Shoreham, Bempton and Frampton (20-22 August)

Sunday 22 August. We arrived at the Bempton Cliffs RSPB car park after 03:00, at times through torrential rain and standing water and one section of the road seeming more like a ford in flood. We managed some sleep and woke soon after first light to find the rain had stopped but it was very foggy. We walked to the coast where, as feared, we could barely see the sea. Not ideal when the albatross spent a lot of time sat on the sea. We continued along to the Staple Newk viewpoint and joined two or three others whom were already looking. After an hour the fog slowly started to clear, almost from the bottom up, and we began scanning the large number of Gannets. Just before 08:15, with 15-20 birders gathered where we were and others at nearby viewpoints, the Black-browed Albatross flew out from the cliff below us where it had presumably been roosting out of sight. It landed on the water at some distance where it remained for a few minutes before taking off and flying around in low circles, slowly coming closer and gaining height. For the next 25 minutes it put on a breathtaking display during which I fired off 800 photographs. Mostly it flew around in big circles, disappearing under the cliffs slightly below our level before quickly coming into view again. On occasion it appeared to be trying to land but always out of sight. Once it came along at head height but veered off before reaching us. It was the first Black-browed Albatross I'd seen in Britain since October 1978 and far far better views than my previous sightings (six visits to Hermaness over four years during which I saw 'Albert' fly once and it or another on the sea from the Scillonian). It was absolutely brilliant and I was really very pleased to have seen it so well. Also at Bempton Cliffs I saw Kittiwakes, Fulmars and Shags with 3 Tree Sparrows and a roosting Tawny Owl near the visitor centre. We drove south to Frampton Marshes RSPB reserve on the Wash, another top reserve I'd not previously visited. Here there were good birds almost everywhere we looked. Highlights were the moulting out of summer-plumaged Pacific Golden Plover, a Dotterel with a flock of about 40 Golden Plovers, 6 Little Ringed Plovers, 210+ Back-tailed Godwits, 60 Ruff, 3 Little Stints, 45 Common Snipe, 3 Common and 4 Green Sandpipers, 9 Spotted Redshank, 2 Greenshank, a Black Tern, 28 Spoonbills, 2 Marsh Harriers, a Short-eared Owl, 13 Kestrels, a Merlin and 7 Yellow Wagtails. All in an area much smaller than the 'flagship' reserves in Sussex. After a final look for a Black Stork that had probably departed the previous afternoon we left at 17:30 and drove home. Matt, who I very much appreciated taking me, dropped me off about 21:00. What an brilliant day.

Gannets on Staple Newk, Bempton Cliffs

Black-browed Albatross from Staple Newk

landing out of view, it had been an amazingly impressive display from an amazingly impressive bird

Staple Newk from New Roll Up Viewpoint

last views of the albatross, airborne again

briefly on the cliff

bedraggled Tawny Owl roosting at Bempton

Pacific Golden Plover on the saltmarsh at Frampton

Saturday 21 August. An early start at Mill Hill, the second half with Matt Palmer, produced for me a Swift, 4 Stock Doves, 4 Buzzards, 40 Swallows, 10 House Martins, Chiffchaff, 2 Willow Warbler, Blackcap, 2 Lesser and 14 Common Whitethroats, Spotted Flycatcher, 6 Linnets, 2 Greenfinches and 11 Goldfinches. Meeting Matt was fortuitous as he mentioned he was thinking of going for the albatross and would let me know if he was. In the afternoon I took Cookie to the Adur where between the railway bridge and Cuckoo's Corner was saw 3 Oystercatchers, 21 Ringed Plover, 6 Dunlin, 36 Great Black-backed Gulls, 2 Grey Herons, 3 Little Egrets and a Peregrine. Matt picked me up soon after 22:00 and we drove north through increasingly bad weather.

Spotted Flycatcher on Mill Hill

Peregrine on Lancing College Chapel

Friday 20 August.  I took Cookie up to Mill Hill seeing 2 Stock Doves, Sparrowhawk, 3 Buzzards, 2 Kestrels. 2 Ravens, a Swallow, 2 Willow and a Reed Warbler, 5 Whitethroats, a Greenfinch and 6 Goldfinches. In the afternoon we went to the Adur where between the railway bridge and Cuckoo's Corner was saw 16 Mute Swans, 3 Oystercatchers, 13 Ringed Plover, 2 Dunlin, Common Sandpiper, Redshank, 22 Great Black-backed, 400 Herring and an adult Yellow-legged Gull, 2 Grey Herons, 8 Little Egrets, a Sparrowhawk and 3 House Martins. 

a new species of Antpitta on Mill Hill?

Reed Warbler on Mill Hill

Willow Warbler on Mill Hill

Herring Gull S3VT on the Adur. Ringed in February 2019 at Ockendon Landfill in Essex when in its second year it was seen at Dinton Pastures CP in Berkshire in June 2020 and on the Adur that December. Local A6XY was also on the Adur, my 14th sighting of it in almost 11 years.

adult Yellow-legged Gull on the Adur near Cuckoo's Corner