late August in Sussex

A few days birding in Sussex between trips ...

26 August.  An hour seawatch in poor conditions at Widewater produced only my second Black Tern in four years!  It was being blown east by the strong wind even though it appeared as if it would rather be heading west.  Also single Fulmar, Sandwich and Common Terns and Grey Plover.  A late afternoon low tide visit to the Adur added North Thames Herring Gull F9BT, my fourth sighting of it since 2011, 74 Ringed Plover, 12 Dunlin and loads of flowers (and TV vans) on the Old Toll Bridge.

Old Toll Bridge

Herring Gull F9BT

TV vans on the Old Toll Bridge, Shoreham flyover used a s a car park for accident investigation staff

23 August.  A visit to Birling where the Coopers soon told me there was little in the bushes despite the promise of two Wheatears along the approach road. We decided on a short seawatch just as Matt sent David a text from Seaford to say a Balearic Shearwater was headed our way.  It eventually arrived and while seawatching up to 35 Yellow Wagtails flew over.  I decided to head for Little Common on the off chance the Black Stork might put in another appearance and joined John King and others there.  The stork did not show in 7.5 hours but the more I heard about it (attacking fatball feeders in small gardens at 06:00, sitting on campervan rooves) the less concerned I was not to have seen it.  Nice chat about the Lesser Sundas, and elsewhere, with Nick Gardner and son Russell.

22 August.  A morning at Beachy with the usual suspects.  Rather quiet but my first Yellow Wagtails (18) and Whinchat of the year .  Also 15 Swifts, 18 Sand Martins, 200 Swallows, 2 Wheatears, 2 Reed Warblers, 30 Whitethroats, 2 Lessers, 27 Willow Warblers and 10 Corn Buntings.  Megan and I were planning on cycling to Mill Hill in the afternoon to catch the end of the airshow but jst as we wer eleaving Josh arrived home from work to tell us there had been a crash and it had been cancelled.

the Newhaven-Dieppe ferry from Beachy, in a week Megan and I would be on it.