So far October has been beyond awful. Incessant westerly winds have dashed any hopes of finding anything from the east, with the winds being too strong for any birds to be found anyhow, and the only American mega to occur in Sussex for however many years was as lively as well, this October (so far).
This day I had been keeping a close eye on the weather all week as the winds were forecast at gusting over 50mph. With a more southerly direction, today was the day for some seabird action to potentially happen. Although a quiet seawatch there was at last some quality with the two main highlights being a Grey Phalarope and a Sooty Shearwater. The former was spotted early on during the watch as it flew east along the beach struggling to head back west. This allowed a fairly lengthy view of the bird, and once I got it through the scope it happily landed on the sea just by Splash Point. This Phalarope was surprisingly my first at Splash Point. The latter was my first in many years, and as it tracked westwards it every so often turned around, again allowing for a prolonged view. Other than this just the standard species seen during an October watch.
Totals between 08.00-10.00 Wind SSW 6:
Common Scoter - 5
Grey Phalarope - 1 E at 08.12
Auk sp. - 50E & 20W
Dunlin - 1W
Ringed Plover - 1W
Sooty Shearwater - 1 W at 09.30
A walk with Jasper down the Cuckmere after in horrific conditions produced no Phalaropes, but two Sandwich Terns were a slight surprise.
Other visits to the patch this week have produced absolutely nothing of note, with a Black-tailed Godwit amongst the Curlew being seen.
This day I had been keeping a close eye on the weather all week as the winds were forecast at gusting over 50mph. With a more southerly direction, today was the day for some seabird action to potentially happen. Although a quiet seawatch there was at last some quality with the two main highlights being a Grey Phalarope and a Sooty Shearwater. The former was spotted early on during the watch as it flew east along the beach struggling to head back west. This allowed a fairly lengthy view of the bird, and once I got it through the scope it happily landed on the sea just by Splash Point. This Phalarope was surprisingly my first at Splash Point. The latter was my first in many years, and as it tracked westwards it every so often turned around, again allowing for a prolonged view. Other than this just the standard species seen during an October watch.
Totals between 08.00-10.00 Wind SSW 6:
Common Scoter - 5
Grey Phalarope - 1 E at 08.12
Auk sp. - 50E & 20W
Dunlin - 1W
Ringed Plover - 1W
Sooty Shearwater - 1 W at 09.30
A walk with Jasper down the Cuckmere after in horrific conditions produced no Phalaropes, but two Sandwich Terns were a slight surprise.
Other visits to the patch this week have produced absolutely nothing of note, with a Black-tailed Godwit amongst the Curlew being seen.
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A few seconds too late
for the Phalarope
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| Jasper |
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| Black-tailed Godwit with Curlew |
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| Sandwich Tern at Cuckmere Haven |
