22/03/2016 Newhaven Tide Mills and Splash Point, Seaford

Tuesday 22 March 2016
Newhaven Tidemills and Splash Point, Seaford
Paul and Group



Glorious weather today - dry and sunny with no wind.  All 6 of us were quietly confident about finding our first Wheatear of 2016.

• We got off to a good start when we spotted Brent Geese flying east over the harbour and soon afterwards we found the long staying Spotted Redshank among the Redshanks in the lagoon.

• There was no sign of the Black Redstart but we did see several Stonechats.

• Incredibly we did not find any Purple Sandpipers on the east pier but we did manage some smashing views of the Fulmars flying round the cliffs on the west side.

• The Kittiwakes at Splash Point were their usual selves, noisy and busy, preparing their nests on the cliff.

• Another sure sign of spring was provided by the singing Skylarks.

Despite our best efforts, we did not find our target bird.  It looks like the Wheatears are running almost 2 weeks behind schedule in their spring migration this year.  

Today's species list:

Trip Species List
Blackbird Black-headed Gull Blue Tit Brent Goose Buzzard Carrion Crow Chiffchaff Collared Dove Common Gull Cormorant Dunnock Dunlin Feral Pigeon Fulmar Great Black-backed Gull Great Tit Herring Gull Kestrel Kittiwake Lesser Black-backed Gull	Magpie Meadow Pipit Redshank Robin Rock Pipit Song Thrush Spotted Redshank Skylark Stonechat Woodpigeon Wren (31)