birding never sleeps: Cuckmere gulls and around Shoreham (30 November-07 December)

Tuesday 07 December. For about a week I'd been waiting for a day with a high tide and onshore wind, preferably quite strong, to check out the Cuckmere gull roost. Today looked the part as Storm Barra approached although I would have preferred it to have been drier and a bit calmer. I arrived opposite Harry's Bush at about 10:45 and was relieved to see about 700 gulls roosting. Less good was that they were significantly further away (nearer the river) than usual and most were sat down sleeping. The majority were Great Black-backed Gulls, as is usually the case, with an estimated 650 present. There were about 50 Herring Gulls, of which 8 appeared to be Scandinavian argentatus, but only 10 Lesser Black-backed Gulls. Repeatedly scanning the flock produced 3-4 Caspian Gulls (second-winter, third-winter and at least one adult) and 5-6 Yellow-legged Gulls (first-winter, second-winter and at least three adults). Adult Caspian/Yellow-legged Gulls were particularly problematic when sleeping with only their darker-mantles and white-heads showing. Despite studying the flock for three hours there was very little movement of birds into/out of it and within the flock and more of the interesting gulls could easily have been present than I picked out. Most of the following images were digiscoped, all rather disappointingly (not helped by distance and weather).

second-winter Caspian Gull in the Cuckmere

the shawl of fine dark streaks around the hind-neck was more obvious than these images suggest

third-winter Caspian Gull in the Cuckmere

brown tinges to the coverts were more obvious than appear in these images

front half of what I thought was the adult Caspian Gull in the Cuckmere

bullet-hole dark eye, small head and long washed out bill seem to fit but the mantle looks a shade dark and it might be one of the Yellow-legged Gulls

the earlier second-winter Caspian Gull preening (centre left) and second-winter Yellow-legged Gull (centre right)

adult Yellow-legged or Caspian Gull, I didn't see it do more than this

sleeping adult Yellow-legged Gull, based on pale eye

presumed sleeping adult Yellow-legged Gull, darker mantle and little white on the underside to p10

adult Yellow-legged Gull based on thick bill, pale eye and limited white on underside of p10

presumed adult Yellow-legged Gull based on bill thickness and colour

argentatus Herring Gull (rear centre showing extensive white tip to p10)

three or four argentatus Herring Gulls

part of the Cuckmere gull roost

Monday 06 December. Megan and I took Cookie up to Mill Hill where we saw Kestrel, 90 Rooks, Song Thrush, 3 Mistle Thrushes and 2 Goldfinches and heard a Great Spotted Woodpecker.

Mistle Thrush on Mill Hill

Sunday 05 December. I seawatched from Widewater with Cookie from 08:25-09:25 then walked along to Eastern Sands. The Velvet Scoter was still well offshore, mainly hiding in the troughs. Only my familiarity with it enabled a confident identification. Also Great Crested Grebe, Turnstone, 25 Kittiwakes, 11 Guillemots, 90 Razorbills, 140 unidentified auks, Red-throated Diver, Fulmar and 46 Gannets. Nice Little Grebes were on the lagoon but little else. On the way home we spent an hour on the RSPB Adur Saltings viewpoint as the big tide came in. Pretty much everything was covered revealing 56 Teal, 2 Curlew, 9 Common Snipe (it sounded as if more flew off unseen), 48 Redshank, Greenshank, 3 Grey Herons, 2 Little Egrets, 3 Rock Pipits, 4 Linnets and 3 Reed Buntings.

Great Black-backed Gull with Plaice at Widewater

Greenshank on Adur Saltings

Saturday 04 December. I seawatched from Widewater from 08:00-09:30 seeing the Velvet and 6 Common Scoter, Great Crested Grebe, 2 Turnstones, 42 Kittiwakes, 5 Guillemots, 52 Razorbills, 130 unidentified auks, Red-throated Diver and 6 Gannets. I met Megan, Nessa and Cookie at Harbour Way and we walked back to the Adur Ferry Bridge. The saltings were almost completely covered by a very high tide and I scoped 46 Teal (with nowhere to hide), Curlew and 13 Common Snipe. Returning along the boardwalk and by the Fort I saw 11 Turnstones, 3 Purple Sandpipers, Rock Pipit and Greenfinch. In the afternoon I took Cookie to Southwick Canal where the Long-tailed Duck was still in residence.

Purple Sandpipers and a Turnstone on the wooden jetty at Shoreham Fort

Long-tailed Duck in Southwick Canal

still caught up in fishing line

its wings seemed caught up too

Friday 03 December. I seawatched from Widewater with Cookie. In 80 minutes I saw Velvet Scoter, 5 Great Crested Grebes, 3 Oystercatchers, 4 Turnstones, 19 Kittiwakes, 3 Guillemots, 48 Razorbills, 57 unidentified auks, Red-throated Diver and 11 Gannets. The Velvet Scoter was a quite distant female-type drifting slowly west, presumably that of 28 November. We went on to Shoreham Fort where I saw 2 Purple Sandpipers, and 3 Meadow and a Rock Pipit.

tail-less Pied Wagtail on the beach at Widewater

Thursday 02 December. With 5 surplus dining chairs of Josh's to take to a charity outlet in Lancing I had to take the rear double seat out of my car. They just fitted in with enough room for Cookie. Having dropped them off we stopped at Brooklands on the way home. I saw 2 adult and 6 juvenile Mute Swans (as on recent visits), a drake Teal, 2 Little Grebes, male Great Spotted Woodpecker and Goldcrest and heard a Chiffchaff. A low tide visit to the Adur with Cookie was very quiet with few gulls seen despite walking up to Cuckoos Corner. A Grey and 14 Ringed Plover and 7 Dunlin were opposite the airport with an adult Mediterranean Gull there at dusk.

Great Spotted Woodpecker at Brooklands

it's a male

legs of a Finnish Black-headed Gull

Museum Zool, Helsinki Finland

it didn't do a 360 pirouette to enable the ring number to be read, pity no colour ring on this one

adult Mediterranean Gull with Black-heads on the Adur

Wednesday 01 December. Megan and I walked around the Adur with Cookie seeing the juvenile Brent Goose again by the new pumping station, 30 Teal in the Houseboat Channel and a Grey Plover on the limited exposed mud by the railway bridge. I returned to the Adur with Cookie in the afternoon, walking up to Cuckoos Corner. It was low tide and the Brent Goose was on the mud by the pumping station. 66 Lapwings were visible in the saltings by Ricardo's and 2 Mediterranean Gulls were on a sandbank between the A27 and Cuckoos Corner.

Brent Goose by the Adur

Little Egret on the Adur

Mediterranean Gulls on the Adur

Grey Heron on the Adur

Tuesday 30 November. I took Cookie to Widewater where we spent a couple of hours, the first seawatching. I saw a close Black-throated Diver (flying west), Red-throated Diver (E), Razorbills (37 on sea, 15W) Guillemots (2 on sea, 1 W), 70 unidentified auks (most W), 3 Dunlin (W) and 3 Kittiwakes and 4 Gannets offshore. Three Little Grebes were seen hiding under vegetation on the lagoon but there was no sign of the Goosander. We drove to Harbour Way and soon after arriving saw a very drab Black Redstart a couple of times before it dropped out of view behind a fence. The Fort was quiet with the tide falling and just 10 Turnstones and 5 Greenfinches seen. A brief stop at the Adur on the way home produced 55 Lapwings, a Grey and 13 Ringed Plover, 26 Dunlin, 6 Redshank and 51 Great Black-backed and 400 Herring Gulls. With highlights being Black-throated Diver, Black Redstart and Great Black-backed Gull it was Black Tuesday for me in Shoreham.