holidays are coming

yesterday 2 caspian gulls at west rise.

wack photo but a novelty to see - first-winter standing in front of third-winter caspian gull

first-winter caspo today

up to 6 caspian gulls today

stopped at the ouse project on the way back from shopping this avo to find a brute of a first-winter caspian gull, also a first-winter ylg. didn't have the camera on me so nicked the girlfriend's iphone for a proper record vid.

yesterday at west rise there were gulls moving through but no roost (3 ylg's of note) but found a big gull roost at the west end of eastbourne levels on my  way home. annoyingly even after fighting through a thicket i couldn't find a decent viewpoint before they all got flushed, balls. was then a bit late arriving at the cuckmere but mananged to get onto half of the caspian gulls present in the flock of mostly lessers before they took off. a mix of ages (1st and 2nd winters and adults). difficult viewing conditions and lack of time meant i only got a record vid of one bird. pulled up at the ouse project on the way home where there were a couple more caspos.

another day another caspo. an adult was on the ice at west rise this avo. fortunately it was in the closest of the gull flocks so i managed a decent video this time. also a yellow-legged gull and a few argies there.

on my lunch break i made a brief visit to west rise. there were loads of gulls packed onto the ice, mostly adult lessers, a lovely sight. managed to pick out 2 caspos (1st-w and adult - my first of this age in the uk), 4 yellow-legs and some argies (didn't count), but there must've been more waiting to be found if i had more time (plus light was awkward and birds were flighty).

popped into west rise at the end of the day. wasn't much happening with the gulls so i didn't hang around, just a goldeneye and a yellow-legged gull of note. headed back home to catch the west beach low tide roost. there was a nice flock of adult lesser black-backs and with them another first-winter caspian gull. this one with more solidly dark wing coverts and uniform pale grey saddle giving a neat contrast. three of the lessers were colour ringed (blue, green and red) but too distant to read numbers.

after several failed attempts finally seen some waxwings, a flock of 15 just down the road at the ouse project.

moorhen flushed at the marina at first light.

quick visit to west rise at the end of the day. loads of gulls coming in with a few hundred adult lesser black-backs. these seem to be a good indication of migration and are a carrier species, they always make me feel more confident in finding rarer ones, but in the end was a bit disappointing with 4 ylg's and 10 argies, still very nice to see such large numbers of lessers.

have finally got round to putting my sound recordings of sibe chiff from 3 years ago onto youtube.

on 3rd i found a first-winter caspian gull on the sand at the west beach at low tide. it was colour-ringed (seems to originate from poland). next day i returned in the morning and was surprised to see the bird was still present! hit reverse and burned it to the nearest shop to buy a loaf. managed to pull in most of the gulls in the area but the caspo stubbornly remained at the waters edge. looked a bit ill actually, or maybe just depressed cos it had landed in newhaven.

first caspo in sussex - and it had to be colour ringed!

snowbo

1 swallow, 1 male blackred and 2 weasels at the cuckmere

a black redstart at the west beach this morning. the most confiding one i've seen in the uk. the other day i saw a seal at the same spot as the last one in eastbourne.

several sites looked at today, not much in return just a firecrest a merlin and a common seal.

hard work in hard weather, lots of ground covered in seaford town/cuckmere haven area with only 2 firecrests to show for it. not sure of its relative value but there were c.850 great black-backs roosting in the cuckmere.

went for the beachy hume's. was showing really well in a bush on the edge of the wood but was pissing down at the time so no photos. been 15 years since my last, makes me feel old. when the rain stopped in the avo i went to the res where there was a drake goldeneye.

red-breasted merganser and common scoter at arlington res. both freshwater firsts for me. watched the scoter fly off east.

merlin and argentatus herring gull at west rise. y'day a firecrest at sovereign park.

stopped at 3 spots this morning in foggy conditions, 6 species of thrush at hope gap was the best i could do. the missus had a short-eared owl at newhaven heights.

2 firecrests at cuckmere coastguards.
y'day 1 firecrest meeching down.

at holywell retreat a singing firecrest and 2 crossbills in the pines.

adult yellow-legged gull in the roost in newhaven harbour.

2 ring ouzels at the heights. 12 jays flew west. overnight clear out of chiffs and crests.

flock of 7 bearded tits in flight at west rise.

first visit to west rise marsh

also a bearded tit calling, was too windy to see it. 2 firecrests at holywell. 3 firecrests in belle tout. 1 firecrest meeching down.

yesterday dropped into hope gap on the way to work. decent vig mig with strong hirundine movement for the date, 4-fig woodpigeons, some jackdaw flocks, 25 jays, maybe my last tree pipit and yellow wag of the year, golden plover. whitethroat and blackred on the deck.

5 jays, increasing numbers of woodpigeons and jackdaws, nothing on the deck

not out birding this morning but did see a flock of 7 jays cross over the river, two more later in the day plus a hobby north.

10 jays west this morning, first redpoll and brambling. quiet.

82 jays west through newhaven this morning. a fantastic flock of 30 went right past me through hawthorns on castle hill. other flocks of 24 and 16. pair of ravens (remember twitching a pair at beachy in the late 90s before they became common), lots of blackcaps but not much else happening. 

getting hassled by local jackdaws. shame i didn't manage to get a photo of a jay flock

a jay looked out of place on the promenade at west quay this morning and 3 more moved west through castle hill. found an elephant hawk caterpillar on the path. my favourite moth but i cant be bothered to keep it for spring. for summink that looks like a slug they feel really nice to touch!

walked the dog down my new local area this avo, got to a spot which looked good for wryneck and had instant success. went home, swapped colin for the camera and went back, but the bird was elusive as always

!