After a short seawatch at Splash Point on Friday evening, seeing five Arctic Skuas and 20+ Little Gulls, I was optimistic for a slightly better return on Saturday morning, however, the passage was slow, with highlights being four Arctic Skuas and a Great Skua.
Due to my near hypothermic state, I decided to walk the headland and cut the seawatch short. Walking towards Harry's Bush from Splash Point, there were a few Willow Warblers and many Whitethroats present. I descended down Hope Gap, seemingly avoiding a county first in the process, and walked back to Splash along the cliff edge.
Having just set-up my scope again at Splash, Brian received a call, and his panicked face meant a swift exit was necessary... but for what? "Nick Pope has found a White-crowned Sparrow in Hope Gap"!! A first for Sussex no less, I was on site in probably five minutes. It was then a grueling wait until roughly 1pm when the sparrow appeared from nowhere atop a hawthorn before dropping down again. It was then a case of hide and seek for the next few hours before we all got satisfying views of this mega transatlantic vagrant.
Sussex strikes again with now its fourth yank since the turn of the decade.
Having just had five weeks away, I think its safe to say I've been slightly lucky on this occasion!
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| A boc of Jake Everitt's photo |
