Great Expectations - 5th 11th May

 Seawatching

They say good things come to those that wait, and for Worthing Seawatchers and the two resident Grey Seals off Marine Gardens they waited, and then they waited some more, as cold northerly winds brought skua passage to a grinding halt for much of the week.

Monday 5th May

Two Hobbies seen flying in off the sea and north over the beach and 31 Whimbrel east were the only birds of note between 06:30-08:00.

Thursday 8th May

A good early morning movement of Whimbrel 106e and a tight flock of Red Knot c15e but precious little else.  However on Thursday afternoon the first two Arctic Skuas of the week (one light phase / one dark phase) passed Brougham Road, followed by two more on the next morning from Marine Gardens. 

Friday 8th May

An interesting morning session with Whimbrel (108e 1w), Curlew (2w), Bar-tailed Godwits (3e) in a group with Grey Plover (5e) Common Sandpiper (1e) and two Arctic Skuas chasing Sandwich Terns. Swallows continued to arrive and frustratingly a raptor watched flying in off the sea and away to the north could not be identified.

Then slowly the wind moved round to the south east, and mid afternoon the stars began to align - “Pomarine Skua very close east past MG @15:09”  So close that apparently even the Grey Seals gave a little fist pump, and then two more at 17:05 which were also seen past Widewater 15 minutes later. Suddenly the wait for 2025 was over and for one MG regular a Saturday trip to the land locked West Midlands was no longer such a worry.

Saturday 9th May / Sunday 10th May

Finally the winds were from the fabled south east so would the flood gates open as we moved into the finale of the spring seawatching season. 

There was a bit more variety on Saturday morning with a single female  Eider, Shoveler (3e), Common Scoter (68e) and an early pulse of distant Kittiwakes (45e).  Waders were well represented with Sanderling (20e), Grey Plover (11e), Bar-tailed Godwits (22e) and Whimbrel (20e). 

But what about the Skuas - well a single pale phase Arctic Skua (08:50) and four together (09:05), all relatively close in was a promising start and then……. Disappointment !!  

Sunday was a similar story, a visiting birder recorded Common Scoter (95e), Kittiwake (12e). Grey Plover (40e),Sanderling (42e) but just two Whimbrel. The highlight of the morning being two probable Black-throated Divers. News of a Long-tailed Skua and more Poms further west meant there was more coverage from Marine Gardens in the afternoon and early evening but once again they failed to materialised. 

Despite the anpparently ideal conditions over the weekend it all fizzled out as the promised Poms failed to turn up for their own party. Although there may be a few stragglers next week it feels like this year’s sea watching season is coming to an end.

The Bottle-nosed Dolphins seemed to sense this and put on a superb show  on Saturday morning, coming very close to the shore at high tide to say goodbye. 

The Downs and Inland

Swift numbers increased rapidly this week, with birds being reported from numerous sites around the town and hopefully they will settle down to breed in coming weeks. 

There were very few reports from the Downs this week with summer breeding birds very active. A Reed Warbler on the Downs along Lychpole Bottom was the only migrant news all week.

The next few weeks still hold the chance of a scarce late migrant, such as a Red backed Shrike or even more outrageous a flyover Bee-eater. Watch this space.

POM Alert - “Oh we do like to live by seaside”

The highlight of the Spring Seawatching season is the much anticipated passage of skuas up the English Channel with Pomarine Skua very much the star attraction. The peak time is the last week of April and the first ten days of May ideally combined with south-easterly winds. Then these large majestic birds may be seen powering past our coastline heading for their Arctic breeding grounds.

The more time spent watching the sea the better the chances of seeing this spectacle, though thanks to instant news via WhatsApp groups early warning of birds passing further west can allow Worthing Birders the chance to intercept skuas seen passing Selsey Bill.

This week the winds have been very light north easterly and bright sunshine hasn’t been ideal but after missing the first birds reported moving up the Channel on 26th and 28th, finally the gates opened and although birds didn’t exactly flood through,  those that had the time or could react quickly managed to succeed.

Tuesday 29th April

A magnificent flock of 14 pale phase Pomarine Skuas were tracked from Selsey eastwards and were seen at Rustington, Marine Gardens and then more distantly off Widewater on Tuesday evening. 

Wednesday 30th April

A distant Pomarine Skua was watched passing infront of the wind turbines early morning and then a flock of five birds were tracked from Selsey and were seen passing Goring Gap and Marine Gardens, allowing several birders just enough time to race to the coast to see them.

Thursday 1st May

Three birds passed Selsey very early and were seen about 40 minutes later by those gathered at Marine Gardens passing mid distance.

After that the winds have swung more northerly and for the time being the tap has been turned off. However we are now into the peak time for skua passage and surely there will be more birds moving along our coastline this coming week.

28th April - 4th May Weekly Update

Scarcities

On Monday 28th April a Hoopoe was heard singing from trees at the east end of Goring Gap early morning, but frustratingly had moved east before it could be located, though a member of the public reported a possible sighting about the same time.

A very bleached 2cy Iceland Gull was seen flying east mid distant from Marine Gardens by three observers at 08:40 on Wednesday 30th April.

Seawatching

                                              Bar-tailed Godwits Goring Gap - Ralph Simpson

Most eyes were focussed on the sea this week as the skua season moved into full swing (see Pom Alert post). Although winds were very light and visibility wasn’t always ideal there was a steady trickle of birds heading eastwards past Goring Gap, Marine Gardens and Widewater.

The best days for wader movements were 28-30 April with Bar-tailed Godwits (43e, 22e, 26e), many in brick red summer plumage, and Whimbrel (20e, 88e, 54e) continuing to head for their Arctic breeding territories. Amongst them smaller numbers of summer plumage Grey Plover, Red Knot (max 12e on 30/4),  and Sanderling (max 17e on 1/5) were recorded whilst two Avocet were seen past Widewater on 30/4. 

Arctic Skuas were seen almost daily with three birds seen past Marine Gardens on 28/4 & 29/4 and singles thereafter past Goring Gap or MG, whilst the Great Skua was again seen offshore from Marine Gardens on 29/4 and 30/4. 

Very few duck were recorded with a maximum count of Common Scoter (40e on 30/4) and most Brent Geese have now moved through (1e on 28/4). Single Great Northern Divers were seen on 30/4, 1/5 and 3/5 whilst a probable Red-necked Grebe flew past multiple observers at Marine Gardens on 3/5.

A huge flock of Herring Gulls have been feeding off Marine Gardens all week and an adult Little Gull was seen amongst them twice on 28/4. Tern passage remains very slow with only a handful of Common / Arctic Terns reported during the week.

Spring Migrants / Summer Visitors

                                                 Spotted Flycatcher Cissbury - Lee Manvell 

Spotted Flycatchers finally made their first appearance of the year with a bird found on Cissbury on 29/4 and two more there on 2/5. This is one of the later of our regular summer visitors and is more frequently seen on return passage in August and September. Another visitor usually associated with early May arrivals is Whinchat and a male was reported from Brooklands on 1/5 with another on Cissbury the following day. 

Otherwise in a relatively quiet week two more Ring Ouzels on Cissbury Ring on 28/4 were notable along with increased numbers of Lesser Whitethroats and a singing Garden Warbler on 2/5. A Yellow Wagtail on the lawns of Beach House Park on 30/4 was clearly a new arrival and quickly headed northwards.

Meanwhile Swift reports continued to increase with 29 seen over Durrington on 3/5 and others back in breeding areas around Sompting and East Worthing.

Whilst Red Kites are now commonly seen on the Downs there was a significant  movement of birds on 3/5 with 55 counted heading ENE over Durrington in just over an hour, a snapshot of a wider movement over the Sussex coast.

Other Wildlife

With long hours spent watching the sea, Bottle-nosed Dolphins were seen offshore regularly with family groups of up to 10 individuals present, including young.

Not surprisingly given the warm conditions, many butterflies were on the wing, with an arrival of migratory Painted Ladies on Highdown, Cissbury and also seen arriving over the sea. Common Blues, Grizzled and Dingy Skippers were reported from Patching Hill and Cissbury where 16 species were noted on 2/5, including Wall Brown and Green Hairstreak. 

Adders are much harder to see on warmer days but several were reported from Cissbury this week, whilst Grass Snakes and Slow worms  can often be found on garden compost bins now temperatures are higher.

21st -27th April

Us birders are a difficult lot to please and for most of last week the weather was just too nice.  Clear skies, warm temperatures and very light winds meant few grounded migrants and those seabirds moving up channel were generally a long way offshore. 

By way of an oddity a singing Corn Bunting on the coastal strip at Goring Gap on 21/4 was the first here since August 2021 and our local bird historian notes that there have been very few previous spring or summer records in this potential breeding habitat. 

Summer Arrivals

There was a notable arrival of Lesser Whitethroats this week with their rattling song being heard from deep within the blossoming hawthorn bushes competing with the more numerous scratchy song of Common Whitethroats. Birds were reported from Patching, Highdown, Cissbury, Worthing Golf Course and Lancing on several dates throughout the week.

Garden Warbler is another summer arrival usually associated with late April and bang on cue a newly arrived bird was in full song in tamerisks by Sea Lane Cafe on 25/4, with others also reported from Highdown.

A Hobby flying north over Adur Avenue on 26/4 was another obvious new arrival and this small falcon will soon be feasting on dragonflies and insects on the wetlands of the Arun and Adur. 

Swallows were a feature of seawatching through the week with birds seen daily flying low over the water to complete their long migration routes back to the UK with the biggest daily estimate bring 40+ birds arriving on Saturday 26/4.

By the weekend of 26-27/4 the first few Swifts were seen over Angmering and Highdown and hopefully they will be a feature in the coming weeks screeching over our rooftops.

Spring Migrants

Finally the first local Ring Ouzel was seen on Thursday 24/4 favouring the gorse and short grasses on the north side of Cissbury Ring. 

A female Black Redstart was seen in the cemetery below Lancing Ring on 25/4 and a female Pied Flycatcher was reported in the copse there on the same day (at least 11 days after it was last reported). 

Wheatears continued to trickle in with reports along the coast from several locations and notably two birds were watched flying in and landing briefly infront of the sea watchers at Marine Gardens on 23&25/4. 

Migrating Whimbrel are expected along the coast but six birds flying east along A27 at Angmering and two north over Highdown were taking a more unexpected route.  Finally a Common Sandpiper was seen at Brooklands on 23/4 where a Pintail on the lake was another unusual record.

Seawatching

Notable highlights on Wednesday 23rd April were a single Little Tern and two Eider seen heading west early morning from Marine Gardens. 

The promise of winds from a NE / SE vector raised expectations amongst local seawatchers resulting in good coverage between Goring Gap and Widewater from Thursday 24/4 but in general they proved to be disappointingly light.

The only Arctic Skua was a pale phase bird on 24/4 whilst a Great Skua was seen on 24/4 and 25/4 but may be the same bird hanging around offshore. 

Small numbers of Kittiwakes (max 14e) and Fulmars (max 3e) were seen most days, however tern movement was virtually non existent. Common Tern (3e) and Arctic Tern (1e) were only noted on 26th and the maximum daily Sandwich Tern count didn’t exceed 20 birds.

The best day for wader passage was Saturday 26th April with Bar-tailed Godwits c500e, Whimbrel c80e, Knot 9e and Sanderling 4e with many more distant flocks of probable godwits not counted. 

Three summer plumaged Black-throated Divers went east on 25/4 and the peak count of Common Scoter was 87e on 25/4. The only Brent Geese were 15e on 27/4 whilst four Canada Geese went west on 25/4.

The only upside of the flat glassy calm seas was a pod of Bottle-nosed Dolphins watched feeding distantly for an hour offshore from Marine Gardens on Friday 25th April.

14th - 20th April

By the third week of April you would expect good numbers of returning summer visitors to be establishing breeding territories and passage waders should be moving up the channel. This was pretty much what we got, though the continued dry and sunny weather probably meant northern bound migrants continued over our airspace without stopping.

Brooklands

The old golf course on the western edge of Brooklands held a singing Nightingale on Tuesday 15/4, with three Willow Warblers and two Sedge Warblers also in full song.  A return visit on Thursday 17/4 revealed 7 Reed Warblers singing around the lake. 

The Black Swan remained present throughout.

Cissbury

There was little reported from the Downs, with the only summer visitors being singing Whitethroats though resident breeding species were prominent. A singing Cetti’s Warbler along Lychpole Bottom on 16/4 was a strange record in this habitat so was presumably a migrant bird. 

A Lesser Whitethroat was seen along Monarch Way on Sunday 20 April which I believe is the first local record this Spring.

Lancing Ring

Having not been seen on Sunday 13/4 the female Pied Flycatcher was seen again on Monday 14/4, though it’s always possible it was a new arrival.

Ferring Area

Six Wheatears were present at Ferring Country Centre on Monday 14/4, with three more at Goring Gap and two at West Kingston Farm. A Yellow Wagtail flew over Goring Gap the same day.

Seawatching

Mediterranean Gulls were on the move this week with 40e on Monday 14/4 and 60e early on Friday 18/4.

Easter weekend saw a favourable easterly bias to the winds and good coverage between Goring Gap and Widewater resulting in good numbers of passage waders being recorded along with the first Arctic Skuas of the season.

Good Friday 18/4 -  the highlight of the morning were four Arctic Skuas, two dark and two pale phase birds, first reported from Selsey and then seen flying close to shore past Goring Gap, Marine Gardens and Hove.  All three species of diver were recorded past Marine Gardens with 3 Black-throated, 2 Red-throated and a single Great Northern. 90+ Sandwich Terns and 6 Common/Arctic Terns were noted along with Fulmar 2e, Common Scoter c80e and Brent Geese 19e. The only waders recorded between 06:30-10:00 were six Whimbrel.

Saturday 19/4 - Four more Arctic Skuas headed east with two distant birds together at 09:50. Waders were very much on the move today with decent counts from Ferring, Marine Gardens and Brougham Road, East Worthing, with the first Bar-tailed Godwits of the year. Combined totals between 06:00-11:00 are as follows :

Whimbrel 130e (biggest flock 30), Bar-tailed Godwits c280e (including several flocks c50 birds), Grey Plover 14e, Avocet 6e, Curlew 2e, Dunlin 3e, Ringed Plover 1e and Knot 7e (from Goring Gap).

Gannets were constantly heading east with 300+ and over 100 Sandwich Terns were also on the move. Smaller numbers of  Common / Arctic Terns were also noted with 10 Arctics past Marine Gardens and a further 12+ unidentified birds. 

Sunday 20/4 - Arctic Skuas continued to head east early morning with five birds including one pale phase and a Great Skua appeared from the murk about 08:50 and settled on the sea off Marine Gardens.

Bar-tailed Godwits 60e and Whimbrel 14e were counted with a further 30 birds being too distant to identify. Kittiwake 4e, Fulmar 3e, Common Terns 4e (close enough to be identified to species) and 80+ Sandwich Terns and 100+ Gannets headed east before mist and drizzle stopped play. 

An evening seawatch  from Goring Gap produced another Arctic Skua east and the first Manx Shearwater of the year. 

7th-13th April

Sea watchers were rewarded with the first signs of wader passage, whilst Hoopoe’s aside there was still plenty of birds arriving along the coast at both ends of the Worthing reporting area.  James Grundy’s Pied Flycatchers found at Lancing Ring on Saturday 12 April were the pick of the migrants, which is an excellent Spring record particularly as one was a smart black and white male.

                                               Pied Flycatchers Lancing Ring ( Richard Fairbank)

Seawatching

After a couple a Whimbrel were recorded past Marine Gardens and Goring Gap earlier in the week, south easterly winds on Saturday 12 April saw Whimbrels beginning to move up channel in numbers, with 85 recorded past Marine Gardens. A further 500 Brents and 80 Common Scoter headed east and other notable sightings included a Great Skua past Marine Gardens and 2 Little Terns past Ferring. 

That evening another Little Tern and a single Little Gull were seen at Goring Gap.

Ferring

Efforts to find a Hoopoe in the horse paddocks around Ferring Country Centre failed but did turn up a Wheatear on 8/4 with two present on 11/4, whilst six Sand Martins flew in off the sea on 7/4.

Angmering

The area to the west of Angmering received plenty of coverage this week after Monday’s Hoopoe turning up. Black Redstart (7/4) and  a migrant Short-eared Owl (8/4) was another excellent local record. Black Ditch held a Green Sandpiper and up to six Wheatear on 12/4.

                                                         Short-eared Owl (Adam Huttly)

Kingston

Two Black Redstarts and a White Wagtail were found on 8/4 whilst a little further east two Wheatears were on the beach at West Worthing. 

Cissbury

The Downs slowly stirred into life this week with the scratchy song of  returning Whitethroats emanating from gorse and brambles on the Ring as well as two Wheatears (13/4) and at least four Whitethroats singing along Lychpole Bottom along with a singing Willow Warbler on 13/4. The freshly sown fields held three Grey Partridge and several Brown Hares.

Non avian highlights included a showy Stoat (11/4) and the first report of Grizzled Skipper (13/4).

Brooklands

The Black Swan was present on Brooklands throughout the week.

Lancing

Willow Warblers continued to using a Lancing garden as a refuelling stop with four singing birds on 11/4.

Patcham

The final mention of the review period was a throw back to winter with a Fieldfare on Sunday 13 April being  particularly noteworthy given their absence locally this winter ! 

Hoopoe’s Galore.

                                      Hoopoe in private garden, Rustington (Karen & Mike Galtry)

Early Spring 2025 has seen a huge influx of Hoopoe’s into the south west of Britain with almost 300 birds reported between 27th March and 3rd April. With so many birds in the country it was only a matter of time before they made it to Sussex. The only question was would we be graced with an obliging bird in the Worthing area.

The question was answered in part on Monday 7 April when Colin Jupp found our first Hoopoe of the year west of Angmering. The bird showed well for 10-15 minutes before flying off never to be seen again, much to the angst of other local birders, just before they arrived on the scene.  

This conspicuous exotic looking bird has a habit of turning up in back gardens when they arrive in Britain as overshooting migrants and are often reported by curious members of the public. This is exactly what happened on Friday when another Hoopoe was located by non birders happily feeding on their enclosed back lawn in Parklands Estate in Rustington. This bird was present in the area for most of the day but despite some large suitable patches of lawn in public areas, it spent most of it’s time hidden in private gardens and was only seen by a few lucky individuals.  

Further frustration for local birders came with two more garden Hoopoes  reported by non-birders with another photographed in a Lancing garden on Sunday 13 April and a second report from gardens near George V Avenue, Goring. 

Four birds in a week and none of them easily accessible reflects the frustration of our hobby and we can only hope a more obliging individual is found before the end of Spring.