Looks like you've got your work cut out for you trying to see a Quail in that field ! Best of luck.
Was even harder trying to spot Groppers!
What a great day in many respects!
Having recruited my friend again to drive me back down to Hastings to visit the RSPCA rehab centre, we left at 8pm in a car packed with towels, sheets and catfood (for the hedgehogs) that were in urgent demand. 'My' abandoned and rather stubborn Herring Gull chick that I took down a few weeks ago (full story here)
http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=117893 was due to be released along with 18 other fledged juveniles at low tide on Pett Level and I was only too happy to help the one officer doing the release. I dumped off all the donated items in the store room and had another look round the centre. The Kestrel with a badly injured wing now pinned, was recovering slowly but looking extremly calm and well fed - whether or not he will be released or find a permenant home in an educational care centre is still debatable. Two seals were in, along with many more Herring Gulls, passerines, etc in recovery. There were only two members of staff on, so my friend and I left them to deal with a basket of woodpigeon nestlings that a cat owner had brought in while I was there. We headed down to Pannel Valley and Pett Pool for some birding with the arrangement to meet up a few hours later and some species of note.
Pannel Valley - a walk (very slow for me!) with various warblers in abundance, the most vocal being
Groppers, on passage and everywhere it seemed!
Bullfinch singing and
Turtle Doves purring from the trees, brief views of one flying into them. Yaffling
Green Woopeckers, several
Kestrel in the vicinity and a
Cetti's blast from somewhere deeply hidden! A skinny fox cub walking tentatively across the meadow in the morning sunshine. I didn't reach main hides but from the first,
Ringed and
Little Ringed Plover with a few juveys poking around and a distant lone
Greylag in the field yonder. Walking back to the car, I spotted 3 chats flitting around on the path a long way ahead - closer look revealed they were juvenile/female
Whinchats - also on passage presumably and very nice too.
Pett Level Pool - heading down to meet the RSPCA van at the seafront, there was time for a good scan on the Pool - I immediately picked up the rear view of a wading male
Ruff, petticoats flouncing around in the breeze, he turned and revealed nice black belly moulting into winter plumage (good bird for Sussex and presumably also on passage). Many
Black Tailed Godwits,
Lapwing,
Avocet,
Redshank,
Dunlin,
Ringed and
Little Ringed Plover with juveniles. One cryptic
Snipe. My eye caught a flash of yellow as a Y
ellow Wag took off from the mudflats, then later flew back with a melodious chirp overhead. At the water's edge feeding close to the reeds, a few
Dunlin, black bellies now not so black and one single
Curlew Sand also with remnants of summer red.
The rehab centre warden doing the release arrived and I recruited my friend to help with carrying the boxes down to the beach as well as to take a few pics which he found somewhat bemusing. 'Mine' was in a box on it's own so I could keep an eye on it as I let it out - unfortunately, I think my mate missed the photo opportunity of it walking out the box but it's in the pic somewhere hopefully and I have the ring number for future reference. The juveniles walked out eyeing the new surroundings. Immediately a few adults circled in which will help the juvey's to 'follow the food'! They plodded around, stretched their wings and slowly made their way to the tideline and joined several other adults. A pleasure to watch - live long and prosper -
GC Grebe noted on the sea amongst a feeding flock of gulls and several
Cormorants - At every turn,
Terns - mostly Common and a few Sarnies.
Later in the afternoon, we headed to Castle Water but by this time I was literally on my last legs so it was a slow plod which ended in my friend having to go and fetch the car, drive down a 'private' track and pick me up! Plenty of
Sand Martin etc around though,
Green Sands,
Common Sands,
Greenshank calling and at the end of the afternoon, an
Arctic Skua doing an aerial battle with a Tern over a fish.
All in all over 80 species seen with a couple of year ticks thrown in.