Very quiet at Climping this morning with more people than birds, c.150 Brent Geese on the sea at Climping Beach, Stonechat around Atherington and a Common Sandpiper on the River.

Onto Marsh Farm and good numbers of mixed flocks of Finches, c.120 Redwing, 10 Gadwall, 6 Teal, 2 Chiffchaff, 2 Meadow Pipit, 6 Buzzard and singles of Kestrel, Reed Bunting, and Lapwing.

Climping this morning with a large flock of Brent Geese in the Cudlow field north of the beach and good numbers of waders at West Beach.

Brent Geese - c.330
Grey Plover - 95
Sanderling - c.120
Oystercatcher - 16
Little Egret - 1
Redwing - 1
Song Thrush - 2
Skylark - 19
Meadow Pipit - 5
Pied Wagtail - 7
Stonechat - 2
Goldcrest - 2
Buzzard - 2
Med Gull - 33

Brent Geese Cudlow Field

Tamerisk under threat at Climping Beach

Grey Wagtail Marsh Farm

Having neglected this area for a while, had a quick look around Black Ditch this morning. Plenty of Goldfinch around with good numbers of Song Thrush.
Firecrest - 1
Goldcrest - 2
Chiffchaff - 1
Stonechat - 2
Great-spotted Woodpecker - 2
Kingfisher - 1
Little Grebe - 1
Song Thrush - 20
Redwing - 12
Buzzard - 1
Sparrowhawk - 2
Cormorant - 5

A couple of hours around Marsh Farm this morning, with a good variety present.
Firecrest - 1
Chiffchaff -2
Goldcrest - 4
Fieldfare - 40
Redwing - 33
Song Thrush - 18
Mistle Thrush - 2
Yellowhammer - 8
Bullfinch - 2
Goldfinch - 75
Chaffinch - 35
Greenfinch - 15
Meadow Pipit - 55
Pied Wagtail - 5
Jay - 3
Teal - 50
Gadwall - 19
Tufted Duck - 1
Snipe - 4
Buzzard - 1
Sparrowhawk - 1
Kestrel - 1
Lapwing - 20
Little Egret - 1
Cormorant - 3
Mute Swan - 2

Chiffchaff

A bright sunny day but unfortunately feeding on scraps in the area.

Chiffchaff - 1
Bullfinch - 2
Goldcrest - 5
Stonechat - 3
Song Thrush - 8
Mistle Thrush - 1
Meadow Pipit - 9
Skylark - 19
Pied Wagtail - 9
Greenfinch - 13
Goldfinch - 17
Green Woodpecker - 3
Great-spotted Woodpecker - 1
Curlew - 27
Grey Plover - 40
Ringed Plover - 1
Oystercatcher - 10
Turnstone - 17
Redshank - 1
Little Egret - 1
Med Gull - 70
Common Gull - 55
Buzzard - 4

Med Gull

Turnstone

Pied Wagtail

A brief visit to the patch, covering West Beach and the back of the Golf Course produced.

Grey Plover - 110

Ringed Plover - 6

Sanderling - 126

Turnstone - 120

Chiffchaff - 1

Goldcrest - 1

Greenfinch - 50

Goldfinch - 20

A brief visit the patch this morning in very grey conditions producing very little.

Red-throated Diver - 2e
Gannet - 2e
Red-breasted Merganser - 1e 2w
Brent Geese - 5e
Med Gull - 70
Grey Plover - 79
Ringed Plover - 19
Turnstone - 25
Little Egret - 1
Buzzard - 1
Meadow Pipit - 11
Pied Wagtail - 9
Song Thrush - 1
Stonechat - 2
Goldcrest - 4

A bright sunny morning around the golf course with 2 Firecrest in First Wood and 2 Bullfinch at Longwood, plenty of Skylark still in the fields and a party of Brent Geese close inshore off West Beach.

Firecrest - 2
Goldcrest - 1
Bullfinch - 2
Reed Bunting - 1
Linnet - 8
Stonechat - 3
Skylark - 50
Meadow Pipit - 11
Pied Wagtail - 17
Song Thrush - 5
Great-spotted Woodpecker - 1
Jay - 1
Grey Partridge - 2
Buzzard - 4
Kestrel - 2
Curlew - 19
Redshank - 1
Brent Geese - 120
Med Gull - 45

Female Bullfinch

Buzzard 

Kestrel Mill

Very quiet yesterday mid morning with Crow scarers erected now in the fields resulting in no Brent Geese. A couple of summer plumaged Bar-tailed Godwit, with 27 Grey Plover and 35 Ringed Plover, 2 Little Egret and a Buzzard. Elsewhere 5 Grey Heron, 2 Great-spotted Woodpecker, small numbers of Meadow Pipit, Goldcrest and a Bullfinch in First Wood.

Slim pickings at Climping Saturday 24th, with 5-6 Red-throated Diver, 20+ Red-breasted Merganser, 15+ Great-crested Grebe and a Rock Pipit.

A brisk grey morning with again good numbers of Brent Geese in the fields, also Golden Plover and Lapwing in the fields north of Poole Place.

Brent Geese - c.500 in fields & 51e
Red-throated Diver - 1w
Red-breasted Merganser - 17
Common Scoter - 8 os
Great-crested Grebe - 7
Sanderling - 35
Oystercatcher - 6
Turnstone - 5w
Grey Plover - 1
Golden Plover 54
Lapwing - 150
Buzzard - 2
Kestrel - 1
Green Woodpecker - 1
Goldcrest - 6
Mistle Thrush - 1
Stonechat - 2
Siskin - 1
Linnet - 56e
Pied Wagtail - 9
Skylark - 13
Med Gull - 125

Out and about around Climping from late morning, with a Firecrest and Blackcap around Kents Cottages. c.450 Brent Geese in the field west of the Mill along with 38 Grey Plover and  24 Curlew off Climping beach. 3 Bullfinch in Longwood with a Goldcrest. 100 Med Gull still in the area with several 13 Pied Wagtail, 4 Buzzard, 3 Grey Heron and a Little Egret.

No sign of the Great Egret late afternoon but 60 Lapwing roosting in the field west of the mill with 3 Little Egret,  also 3 Fieldfare,  6 Grey Heron,  2 Buzzard, 30 Skylark, and singles of Meadow Pipit, Sparrowhawk, and Grey Wagtail.


A report of a Great Egret in fields behind first wood, but not seen when checked later. Good coverage of the patch this morning with combined totals below.

Firecrest - 4
Goldcrest - 16
Cetti's Warbler - 1
Bullfinch - 2
Fieldfare - 1
Redwing - 2
Reed Bunting - 2
Skylark - 29
Meadow Pipit - 5
Linnet - 7
Stonechat - 4
Grey Wagtail - 1
Pied Wagtail - 11
Kingfisher - 3
Common Sandpiper - 1
Redshank - 2
Curlew - 11
Oystercatcher - 2
Grey Plover - 11
Buzzard - 2
Kestrel - 1
Little Egret - 1
Brent Geese - 4
Med Gull - 100

Med Gull

Brent Geese

Stonechat

A damp grey morning at the patch with very little moving offshore, and the biggest flock of Brent seen in the fields this winter.

Red-throated Diver - 1os
Diver sp - 3w
Common Scoter - 2 os
Brent Geese - 7w 7e 60 in fields
Med Gull - c.100
Gannet - 1e
Great-crested Grebe - 5
Razorbill - 1
Curlew - 13
Grey Plover - 3
Dunlin - 1
Sanderling - 5
Grey Wagtail - 1
Pied Wagtail - 9
Skylark - 7
Meadow Pipit - 11
Song Thrush - 1
Stonechat - 2
Buzzard - 2
Kestrel - 1
Sparrowhawk - 1

Brent Geese

With it being very quiet offshore this morning another check on the fields ensued, with good numbers of Skylark still present in the field east of Kents Cottages.

Curlew - 27
Grey Plover - 33
Ringed Plover - 45
Oystercatcher - 2
Med Gull - 130
Skylark - 75+ 
Linnet - 17
Meadow Pipit - 9
Pied Wagtail - 1
Stonechat - 2
Goldcrest - 30
Buzzard - 4
Mistle Thrush - 2
Stock Dove - 2
Little Egret - 3

Med Gull

Grey Plover west of Mill Cottage

Curlew Climping Beach

Little Egret

An afternoon visit to Climping produced singles of Firecrest, Coal Tit, Blackcap, Grey Wagtail and Sparrowhawk, with still good numbers of Goldcrest present with about 40 seen around the Atherington and the hotel grounds. 9 Golden Plover flew east over Longwood, and several Med Gull still in the fields along with 3 Buzzard.

Firecrest Bailiffscourt

Coal Tit

Goldcrest Bailiffscourt

With a bright sunny start to the morning I spent the morning around Marsh Farm, although nothing much happening.

Jay - 8
Buzzard - 2
Sparrowhawk - 1
Kestrel - 2
Chiffchaff - 2
Cetti's Warbler - 2
Goldcrest - 10
Yellowhammer - 5
Treecreeper - 1
Teal - 7
Wigeon - 11
Gadwall - 5
Little Egret - 1
Song Thrush - 12
Fieldfare - 19
Redwing - 25
Sisklin - 4
Meadow Pipit - 5
Pied Wagtail - 3
Bullfinch - 5
Great-spotted Woodpecker - 2

Fieldfare & Redwing

Two visits to the patch today with this afternoon proving more productive than this morning, with good numbers of Goldcrest around Atherington Pools late afternoon with at least 30 birds present and 2 Firecrest, and 14 Curlew in the fields west of Bailiffscourt. This morning very quiet offshore with just a couple of Great-crested Grebe and Red-breasted Merganser. c.100 Med Gull moving west and in the fields, also 35 Ringed Plover, 19 Grey Plover, singles of Grey Wagtail, Kestrel and Little Egret, 40 Linnet, 2 Stonechat and 3 Buzzard.

Goldcrest present in large numbers

Kestrel Mill

Grey Plover

Stock Dove

Quite a bit of activity this morning with loads of Skylark in the fields, and two Firecrest western end of Longwood, combined totals below.

Buzzard- 7

Sparrowhawk - 2

Kestrel - 2

Grey Heron - 1

Little Egret - 6

Great-crested Grebe - 4

Gannet - 10w

Oystercatcher - 4

Curlew - 14

Grey Plover - 10

Ringed  Plover - 16

Turnstone - 10

Sanderling - 8

Redshank - 2

Med Gull - 30

Grey Partridge - 2

Great-spotted Woodpecker - 3

Green Woodpecker - 1

Skylark - 200

Meadow Pipit - 30

Mistle Thrush - 2

Song Thrush - 4

Jay - 3

Siskin - 4

Redpoll - 2

Stonechat - 6

Pied Wagtail - 10

Grey Wagtail - 2

Goldcrest - 25

Firecrest - 2

Chiffchaff - 4

Blackcap - 1

Cetti's Warbler - 1

Bullfinch - 3

Reed Bunting - 2

A single Firecrest around Atherington Pools this morning with a noticeable number of Goldcrest.

Firecrest - 1
Goldcrest - 13
Chiffchaff - 2
Grey Wagtail - 1
Pied Wagtail - 7
Stonechat - 2
Skylark - 17
Meadow Pipit - 25
Goldfinch - 160
Linnet - 15
Redpoll - 4
Siskin - 3
Song Thrush - 3
Grey Plover - 11
Sanderling - 15
Oystercatcher - 4
Curlew - 1
Little Egret - 1
Great-crested Grebe - 3
Med Gull - 23
Kestrel - 1
Buzzard - 2

Very busy offshore for an hour from 07:15 with hundreds of Gannets feeding and moving off west, other than that very quiet.

Gannets - c.200 
Kittiwake - 12e
Med Gull - 40
Red-throated Diver - 1os
Guillemot - 1e 1os
Auk sp - 6w
Great-crested Grebe - 4
Red-breasted Merganser - 1e
Brent Geese - 2w 1 in field
Curlew - 6
Grey Plover - 9
Oystercatcher - 9e + 5 fields
Rock Pipit - 1
Meadow Pipit - 20
Skylark - 17
Linnet - 20
Grey Wagtail - 1
Pied Wagtail - 10
Buzzard - 1
Kingfisher - 1
Common Sandpiper - 1

Finches present in good numbers at the back of the Golf course this morning.

Chiffchaff - 2
Goldcrest - 6
Blackcap - 1
Siskin - 7
Linnet - 40
Greenfinch - 50
Goldfinch - 70
Skylark - 85
Meadow Pipit - 100
Stonechat - 3
Reed Bunting - 1
Mistle Thrush - 1
Song Thrush - 5
Fieldfare - 1
Grey Wagtail - 2
Pied Wagtail - 15
Buzzard - 3
Kestrel - 1
Great-spotted Woodpecker - 2
Little Egret - 3
Curlew - 3
Grey Plover - 5
Great-crested Grebe - 27
Med Gull - 30
Clouded Yellow - 2

Grey Wagtail Atherington Pools

Curlew in field west of Mill

Stonechat Atherington

Two Clouded Yellow

Highlight of my morning was a Little Grebe on the golf course, good number of Blackbird around the hawthorn, unfortuanely no Ring Ouzel, and very quiet around West Beach.

Little Egret - 5
Grey Heron - 7
Little Grebe - 1 
Grey Partridge - 10
Grey Plover - 9
Great-spotted Woodpecker - 2
Chiffchaff - 2
Goldcrest - 5
Bullfinch - 2
Song Thrush - 3
Fieldfare - 1
Siskin - 5
Skylark - 17
Meadow Pipit - 7
Pied Wagtail - 3
Swallow - 3
Stonechat - 1
Buzzard - 3
Kestrel - 1
Great-crested Grebe - 2

Grey Partridge back of golf course

Fieldfare railway carriages

Little Egret

A cold brisk sunny morning that produced again very little, with most of the activity occurring around the horse paddock and fields west of the golf course.

Buzzard - 4
Kestrel - 2
Chiffchaff - 3
Goldcrest - 3
Siskin - 11
Reed Bunting - 1
Skylark - 27
Meadow Pipit - 13
Grey Wagtail - 1
Pied Wagtail - 17
Song Thrush - 5
Mistle Thrush - 2
Stonechat - 2
Grey Plover - 11
Lapwing - 5
Curlew - 13
Little Egret - 3
Stock Dove - 5
Great-crested Grebe - 3
Med Gull - 65
Clouded Yellow - 2

Another uneventful couple of hours in the patch although number of thrushes on the increase with 4 Redwing, 2 Fieldfare and 4 Song Thrush seen around the horse paddock. Finches continue on the move with mixed flocks of Siskin, Redpoll, Goldfinch and Linnet and still plenty of Pied Wagtail moving overhead. In and around the bushes with 5 Chiffchaff, 2 Reed Bunting and 2 Stonechat, and the fields with 4 Curlew, 2 Lapwing, 3 Buzzard and c.350 Med Gull. Offshore there were 19 Great-crested Grebe.

Received a report of a Cattle Egret seen just outside the Climping area from the Train wednesday morning at TQ 013043. Apparently with a herd of whitish cows but not seen on the return journey in the afternoon. May be worth a walk up river from the Tesco roundabout. 

Another fine morning after a cold brisk start to the day.

Grey Wagtail - 1
Pied Wagtail - 33
Skylark - 80
Meadow Pipit - c.100
Siskin - 25
Redpoll - 12
Chiffchaff - 9
Goldcrest - 3
Blackcap - 5
Reed Bunting - 8
Stonechat - 2
Buzzard - 3
Sparrowhawk - 1
Great-crested Grebe - 7
Brent Geese - 2
Med Gull - 250

Blackcap Atherington

Stonechat

Plenty of Meadow Pipits around west beach

An new bird for the Climping Patch list today in the form of a Cattle Egret that flew over the golf course and continued east of the river until lost to view(RG). Fewer birds on the move compared with yesterday, a couple of late Warblers in the form of Garden Warbler and Lesser Whitethroat.

Cattle Egret - 1
Little Egret - 5
Redpoll - 23
Siskin - 105
Goldfinch - c.500
Linnet - 27
Reed Bunting - 2
Meadow Pipit - 25
Grey Wagtail - 2
Pied Wagtail - 65
House Martin 5
Swallow - 2
Redwing - 2
Song Thrush - 3
Blackcap - 3
Chiffchaff - 20
Goldcrest - 3
Garden Warbler -1
Lesser Whitethroat - 1
Coal Tit - 1
Stonechat - 4
Gannet - 3w
Med Gull - 200
Great-crested Grebe - 2
Golden Plover - 1
Lapwing - 1
Curlew - 10
Oystercatcher - 5
Redshank - 1
Buzzard - 3
Sparrowhawk - 1
Kestrel - 1
Green Woodpecker - 2
Jay - 3

Lesser Whitethroat Atherington

Grey Partridge Ferry Rd from 19th