Wednesday 7th October - Beachy Head and Ashdown Forest

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 Taking advantage of a good weather forecast, Jenny, Tim, Sue and I arranged to meet at Beachy Head at 8.30 a.m. to look for possible ring ouzel and the recently reported Lapland bunting.

It was rather windy and cold when we arrived and as Sue had stopped off on the way at nearby Shooters Bottom and already found a ring ouzel, we decided to go back there to see if we could see one.

Luckily after a short while we could hear the sound of a ring ouzel in the bushes and so waited patiently for the bird to move into view.  When it did emerge it settled quite a long way away but remained there long enough for some long range photos.  It was not the classic black and white male which would have been more impressive but at least it was a ring ouzel.

Next we returned to Beachy Head where the Lapland bunting had been reported again that morning and we wandered around in the blustery wind looking for the bird.  We then encountered the person who had reported seeing it earlier and he told us where it had last been seen before it had flown off.  After more fruitless searching we noticed a small group of people who had obviously found the bird and we joined them and waited for it to appear as it walked around in the long grass.  Eventually it moved into view and we could take some photos.

We then moved on to Seaford where we walked down through the scrub to the cliffs where I was able to add rock pipit to my year list as it had somehow managed to elude me so far this year. We had our lunch down by the river at Cuckmere where we didn't see much of note except for a kingfisher before we walked back to the car park at around 2 p.m.

We all set off for home but I decided to stop off at Ashdown Forest as it was on the way and I had heard reports of several Dartford warblers there recently.  I am pleased to say that the trip was worthwhile as I was able to see a Dartford warbler and also stumbled across a small flock of crossbills which I have never seen before. It was a perfect end to the day.

crossbill
crossbill
Dartford warbler
Lapland bunting
Lapland bunting
ring ouzel













 

Comments

Jen Holter said…
Great photos of the crossbills. Your detour to Ashdown Forest was obviously worthwhile
13 October 2020 at 13:38
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