With strong winds predicted I decided to start the day with a Seawatch down at Splash Point Seaford, no great hopes to be honest, but would give me a chance to try out my new fancy-dan, seawatching chair!! I've always been a standa-upper when it comes to seawatching, but I ain't getting any younger and with my aching back in mind I've decided to bite the bullet and get a chair!!! 😢
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| The set up! |
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| Comfy |
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| Snazzy |
As predicted it was windy, but warm and turned out to be quite enjoyable, didn't get a Shearwater which I was secretly hoping for, but there were lots of Gannets, always fun to watch them diving into the sea from height. Unfortunately that kind of action was fairly distant but a few came closeish! There wasn't much else to be honest, a couple of Sandwich Terns, a single Whimbrel with an Oystercatcher and lots of Gulls, looks like Seaford's roofs have been productive loads of Juvenile Gulls.
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| Gannets |
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| Possibly a juvenile Lesser Black-backed Gull |
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| Second Calendar Year Gannet |
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| 4th Calendar Year Gannet |
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| Little Egret, not really a surprise on a Seawatch here considering how many there are up the Cuckmere |
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| Obligatory Lighthouse Pic |
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| I think this a juvenile/1st winter Common Gull |
So after an hour and a half of luxurious, if a bit lacking in variety seawatching, I decided to head off for a bit of bush bashing, with the wind getting stronger, I felt Tidemills might be better bet than up on the head, also it's nice and flat😂
I parked at the car park near the rail-crossing and headed into the reserve, far less dog poo 💩than usual which is always good, even better there was a large flock of finches in amongst the buildings, feeding on the seed heads. Mainly Goldfinches, but also Greenfinches, Linnets and a few Reed Buntings.
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| Juvenile Goldfinch |
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| More Juvenile Goldfinch |
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| Goldfinch |
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| Starlings and Finches |
I crossed the creek, Common Sandpiper, but flew off before I could get it, nothing else on the mud except Black-headed Gulls.
I turned right into the scrub towards Newhaven, following the creek, I spotted another Birder, staring intently into a bush, she had just had stonking views of a Pied Flycatcher, which typically had disappeared just before I arrived 😂!! I hung around for a while but the only thing of interest was a Sparrowhawk, which didn't bode well😱 The Flycatcher failed to reappear so I went for a wander around the area, lots of birds about, mainly the finches seen previously but also and unsurprisingly lots of Stonechats, a Reed Warbler, a Lesser Whitethroat, lots of Common Whitethroats, the best was a Whinchat. My wanderings took me onto the beach where a few Meadow Pipits were amongst the Greenfinch.
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| Reed Bunting |
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| Stonechat |
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| Whinchat |
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| Goldfinch |
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| Reed Warbler |
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| Common Whitethroat |
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| Meadow Pipit |
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| Greenfinch |
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| Chiffchaff I think!! |
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| Clouded Yellow |
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| Common Whitethroat |
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| Stonechat |
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| Finches |
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| Linnet |
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| Flyover Curlew |
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| Greenfinch |
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| Linnet |
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| Lesser Whitethroat |
I revisited the Pied Fly area several times but couldn't find it😡😢but apart from that it was an enjoyable wander around, load of birds in the area! I headed towards Seaford wandering on the high path right up to the caravan park, less birds this end maybe because of the wind which was getting stronger, there were two more Whinchats in the field near the railway, that actually came quite close in their efforts to avoid a dog walker, nice to benefit from a dog walker for a change!!😃
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| Meadow Pipit |
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| Linnets |
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| Reed Bunting |
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| Common Whitethroat |
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| Stonechat |
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| Another Curlew |
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| Reed Bunting |
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| Whinchat |
I wandered back towards the building, was gonna head home but decided to have a wander around the field where the Whinchats were, looks excellent habitat, only saw two Wheatears today both in flight so couldn't get any pics😢But plenty of other species to get pics of!!
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| Whinchat |
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| Whinchat |
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| Stonechat |
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| Stonechat |
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| Goldfinch |
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| Think it's a juvenile Reed Bunting |
I headed back to the car, where I encountered another large flock of birds, this time House Sparrows, loads of em well over 50 birds, possibly nearer a 100 great to see!!
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| House Sparrows |
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| House Sparrow |
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| Male House Sparrow |
An excellent walk, great to see so many birds, showing how important this scrubby area is to the local birds. Nice to see Whinchats, always a favourite, the weather was nice, with the strong breeze keeping me cool, although let's face it with my new chair I couldn't really get any cooler,😏right? 😀
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