With the wind due to go round to a WNW direction this morning, I opted for a seawatch in the hope a few birds would be on the move. Although quiet for periods of time, it ended up being a nice session with a few good birds seen including two patch ticks. The first was a Purple Sandpiper (135) which flew west quite close in with 1 Turnstone at 07:13 and a few minutes later at 07:16, 2 Ruff (136) flew west. Other birds seen included 1 Teal, 6 Common Scoter, 27 Oystercatcher, 4 Turnstone, 7 Arctic Skua west, 1 Pomarine Skua (137) west, 1 Razorbill (138) west, 29 Black headed Gull, 10 Mediterranean Gull, 1 Common Gull, c250 Herring Gull, 4 Great Black backed Gull, 14 Sandwich Tern, 1 Red throated Diver east, then back west, 10 Gannet, 15 Cormorant, 6 Little Egret, 2 Peregrine, 1 Raven mobbed by Crows over the cliffs at Bishopstone, c40 Starling, 1 Blackbird, 1 Robin, 1 Dunnock and 33 House Sparrow. Hopefully I will get the recorder out during the week in the area to see what's flying over during the night. 

I was out at 6am this morning where I had an hour or so having a seawatch in drizzly conditions before a walk along the Downs and back along the seawall. Birds noted this morning included 1 Mallard, c25 Woodpigeon, 5 Collared Dove, 45 Oystercatcher east, 1 Whimbrel, 2 Curlew, 4 Bar tailed Godwit east, 3 Turnstone, 3 Arctic Skua flew west distantly, 1 Auk species, 52 Black headed Gull, 2 Mediterranean Gull, c40 Herring Gull, 1 Great Black backed Gull, 12 Sandwich Tern, 16 Cormorant, 1 Little Egret, 1 Marsh Harrier with wing tags flew high west over the houses, 1 Peregrine, 1 Jay, 5 Carrion Crow, 3 Blue Tit, 2 Great Tit, 1 Sand Martin west, 107 Swallow west, 639 House Martin west, 27 House Sparrow, 2 Grey Wagtail and 18 Meadow Pipit west. 

Sandwich Tern

Turnstone

On a rainy morning, I had a brief look at the sea before walking along the Downs to check some of the bushes before venturing back along the seawall. Birds noted included 1 Shelduck, 15 Oystercatcher, 7 Turnstone, 16 Black headed Gull, 1 Mediterranean Gull, c80 Herring Gull, 3 Great Black backed Gull, 28 Sandwich Tern east, 28 Cormorant, 1 Little Egret, 2 Grey Heron, 2 Sparrowhawk, 1 Peregrine, 7 Blue Tit, 6 Great Tit, 38 Swallow west, 1 House Martin, 7 Chiffchaff, 1 Cetti's Warbler, 10 Blackcap, 2 Whitethroat, 1 Firecrest, c30 Starling, 1 Blackbird, 4 Robin, 4 Dunnock, c30 House Sparrow, 2 Pied Wagtail and 2 Goldfinch. 

It's back to weekend birding again unfortunately now as I'm back to work so I had a couple of early sessions yesterday and this morning. A brief look at the sea Saturday morning produced 2 Common Scoter, 3 Whimbrel, 4 Bar tailed Godwit west, 32 Black headed Gull, 50 Herring Gull, 4 Great Black backed Gull, 35 Sandwich Tern, 8 Cormorant, 1 Little Egret, 1 Kestrel and 1 Peregrine. I was out early this morning at 05:35 where I spent some time listening into the darkness for anything calling. I did hear 2 Grey Partridge, 1 Grey Heron and 2 Golden Plover but no Owls seen or heard. I then moved on to the sea for a look before taking a walk along the seawall and back. Birds noted included 4 Shelduck, 4 Common Scoter, 10 Oystercatcher, 1 Ringed Plover, 1 Common Sandpiper, 1 Redshank, 9 Turnstone, 1 Knot on the beach, a good bird to get here. There were 2 Arctic Skua including 1 pale phase bird east, 44 Black headed Gull, 4 Mediterranean Gull, 120 Herring Gull, 2 Great Black backed Gull, 2 Common Tern, 76 'Commic' Tern east, 83 Sandwich Tern east, 1 Great crested Grebe, 7 Cormorant, 2 Little Egret, 1 Common Buzzard and 1 Marsh Harrier circling over the sea together, 1 Great spotted Woodpecker, 1 Green Woodpecker, 1 Hobby in off the sea, 2 Peregrine, 2 Willow Warbler, 1 Chiffchaff, 4 Blackcap, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 2 Whitethroat, 24 Starling, 5 Dunnock, 32 House Sparrow, 1 Grey Wagtail, 1 Yellow Wagtail, 2 Meadow Pipit and 4 Goldfinch. I also saw a few Migrant Hawker, 1 Common Darter and 3 Clouded Yellow butterfly. 

Knot - juvenile

I only had a couple of hours this morning so I had a quick look at the sea and then a brief look at some of the bushes at Bishopstone. Birds noted included 12 Teal, 25 Woodpigeon, 3 Collared Dove, 4 Oystercatcher, 3 Turnstone, 28 Black headed Gull, 11 Mediterranean Gull, 45 Herring Gull, 1 Great Black backed Gull, 102 Sandwich Tern east, 2 Cormorant, 3 Little Egret, 1 Hobby, 1 Magpie, 9 Carrion Crow, 9 Blue Tit, 2 Great Tit, 7 Swallow, 1 Chiffchaff, 1 Blackcap, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 1 Wren, 73 Starling, 1 Blackbird, 4 Robin, 1 Whinchat (134), 4 Dunnock, 15 House Sparrow, 2 Chaffinch and 7 Linnet. 

With an ENE wind this morning, I decided on a few hours having a seawatch where early on, there was a bit of movement over the sea. Birds noted today were 81 Teal west, 5 Shoveler (133), 2 west with Teal and 3 landed on the sea, 51 Common Scoter east, 13 Oystercatcher, 1 Curlew, 1 Bar tailed Godwit east with an Oystercatcher, 2 Common Sandpiper, 6 Redshank, 10 Turnstone, 4 Arctic Skua flew high west, 1 Kittiwake, 99 Black headed Gull, 13 Mediterranean Gull, 71 Herring Gull, 8 Great Black backed Gull, 19 Common Tern west, 230 Sandwich Tern east, 1 Gannet, 12 Cormorant, 2 Peregrine and 20 Starling. 

I was out at 5:15 this morning where I had a look at the sea for an hour before walking the bushes along the Downs and then returned to look at the sea again. Birds noted included 1 Teal, 2 Common Scoter, 6 Collared Dove, 12 Oystercatcher, 12 Turnstone, 1 Knot (132) flew west, 40 Black headed Gull, 5 Mediterranean Gull, 130 Herring Gull, 38 Common Tern, 29 Sandwich Tern, 14 Cormorant, 1 Great spotted Woodpecker, 1 Peregrine, 90 Swallow west, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 6 Whitethroat, 39 Starling, 3 Robin, 3 Dunnock, 20 House Sparrow, 1 Grey Wagtail, 2 Yellow Wagtail and 1 Pied Wagtail.