31st July 2019 - West Rise Marsh

I called into West Rise Marsh and completed a circular loop of West Langney Lake. The highlight were two Common Sandpipers, a juvenile Yellow-legged Gull and a Yellow Wagtail. Also noted were c50 Sand Martins and six Swifts hawking over the lake whilst on the water were several Coots, two Cormorants, 14 Canada Geese, two Great Crested Grebes, 2 Lesser-black backed Gulls, five Mallards, a Moorhen, 17 Mute Swans, seven Pochards and six Tufted Ducks. The surrounding reedbeds held a singing Cetti's Warbler.

29th July 2019 - Chichester Harbour

Another walk today around Chichester Harbour which was quite productive, nothing unusual but a nice selection of birds to be seen. Highlights included my first two returning Willow Warblers of the autumn as well as a juvenile Cuckoo which was being mobbed by a Kestrel. It was high tide which produced 20+ Common Terns including juveniles, over 100 Curlew, 158 Redshank, 100+ Mediterranean Gulls, two Whimbrel, a Greenshank and a Sandwich Tern. I also stumbled across a Meadow Pipit carrying food which was a good sign as well as several Whitethroat families and one each of Song Thrush, Mute Swan and Great Crested Grebe families. During my stay two Buzzards and a Sparrowhawk were also logged.

28th July 2019 - Pagham Harbour and RSPB Medmerry

Sophie and I met Mum and Dad at Church Norton mid-morning. We had a good scan of the harbour on a dropping tide but it failed to produce much after what was quite a spectacular day for waders the day before across much of the UK. Highlights from Church Norton included a juvenile Marsh Harrier, two Whimbrel, 22 Curlew, a Bar-tailed Godwit, 50 Dunlin, 3 Little Terns, a Kestrel, a pair of Great Crested Grebes, 10 Turnstones as well as a trickle of Sand Martins and Swallows.

Afterwards, Sophie and I left to go to Medmerry to go and have a look for the Spoonbill which upon arrival was showing nicely just to the east of the Breach. As the tide was still quite high there was still a fair number of gulls around and the pick of the bunch was six Yellow-legged Gulls (1 adult and 5 juveniles). Also noted were a Corn Bunting, seven Curlew, two Little Egrets and a Whimbrel.

Spoonbill, RSPB Medmerry, West Sussex

Next stop was Grandma's where we met up again with Mum and Dad and all enjoyed a chat and some cake. After our stop, Sophie and I headed off to the North Wall where we were pleased to find the two Cattle Egrets opposite Owl Copse along with two Little Egrets and six Grey Herons. Out in the middle of the harbour were 104 Mediterranean Gulls. On our way back to the car we had a scan of White's Creek and this produced a Greenshank, 26 Black-tailed Godwits, 11 Redshank, a Whimbrel, two Oystercatchers, three Mute Swans, three Curlew and a further 22 Mediterranean Gulls including 2 juveniles.

Two Cattle Egrets and Grey Heron, Pagham Harbour North Wall, West Sussex

26th July 2019 - Coryton, Essex

A trip to Essex offered a nice selection of birds. The highlight was an eclipse drake Garganey which showed nicely on a small lagoon as well as a juvenile Cuckoo which was being fed by Reed Warblers. Other highlights included three Green Sandpipers and singles of Bar-tailed Godwit and an adult Yellow-legged Gull. Also of interest was a Southern Migrant Hawker which was hawking over a nearby ditch.

22nd July 2019 - Steepdown

A late evening walk around Steepdown produced two Chiffchaffs, at least 70 Corn Buntings, six Goldfinches, 62 Herring Gulls, a Kestrel, eight Linnets, 22 Magpies, a Grey Partridge, 15 Skylarks, a Song Thrush, a Sparrowhawk, 500 Starlings, a Stock Dove, four Swifts, three Swallows, four Whitethroats and four Yellowhammers.

22nd July 2019 - Chichester Harbour

A day at Chichester Harbour produced four Kestrels, two Buzzards, a Cetti's Warbler, several Common Terns, a Common Sandpiper, a Black-tailed Godwit, six Redshanks, eight Little Egrets, seven Whimbrel, six Oystercatchers, several Skylarks and a family of Shelducks.

I moved to a different part of the harbour later in the day and this produced six Curlew, six Little Egrets, two Mute Swans, a Kestrel, five Meadow Pipits, and 3 Skylarks. Non-avian highlights throughout the day include a Common Blue, Meadow Browns, Red Admirals, Gatekeepers and a Clouded Yellow.

21st July 2019 - Angmering Park Estate and Patching Pond

First thing before I went out a Buff Ermine was on the front door to my block of flats.

Buff Ermine, Goring-by-Sea, West Sussex

Later in the morning I spent an hour overlooking the Angmering Park Estate which produced nine Buzzards, 17 Carrion Crows, three Feral Pigeons, a Hobby, seven Herring Gulls, a Mistle Thrush, two Siskins, 14 Stock Doves, 36 Swallows, a Swift and 41 Woodpigeons. In the surrounding bushes were a Blackbird, a Blue Tit, a Chiffchaff, a Goldfinch, a Great Tit, a Magpie, a Robin and a Wren.

Afterwards Patching Pond was pitiful as always and only held seven Mallards and a Coot.

20th July 2019 - RSPB Dungeness, Rye Harbour NR, Pett Level and the Adur Estuary

News broke late morning of a Roseate Tern showing well in front of Firth Hide, having still not seen one and it probably being my biggest UK bogey bird after dipping several at various different locations, I jumped straight in the car and drove over for it. I arrived in good time with what was a pretty smooth journey. When I arrived at Dungeness, I headed straight for Firth Hide and there was no sign of it and it hadn't been seen for a while. I stuck it out for a couple of hours but no joy, although the Common Terns put on a good show in front of the hide as well as a couple of Pied Wagtails and a Dunlin. 

Before heading off I thought I would check ARC just to make sure it hadn't gone there. Again no sign but there was two Dunlin, a Greenshank, a Little Ringed Plover, several Redshank, three Ruff and a Whimbrel.

I started heading back towards East Sussex and was pleased to see the feral Barnacle Goose flock were on the Sussex side of Scotney Gravel Pits, the first time I have seen this species in Sussex this year. I called into Rye Harbour NR on my way home and had a look at the Flat Beach. It was pretty quiet but I managed a Common Sandpiper, two Curlew, 118 Dunlin, two Little Terns, a Redshank and 6 Ringed Plover and also a Yellow Wagtail which flew over.

After Rye I headed for Pett Level for a second go at the Ferruginous Duck, I got lucky and I found it straight away. The high winds had pushed all the ducks into the SE corner of the pool where they were roosting, this did mean all the views I had of the duck were with its head tucked in sleeping apart from a couple of brief moments where it raised its head. Also of interest was a Garganey which was feeding close to the bank and went for a quick swim before it flew off strongly north heading towards the scrape at Pannel Valley NR. 

Ferruginous Duck, Pett Pools, East Sussex

Garganey, Pett Pools, East Sussex

Last port of call for the day was the Adur Estuary, a quick scan from the toll bridge produced two Little Egrets, an adult Mediterranean Gull, ten Mute Swans and an Oystercatcher. On my way over to Widewater Lagoon there was a Kestrel perched on the wires at New Salts Farm. Widewater Lagoon only held another two Little Egrets and nothing else of note. 

17th July 2019 - Pett Level and Pannel Valley NR

I travelled over to Pett Level with Max straight from work. After we had got through some pretty dreadful traffic we eventually arrived at 17:20. First port of call was to look for the Ferruginous Duck on Pett Pools. I expected this to be pretty easy but it was far from that, we bumped into a couple who told us it was their fourth visit and they still hadn't seen it! We stood on the sea-wall for 30 minutes or so hoping we would get lucky but it didn't happen, instead we opted to walk up the Military Canal and go to Pannel Valley to look for the Pectoral Sandpiper and Curlew Sandpiper. 

We had been at Pannel Valley for around 45 minutes and there was still no sign of either, it looked like it could be turning into a bad trip. However, a helicopter flew over the wader scrape and put everything up, I got lucky in that I managed to pick up both of our target waders in flight they dropped in behind the island in front of us and a short wait led them to walking along the front edge of the island right in front of us giving nice views. The scrape also held eight Black-tailed Godwits, six Greenshanks, four Little Ringed Plovers, two Ruff and a Snipe. Whilst in the reeds just in front of us there was two juvenile Bearded Tits and later a Marsh Harrier flew over to the west. Our walk back to the car produced another two Marsh Harriers and a Buzzard. 

Pectoral Sandpiper, Pannel Valley NR, East Sussex

Curlew Sandpiper, Pannel Valley NR, East Sussex

We gave it another go with the Ferruginous Duck but again failed to find it. Although whilst looking we saw two more Bearded Tits including a smart male, a Common Sandpiper, a juvenile Mediterranean Gull and two Whimbrel. 

13th July 2019 - Pagham Harbour and Fishbourne Creek

A morning’s birding at Pagham Harbour produced a predictable selection of birds for mid-July with an Avocet, ca. 15 Dunlin, 3 Whimbrel and a Greenshank from the North Wall and 16 Little Terns from the harbour mouth where Chidling Pink was in flower. More of the same at Fishbourne Creek where there were 7 Whimbrel, 3 Greenshank and 111 Mute Swans.

11th July 2019 - Southwick

A juv Yellow-legged Gull circling over Southwick from the back garden late afternoon was an unexpected garden tick.