Seaford Head 30/8/15

What started off to be an average morning, soon turned into one of the best mornings of the autumn so far. The highlight was finding my second Wryneck of the autumn, this time an individual with no tail. There was also a nice selection of other migrants knocking about, Throughout the morning there was a good passage of Hirundines, mainly Swallows and House Martins, and in Hope Gap the first wave of Blackcaps had arrived.

Totals are:

Wryneck - 1 in scrub between Hope Gap and coastguards
Wheatear - 10
Whinchat - 4
Yellow Wagtail - 66
Pied Flycatcher - 2
Spotted Flycatcher - 2
Redstart - 5
Whitethroat - 54
Lesser Whitethroat - 14
Blackcap - ca. 100
Garden Warbler - 3
Reed Warbler - 7
Sedge Warbler - 3
Willow Warbler - 10
Chiffchaff - 4
Firecrest - 1 in Harry's Bush
Snipe - 1
Hobby - 1 juv NE
Swift - 1
Swallow & House Martin - ca. 1000

 Firecrest in Harry's Bush

 Whinchat in Gropper Field

a short-tailed Wryneck - initially flushed from dense meadow in the Gropper field, it fortunately sat out for a couple of long distance pics.