Another Windy Day!

A ferocious night with gusts up to Force 10! As I battled up to the harbour entrance I noticed the Greater Blacked Gulls were sheltering by a mud bank and the Little Egrets were huddled closely together on New Island. Apart from a couple of Wheatears on the path little else showed up.
During the day, sunny periods and heavy showers continued and several large groups of Starlings patrolled the beach with a few small flocks of Linnets occuring from time to time.
7 Teal were present on the Little Lagoon.

There will be a lull in this blog for a few days whilst I concentrate on birding a little further afield.

September has arrived with windy weather.

Very gusty SW winds this morning produced some inshore Gannets. Several Whimbrel flew up at my appoach to the harbour entrance but more unusually a pair of Grey Wagtails were feeding around the edge of the Lagoon...I more often hear them as flyovers but rarely see them around the lagoon. A single Wheatear was on my neighbours roof.

Was it a Falcon...or was it a Vulcan?

That was yesterday! All is peace again today after several interruptions resulting from the Shoreham Air Show.
A couple of Common Sandpipers, a Spotted Redshank, a calling Greenshank, a single Wheatear and numerous Swallows moving S.W.was the total early this morning. Also 2 Little Grebes have turned up on the Little Lagoon and 7 have arrived on the main Lagoon. They will probably increase in numbers during the next few weeks and remain for the winter, as they usually do.
A walk along the North Wall revealed little else except 30 Black tailed Godwits and a few flyover Yellow Wagtails plus the regular waders. Spotted Flycatchers were reported at the entrance from Vicarage Lane but I missed them! Weather on the change again after a fantastic day yesterday. Engish weather is very interesting!

A change in the weather

After the VERY hot weather yesterday it was relatively cool this morning. A Whimbrel permitted a relatively close approach at the harbour mouth...they are generally much less skittish than Curlew.
Apart from that, Gannets were passing offshore and there were reports of a few Fulmars, a Black Tern and a 'dark' shearwater...possible Sooty!

An early morning Wheatear

As I strolled round the harbour at about 8.45 this morning I almost trod on a Wheatear! It flew a few feet in front of me and stayed still for several minutes near a clump of sea kale and enabled me to get a reasonable photo before flying up to the ironwork when I was able to obtain another shot in the early morning sunshine.A couple of Sandwich Terns drifted over and the usual Peregrines were preening on New Island...a perfect morning,sunny, warm and windless and on passing the lagoon I noticed a Kingfisher perched on an overhanging bramble.Superb!

Later in the morning 2 Spotted Redshanks on Breach Pool.

Repairs and renovations

This morning, time was well spent repairing the benches in the hide on the Spit. They have been broken and unsafe for several weeks but as the Swallows were nesting it didn't matter. Now, with the 'interesting' season fast appoaching more birders will be visiting, so service is now 'back to normal'. The door actually stays closed too!
2 Peregrines were sitting on 'their ' island this morning and a flock of c150 Turnstones whistled over my head as I was heading back past the Little Lagoon..the biggest flock to date.

A Clouded Yellow butterfly.

This is the first time this year I have seen a Clouded Yellow ....plenty of Painted Ladies still about but this was a 'first' for this year for me.
A few Wheatears on the shingle and Greenshanks calling in the harbour. 4 Wigeon in the main channel looking from the Salt House.
A lot of holiday makers about!