A weekend of weather contrasts. Saturday dawned hot and was quite unbearable in the heat despite getting out early whilst Sunday morning was still quite warm but with frequent rain, thunder and lightning early morning. A Lapwing (122) was sound recorded on the night of the 19th June, I thought I was going to have to wait until the autumn / winter to get one of these on the patch list. I was out early Saturday morning where I walked the patch for a few hours in hot conditions. Birds noted included 1 Mute Swan flying east at sea, 5 Swift, 2 Oystercatcher, 20 Black headed Gull, 2 Great Black backed Gull, 4 Sandwich Tern, 1 Great crested Grebe, 1 Gannet, 1 Common Buzzard, 1 Great spotted Woodpecker, 1 Hobby chasing Sand Martins, 1 Jay, 1 Skylark, 4 Chiffchaff, 1 Blackcap, 2 Lesser Whitethroat, 7 Whitethroat, 1 Pied Wagtail, 2 Meadow Pipit, 2 Chaffinch, 11 Linnet and 1 Goldfinch. Butterflies of note included 42 Marbled white and 4 White-letter Hairstreak. 

White-letter Hairstreak

Sunday was raining early on with thunder and lightning but it soon passed through allowing me to walk the patch. Birds noted included 5 Swift, 1 Curlew, 28 Black headed Gull, 12 Mediterranean Gull, 45 Herring Gull, 5 Great Black backed Gull, 1 Great crested Grebe, 1 Fulmar, 1 Little Egret, 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Hobby chasing the Sand Martins again, 1 Peregrine, 1 Jay, 1 Skylark, c120 Sand Martin, 2 Swallow, 3 Chiffchaff, 6 Long tailed Tit, 1 Blackcap, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 1 Meadow Pipit, 3 Chaffinch, 4 Linnet and 1 Goldfinch. Despite recording on a few nights, nothing of note has been heard flying over...yet!

Black headed Gull

Hobby

Birds added to the year list in the past couple of weeks have included Greenfinch (118) on the 7th June  and Common Tern (119) on the 8th June. With lighter winds forecast for this morning and some sunshine, I thought I would have a walk around the area in case any new birds were to be found. Birds noted from 05:00 included 2 Shelduck, 25 Swift, 1 Oystercatcher, 1 Mediterranean Gull, 3 Great Black backed Gull, 4 Lesser Black backed Gull, 1 Common Tern, 7 Cormorant, 1 Little Egret, 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Kestrel, 1 Hobby hunting at the Sand Martin colony unsuccessfully, 2 Skylark, c80 Sand Martin, 9 Chiffchaff, 2 Cetti's Warbler, 3 Blackcap, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 26 Whitethroat, 33 Starling, 16 House Sparrow, 2 Meadow Pipit, 2 Chaffinch, 15 Linnet and 4 Goldfinch. The highlight of the morning came when as I walked along the seawall near the King's Hall, I thought I heard a Reed Warbler briefly sing. I made my way to a set of bushes and after a few minutes, a Reed Warbler (120) started singing again. This is quite a scarce bird I would imagine here and just passing through. I've certainly only recorded them on a few occasions over the years. Better was to come for as I was recording the Reed Warbler, a flock of 5 Common Crossbill (121) flew low west calling. I even managed to capture the 'chip' call as one bird flew through the recording. This is a new species for me on the Downs.  

Reed Warbler singing with Common Crossbill 'chip' call 

and flying through shot

Hobby

I had another early morning visit to the Downs in the hope something would fly by or be found. Like yesterday, the weather was very drizzly until the end of the session when the clouds started to break up. Birds noted today included 4 Shelduck, 2 Stock Dove, 2 Collared Dove, 139 Swift flew west in small flocks this morning. There were 13 Black headed Gull, 2 Mediterranean Gull, 2 Great Black backed Gull, 1 Lesser Black backed Gull, 2 Sandwich Tern, 2 Great crested Grebe, 6 Cormorant, 3 Little Egret, 1 Common Buzzard, 1 Skylark, c100 Sand Martin, 36 Swallow west, 30 House Martin west, 2 Chiffchaff, 1 Cetti's Warbler, 1 Blackcap, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 5 Whitethroat, 1 Firecrest, 31 Starling, 2 Meadow Pipit, 2 Chaffinch, 15 Linnet and 3 Goldfinch. 

Swift

Birding the area from 04:40 in generally cloudy conditions with drizzle produced 4 Shelduck, 1 Mallard, 36 Woodpigeon, 3 Collared Dove, 31 Swift west, 6 Black headed Gull, 23 Mediterranean Gull east, 44 Herring Gull, 2 Great Black backed Gull, 2 Sandwich Tern, 3 Cormorant, 4 Little Egret, 1 Peregrine, c100 Sand Martin, 3 Swallow, 3 Chiffchaff, 1 Cetti's Warbler, 1 Long tailed Tit, 2 Blackcap, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 7 Whitethroat, 3 Firecrest, c45 Starling, 3 Meadow Pipit, 2 Chaffinch, 10 Linnet and 1 Goldfinch. 

With a brisk wind coming from the North this morning, I decided on a few hours having a seawatch in the hope something would go by. Just after 7am, I picked up on a large bird of prey flying west near the horizon but with some heat haze and the distance, I struggled to identify the bird. I was pretty confident that it was either a Marsh Harrier or and Osprey but unfortunately, Its identity will have to remain unknown. Birds noted this morning included 2 Shelduck, 7 Swift with 6 seen flying out to sea, 6 Oystercatcher, 24 Black headed Gull, 5 Mediterranean Gull, 1 Common Gull, c40 Herring Gull, 6 Great Black backed Gull, 2 Lesser Black backed Gull, 1 Sandwich Tern, 1 Little Tern (117) seen flying west at some height, 9 Great crested Grebe, 1 Fulmar, 2 Gannet, 7 Cormorant, 1 Little Egret, 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Kestrel, 1 Peregrine, 4 Swallow and 1 Linnet. 

A few highlights from the past week have included a Ring Ouzel (113) that was sound recorded on the night of the 30th April. A Barn Owl (114) was sound recorded on the night of the 1st May which was quite a surprise as well as 4 Coot and 1 Common Sandpiper. The 2nd May saw 2 Swift (115) flying west during the morning and 4 Red Kite were seen flying west. This morning birds from first light included 4 Shelduck, 2 Grey Partridge, c46 Woodpigeon, 4 Swift, 13 Oystercatcher, 1 Curlew, 2 Common Sandpiper east, 16 Black headed Gull, 13 Mediterranean Gull east, 7 Great Black backed Gull, 1 Lesser Black backed Gull, 2 Great crested Grebe, 3 Gannet, 1 Little Egret, 1 Common Buzzard, 2 Kestrel, 1 Skylark, c100 Sand Martin, 9 Swallow, 6 Chiffchaff, 2 Cetti's Warbler, 3 Blackcap, 4 Lesser Whitethroat, 8 Whitethroat and 11 House Sparrow. Whilst scanning the bush tops, I was pleased to find a stunning male Whinchat (116) which I was able to get a few distant images of. I don't see many of these in this plumage so this was a real bonus. Also seen were 2 Yellow Wagtail, 18 Linnet, 2 Goldfinch and 2 Corning Bunting. 

Male Whinchat

Ring Ouzel

Barn Owl

Birding Saturday morning from 05:40 in still calm conditions produced 3 Shelduck, 5 Common Scoter, 1 Grey Partridge, 1 Oystercatcher, 4 Whimbrel, 3 Curlew, 1 Common Sandpiper (109) flew east along the foreshore, 5 Black headed Gull, 6 Mediterranean Gull, 2 Common Gull, 1 Great Black backed Gull, 1 Lesser Black backed Gull, 6 Sandwich Tern, 4 Great crested Grebe, 16 Gannet east, 1 Little Egret and 1 Ring necked Parakeet. I was standing on the clifftop watching some high gulls above me when I noticed a smaller bird flying high towards me. I was pleased to see it was a Cuckoo (110), a scarce bird to get on the patch list. I watched as it continued inland and was lost to view. Also seen were 1 Jay, 31 Carrion Crow, 1 Skylark, c70 Sand Martin, 3 Swallow, 6 Chiffchaff, 1 Cetti's Warbler, 2 Long tailed Tit, 4 Blackcap, 5 Lesser Whitethroat, 10 Whitethroat, 1 Yellow Wagtail, 25 Linnet and 1 Corn Bunting. With the sun warming up, I ended up watching the skies from the east boundary and picked up on a Red Kite (111) flying inland and slowly west. 

This morning dawned very foggy and most of the session was spend seeing not much due to the lack of visibility. Just after 7am, I was walking along the seawall when I could hear the gulls going mad offshore in the murk. I was fairly sure something had disturbed then and scanning into the murk I was stunned as an Osprey (112) appeared and briefly tried to dive but was put off with the harassing gulls and disappeared back into the murk. I could hear the gulls flying slowly west still hassling the Osprey no doubt and c20 minutes later, It was seen again off Swalecliffe. A real bonus bird for the year and patch tick. Also noted were 2 Shelduck, 3 Oystercatcher, 1 Ringed Plover, 3 Whimbrel, 6 Mediterranean Gull, 4 Sandwich Tern, 3 Great crested Grebe, 1 Green Woodpecker, c30 Sand Martin, 20 Swallow, 5 Chiffchaff, 1 Cetti's Warbler, 4 Blackcap, 4 Lesser Whitethroat, 7 Whitethroat, 3 Yellow Wagtail, 2 Meadow Pipit and 14 Linnet. 

High Flying Cuckoo

A Foggy 'Downs'