to that rule, but I still expect far more was moving through in the 7 hours of daylight before I arrived than the hour and a half I was there. so how much was really moving? I'll give my little estimate, which could of course be way off, but here it is anyway.

15,000+ Hirundines- days like this are pretty much annual in sussex, but still remarkable

1,500+ Meadow Pipits- could well have been more, but I'll try and be conservative. The rate of passage today was at least 150 an hour while I was present, and was probably higher in the morning!

100+ Yellow Wagtails- dad reported some overhead at Seaford Head this morning, and there were at least 10 moving over this afternoon.

In addition, Tree Pipit (JC) and Siskin (JC and myself) have been reported today, so small numbers of both those were probably moving over. Not forgetting the possibility of something rarer, maybe a Tawny Pip or a Citrine Wagtail among it's commoner relatives?

Rook at the Golden Galleon- totally irrelevant but it's a nice pic! 

Why today?

This question puzzled me a bit, as although the skies are very clear, the wind was generally S swinging round to NW today. However, I think this could have been last big push of british migrants leaving the country, which may well have been held up by the awful weather, and were today all leaving in one big stampede! The Westerly winds would support this theory, as often these birds appear to leave the country through areas like Portland, and could have been pushed further east towards us. Not forgetting the NE winds that brought additional Scandinavian and eastern birds into the country last weekend, these migrants have also probably been waiting around for a good day to leave. Some of you might think this question is a bit trivial, but if I remember this for the next time similar conditions occur, I'll be up at first light to see what's moving!

good birding to all

Liam C

Lewes Railway Land- 27 Sep '12

Welcome to the first real posting on this blog! I thought I'd begin with the last time I did some birding in Sussex, namely yesterday!

With sixth from finishing at 3.20 yesterday, I took advantage and took a walk around the Railway land with Jake Gearty. It being the afternoon there wasn't a lot about. However the resident tit flocks included Coal (new patch bird for Jake) and plenty Long-tailed, along with an estimate of 5+ Chiffchaff and 10+ Blackcap. A few of the latter gave great views, but most were heard only or briefly fly-catching out of bushes and disappearing back into them. We also got two brief, but intriguing fly-by's from a fairly large, brown warbler with pale-looking flanks. Maybe a Blackcap, but something about it made me think Garden Warbler or Reed Warbler. It was certainly too big for a phyllosc, but not quite big enough to string it into a Barred! One that'll get away I guess.

However, an altogether more frustrating on-that-got-away was a Thrush that flew out of a bush alongside the river, giving us only the briefest glimpse of what looked like the scaly wings of a RING OUZEL. Jake thought he saw the bird one more time, but I didn't. We did, however, see a lot of Blackbirds in the same area, and based on our view you couldn't quite rule out a blackbird caught in the light. I never heard any 'chacking' calls distinctive to the species either, but I am sure one will turn up here eventually this autumn!

One of two new birds for this patch was however, a Thrush. Jake picked up a Mistle Thrush calling, and we quickly got semi-decent views (OK they were crap, but still identifiable!) as it powered overhead, towards the railway line. The other new bird patch was slightly more underwhelming. It's a bit embarrassing that in three weeks of checking this place, this was the first Swallow I'd seen flying over! They took my 'school terms yearlist' up to 53 species though still eight ahea of Jake! 

It's also the time of year some of our commoner birds may start coming in from further afield. I've already mentioned an increase in Blackbird numbers, and I got some prolonged views of a Robin that seemed to be showing characteristics of a continental bird, but I'll need to read up on that a bit before I try and claim any with confidence!