Shoreham & Rackham (19-25 March 2012)

Monday-Friday 19-23 March. Still 36 Great Crested Grebes off Hove on Monday and a Rock Pipit on the beach there. 1-2 Peregrines on Southwick Power Station Chimney each day and a pair of Ringed Plovers mating on Thursday.

Saturday 24 March. A morning spent at various inland sites with John King produced excellent views of two very vocal male Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers at a traditional site.  Fantastic.  Three Wood Lark were seen well and occassionally heard singing at another where a flyover Crossbill was also recorded.  We then went to Pulborough RSPB but the hoped for early migrants were limited ot Chiffchaffs.  the Pink-footed Goose remained, perhaps now too long, on the North Brooks,  where a pair of Pintail were present with reasonable numbers of Teal, Shoveler and Wigeon, and a Peregrine showed well in its tree from the Hangar. It looked enormous which made me realise just how high up those on Southwick Power Station are - even taking account of seeing them each day through 8x20 bins. Few gulls were seen on an evening trip to the Adur although they did include my second ever colour-ringed Common Gull and a calling Curlew flying south, unfortunately without wingbars.

first male Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, ladders on back indistinct

first male Lesser Spotted Woodpecker

second male Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, this one with distinct ladders on its back

second male Lesser Spotted Woodpecker drumming, video unfortunately shows the limitations of hand held digiscoping

Wood Lark, probably my all-time favourite songster

Peregrine at Pulborough, looking enormous when not seen halfway up Southwick Power Station chimney

Common Gull AE21 on the River Adur at low tide and in poor light, it had been ringed as a pullus near Kiel in Germany on 22 June 2010

Sunday 25 March.  Little was moving off the Fort first thing with 8 Gannets and 12 Sandwich Terns offshore, 7 Great Crested Grebes and 9 Common Scoter on the sea and 5 Brent Geese and 2 scoter flying E.  Both Peregrines were on Southwick Power Station chimney.  Nothing of note was on the Adur at low tide.

A slow worm was warming itself inside one of the composters on our allotment but unfortunately I'd not taken a camera with me.  It is the first I've seen for many years.

new security gates on the west arm of Shoreham Harbour