Mediterranean Gull at Goring Gap

I started out after the morning rush hour and made my way to the Widewater at Shoreham for the drake Goosander that was reported yesterday. Several other birders who were in attendance showed that glum face that indicates an absent bird.  I hung around for about an hour and apart from four Red-breasted Mergansers there was precious little to record. On the way home I decided to give the gull roost at Goring Gap the once over. For once conditions were ideal, high tide, strong winds and lots of overnight rain to create some decent puddles. I parked opposite the one nearest to the roadside and scanned the whole field. Apart from the obvious Herring, Great Black-backed, Common and Black-headed Gulls there were hordes of Dunlin, Ringed Plover, Sanderlings and Turnstones happily searching the muddy field for some form of food.

Then it finally dawned on me that one of the gulls was a tad different, even though it had its bill between its wings it was obvious that it was a Mediterranean Gull.

 

The other birds were taking advantage of the fresh water and having a bath and I spent an hour or so snapping away. I felt duty bound to inspect Groyne No.4 and wasn't surprised to find only a few Turnstones, the wind was whipping the sea into foam and salt spray, that isn't an ideal environment for birds or for that matter my camera - time for home!

One of the Sanderlings, rather distant, was carrying colour rings.

Dunlin

Some may view the Dunlin as an insignificant bird, but I happen to think they are quite charming and today they were most obliging, filling a hole in our birding day. We started at Arlington Reservoir, a search for the Little Stint that has been so amenable to having his photograph taken. Unfortunately a circuit, anti clockwise, of the lake revealed nothing more than an extremely flighty Greenshank that certainly wasn't going to pose.  Apart from the dam wall there are very few areas of the reservoir where you can get good views of the water, vegetation has been left to grow virtually unchecked, both around the margins and in front of the hide, a very poor state of affairs. I would have left a comment making this point but there wasn't even a piece of chalk for the recent sightings board in the hide. So after a cup of tea we left for the Cuckmere to try and locate the Curlew Sandpipers adjacent to the Golden Galleon.

A walk along the river gave sufficient encounters with the Dunlin to allow me to give the new camera a go, early results are very pleasing. Apart from the Dunlin we had Ringed Plover, Bar-tailed Godwit and distant views of Spotshank and Sandwich Terns.

Whilst we were down towards the end of the river there was an "incident" at the first "Sister" of the Seven Sisters. Whether someone had fallen or been trapped by the rising tide I know not, however we were very soon surrounded by blue flashing lights and helicopters.

Ferring, Groyne No.4

No apologies for revisiting my local patch. After a miserable start to the day with torrential rain and westerly gales a break in the weather gave early afternoon sunshine but the high winds remained, a perfect time for a walk. At Ferring the shingle is high, the longshore drift has deposited several extra feet of beach and the sand just below the shingle line seems much more extensive. Perhaps the winter storms will take much of it away, probably to Brighton and beyond. I guess most of this has been eroded from Selsey, Pagham and Climping, probably half of Trevor's garden!



Shingle and groynes as far as the eye can see



Groyne No.4 - Perfect shorebird habitat

On the beach there were few birds, just  Turnstones, Sanderlings, Ringed Plovers and Dunlin. With the incoming tide being pushed rapidly up the beach by the wind the Ringed Plovers left early and were settled down in a sparsely populated gull roost, hunkered down in the freshly ploughed stubble.

These beach birds are hardy souls and don't give up what remains of the beach readily. This makes them approachable, just find the highest point on the sand, and as the tide rises they will come to you - so pressing is the need to maximise feeding time. Only when the sand is finally covered do they take to the shingle roost. The patttern is always the same - Turnstones roost in the seaweed remains higher up the beach and the Sanderlings take the lowest shingle.

Following the previous posting about the beach I was asked to keep an eye out for ringed birds, alas nothing this time, but it is much more difficult than colour ringed Godwits. Birds offshore were few, just a couple of Cormorants battling west against the wind and two optimistic Sandwich Terns looking for snacks among the numerous windsurfers.

 Red-backed or Black-bellied Sandpiper



Turnstones still looking 'scruffy'




Flying into the gull roost

Little Stint

An early morning visit to the North Wall at Pagham, dawn broke in a rather chilly air and when I arrived at Pagham the area to the north of Breech Pool was shrouded in mist, There were plenty of birds about, a cursory glance of the pool gave all the usual suspects plus the previously reported Little Stint. I actually counted three  Little Stints with five Dunlin. However, subsequent to Ivan finding a "mini" Dunlin I would revise that to two, especially as the mist made ID more difficult. When I returned from Halsey's Farm I could find only one.

 

Out at Halsey's I located some Yellow Wagtails within the cattle herd but they were not confiding and as soon as I approached they flew off. So back to Breech Pool where a Kingfisher was busy fishing. The total bird population had thinned somewhat, certainly there were far fewer Black-tailed Godwits to be found now the sun was up, although the Teal and Little Egret numbers rose as the tide came in.




Little Stint with Dunlin for comparison



Little Stint with Dunlin for comparison

 

 

 Ivan's mini Dunlin for comparison, it was very diminutive!!



Mini Dunlin



Mini Dunlin

Other suspects on the pool included a juvenile Knot, 5 Snipe, a single Bar-tailed Godwit and a single Wigeon. Pandemonium reigned briefly as a dark juvenile Sparrowhawk swooped across the pool but departed hungry.



De Havilland  DH 89A Dragon-Rapide, G-AGTM

All in all a very pleasant morning birding in very fine weather.