14th January 2019 - Heading East

I met up with Nick and Garry and we left Worthing at 09:30. First port of call was the 2 Pink-footed Geese out on Rodmell Brooks, upon arrival they were still with the herd of Mute Swans and still hadn't got any closer but a successful start to the day.

We then headed down the Ouse Valley to the waste ground at Newhaven to have a look for the Hume's Leaf Warbler, we arrived and other birders told us it had been seen. We waited around for about an hour and finally the bird showed up and gave good but brief views.

Twitchers in Newhaven for the Hume's Leaf Warbler 

With time pressing on and lots to do we had a quick look at Newhaven Harbour, enroute to the harbour we saw a flock of c50 Lapwing over the swing bridge. Around the harbour itself there were lots of Fulmars flying around and on the cliffs and Nick also managed to scope a single Purple Sandpiper on the arm on the other side of the harbour.

After Newhaven we headed to Pett Level, on the way I saw a Kestrel out the window over Southease. We arrived at Pett after an hour and found the White-fronted Geese without too much trouble they were with the Greylags and I personally saw around 10 however there has been 19 reported so the other 9 were obviously around somewhere or were hiding away. Other birds seen at Pett Level included a raft of 60 Common Scoter offshore.

2 of several White-fronted Geese at Pett Level

Rye Harbour was now in touching distance and we set off for the 3 Twite which have been seen around the John Gooders Hide for the last week or so. Upon arrival we bumped into a volunteer who worked in the information centre and she told us that they hadn't been seen all day. We walked South towards the John Gooders Hide/Red Roof Hut and were all feeling slightly nervous, however after a 15 minute wait or so the 3 Twite popped up out of nowhere and gave great views! A Sussex tick for me having missed the Cuckmere bird back in 2017! Out on the Narrow Pits there were good numbers of Golden Plover, Pintail and Lapwing. 

1 of the 3 Twite at Rye Harbour NR

With big grins on our faces we headed back to the car and decided we would go and have a look at Scotney Gravel Pits. We pulled into a lay-by on the right hand side of the road and distantly picked out a single Whooper Swan out the back before it quickly disappeared behind the grass banks. Also seen here were the large flock of feral Barnacle Geese. 

Feral Barnacle Geese at Scotney Gravel Pits

We moved onto Dungeness in fading light and had a single Cattle Egret out the car window halfway between Lydd and the entrance track to the reserve in a field on the left hand side of the road. Also 2 Great White Egrets (1 on the reserve and 1 on ARC) also a single Common Snipe on the way to ARC hide and 3 Goosanders on ARC Pit. On the way home we also saw a single Barn Owl over Lydd MOD Ranges.

A busy busy day with some great birds seen and well done to Nick for doing all the driving!