Saturday 15 July 2017

15th July, 2017 Beachy Head and Newhaven Light overcast W 0 increasing to 3-4

We covered Birling lane and scrub opposite, Shooters Bottom, Old Trapping Area, Hotel Garden and Icky Ridge. No sign of any diurnal migration this morning although a few new night migrants including a fine adult male Redstart.
RE visited Whitbread Hollow.
Combined totals:

Common Buzzard 1 Hollow
Kestrel 2
Swallow 16
Common Redstart 1 ad. male Hotel Garden
Stonechat 12
Song Thrush 4
Sedge Warbler 1 Birling
Blackcap 1
Lesser Whitethroat 1
Common Whitethroat 18
Chiffchaff 3 (1 Hotel Garden & Hollow)
Willow Warbler 1 1styr bird (Our first this Autumn)
Starling 100
Jay 2
Linnet 40
Goldfinch 20
Bullfinch hear calling in Whitbread Hollow

Weasel 2-3
Fox 1

Adult male Redstart taken through the car windscreen
by DRC.

On our way home we stopped off at Newhaven harbour. A few Herring Gulls were on the beach with one juvenile Herring/ Yellow-legged Gull. It was a different individual which we saw on the 10th as it was smaller with shorter legs and more markings on the upper and under tail coverts, and a few extra markings behind the eye. The bill appeared very similar in size to Herring Gull and the tertials show notches which is a pointer towards Herring Gull, whereas Yellow-legged usually shows a plain white fringe without the notches. 





Juvenile Herring or Yellow-legged Gull at Newhaven harbour.
Now considered to be a juv. Herring Gull, many thanks to
DC and RJF for their input on the identification.