December 31st 2018

GORING GAP: The sea was busy at Goring Gap this morning, a fitting way to finish the year. Some 90 Red-breasted Mergansers and 85 Great Crested Grebes were feeding, while seven Razorbills, two Wigeon and three Teal paused offshore. 23 Red-throated Divers included a few feeding birds. Eight Kittiwakes, 222 auks (mostly Razorbills but all very distant), four Gannets and three Dark-bellied Brent Geese flew past. On the beach were 76 Sanderlings, 20 Turnstones, 35 Grey Plovers, 10 Oystercatchers and upwards of 150 Dunlin. 128 Common Gulls and 21 Mediterranean Gulls were counted, as were 10 Skylarks. DKC

December 29th 2018

CISSBURY RING: A morning ringing with Val and Mya featured two retrapped Firecrests among a reasonably varied catch which put us at 1,003 captures at the site this year. Sightings while ringing included a Reed Bunting, two Ravens, a singing Mistle Thrush, a Fieldfare, 60 Redwings, a Meadow Pipit, four Bullfinches, 10 Goldcrests, four Buzzards and several Red-legged Partridges. DKC

Firecrests DKC

December 28th 2018

GORING GAP : 16ad, 1 2ndw Med Gulls on field, 10 Red-throated Diver, 45 Red-breasted Mergansers, 96 Great-Crested Grebes on sea GDM

Hoping all our regular blog viewers had a fantastic Christmas, below is some photographs by GDM of some of the gaps specialities seen in December, first up the elusive Snow Bunting found by DKC followed by a Skylark, which has been a good winter for this species. There was also 3 records of 1st winter Caspian Gulls in the gull roost including a yellow-ringed individual with the consensus that this bird was rung in Germany (awaiting details). Thanks to GDM for the photos

December 21st 2018

GORING GAP: A lazy vigil from the car turned up a surprise in the form of a Bonxie tracking low east along the beach, though the sea was otherwise quiet, with just two Red-breasted Mergansers, a Red-throated Diver and two Gannets. The wader roost continues in strange fashion, with 38 Grey Plovers, three Sanderlings and 25 Dunlin using the field prior to high tide but moving off before it came. The waterlogged fields attracted a good number of gulls - I didn't get a chance to count accurately but something in the region of 500 Common Gulls were loafing, though only two were 1CYs. Nine Mediterranean Gulls - seven adults and two 2CYs were present, though nothing else of note. Some 70 Pied Wagtails were feeding, along with three Meadow Pipits and just three Skylarks. DKC/GJ

December 20th 2018

FERRING : A belated report of a Short-eared Owl that was photographed in a garden in Ferring Close on the 4th December. Thanks to Ray Buttifant for allowing us to use this excellent capture and to Clive Hope for sharing this info..

December 13th 2018

GORING GAP : A 1st winter Caspian Gull was found in the gull roost by GDM and was sporting a yellow ring. A boc photo below. More pics to follow and hopefully a reading of the code so we can report the sighting to the ringing scheme. 3 Lesser black backed Gulls were also in the roost, a adult Mediterranean Gull was feeding on the green opposite Alinora Avenue . The Caspian Gull was last seen flying off east and despite checking nearby sites, could not be relocated. GDM also found and photographed another 1st winter Caspian Gull the day before. This constitutes the 4th Caspian Gull record for the year and probably the number one site in West Sussex for this species to be found currently NB/GJ/GDM

December 9th 2018

GORING GAP: The Snow Bunting was still present this morning after going missing since the first sighting by DKC a few days ago. Initially flushed off the road this morning and then I enjoyed good views on the road verges for a few minutes before flying over the rough field towards the beach. GJ

December 6th 2018

GORING GAP: I gave the migration watch an hour this morning, coming up with only five Red-breasted Mergansers, three Red-throated Divers and two Gannets. With work to do, I almost called it a day and headed home but I'm glad I did a short loop of the fields as I stumbled upon a Snow Bunting on the central road near the beach. Fortunately it didn't flush straight away but when the next car came along it did fly over to the beach, where I saw it pitch down and fully expected to easily relocate it. However, as I put the news out - with Clive, Garry, Gareth and Nick arriving within minutes - it must have given me the slip as none of us could find it anywhere, despite scouring the beach and fields for a couple of hours. On examining my photographs it seems to be a 1CY female. Also noted were 211 Common Gulls (a significant increase), seven adult Mediterranean Gulls, the female Stonechat, three Meadow Pipits, 26 Skylarks, two Goldcrests, a Sparrowhawk and five Pied Wagtails. It was again a strange day for waders, with no high tide roost to speak of and only Turnstones and an Oystercatcher seen along the beach either side of the high tide. DKC

1CY female Snow Bunting DKC

December 3rd 2018

GORING GAP: An hour from George V Avenue first thing produced three Red-breasted Mergansers, a Red-throated Diver, two Gannets, two Great Crested Grebes, two 2CY Mediterranean Gulls, three Common Gulls and two Meadow Pipits. A few flocks of Dunlin moved on the tide. DKC

December 2nd 2018

GORING GAP: A quiet seawatch at the Gap featured a Shelduck, a Great Crested Grebe, six Gannets, 14 Common Gulls and five Red-breasted Mergansers. The usual waders present included 60 Dunlin and 17 Grey Plovers but a bonus Golden Plover was in the roost field. A Grey Heron flew east and four adult Mediterranean Gulls and a Meadow Pipit were also noted. DKC