30/12/19 Firecrest trumps my target bird Caspian Gull on the Lower Cuckmere

30/12/2019
Lower Cuckmere, East Sussex

I observed the gull roost  in the Lower Cuckmere this afternoon, looking for the Caspian gulls that Matt Eade had reported last week and before.  However the event was eclipsed by a magnificent firecrest that showed up unexpectedly right at the start of my visit. 
I parked at the top of Seaford Head and walked down to the Cuckmere, via the cottages, to take in my favourite view of the Seven Sisters on this superb winters afternoon. 

Seven Sisters on a glorious December afternoon

 

 



As I passed through the gate to join the start of the west path towards the A259 I stumbled across a tiny bird in the scrub less than 5 metres away.  Initially thinking it had to be a wren, I quickly picked up on the bright crest, white supercilium and the black eye stripe and realised it was a firecrest.  This was the last place I would expect to find this species but who am I to complain about the presence of this lovely bird?

What a superb surprise!

 

 

 The gull roost was challenging for me but I am confident that I saw several Caspian gulls among the much more predominant flock of great black-backed gulls.  Ideally I would liked to have seen them at closer range and perhaps got a digiscope image to show colleagues for verification.

A very informative session but I really need to do a lot more gull watching - and get digiscoping!