Saturday 11 August 2018

11th August, 2018 Beachy Head. Fine sunny and warm. Wind very light

A beautiful calm morning. We visited Shooters Bottom, Toilet block bushes, Hotel Garden and Icky Ridge, The Old Trapping Area and Birling lane. RE was ringing and watching in Whitbread Hollow.
A reasonable fall of common migrants, but virtually no diurnal migration was seen. Shooters Bottom was very active for the first 30 minutes but then the area became fairly quiet and probably most of the migrants had moved on, and very few migrants were seen at the other Headland sites. In Whitbread Hollow the 5 Grasshopper Warblers were all trapped just after dawn.
Combined Totals
Red-legged Partridge 6
Green Woodpecker 1 juv. Headland
Sand Martin 1
Swallow 8
Nightingale 1 Hollow
Stonechat 5
Wheatear 1
Song Thrush 7
Grass-hopper Warbler 5 Hollow
Sedge Warbler 3 (2 Headland and 1 Hollow)
Reed Warbler 16 (9 Headland and 7 Hollow)
Lesser Whitethroat 7 Headland
Common Whitethroat 56 (36 Headland and 20 Hollow)
Garden Warbler 4 Hollow
Blackcap 10 (4 Headland and 6 Hollow)
Willow Warbler 44 (24 Headland and 20 Hollow)
Jay 1
Raven 6
Starling 50
Goldfinch 40
Bullfinch 1 Hollow
Corn Bunting 6

                                                                                   
Song Thrush in Shooters Bottom

Sedge Warbler appeared to be feeding on the ripe 
elderberry berries in Shooters Bottom

Looks like he has been enjoying the ripe berries


16 Reed Warblers were logged today


Our best day this year for Lesser Whitethroats.