30/11/2016 Desert Wheatear Normans Bay, nr Bexhill, East Sussex

Wednesday 30 November 2016
Normans Bay, East Sussex


I responded to a message on my pager and headed down to the south coast to twitch the desert wheatear.  This vagrant, first spotted here on Cooden Beach on Monday, gave a superb display in the bright morning light - much to the delight of the assembled photographers!

Desert Wheatear
Courtesy of Alastair Gray

• The desert wheatear occurs across North Africa, through the Middle East and Arabian Peninsula, and into Asia, as far east as China. 

• It is also sometimes recorded outside of its normal range, in parts of Europe. 

• This species is migratory, with populations generally moving southwards in winter.

Addition to BUBO 2016 UK Bird List:
desert wheatear   (258) 

             A most enjoyable twitch!