Rarely does a week go by without my listening to something by Neil Young. This week I've pushed the boat out and am systematically working my way through his CDs, not a short undertaking and I'm barely half way through. So many really great songs, the titles of two of his very best sum up my lockdown - On the Beach and Down by the River.
Wednesday 10 February. An early visit to the Adur to look for my lost notebook. It was not on the bench where I'd left it once before (!!) or any of the other benches I'd stopped at. I did see 3 Little Grebes, the Knot and 33 Dunlin but my mind wasn't fully on it. As a last chance I checked where I'd parked the car previously and there it was in the gutter. An hour or so at Widewater was pretty dull with 8 Great Crested Grebes, over 100 auks (none identifiable), 3 Red and a close Black-throated Diver, a Gannet and 63 Cormorants offshore, 6 Mute Swans, 12 Teal and 9 Little Grebes on the lagoon and 21 Ringed Plover and 126 Dunlin on the beach. I then met Megan and Cookie at Mill Hill where we saw 82 Lapwings in a field and 27 flying west, 10 Blackbirds, 3 Redwings, 9 Song Thrushes, 10 Robins, 35 Linnets and 8 Goldfinches.
Tuesday 09 February. Two hours watching off Widewater was interesting if a little disappointing in a bitter NE wind which I was fortunately sheltered from in the entrance to my preferred beach hut. I saw 7 Brent Geese, 38 Shelduck, 3 Shoveler (mff), 2 Gadwall (mf), 51 Wigeon, 37 Teal, 8 Great Crested Grebes, 20 Dunlin, adult Mediterranean Gull, single Guillemot, 67 Razorbills, 720+ unidentified auks, 29 Red-throated and 7 unidentified divers, Fulmar, 55 Gannets and 60 Cormorants. A quick look at Shoreham Fort revealed both Purple Sandpipers with the Greenshank on the Adur Saltings on the falling tide. On a quest to find the long staying Goosander I'd only seen once in November I walked along the Adur from Dacre Gardens north to Bramber, then south towards Cuckoos Corner, running out of time at Applesham where I returned. A Ruff was with a fairly mobile flock of about 200 Lapwings just west of the river near Botolphs, presumably the Cuckoos Corner bird from the previous evening. I also saw the Cement Works Common Sandpiper, 3 Buzzards, 3 Fieldfares, 90 Redwings, 19 Song Thrushes and 16 Meadow Pipits. At low tide I returned to the Adur seeing 2 Little Grebes, just one of yesterday's Knots, a bit strange as they'd seemed inseparable, 52+ Dunlin, 70 Great Black-backed Gulls and 7 Sky Larks. For the second time this year I left my notebook on one of the benches there. I'm getting very forgetful.
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| Stonechat on the riverbank near Coombes |
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| Stonechat on the riverbank at Dacre Gardens |
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| Common Sandpiper near Dacre Gardens |
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| Great Black-backed Gull J68X. A bird hatched in 2002 and ringed in March 2003 at Mandalselva Skinsnes, Mandal, Vest-Agder, Norway and seen nearby three days later |
Monday 08 February. Megan and I took Cookie to Widewater and walked along to Lancing Beach Green and back. It was too cold to hang about and I had to restrict myself to frequent scans of the horizon. I saw a Shelduck, 40 Wigeon, 3 Teal, 16 Great Crested Grebes, 5 Oystercatchers, 202 Dunlin, adult Mediterranean Gull, 85 Razorbills, 500+ auks, 6 Red and a Black-throated Diver and 120 Gannets. Nine Teal, 2 Grey and 16 Ringed Plovers, 2 Knot, 44 Dunlin and 2 colour-ringed Herring Gulls were on the Adur at low tide. I came home at 5pm but should have stayed longer as Ruff and Goosander were seen at Cuckoos Corner.
Sunday 07 February. Seawatching from Widewater produced 2 Greylag Geese, 2 Teal, 6 Kittiwakes, 2 Guillemots, 70 Razorbills, 130 unidentified auks, 19 Red-throated and 2 unidentified divers, 45 Gannets and 90 Cormorants. It was too cold (a NNE wind) and too little was seen (perhaps because it was very clear) to keep my attention beyond an hour.
Saturday 06 February. It was thick fog at Widewater so I continued to Shoreham Fort where at times it was better. David Buckingham joined me on the beach there and we socially distance seawatched/practiced angling for almost two hours. The highlight was a pair of Tufted Duck on the sea which soon flew west, the first time I can remember being excited to see the species. We also recorded 2 Greylag Geese, 6 Great Crested Grebes, 7 Kittiwakes, 4 Guillemots, 150 Razorbills, 900+ unidentified auks, 81 Red-throated and 3 unidentified Divers and 2 Rock Pipits. Stopping at the Adur on the way home at low tide I saw 4 Grey Plovers, an adult Mediterranean and 800 Common Gulls and a Mistle Thrush.
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| Great Crested Grebes off Shoreham Harbour |
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| Common Gull JE64. It was ringed at Kongsgård, Kristiansand, Vest-Agder, Norway in April 2006 when already at least in its fourth year making it at least 19 now. It was also seen at Dawlish Warren in February 2014
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Friday 05 February. Megan and I took Cookie to Brooklands for a change of scenery. The male Pochard, 2 female Great Spotted Woodpeckers, a smart Coal Tit and a decent if somewhat brief view of a Cetti's Warbler were nice but the coast was shrouded in sea mist and attempts to find any Sanderling on the beach were soon curtailed as we couldn't see the sea from halfway down the beach.
Thursday 04 February. 07:45-09:45 at Widewater produced 10 Brent Geese, 2 Shelduck, 41 Kittiwakes, 3700 auks (10% were identified, all Razorbills), 85 Red-throated Divers, Fulmar, 118 Gannets and a Kingfisher on the lagoon. I stopped at the Adur at low tide but it was disappointing with 4 Grey Plover, a North Thames Herring Gull and 9 Lesser Black-backed Gulls. A Curlew and 16 Oystercatchers were seen during a brief look from Coronation Green.
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