4th January 2019 - Climping Beach and Goring Gap

With news of a Red-necked Grebe found off Climping Beach the day before whilst I was in Essex (3rd), I decided to have a go the following morning.

I arrived at Climping Beach around 09:00 and walked straight to the beach. The conditions were perfect it was flat clam and very little wind which made scanning for seabirds a lot easier. Shortly after setting my scope up I soon picked up a Red-throated Diver and also several Great Crested Grebes and Red-breasted Mergansers as well as a few auks offshore all of which were Razorbill.

I also managed to connect with my target species after extensively scanning the sea for around 45 minutes. I picked up the Red-necked Grebe around c250m West of the Car Park. The bird was constantly drifting West and was always distant. Slightly unsatisfactory but it will do! The first time I have seen Red-necked Grebe in Sussex since 09/01/2018 at Church Norton. An added bonus on the sea was a single Great Northern Diver which was about halfway out.

After Climping, I went to Goring Gap and was pleasantly surprised to find 2 Slavonian Grebes off the concrete platform. Only the second time I have seen this species off Goring Gap. Other sightings included a single Red-throated Diver offshore as well as a few Red-breasted Mergansers and Razorbills. Also 2 Redshank flew along the tide line before landing on the beach.

2 Slavonian Grebes - Goring Gap

Feeling motivated after what had been a successful morning I pushed onto Ferring Rife for what would be my first visit for a few months. Highlights here included a single Common Snipe, Chiffchaff and Great Spotted Woodpecker as well as 2 Little Egrets and 14 Moorhens.