01/12/2016 East Head, Snowhill and Medmerry

Thursday 1 December 2016
West Sussex Coast

On a glorious sunny day 10 of us joined Paul for a visit to the south coast near Chichester. Temperatures were well below freezing early on but, with no wind and clear skies, it felt much warmer.

• Brent geese were present in huge numbers all day and provided the perfect backdrop to our visit..

East Head a.m.

There were so many things to enjoy early on as we took advantage of the low tide to walk along the sands, away from the numerous dog walkers.

• At least 9 sanderling immediately caught our eye at the water's edge.
• Eiders are not common on the south coast so we were delighted to find a juvenile drake showing well close in.
• The birds just kept coming; soon we saw a slavonian grebe, a couple of great northern divers, a black-throated diver, a couple of common scoters, up to 10 red-breasted mergansers and a superb kingfisher feeding in the bay as we rounded the corner.
• Highlight of the day however had to be the snow bunting we encountered near the sand dunes.  It was so obliging, even when disturbed by the dog walkers, and we spent a good 30 minutes or so enjoying close views.
• We even had a close mediterranean gull join us right at the end of our lunch.  It was on a post just a few metres from us before it decided to give us a display of it's flying skills.

Snowhill p.m.

After a lovely lunch, seated by the bay so as  to take full advantage of the outstanding sea views, we headed off the short distance to Snowhill Marshes where there were lots of birds to be seen.

• Pick of the bunch was a couple of knot, showing well on one of the distant pools
• A striking greenshank made it's way around the pool.
• There were quite a few snipe showing with at least 2 on the exposed grassy area adjacent to the footpath.

Medmerry p.m.

A long walk to the sea at Medmerry in the late afternoon sunshine was very enjoyable.

• We saw our first raptors here - a kestrel and a marsh harrier.
• On a personal level, I was delighted and surprised when we saw a scaup on one of the distant pools to the east.

Over 60 species seen today and some superb scenery.

Addition to BUBO 2016 UK Bird List:

Scaup   (259)

It doesn't get much better than this in December!