Waders were quite good today…
Castle Water - Whimbrel several, Snipe 1.
Flat Beach - Golden Plover 380 roosting all day (when and where do they feed?), Ringed Plover 100+, Dunlin 30+, Grey Plover several.
Shore at dusk - Greenshank 3, Spotted Redshank 1, Black-tailed Godwit 1, Bar-tailed Godwit 6, Curlew Sandpiper 1, Knot 6, Curlew 100+, Sanderling and Redshank.
Ternery Pool - Common Sandpiper 8, Green Sandpiper 1, Turnstone.
A few less migrants in the reedbed and bushes this morning. A first year male Redstart was the highlight. Blackcaps are building up in numbers and feeding on the heavy elderberry crop. Mid morning a Honey Buzzard flew over the valley heading westwards.
The small creamy spikes of Autumn Lady’s Tresses are now showing in the shorter grass along the northern margin of Castle Water. In the photo see how the flowers spiral up the spike (Spiranthes spiralis is its name).
The Western pool at Pett Level is becoming a spectacular Starling roost as dusk approaches. There must be a couple of thousand birds packing into one small patch of reedbed beside the road.
On Monday evening the birds were receiving attention from a seriously unhappy Sparrow Hawk who repeatedly spooked the flock and tried (unsuccessfully) to grab one on the go, before landing back to the bank side to review his tactics …
Chris Drew (from Rye Bay Wildlife e-group)