Managed to drag my carcass out of bed early enough to get to Seaford Head before sunrise this morning well worth the effort, the moon was bright in the sky, and the sun rose as expected Phew!! Peregrine went through at pace and there were some Wheatears knocking about the roundabout as well which was nice!
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The Moon (just in case you was wondering!😀)
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Pre-sunrise view
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Here comes the sun
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Peregrine
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Bit more of the Sun (after this I got bored and went chasing Wheatears so missed the rest)
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Wheatear
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Wheatear
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Couldn't resist this 😀
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So having bumped into another couple of Birders who had visited the dung heap and informed me there were only a couple of Wheatears on it I decided to follow them to Hope Gap in the hope of a Wryneck, bit of wishful thinking really as hadn't been reported for a few days, I went straight down the main path, a fair bit in the bushes ,Blackcaps, Willow/Chiffs, Whitethroats, a Lesser Whitethroat and a Garden Warbler the best I could find but pictures were pretty hard to come by as everything was pretty flighty, not huge numbers but enough to maintain interest, lots of Robins but no Wryneck😕 Near the bottom a Sparrowhawk went through as well!
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Wheatear
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Wheatear
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I proceed along the river a couple of views of Kingfisher ,a couple of Greenshanks, stangely a complete lack of Egrets ,two weeks ago there were 50? Wonder where they have gone? Couple of Herons knocking about,the highlight though were the Hirundines hundreds of them ,House Martins, Swallows with Sand Martins mixed in ,I'd seen several small parties on my walk up to this point but this was outstanding ,they were zooming around inches off the ground feeding all around me a fantastic experience, although a couple of them nearly hit me, but luckily I have the reactions of a cat and easily avoided them! (ok it's a very old cat with a bit of arthritis ,luckily the Swallows were able to dodge round me at the last minute!) A superb encounter none the less, although photos were impossible and wouldn't of caught the action anyway, so camera down and enjoy the moment! Did get a few pics of a Black-headed Gull which was preening so hard it nearly fell of it's post several times!
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Black-headed Gull
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Greenshank
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Another Greenshank
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At this point a large flock of Starlings took to the air in the very far distance, I soon found the cause, a raptor that was spiralling upwards, it was miles away ,there has been a Merlin reported so maybe it was difficult to tell at the range, pic below is crap but opinions welcome.
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?
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So I retraced my steps, I reach the bit where the path intercepts the beach at which point a large flock of Goldfinch rise up in panic ,now at this point a decent birder would have been super aware awaiting the inevitable predator (look I'd been out in the sun for 3 hours at this point ,give us a break!😢) Yes you gather I completely missed the shot as the Sparrowhawk came whizzing through!! I consoled myself with pictures of the Goldfinches as they resettled with the classic Goldfinch on Teasel featuring heavily!
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Goldfinch
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Goldfinch On Teasel
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Goldfinch not on Teasel!
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At this point I bumped into another birder who told me he'd seen some Spot Flys in Hope Gap, so headed along the cliff top back to Hope Bottom ,a further 4 Wheatears along here and another large flock of Goldfinch.
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Another Wheatear
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Another Birder was at Hope Bottom taking pics of Stonechats, we were discussing likely Wryneck habitat when a bird of prey flew in and landed on a bush in front of us ,Kestrel which posed unbelievably well, see pics below if you don't believe me!
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Initial pose after landing
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Relocated to an even better pose
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Kestrel
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Still posing
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| Kestrel |
It eventually got bored and headed off, I walked up Hope Gap, couldn't find the Spot Flys, much quieter now though still a few Whitethroats and Blackcaps a commotion above me alerted me to yet another Sparrowhawk although this one was being escorted off the premises by a Corvid, I think it was a Raven but less sure looking at Pics
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Sparrowhawk and Escort
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Trying to give him the slip
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Success alone at last!
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I considered my options, getting near home time ,the sun making a mockery of my decision to go big coat and sweatshirt (although at least I left the scarf in the car!!😎) dogwalkers and sunseekers multiply by the minute, I decided to try the area around the aircraft beacon near the golf course this can be quiet when other areas are busy so headed off, passed the car and dumped the coat and sweatshirt, which 100 yrds later seemed a mistake as the sun went behind a cloud and that wind was a bit chilly, bravely I carried on ,a single Wheatear on the Dung Heap and then on to the golf course initially I seemed to have made a mistake , two Great Tits and a Dunnock small reward for the extra effort then a bright red flash as a bird came up off the ground onto a bush ,Redstart Hurrah!! a bit of manoeuvring and some pics were obtained think there were a couple but only saw one at once! As I left the area I scanned the Golf Course and the fence adjacent ,often good for Whinchat at this time of year, none present but another Redstart was pleasing to see, I walked back to the car admiring the view of Belle Tout, I scanned the Sheep field ,there must have been at least 15 Wheatears running about on it ,but they were distant, I was knackered and I think I got enough pics of Wheatear today to keep me going!!
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