Would I have seen these? (1 Viewer)

Hi All,

I just spent a long weekend down on the West Sussex coast near Climping and would appreciate a sanity check from any local birders as to whether I might have indeed seen what I thought I saw (e.g. these species are/have been seen in the area at this time of year). I'm a relative beginner to birding so these are by no means rarities or species for anyone other than a beginner to get excited about! I always try and ID birds I haven’t seen before by myself but the views of all of the following were compromised by time or distance so any corroboration appreciated!

Atherington: 8th Aug, 3pm
Common Gull? Yellow bill, yellow legs, black eye, gliding up and down beach like a Herring Gull. Didn’t get good view of wing tips.

Elmer: 11th Aug, 4pm
Sandwich Tern? Single bird, about size of a Black-headed Gull, sitting amongst Oystercatchers on granite breakwater. Partial black cap (white showing on forehead) black bill with light tip

Dunlin & Sanderlings? Mixed group of 40+ birds scrambling over seaweed mounds (along with Turnstones). ‘Dunlins’ about size of Starlings. Very variable though black belly patch is a clincher? ‘Sanderlings’ were very small, not much bigger than a hen chick. Short black straight bill and legs. Retreated from tide then ran back with each wave.

Wheatear? Single bird about size of a Robin. Sat (rather than stood) on a large pebble on the beach. Warm browny-buff all over with faint white supercilium or perhaps eye stripe. Juvenile?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Cheers,

David

All your IDs seem perfectly sound against the description, location, timing etc., although the "Common Gull?" description doesn't rule out lesser black-backed gull, which is equally or more likely.

Graham

Hi David

I often bird that area and I have recently seen all those species you've mentioned at Elmer on 11th August. I do notice that you say Sanderlings are small, and seem to imply that they are smaller than the Dunlins, but the field guides suggest they are about the same size.

As for the Common Gull, I've not seen one down there before but does not mean there are never any there - the place can be overflowing with gulls and it's possible to miss anything that's not a Herring, Black Headed, or the slightly fewer Lesser Black Backed Gulls.

Thanks guys - very much appreciated.

Graham: yes, I had considered LBB Gull though I always think of that as having a similar eye to a Herring Gull (pale and with a discernable pupil and iris) yet this bird definitely had a dark 'beady' eye. I remember thinking that its back was a light grey too, a bit like a Herring Gull. Hmmm, maybe it WAS a Herring Gull after a rough night...

Stoggler: thanks for the local gen. Yes, my whole size comparison thing probably shouldn't be relied upon as I was giddy with the discovery of all these little bits of seaweed 5 metres away actually turning out to be birds. There was just so much variation and all the time I had the nagging feeling that there were probably more than two species in there if I could just focus my concentration and stop hyperventilating! PS. just checked out your blog and chuckled to myself: glad I'm not the only one to excitedly exclaim out loud what I've seen when there's no one around to hear it...

David

David S. said:

Stoggler: thanks for the local gen.

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You're welcome :t:

David S. said:

Yes, my whole size comparison thing probably shouldn't be relied upon as I was giddy with the discovery of all these little bits of seaweed 5 metres away actually turning out to be birds. There was just so much variation and all the time I had the nagging feeling that there were probably more than two species in there if I could just focus my concentration and stop hyperventilating!

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Size is difficult to ascertain, isn't it. Especially at the discovery of something new. Funnily enough, I had the same problem of wondering if there were more than one species in the flocks of waders when I saw the dunlins.

David S. said:

PS. just checked out your blog and chuckled to myself: glad I'm not the only one to excitedly exclaim out loud what I've seen when there's no one around to hear it...

David

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Thank you - I'm glad some people are reading it and enjoying it. I haven't been updating it too much recently, partly as haven't been out birding too much of late. Hopefully that will change soon.

And it's nice to know that other people get as excited as me. It's only a matter of time before someone is around when I shout out what I see!!

Hi David, yep sounds like a regular morning down at Climping, this is my local patch and Common Gull's are often feeding in the fields with good numbers of other Gulls as the fields are plouged.

Good numbers of Sanderling roost up at Elmer on the sea defence rocks then feed up as far as west beach on low tide and are joined by passage waders. Returning Wheatears are often seen around the beach and the setaside fields, at Climping Beach.

Hope you enjoyed your birding down at Climping, we are looseing a lot of habitat, and the local farmer is not that friendly but your local patch is your local patch.