Saturday 10 October 2015

finally caught up with the greater 'legs

29th: yellow-browed warbler in the trees behind my garden. my fist since 2007
30th: continental coal tit (lifer) and 5+ firecrests at the top of birling lane and 2 merlins flew east
8th: flock of bearded tits at west rise and finally got short-eared owl on the list, my first species of owl here
9th: flock of bearded tits flew over firehills but frustratingly i was in the wood at the time so could only listen to them, bearded tits look really cool up in the sky
2 rock pipits and 2 ylg's at princes park
four yellow-legged gulls:

above bird end of range for ylg, note amount of dark markings around the tail and general neatness of bird for the time of year. i noticed the two 2nd gen coverts before seeing that it was a ylg
this one was in the surf at birling but only got a pic as it was flying away. nice looking bird tho
herring gull almost complete juvenile still

Wednesday 23 September 2015

a wryneck was at newhaven tide mills from 19th to 22nd with a barred warbler there on 20th

Saturday 19 September 2015

epic migration of hirundines at beachy this morning but a ring ouzel in shooters was the only scarcity found.

evening down the cuckmere, sat on the bank with my boy as the sun went down, watching this phalarope

first time max has seen a phalarope, first time this bird has seen humans

Thursday 10 September 2015

Wednesday 2 September 2015

a good day at beachy. started off with a beachy (minor) celeb tick in the form of the two christines (choccywoccydoodah) driving through. juv red-backed shrike found in shooters and a good show of raptors with honey buzzard (pale male), osprey, 2 marsh harriers, short-eared owl, merlin and hobby. always good to see a mixed kettle of raptors in the uk - in this case osprey, 4 buzzards, sparrowhawk and kestrel. i watched the osprey till it went stratospheric above the hotel. should be a good autumn for siskins - frequently heard going over this morning but the only flocks that i saw were of 10 and 17 birds. amongst the commoner stuff there was a flock of 10 wheatears at the hotel and a trickle of swifts through the day

looks a bit flat winged, i'll just get it in the scope dad