Climping Gap: A slightly delayed start after a Dr's appointment, so I decided to concentrate just on the Kent's farm/old campsite area this morning - and I was soon glad that I did - for I was rewarded with a fairly late Ring Ouzel in a hedge along the track to the campsite. It called several times before breaking cover, but didn't stay too long and easily evaded my camera!

Two Swallows flew east and I also logged four Chiffchaffs and two Goldcrests in the bushes, whilst other species included two Stonechats, 40+ Skylarks, half a dozen Meadow Pipits, four Greenfinch, two Reed Buntings and three Yellowhammers. 

 

2 Raven's flew east over Poole Place yesterday Tuesday 29/10/24 (OM)

 3 Hawfinch flew over the field north of camp site towards ferry road late morning, also 3 Firecrest and 30+ Goldcrest around Kents. (DB)

Late morning start, not expecting too much, and wasn't disappointed

Firecrest - 2 Kents

Goldcrest - 19

Chiffchaff - 5

Blackcap - 1

Skylark - 30+

Meadow Pipit - c75

Linnet - 50

Sparrowhawk - 1

Kestrel - 2

Gannet - 1e

Med Gull - c100

Oystercatcher - 18

Ringed Plover - 1

Sanderling - 1

Turnstone - 14e

Little Egret - 7

A bright sunny morning with good coverage but little reward, combined totals below.

Jack Snipe - 1

Firecrest - 2 Bailiffs

Blackcap - 1

Chiffchaff - 6

Cetti's Warbler - 1 heard

Goldcrest - 17

Stonechat - 10

Rock Pipit - 1

Meadow Pipit - c125

Linnet - c100

Skylark - 30

Reed Bunting - 6

Yellowhammer - 3

Goldfinch - c160

Linnet - 120

Swallow - 19

House Martin - 2

Kestrel - 2

Sparrowhawk - 1

Med Gull - 30

Today's bird count from (AH)

Loads of Chiffs about but nothing with them that I could find.

Lots of Blackbirds moving through, especially around Kents.

Water rail in rife in Paddock

Kingfisher in rife at first Set-aside

Black-headed Gull

C30 Blackbird 

1Blackcap f/ near campsite

 Blue Tit

1Buzzard

Carrion Crow

1 Cetti's Warbler

2 Chaffinch

c25 Chiffchaff 

3 Common Gull

3 Curlew

Dunnock

1 Firecrest

1 Goldcrest (Longwood)

C40 Goldfinch

2 Great Spotted Woodpecker 

Great Tit

1 Green Woodpecker

1 Greenfinch

 Herring Gull

1 Jay

1 Kingfisher (rife first setaside)

c50Linnet 

4 Little Egret

Magpie

Meadow Pipit

Mediterranean Gull

c10Pied/White Wagtail

5 Reed Bunting

Robin 

Rook

Skylark

3 Song Thrush 

2 Stock Dove 

13 Stonechat 

c20 Swallow

1 Water Rail ( rife near paddock)

 Wren

Out after the rain, starting my walk from the back of the golf course, covering Kents & Firstwood and still no YBW in the area. 

Dartford Warbler - 1

Chiffchaff - 9

Goldcrest - 6

Cetti's Warbler - 3 

Rock Pipit - 2

Wheatear - 1

Yellowhammer - 1

Stonechat - 10

Reed Bunting - 11

Siskin - 2

Linnet - c175

Skylark - 35

Meadow Pipit - 40

Pied Wagtail - 25

Snipe - 1

Curlew - 1

Kestrel - 1

Sparrowhawk - 1

Buzzard - 1

Firecrest - 1 Kents (AH)

Strong bright sunshine after a brief period of mist from the east.

Firecrest - 2 Kents

Goldcrest - 7 

Wheatear - 1

Coal Tit - 1 Kents

Chiffchaff - 17

Blackcap - 2

Stonechat - 8

Reed Bunting - 5

Skylark - 35

Meadow Pipit - c50

Pied Wagtail - 1

Song Thrush - 9

Kingfisher - 1

Snipe - 1

Wigeon - 1

Curlew - 1

Probably my last Wheatear of the year, unless very lucky

Stonechat

Reed Bunting

Still plenty of Chiffchaff in the area

No sign of yesterday's Pallas's Warbler, but nevertheless good coverage and variety in bright windless conditions.

Marsh Harrier - 1 west over the hotel

Merlin - 1 camp site

Buzzard - 1

Sparrowhawk - 1

Raven - 1

Kestrel - 2

Firecrest - 2 Kents

Goldcrest - 3

Grey Wagtail - 2

Pied Wagtail - 7

Stonechat - 5

Cetti's Warbler - 1 hrd campsite

Blackcap - 5

Chiffchaff - 10

Coal Tit - 1 Kents

Reed Bunting - 9

Redpoll - 2 hrd

Song Thrush -11

Skylark - c50

Meadow Pipit - c75

Linnet - c60

Golden Plover - 1 

Marsh Harrier

Coal Tit 

Firecrest

 A Pallas's Warbler heard & seen in the small wood behind the Tennis court in Bailiffscourt late morning, calling and seen high in the sycamore at 11:45, before becoming elusive but continued to call. Seen again at 14:03 with the local Tit flock but moved off east. Also 2-3 Firecrest in the wood.

Around the golf course today with a Kingfisher near the 13th Fairway, 2 Water Rail heard, also 2

Cetti's Warbler, still good numbers of Chiffchaff and Skylark in the area, also Reed Bunting & Green Woodpecker. ( PK)

A quick walk on Monday 14th from Rope walk up to the Mill produced (RP)

Water Rail - 1 

Kingfisher - 1

Grey Heron - 1

Firecrest - 2

Chiffchaff - 4

Blackcap - 2

A Dartford Warbler north of the golf course at the old railway carriage site this morning. (MB)

Records from (CN)

Firecrest - 2 kents

Goldcrest - 2

Blackcap - 1

Song Thrush - 2

House Martin - 2e

Swallow - 2e

Red Kite - 1 

Little Egret - 4

Grey Heron -1

Stonechat - 3

Reed Bunting - 5

Yellowhammer - 4

Sparrowhawk - 1

Kestrel - 3

Great -spotted Woodpecker - 1

Green Woodpecker - 1

Chiffchaff - 20+

Skylark- nc

Meadow Pipit - nc

Firecrest Kents (CN)

Many hours in the field and good coverage, but still no YBW for me.

Firecrest - 1 Kents

Goldcrest - 6

Chiffchaff - 45+

Cetti's Warbler - 1 heard horse paddock

Blackcap - 16

Brambling - 1 heard

Siskin - 9

Stonechat - 15

Grey Wagtail - 1

Pied Wagtail - 20

Reed Bunting - 6

Yellowhammer - 2

Skylark - 36

Linnet - c100

Goldfinch - c150

Greenfinch - 12

Chaffinch - 5

Meadow Pipits - 17

Mistle Thrush - 1

Song Thrush - 1

Sparrowhgawk - 1

Kestrel - 2

Buzzard - 1

Great-spotted Wood pecker - 2

Green Woodpecker - 4

Little Egret - 1

Stonechat

Grey Wagtail

Chiffchaff

Blackcap

I did a walk around the course yesterday…the highlight was a great view of a Winchat(just left of 13th fairway)…otherwise huge amounts of Stonechats and especially Linnets. Hardly any swallows compared to Sunday when there were hundreds. I guess the migration is in full swing. A member did see a Kingfisher on the 15th so good to know they have returned as I hadn’t seen one there in a while. (PK) 

Climping Gap - Atherington area: Once the rain had eased it was actually quite mild, as the wind dropped away, so it looked promising for passerine migrants. I spent most of the time 'bush-bashing' this morning but could only locate the commoner species once again. There was a fair bit of 'vis mig' going on overhead too and my log for the morning was as follows: (OM)

Little Egret - 4

Swallow - 30, mainly E

Meadow Pipit - plenty in fields and some overhead, no count

Skylark – 20                    

Rock Pipit - 1

Pied Wagtail - 15

Song Thrush - 2

Blackcap - 5

Chiffchaff - 15

Goldcrest - 4

Linnet - 20

Greenfinch - 2

Reed Bunting – 1

This is a list of all birds seen from the start of the golf course footpath at Rope Walk until the end of it at the mill. Roughly the order in which they were seen! (RP)

Feral pigeon 14

Wood pigeon 350+

Starling 5

House sparrow 4

Collared dove 4

Robin 18

Magpie 12

Wren 8

Swallow 18

Black headed gull 25+

Great black backed gull 1

Jackdaw 80+

Great spotted woodpecker 2

Green woodpecker 1

Greenfinch 6

Carrion crow 45+

Stock dove 6

Dunnock 6

Blue tit 8

Great tit 5

Blackcap 15

Chiffchaff 5

Firecrest 1

Spotted flycatcher 1

Herring gull 70+

Goldfinch 40

Linnet 125+

Water rail 2 heard

Cetti’s warbler 1 heard

Cormorant 3

Stonechat 2

Blackbird 9

Very windy today so no big surprise that it was fairly quite around the patch with the Merlin still knocking around at the bottom of Long wood, 2 Kingfisher Atherington Pools & First wood, a Water Rail heard from the latter site. 5 Grey, 4 Yellow and 30+ Pied Wagtail, 23 Chiffchaff, 2 Blackcap, 8 Stonechat and a Rock Pipit being the best of the rest.

Grey Wagtail Bailiffscourt

Chiffchaff

 A Water Rail in the rife at the Camp site (AH) and a Merlin seen at the top of Longwood (MB) were the only sightings of note today.

Hirundine continue moving east in good numbers and good numbers of Robin & stonechat in the area. (RG)

Red Kite - 1

Rock Pipit - 2

Stonechat - 27

Robin - 30

Swallow - 600+

House Martin - 200+

Chiffchaff - 25

Wheatear - 1

Around Poole Place (OM)

1 Firecrest at the old camp site. (MB)

Goldcrest - 4 

Grey Wagtail - 1e

Blackcap - 2

Chiffchaff - 10

Blackbird - 12  together

Good coverage today around the patch with combined totals resulting in at least 4 Firecrest, 80+ Chiffchaff, 15 Stonechat, 2 Reed Warbler, Whitethroat, 70 Pied Wagtail, 3 Yellow Wagtail, 10 Reed Bunting with lots of Swallow & House Martin moving through east. (RG, CN, OM)

 With Finches on the move early and hundreds of Meadow Pipits in the fields the day looked promising, but eventually just fizzled out when the sun broke through. Swallow and House Martin continue to trickle through in less numbers, 22 Chiffchaff, 3 Blackcap, 5 Rock Pipit, in the setaside10 Stonechat, and a Kingfisher again at Atherington.

Rock Pipit

Late news from yesterday with a Pied Flycatcher in elm's at Littlehampton cemetery on the east side. (CJ)

A couple of visit's to the different areas of the patch didn't result in anything special with 2 Firecrest being the highlight, at First wood & Bailiffscourt. 

 Good coverage today with little reward, but saw thousand of House Martin streaming through west with hundreds of Swallow, the Merlin still hunting around the campsite, and noticeable increase in numbers of Magpie, Jay and Robins.

House Martin c1000+

Swallow c650

Sand Martin - 1

Merlin - 1

Buzzard - 6

Kestrel - 3 or 4

Grey Wagtail - 1

Yellow Wagtail - 1

Pied Wagtail - 5

Wheatear - 3

Meadow Pipit - 65

Skylark - 19

Reed Bunting - 8

Yellowhammer - 6

Stonechat - 15

Chiffchaff - 35

Blackcap - 3

Cetti's Warbler - 2

Siskin - 2

Linnet - 60

Jay - 9

Med Gull - 45

Gannet - 6w 2e

Merlin in the field bottom of Longwood