October 31st 2018

GORING GAP : The highlight of a quick morning visit was the good number of Skylark that were around between the southern fields and beach including a single flock of 28 birds, this alone was my highest count so far for the site, in total a c50 birds was recorded but difficult to get a definitive count as were mobile. Pied Wagtails were also around c30 birds, many on the beach, only 4 Meadow Pipits recorded and 7 Linnets roamed the fields in one flock. 2 Reed Bunting were around the rough field area before flying nw inland a single Stonechat was around. Birds of note offshore included 5x Brent Geese moving west, c70 Gannets fishing and a single of each of Red-breasted Merganser and Great-crested Grebe on the sea. A single Rock Pipit and 2 Grey Plover were amongst the normal species on the beach NB

October 29th 2018

GORING GAP: It was a fairly lively morning for movement though I had to leave at 09:00. Waders moving included eight Lapwings in-off the sea (a group of six and two singles), a Golden Plover east and a Snipe west. Wildfowl were represented by 11 Wigeon, four Teal, six Common Scoters, three Red-breasted Mergansers and 38 Dark-bellied Brent Geese. Passerines moving overhead were mainly finches, with two Bramblings, six redpolls, a few Chaffinches, 78 Siskins, 343 Goldfinches and 84 Linnets. Others included two Reed Buntings, 20 Meadow Pipits and five Pied Wagtails. 60 Cormorants included a flock of around 45 and singles of Chiffchaff, Goldcrest and Little Egret were logged. DKC

October 28th 2018

GORING GAP: A ringtail Hen Harrier arriving off the sea and heading NNW was an excellent way to finish today's guided bird walk. Three Knot on the beach were another highlight, along with two Grey Plovers and small numbers of the usual Sanderlings, Dunlin, Ringed Plovers, Turnstones and Oystercatchers. Some wildfowl movement was evident with two Red-breasted Mergansers, 25 Wigeon, two Teal, five Common Scoters, six Shelducks and 15 Dark-bellied Brent Geese. Singles of Brambling, Rock Pipit and Reed Bunting flew over, along with seven Siskins, 94 Goldfinches, seven Meadow Pipits, 50 Chaffinches and 130 Starlings arrived off the sea. A Red-throated Diver flew east and 55 Cormorants were mainly heading west, including a flock of 35; Gannets numbered just 11. A Great Crested Grebe was on the sea and a Pheasant was an usual sighting by The Plantation, which continued to hold the Treecreeper, as well as two Goldcrests and a Song Thrush. Six Linnets and 20 Pied Wagtails were around, as well as a Chiffchaff, four Skylarks, nine Mediterranean Gulls, 15 Common Gulls and a Little Egret. DKC

Hen Harrier over Goring Gap - DKC

October 26th 2018

GORING GAP: Relatively little was moving offshore and overhead this morning but I persisted for a few hours, rewarded for the most part by my first patch Brambling of the autumn as it called twice on its way east. A relatively close fly-by from a flock of three Common Scoters and two Red-breasted Mergansers was another highlight, the mergs breaking off to drop on the sea. 17 Dark-bellied Brent Geese moved west in flocks of nine and eight, but otherwise just 30 Gannets, 11 Common Gulls and nine Mediterranean Gulls were logged offshore. A Rock Pipit and two Reed Buntings flew over, while a redpoll, 13 Siskins, 77 Linnets, 180 Goldfinches, 16 Meadow Pipits and two Skylarks were logged. Some 90 Pied Wagtails were feeding in the churned up fields, a Stonechat was still in the fenced rough and two Goldcrests and a Chiffchaff were in The Plantation but I didn't do much of a walk today. Singles of Buzzard and Sparrowhawk put in appearances and the beach held a Curlew, 12 Ringed Plovers, eight Dunlin, six Sanderlings, 12 Oystercatchers and 11 Little Egrets. DKC

October 25th 2018

GORING GAP: A fairly uneventful day, with a push of 333 Gannets, 65 Common Gulls and seven Common Scoters offshore being the highlights, along with two Reed Buntings, and good numbers of Pied Wagtails in the fields - around 40 - with a Grey Wagtail looking a little out of place picking through the plough with them. 20 Siskins and four redpolls flew over, along with around 100 Goldfinches, 29 Meadow Pipits and 10 Linnets. On the beach were two Grey Plovers, 12 Dunlin, 29 Sanderlings, 10 Ringed Plovers, 63 Turnstones, 12 Oystercatchers seven Little Egrets and a Grey Heron. Just two Mediterranean Gulls were around. Singles of Kestrel and Sparrowhawk were noted, along with three Chiffchaffs, two Stonechats, four Goldcrests and two Jackdaws. I enjoyed spending a few minutes watching two Jays foraging boldly in the open at close range on the disturbed ground in the northwest corner, but it wasn't clear what they were gathering. DKC

Later on 18 Mediterranean Gulls were around including 10 adults, 2 x 2nd winters and 6 x 1st winters, one of the Mediterranean Gulls was ringed (white ring 3 PET) on right leg, a Common Buzzard and 6 Red-breasted Mergansers were on the sea GDM

On This Day - 2012 : Desert Wheatear - Splash Point/Worthing beach, produced this collage to remember this great bird that resided the area for 3 days...hopefully we will get another one soon...NB

October 24th 2018

GORING GAP : 25 Mediterranean Gulls were seen following the plough and a Seal was seen offshore GDM

BOTTLE-NOSED DOLPHINS - A pod of around 6 Bottled-nosed Dolphins were first seen by GDM off Rustington then Ferring and made their way east and tracked off Goring and Worthing beach, they were later seen by NB and daughter off Widewater and were still treking east towards Shoreham

October 23rd 2018

GORING GAP: A couple of season-firsts for me on and over the sea, with four Red-breasted Mergansers and a Red-throated Diver passing. Also moving were two Mute Swans, a Common Scoter, an unidentified auk, 170 Gannets and 14 Common Gulls, while a Great Crested Grebe was close inshore. A Lapwing called from somewhere on the beach before a Carrion Crow betrayed its presence and pushed it off northwest. Three Reed Buntings flew over, along with 46 Meadow Pipits, two Siskins and Grey Wagtail. Two Grey Plovers on the beach were my first of the season for the patch, with 27 Sanderlings (four 1CYs), nine Turnstones, 13 Ringed Plovers and four Dunlin also present. Also noted were two Chiffchaffs, 35 Pied/White Wagtails, 20 Linnets, 10 Skylarks, a Grey Heron and five Mediterranean Gulls. DKC

October 22nd 2018

GORING GAP: See Trektellen. My first visit to the patch since Scilly turned out be spectacular for finch vismig. Stuff was going on as soon as I arrived and I found it hard to precisely count each species as mixed flocks bombed high overhead. In the end I was quite satisfied with my estimates as a fair reflection of what was going on: a spectacular 1,465 Goldfinches, 90 Siskins, five redpolls and 170 Linnets mainly going east. Other movers included a Knot, a Curlew, a Dark-bellied Brent Goose, a Buzzard, a late Swallow, three Rock Pipits, three Reed Buntings, five Skylarks, three Chaffinches, a Grey Wagtail, 33 Pied/White Wagtails (with another 25 in the fields). On the ground were six Chiffchaffs, three Goldcrests and a further 11 Skylarks, as well as the Treecreeper calling in The Plantation. Quite a few Gannets started moving around offshore but I neglected counting them for the finches. 10 Mediterranean Gulls, 14 Common Gulls and two Little Egrets were around, as well as Sanderlings, Ringed Plovers and Turnstones which went uncounted today. DKC

October 20th 2018

GORING GAP : Two Curlews on the grass flew off east early on. A Short-eared Owl was a pleasant surprise, flushing the waders roosting on the beach as it drifted west over the sea. Most action was overhead with many finches flying east. Frustratingly many were quite high, in mixed flocks and not calling but there was a minimum of 531 Goldfinches and 93 Linnets along with a handful of Chaffinches and Siskins. Other birds moving included Skylark 4E, 5S, Yellowhammer 2E, Swallow 1E and over the sea Little Egret 3W, Wigeon 11W, Red-breasted Merganser 1W. 5 more Mergs settled on the sea. In the fields were 70+ Pied Wagtails, 6 Mediterranean Gulls, 1 Stonechat, several Skylarks and Meadow Pipits. On the beach were 35 Sanderlings, 13 Ringed Plovers, 2 Dunlins and a few Turnstones RS

October 18th 2018

GORING GAP : Another fine sunny morning but a brisk breeze made passerine searching difficult but birds were moving overhead and at times difficult to keep up with counts. 5 Stonechat's were together in the rough field area and were fairly mobile and a pair of Reed Bunting dropped in here, and good number of Skylark and Meadow Pipits were in the field as was a mobile flock of 8 Linnet. 2 Chiffchaff were recorded but there was no sign of Tuesday's Yellow-browed Warbler in the plantation, the Treecreeper was still around as was a single Greater-spotted Woodpecker but was otherwise quiet. A quick look at the sea and there was a approx. 200 Gannets feeding offshore although fairly distant, but was a fantastic sight as they plunged into the water (by far the most I have seen here), 8 Brent Geese were also seen moving west, 28 Turnstone were recorded and 4 Oystercatcher flew west along the shoreline, a Little Egret flew inland. Other than a few grounded Goldfinch, Pied Wagtails and Meadow Pipits on the field to the east of the lower plantation, the other birds logged today were the following all moving east NB

Swallow x 3
Siskin x 8
Linnet x 42
Skylark x 22
Meadow Pipit x 36
Goldfinch x 462 (birds were moving all morning so totals were no doubt far higher)
Chaffinch x12
Pied Wagtail x 16

Red Admiral and Speckled Wood butterflies were also recorded on the wing

Speckled Wood sunning itself in the plantation NB

October 16th 2018

GORING GAP : A beautiful autumn morning at the gap, with plenty of sunshine and a very light breeze made it perfect for passerine searching and we were rewarded with a Yellow-browed Warbler found initially by call in the middle plantation, the bird gave fleeting views as it spent most of its time high up in the canopy of sycamores and went silent for long periods. Whilst here, a Firecrest was heard but could not be seen, Goldcrest, Coal Tit, a Treecreeper and a Greater-spotted Woodpecker and 2 Jays showed well and a Siskin dropped in, whilst a single Chiffchaff was heard. The lower plantation had a influx of at least a dozen Chaffinch's that dropped in and were fairly vocal as was a calling Chiffchaff, whilst on the field just to the east of here, a good number of Pied Wagtails c 30, Golfinch c50 and a dozen Meadow Pipits were all feeding up on the dew covered grass, another 10 Goldfinch were seen flying high south and out to sea, whilst a single Swallow flew south east. NB/GJ/GDM

Video recording of the Yellow-browed Warbler calling this morning NB

For any birders wishing to try and see the Yellow-browed Warbler the red pin shows the location where it was at Goring Gap GJ

DURRINGTON : 5 Swallows were seen heading east over Durrington around 3.30pm, a Cormorant thermaled and drifted north and a female Sparrowhawk over

October 15th 2018

GORING GAP : A good movement of finch's east with the highlight being a Brambling over the northern fields flying NW. A single Wheatear was on the beach keeping a good number of Pied Wagtails company. A total of 151 Goldfinch moved through, mainly in groups of around 30 birds all keeping low as they bounded along the beach. 8 Siskin and 10 Linnet were recorded moving east. 6 Chaffinch were in the lower plantation area and 2 Chiffchaff were in the hedgerows that surround the football pitches. A Raven also went over west whilst only 2 Little Egret were on the beach. 15 Skylark were also in the area, many of them still singing NB

October 11th 2018

GORING GAP : Very breezy on patch made birding fairly difficult but a full circuit was made with a few birds around as summer was doing its best to cling on, the fields held most of the birds seen with a c20 Skylarks around, by far my largest count here this autumn, and numerous Meadow Pipits and Pied Wagtails were grounded. A flock of 14 Linnets lingered whilst another 6 flew east, a single Rock Pipit flew towards the beach and a very late Yellow Wagtail flew from the rough field area and towards the beach, a single female Reed Bunting also dropped into the rough field again highlighting the potential of this habitat for birds dropping in. Swallows were still trickling through in small numbers (totalling 17east) with a single House Martin tagging along. The area surrounding the football fields and the plantation found c5 Chiffchaffs and a single male Blackcap whilst a noticeable increase in Goldcrest numbers was evident, a Treecreeper was heard in the middle plantation, whilst 8 Siskins were in the north east corner, 2 continental Blackbird were also also presumably fresh in. A quick look on the beach revealed 5 Little Egret, 8 Sanderling, c20 Ringed Plover, c30 Turnstone and 6 Oystercatchers, gulls were represented with 4 Common Gull, 4 Mediterranean Gulls and 15 Greater-black backed Gulls between the beach and the fields. Still some butterflies on the wing with a single Clouded Yellow in the north fields and Red Admiral and Speckled Wood around in small numbers, the only raptor recorded was a single Sparrowhawk NB/GDM

October 9th 2018

WORTHING : Good movement of Song Thrushes heard throughout the night, a couple of Redwing were also on the move NB

GORING GAP : I did a seawatch from Ferring block this morning from 0805 to 0920 with 
the following logged.

Gannet           35 W     2E
Cormorant     10 W   2 E
Little Egret     3 W
Common Scoter  6 E
Arctic Skua     2 W (@ 0822)
Common Gull    2W
Oystercatcher    15 W - landed on shore
Meadow Pipit 6W
Pied Wagtail  4W
Swallow one E (!)

On the beach at the Gap was a Wheatear, 25 Ringed Plover, 16 Sanderling, 
Turnstone c.50 and 3 Little Egrets CH

October 6th 2018

Movement over GORING GAP this morning included a Rock Pipit, a Reed Bunting, eight Siskins, 53 Chaffinches (a noticeable start-up of these), two Grey Wagtails, 55 Pied/White Wagtails, 32 Linnets, 14 Rooks, two Jackdaws, nine Swallows, 26 House Martins, a northbound Song Thrush and 61 Meadow Pipits. Offshore, three Dark-bellied Brent Geese, two Great Crested Grebes, five Sandwich Terns and 22 Gannets flew past. Five Mediterranean Gulls, an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull (intermedius-type) and four Common Gulls were around. On the beach were 16 Sanderlings, 33 Turnstones, 31 Ringed Plovers and six Little Egrets. The Treecreeper was still calling somewhere in the Plantation. 10 Skylarks, seven Chiffchaffs, a Goldcrest and a Song Thrush were also present, as well as singles of Green and Great Spotted Woodpecker. DKC

A walk along part of FERRING RIFE produced 11 Little Egrets, 32 House Martins, a Grey Wagtail, a Meadow Pipit, a Kestrel, a flyover Pied/White Wagtail, two Swallows, a Chiffchaff, a Goldcrest, a Moorhen and two Common Gulls. A Great Crested Grebe was on the sea. DKC

October 4th 2018

GORING GAP: Trektellen In thick fog, the beach finally hosted a decent wader this morning, with a juvenile Little Stint keeping company with two Dunlin, 32 Sanderlings, 35 Ringed Plovers and 25 Turnstones before being flushed by a metal detectorist. Two Golden Plovers dropped into the rost field. Overhead movement was hindered by the fog but by early afternoon five Rock Pipits - our first of the year - had flock west, while over vismig figures included 70 Meadow Pipits, 18 Pied/White Wagtails and two Rooks. On the ground was a male Stonechat, two Blackcaps, 13 Chiffchaffs, two Goldcrests, 13 Skylarks a Song Thrush, along with 20 Robins. The Treecreeper was heard in the Plantation and a Jackdaw flew over. A Wigeon and eight Teal alighted just off the beach, while offshore three Dark-bellied Brent Geese, 13 Common Scoters, 12 Gannets and 25 Cormorants flew past. 19 Little Egrets, 17 Oystercatchers, a Sandwich Tern, a 2CY Lesser Black-backed Gull and eight Mediterranean Gulls were also logged. DKC/NB/GDM

Little Stint

 

Dark-bellied Brent Geese

2 xGolden Plover - poor record shot taken in the gloom at a fair distance 

October 2nd 2018

GORING GAP: The sea was the busiest it's been since the spring, though that's not saying much. A Bonxie, five Dark-bellied Brent Geese, four Wigeon, a Teal and a Curlew moved west, while 23 Gannets flew past and a Sandwich Tern blogged. The favourable overcast conditions were blighted by overly breezy conditions for much vismig but a Yellow Wagtail, a Reed Bunting, 11 Linnets, 24 Meadow Pipits, 13 Siskins, five Swallows, a Chaffinch, five Swallows and 16 Pied/White Wagtails passed over. 10 Siskins were settled around Ilex Avenue and other grounded migrants were represented by 15 Chiffchaffs, four Blackcaps and small numbers of apparently freshly arrived Blackbirds and Robins. A flock of 13 Greenfinches behaved like a migrant group. A Kestrel was hunting near the pumping station. Four Skylarks were in the fields. On the beach, 13 Little Egrets, 17 Oystercatchers, 22 Ringed Plovers, 18 Turnstones and three Sanderlings were logged on the ebbing tide. A Mediterranean Gull and three Common Gulls were noted. DKC/NB/CH

October 1st 2018

GORING GAP: Visible migration this morning included a Golden Plover, a Reed Bunting, 63 Pied/White Wagtails, 10 Siskins, 10 Linnets, 90 Meadow Pipits, two Grey Wagtails, 13 Swallows and a Rook. Grounded were nine Chiffchaffs, a Wheatear, a Blackcap and a Skylark. Movement offshore was limited to three Sandwich Terns, three Lesser Black-backed Gulls and two Gannets. Also around were two Mediterranean Gulls and 10 Common Gulls. 17 Little Egrets and 19 Oystercatchers were on the beach, along with two Dunlin and modest numbers of Sanderlings, Ringed Plovers and Turnstones. DKC