Monday 4 July 2016

4th July, 2016 Beachy Head Sunny and clear becoming cloudy and humid. WSW 1 increasing to 3

A fine early morning and we covered Birling lane and scrub opposite, Shooters Bottom, Old Trapping Area, Hotel Garden, Icky Ridge, Cliff Path, Belle Tout wood and Hodcombe. A surprise were 2 Common Redstarts with a juvenile at Birling lane and a summer plumage adult male in the scrub opposite. A party of 10 Sand Martins flew over my head and headed S directly out to sea until lost to sight, and RHC had an adult Willow Warbler in Hodcombe.
More butterflies were seen today, although numbers still seemed to be on the low side.

Little Egret 2
Sand Martin 10 S out to sea
Swallow 20 (chiefly young birds hatched at Hodcombe)
Pied Wagtail 3
Common Redstart 2 (1 juv and 1 ad s/p male)
Stonechat 12 (of which 10 were adult males)
Song Thrush 3
Lesser Whitethroat 1 at Shooters Bottom
Common Whitethroat 30 (2 were still singing)
Blackcap 1 singing
Willow Warbler 1 Hodcombe
Chiffchaff 1
Raven 1
Starling 100+ top fields
Goldfinch c30+
Linnet c40

Speckled Wood 3
Small Tortoiseshell 1
Large Skipper 1
Small Skipper 3
Small White 2
Marbled White 8
Gatekeeper 5
Meadow Brown 15

Late News: Hummingbird Hawk Moth been present in Hodcombe for several days, Nightingale calling in Whitbread Hollow on the 26 June and a Black Redstart for 7 days in Hodcombe at the end of June.

Marbled White at Belle Tout