Southwick and Shoreham (11-18 June 2012)

Cycling home from work was livened up considerably on Wednesday by a pair of Ringed Plover with 3 very small chicks.  I'd like to think they were the pair that had their nest predated 4 weeks ago.  Also 1-2 young peregrines on/in the Power Station chimney nestbox from Wednesday, 3 Swallows east (also on Wednesday), the odd Sandwich Tern along the coast and up to 12 Swifts over our road most evenings (when I remember to look).

Visits to the Adur at low tide on both Saturday and Sunday were disappointing with hardly any birds seen at all.  2-3 Little Egrets, few gulls (none with colour rings) and 2 Oystercatchers the only waders.

The west arm of Shoreham Harbour was closed on Sunday morning so after checking the beach (1 Turnstone, no colour-rings amongst the gulls) I seawatched from Widewater but soon gave up after seeing only 5 distant Gannets and 3 Sandwich Terns in half an hour.

west arm of Shoreham Harbour

closed

improvements to the cycle lane at Widewater?

A walk through nice looking woodland at Nymans (near Handcross) with Megan was pleasant but as usual disappointingly birdless.  We saw Goldcrest, Coal Tit and 3 Buzzards.  On the way home a text from a long time friend Nigel Redman to say he'd had 5 Bee-eaters fly over his garden in Ninfield.  Brilliant but very gripping.  Perhaps I should have been slogging around Beachy after all as they were heading south-west.

After an expectedly disappointing week-end it was somewhat ironic that my best bird was a Black Redstart singing from the southern-most grain silo by Gate 4 at Shoreham Harbour as I cycled to work.  I thought I'd heard a single song of one distantly last week but it was hard to be sure in the wind.  Presumably it is the bird I last heard on 25 May about 1/2 mile further west.