Beach Reserve

Plenty around this morning and good calm conditions also, roosting waders on Flat Beach and Ternery Pool included 560 Oystercatcher, 450 Golden Plover, 900 Lapwing, 75 Dunlin, 36 Ringed Plover and 170 Curlew were on the new saltmarsh area. Sanderling made up the bulk of waders roosting along Shore Ridges with at least 120 birds, 10 Grey Plover and 8 Knot were also present and it just shows how things can change on a daily/weekly basis. The calm sea conditions made a bit of sea watching easier it was very quite with the odd Red-throated Diver passing by, but finding three Slavoinian Grebes out from the Old Lifeboat House made the effort worthwhile.

Mussels along the Rother

Take a walk along the banks of the River Rother and the shells of swan mussels are obvious, scattered at intervals along the bank, as in this photo taken on Rother Level.

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Bittern excavations

Large numbers of wildfowl on the Bittern Excavations yesterday, hard to get exact figures with so many birds in a small area but at least 160 Gadwall, 250 Teal, 90 Shoveler, 200 Wigeon, 6 Pintail and 300 Mallard had gathered. The highlight yesterday though was a ringtail Hen Harrier in flight over the fields at the northern end of the main pit, these raptors are a rare sight at Rye Harbour these days so always good to see. Also of note yesterday 6 Goldeneye and the Spotted Redshank were on Harbour Farm pools.

Misty morning in Hastings Country Park

A walk from Fairlight to Hastings yesterday [Jan 5] looked pretty unpromising; with thick mist and light drizzle I rarely lifted my binoculars.

However, it was mission accomplished, with a Dartford Warbler calling at Firehills, my first winter record here - this follows a good summer and autumn for these with up to  4 regularly recorded.

Rye Harbour shore/ridges

Great to see more waders here again today feeding along the shore and roosting along shore ridges, 180 Knot, 61 Grey Plover, 250 Dunlin and 45 Sanderling. The Lapwing roost at Ternery Pool also increased to at least 1200 birds.