Worthing Desert Wheatear (25 October 2012)

25 October.  What a superb bird!  I left work early and after cycling home (26 Pied Wagtails along Hove seafront) grabbed my telescope and drove over to Worthing.  I watched the bird feeding on the beach and nearby rocks at Splash Point from about 5pm until it was almost too dark to see at 6.10pm.  An absolute stunner.

Desert Wheatear at Splash Point, Worthing

poor light meant a high ISO or low shutter speed

fortunately it wasn't always moving - no sharp flying gulls at 1/15th for me!

pity it chose the most unsightly post to perch on

it is not often that a small birds legs stand out so much

superb

Earlier in the week a Wheatear on Southwick Beach on 22nd (I did check it for something rarer), Black Redstart by the lock-gates on 23rd, 1-2 Peregrines on the power Station chimney and Herring Gull A4AJ at the University.