Mediterranean Gulls including 2 juvenilles and 1 adult NB
Turnstone - Goring beach - superb in this plumage NB
August 21st 2018
GORING GAP : - Arrived at first light and was still beaten by the early dog walkers and plane flyers! Very overcast to start but mild with no breeze at all! Good number of Black-headed Gull headed inland from the beach, some settling in the nearby fields (204 counted). A Whinchat quickly gave itself up in the rough field at the south end of the gap but remained fairly elusive, as I approached the south-east corner the sound of a calling Yellow Wagtail had me looking to the skies and soon picked up a single bird heading SE. Then another single call initially threw me, my initial reaction was Ortolan Bunting...then it called again, I then picked the bird out in the gloom as it flew fairly low towards me calling a third time and continued east, calling once more before dissapearing over the plantation. I searched the area hoping it pitched down somewhere to no avail. I played some calls back just to confirm my initial hunch and reminding myself I was in Goring and not Cyprus where I used to see these reguarly on their migration. News was put out in the hope there maybe birders further east. A record will be submitted as it will, as far as I am aware be the first record for the gap. I managed to cover the entire circuit around the gap, grounded migrants included Common Whitethroat, Blackcap and Willow Warblers all mainly in the nw corner. A single Swift was seen over the northern end heading sw as was a single Swallow. As I returned to the car 7 more Yellow Wagtails went over east. Other gulls included 3 Mediterranean Gulls and 6 Common Gulls. Wader numbers have increased yet again with 71 Turnstone between the beach and fields, 24 Ringed Plover, 5 Sanderling and 2 Dunlin. NB
