Staying local again (30 September - 02 October)

Friday 02 October. Very strong winds and heavy showers limited my options to looking along the coast so I took Cookie to Shoreham Fort, Widewater for a seawatch and the Adur saltings at high tide. Shoreham Fort was very quiet and hard to find any shelter, I saw a Sandwich Tern in the harbour and 11 Turnstones on exposed rocks. A two hour seawatch sheltering at Widewater produced 2 Shoveler (E), 17 Wigeon (12E:5W), 25 Turnstone (E), a Snipe (struggling E), a distant Sooty Shearwater (W at about 09:55, a fast flying bird if the same as those W at Seaford at 09:40 and Selsey at 10:16) and 80 Gannets. A tame Wheatear was then seen behind the beach huts and Mandarin, Red-breasted Merganser and Kingfisher on Widewater itself. Poor conditions and a lack of shelter meant we had to settle for a brief look at the Adur saltings and only saw the Bar-tailed Godwit, 3 Dunlin, about 30 Redshank and the 2 Greenshank.

Cookie 'helping' me seawatching, the rising tide breaking ever closer on the beach in front of us made her nervous

Wheatear at Widewater

Mandarin at Widewater, looking more respectable than my previous sighting

Red-breasted Merganser at Widewater, often a good bet in rough winter weather

Thursday 01 October. I took Cookie up to Beeding Hill and we walked to Thundersbarrow, Truleigh Hill and Beeding Quarry. I saw 2 Great Spotted and a Green Woodpecker, 4 Kestrels (down on recent visits), 2 Ravens, 27 Sky Larks, 21 Swallows, 2 Chiffchaffs, 12 Stonechats, 17 Wheatears (highest count since early September), 60 Meadow Pipits and 20-25 each of Linnet and Goldfinch. On our way home we called in at the Adur Saltings for a high tide. I'd not taken a telescope, not wanting to leave it in the car at Beeding Hill, but managed to pick out a Bar-tailed Godwit (presumably that seen the previous evening), 2 Snipe, 2 Greenshank and 5 Sandwich Terns.

Wheatear at Beeding Hill

another Wheatear at Beeding Hill

Stonechat near Truleigh Hill

I'd been struck by the high proportion of male Stonechats seen recently without noting how many there were. Today I made a note as I went along and saw 9 females

and three males

Great Spotted Woodpecker at Truleigh Hill

two Great Spotted Woodpeckers at Truleigh Hill

quite the acrobat

30 September. I disturbed a Sparrowhawk from our back garden, it flew off with one of our local sparrows. Megan and I took Cookie up to a windswept Mill Hill where we saw another Sparrowhawk, 230 Swallows and 2 House Martins flying east and 40 Goldfinches. We also heard but didn't see Buzzard, a distant Cetti's Warbler and 3 Chiffchaffs. Late afternoon I took Cookie to the Adur for the low tide seeing 10 Ringed Plovers and single Bar-tailed and Black-tailed Godwits, Redshank and Greenshank. Disappointingly very few gulls were present although viewing them was soon curtailed by an approaching shower. Thealready poor light became worse and we made a successful run for it.

Bar-tailed Godwit on the Adur

Black-tailed Godwit on the Adur

Greenshank on the Adur