RXwildlife Sightings

All the little birds were going West this morning, into a brisk wind. Predominant species were Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Linnet, Redpoll, Meadow Pipit & Skylark, with a few Reed Buntings and 11 Bearded Tits.
The juv Marsh Harrier (all dark brown, apart from a light cap), which has been around for some time, was quartering the reeds right beside the road.
120 Golden Plovers were with Lapwings at the eastern end, 165 Curlews were scattered about & 2 Brent Geese were on the meadows.

Curlew at Pett Level

Although there will be some finishing-off to do , most of the work along the access track is now complete. This means that the main site, car park and visitor centre will be accessible tomorrow (Wednesday 26 October).

Unfortunately, due to the inclement weather, progress with cable laying has been slower than we anticipated and therefore the main access track and Visitor Centre will be closed again tomorrow (Tuesday 25).

Once again we apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

Willow Tit calling loudly from the scrubby stream bed. Many varied birds overhead including 2 Brambling and 250 Woodpigeons. Numerous Siskins, several Redpolls & unseen Crossbills. More than 40 Goldcrests in the woods.

Another excellent day with grounded migrants and overhead passage during the morning and a good movement of seabirds in the afternoon.
The bird of the day on the land was a Yellow-browed Warbler which was seen feeding in the moat for an hour or so during the early morning before departing to the west. Other notable birds on the land included three Great Spotted Woodpeckers, five Stonechats, four Ring Ouzels, two Dartford Warblers, 50 Goldcrests and a Firecrest. Movement overhead was also heavy with 1750 Stock Doves, 14 Collared Doves, 65 Skylarks, 130 Swallows, 30 House Martins, four Rock Pipits, a flock of 16 Bearded Tits, 120 Tree Sparrows, 90 Chaffinch, 85 Brambling, 65 Siskin, 150 Redpolls, 11 Bullfinch and 31 Reed Buntings.
A large movement of birds occurred during the afternoon at sea with the highlight being an adult Sabine’s Gull which flew east at 1605hours later followed by a Puffin and a Little Auk. Numbers were provided by 450 Gannets, 370 Brent Geese, 17 Arctic Skuas, a Pomarine Skua, 14 Mediterranean Gulls, 25 Little Gulls, 400 Common Gulls and 950 Kittiwakes.
David Walker (from DBO website)

After a movement of 150+ Lesser Redpoll over the site yesterday, smaller numbers were present today. Two Ring Ouzel were located in the hawthorn hedges and a Dartford Warbler was the star bird of the morning.

The moth trap is still dominated by Large Wainscots with 46 present. There were only 25 other moths of 16 species. The highlight was the first Clancy’s Rustic for the site. Other migrants included a Gem, a Silver Y and three Dark Swordgrass.

This morning was very quiet, a bit too windy for much in the way of passage.
But… driving past glyne gap at 05.30 a barn owl was hunting over the cliffs then onto glyne gap marsh, this area is now becoming one of the best places to see barn owls, even better when you don’t need to leave your car.

Arriving at fairlight place farm 5 tawny owls were calling loudly, when I saw another owl glide low over the field, expecting the regular Barn owl I was suprised to see it was quite brown, then shock set in when I realised it was a Long-eared owl, a very rare record for the country park.

Then to top it all a Little owl was watched hunting along the fence line.

Also in the area 9 ring ouzels, 5 redwings a grey heron was around and around 500 wood pigeons flew East.

Posted by Ian Standivan on the wildhastings egroup.

An interesting cross section of summer and winter visiting birds were both present today around the Glyne gap/Combe haven area.
At Glyne gap beach a there was a purple sandpiper.

At Combe haven there was a good variety of birds in the bushes along the south eastern corner of the valley including 6+ ring ouzel.

Full post by Joe Dickens on wildhastings.org.uk

At least 28 Ring Ouzels: about 10 at Warren Road, 10 at Firehills and several more at the Quarry. Easy to see and including well-marked males. A good vantage point is the gate at the top of Warren Road, from which birds can be seen in the field & hedgerow below. Excellent value.
Many other birds over, including Fieldfare, 19 Brambling and 7 GS Woodpeckers.
first flock of (100) migrating Woodpigeons.
Just like the old days.
Shaven-headed figures combing the rough pastures indicate the arrival of the Psylocibin Season.

We are sorry that the Visitor Centre and main access track will be closed on 24 October. The reserve will still be open but parking will only be available at the Hanson ARC site. Visitors will need to walk along the bridle path to enter the main part of the reserve.

We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause but essential work is taking place to lay a telephone cable to our new education centre. The track and Visitor Centre should be open again on Tuesday 25 October.

Today’s sightings included black-necked grebe, marsh harrier, merlin, avocet and brambling.