20th March 2018

GORING GAP
We have been searching hard for Slavonian Grebe on the sea so it was a delight to finally clock one distantly offshore this morning. 54 Red-breasted Mergansers, 32 Great Crested Grebes and a Kittiwake were also offshore  and nine Sandwich Terns were around. Seven Mediterranean Gulls (including single 2CY and 3CY) were in the fields. A new male Wheatear flew along the beach and while the northern fields continued to host the previous bird. Waders included eight Oystercatchers, 20 Turnstones, a Ringed Plover, four Dunlin, nine Grey Plovers and 22 Sanderlings. Two Meadow Pipits, four Skylarks,  a Redwing, a Buzzard and a Sparrowhawk were also logged.

2CY Mediterranean Gull - Photo NB

 

Sandwich Terns DKC

 

2CY Buzzard DKC

Mediterranean Gulls (3CY and 2 adults) with Black-headed Gulls and Herring Gull DKC

FERRING RIFE
A walk along the rife today produced 2 Little Egrets, a single Reed Bunting and 3 flyover Golden Plovers. GJ
per SOS page: Firecrest on east side of Ferring Rife flitting about in bushes and a ditch which backs onto houses about 200m South of the footbridge. Steve Lee

1 of the 2 Little Egrets at Ferring Rife this morning. Photo by GJ

WORTHING A Firecrest was in a private garden on Boundary Road DKC

19th March 2018

GORING GAP
The highlight once again today was the reappearance of the 1w Iceland Gull it was picked up in the roost at 12.30pm by GJ. The news was put out yet again and the bird attracted a steady stream of local birders and was still present at 2.20pm. 
Please follow @worthingbirding on twitter for updates and tag us with any of your sightings

1w Iceland Gull at Goring Gap today (19/03/18) by GJ

Video clip of the Iceland Gull at Goring today NB

Also at the gap today a single male Wheatear was on the north fields and upto 4 Sandwich Terns were seen and on ocassions joining the gull roost. 31 Grey Plover and small numbers of Sanderling and Dunlin were still around. 1 Stonechat was in the rough field and a Mistle Thrush and Redwing were near the middle plantation. Mediterranean Gulls were still around but were mainly offshore today on the sea NB

 Spring arrivals in the snow - Wheatear and Sandwich Terns sheltering in the bracing conditions today! photos NB

FERRING RIFE

20 Golden Plovers in the fields west of the rife this morning at 09.57am towards Kingston Gorse. Later a Red Kite drifted North over the rife at 11.35am. Mid-afternoon the numbers of Golden Plover had increased to c60 whilst there were 2 Little Egrets in the horse paddocks at the Northern end of the rife and a Sparrowhawk which flew over the the fields to the West before perching in an elder bush near the ruins of the old farm building. A Common Buzzard was also seen drifting North over the same fields and a Kestrel was hunting. Late afternoon 20 Golden Plovers flew over the Rife. A Snipe was seen. CH/GJ/BDJ/DKC

Record shot of Golden Plovers in fields to West of Ferring Rife today (19/03/18) by GJ

BROOKLANDS PLEASURE PARK
The single Avocet was still present this morning at the Southern end of the lake until 10.20am when it flew out to sea. It is thought that this is the first record of Avocet at Brooklands Pleasure Park so somewhat of a site Mega! There was also 9 Teal and a Grey Wagtail on site, please note that there is currently a lot of disturbance on site due to re-construction of the lake so early morning visits are advised especially on weekdays . NB/SS


WORTHING A single Chiffchaff was calling in Ashacre Way - Worthing this afternoon NB

18th March 2018

GORING GAP
The highlight today was the reappearance of the 1w Iceland Gull after a 4 day absence. It was picked up by NB at 15.30pm. The bird hung around for around 30 minutes before heading back out to sea, a very similar performance to when it first showed up last Wednesday (14/03). A single Northern Wheatear was also seen on the concrete blocks in the Northern fields around the same time as the Iceland Gull. NB/GJ

Record shot of 1w Iceland Gull by GJ

A few other reports included a Sandwich Tern amongst 50+ Common Gulls, whist out at sea there were 4 Gannets, 1 Great Crested Grebe and a single Red-breasted Merganser. Later around high tide there were 3 Sandwich Terns, 3 Mediterranean Gulls amongst c700 Common Gulls in the Eastern field. Waders in the Western field were a Bar-tailed Godwit, 18 Grey Plovers and 3 Golden Plovers. Mid-afternoon the Sandwich Terns had increased to 14 and there were 3 Ringed Plover and 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls. RI/GJ/PJ/RS


BROOKLANDS PLEASURE PARK
A single Avocet and 3 Dunlin were present at 15.30pm. BDJ/PJ 


PATCHING
A single Red Kite over the A27 by the Red Fox pub at 07.42am PJ/GJ

17th March 2018

WORTHING BEACH

A short seawatch between 08.00-08.15am produced a Black-throated Diver E, 2 Common Scoter were offshore along with 6 Red-breasted Mergansers and 10 Great Crested Grebes. RI

15th March 2018

GORING: Combined totals from two short and relatively slow seawatches off George V Avenue included 26 Red-throated Divers, three Shelducks, three Sandwich Terns, two Shovelers, 14 Common Scoters, two Dark-bellied Brent Geese, a Curlew, 32 Red-breasted Mergansers, seven Gannets, seven Kittiwakes, three Mediterranean Gulls (including a 3CY), a Lesser Black-backed Gull and two Great Crested Grebes. Small numbers of waders around included 22 Sanderlings and - particularly unusually - six Oystercatchers in the roost field, along with a handful of Grey Plover, Dunlin and Ringed Plover. A Buzzard was seen. A Small Tortoiseshell was on the wing. DKC/GJ

Oystercatchers (DKC)

FERRING RIFE hosted our first spring migrant Chiffchaff of the year as it sang from a blossom tree. A Red Kite and four Buzzards soared to the north and other birds noted included two Mallards, two Pheasants, a Little Egret, a Water Rail, four Moorhens, two Green Woodpeckers, a Great Spotted Woodpecker, an adult Mediterranean Gull, a Goldcrest (few and far between of late), two Meadow Pipits and a female Reed Bunting. Singles of Small Tortoiseshell and Brimstone were flying. DKC/GJ

Buzzard (DKC)

Small Tortoiseshell (DKC)

14th March 2018

GORING GAP: A fruitful seawatch from George V Avenue produced an immature Iceland Gull, a flock of six Avocets, two Sandwich Terns, a Shelduck, two Pintails, 44 Common Scoters, 13 Shovelers, four Teal, 279 Dark-bellied Brent Geese, 15 Red-breasted Mergansers, 30 Great Crested Grebes, two Fulmars, 12 Kittiwakes, three Curlews and 18 Red-throated Divers. Presumably the same Iceland Gull - ageable as a juvenile - was then in the roost field early afternoon, where it was joined by another two Sandwich Terns. Seven Mediterranean Gulls in the fields included a 2CY and a 3CY. The high tide wader roosted didn't materialise but 21 Sanderlings were logged. A Mistle Thrush was in the Plantation and 12 Meadow Pipits and three Skylarks were noted. DKC/GJ/NB/GDM

2CY Iceland Gull

2CY Iceland Gull

13th March

Ferring - St.Andrew's Church

A phonecall this afternoon from CH announcing he had found a stunning male Black Redstart in the churchyard of St.Andrews church. The bird performed well in the afternoon sunshine and was heard calling on several occassions. Please stick to paths if visiting the churchard which is open to the public NB/GJ - phots NB

Goring Gap

A beautiful spring morning at the gap, with the temperature kept in check with a chilly north-westerly. It was with little surprise there was not a lot moving offshore. Good number of Great Crested Grebes remained whilst small number of Red-breasted Mergansers were getting flighty with 6 west and 4 east, but the surprise was a stunning drake Goosander that made its way west very close inshore just after 9am. Only 1 Red-throated Diver was logged east but I soon gave up to concentrate on the land.
Mediterranean Gulls were still about in number including a 2nd winter and 1st winter  bird. Common Gulls were more numerous today too and just the 1 Lesser-black-backed Gull.
Only 1 Grey Plover resided the fields at high tide.
The land produced a drumming Great-spotted Woodpecker in the plantation, the biggest surprise was 2 Mistle Thrushes feeding on the middle plantations edge with a Song Thrush and a single Redwing. 3 Stonechats were in their usual haunts and Greenfinch's were very active today with at least 10 birds in the area with 1 pair displaying by the pump house, encouraging considering how their numbers have crashed in recent years. 2 Sparrowhawk were observed to the north of the gap and Skylark numbers were upto 12 in the surrounding fields NB

Mistle Thrush, Redwing, Stonechat and Greenfinch all at Goring Gap this morning (photo's NB)

At 12.20pm in the gull roost there were 38 Black-headed Gulls, 16 Herring Gulls, 19 Common Gulls and 3 Mediterranean Gulls (1 adult and 2x2w). Also a pair of Stonechats were along the hard standing track towards the pumping station. Later at 17.40pm there were c500 Common Gulls roosting in the most western field aswell as 2 adult Mediterranean Gulls. GJ

Central Worthing

News has reached us of a Black Redstart that has been residing a garden in central Worthing for at least 2 months. Thanks to Dawn and Jim for letting us use their photo for the blog and wish for the exact location to be witheld. The observers suspect that there is another bird around. This ties in with a recent sighting and report from Worthing Hospital.

Black Redstart - Central Worthing - Dawn and Jim

Patching Pond:

A quick stop at 11.20am produced 4 Tufted Duck, 2 Mallard, 2 Coot and 1 Great Crested Grebe. GJ