03/10/2015 East Grinstead RSPB Outing to Beachy Head

East Grinstead RSPB Group

October Outing to Beachy Head

On a fine, sunny, day 10 members ventured down to the south coast at Beachy Head. The itinerary included a visit to the bird-ringing station at Whitbread Hollow prior to a walk down to Cow Gap.  We then relocated to Birling Gap for a walk out to Horseshoe Plantation before finishing off with a quick visit to the mature gardens at the top of Birling Lane.

 

·         Bob Edgar and his team gave us an excellent insight into the workings of the ringing station and we were then privileged to witness several birds being ringed, weighed, sexed and measured before being released.  Pick of the bunch had to be the lovely Goldcrests - weighing just 4 grams.

 

 

 

 

·  Blackcaps dominated the scene at Whitbread Hollow with at least 10 seen as we walked from the ringing station down to Cow Gap.  There were also good numbers of Chiffchaff, Stonechat and Song Thrush.  Perhaps the rarest bird seen was the Lesser Whitethroat on the way down to the ringing station.

 

 

·         Throughout the trip we were accompanied by large numbers of Swallows and House Martins flying around us as we went on our way. 

 

 

·         At Horseshoe Plantation a superb female Whinchat had to be the bird of the day.  We had excellent views of it as it flitted from bush to bush.  Surprisingly we only saw one Wheatear flying by as we returned to the car park from the hill top – perhaps the large number of walkers had caused them to move.

 

·         There was not too much action by the sea with only Herons, Little Egrets, Redshanks, Cormorants, Great Black-backed Gulls and Oystercatchers on view.

 

·         Larger birds seen included a Raven, a Buzzard, several Kestrels and a couple of Sparrowhawks.

 

 

·         Try as we did, we were unable to find any Yellow-browed Warblers despite at least 2 reports of them being seen earlier in the day at the top of Birling Lane.

 

A great day out, in gorgeous weather, with at least 40 birds seen.  The early (08.00) start, to take in the bird ringing, did not deter anyone and everyone seemed to gain something from the experience.

 

Today’s Species List:

Black-headed Gull

Blackbird

Blackcap

Blue Tit

Bullfinch

Carrion Crow

Chaffinch

Chiffchaff

Cormorant

Dunnock

Goldcrest

Goldfinch

Great Spotted Woodpecker

Great Tit

Green Woodpecker

Grey Heron

Herring Gull

House Martin

House Sparrow

Jackdaw

Jay

Kestrel

Lesser Whitethroat

Linnet

Little Egret

Magpie

Meadow Pipit

Oystercatcher

Pheasant

Raven

Redshank

Robin

Rook

Song Thrush

Sparrowhawk

Stonechat

Swallow

Wheatear

Whinchat

Whitethroat

Woodpigeon

Wren

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