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Sue and I visited the Kittiwake colony at Seaford today. I estimated that around 400 Kittiwakes were present on the cliffs with many more loafing on, and flying over, the sea.
The viewing jetty.
Nesting Kittiwakes.
A couple of Fulmars were also cruising along the cliff top and a Rock Pipit was in song-flight, eventually landing amongst the seaweed-strewn rocks.
Kittiwake.
With a stiff north-east wind blowing today, and it being low tide, there was nothing to be seen passing on the sea.
We then decided to give Birling Gap a try.
Birling Gap.
Belle Tout wood on the left and Belle Tout lighthouse in the distance.
Being exposed to the wind, birding was difficult, to say the least and our efforts were only rewarded with a dozen or so Linnets, two Common Whitethroats, a Cuckoo who seemed to like the Belle Tout wood area and appeared in flight on three occasions during our visit, and a Jackdaw that took a liking to Sue’s sandwiches.
The viewing jetty.
Nesting Kittiwakes.
A couple of Fulmars were also cruising along the cliff top and a Rock Pipit was in song-flight, eventually landing amongst the seaweed-strewn rocks.
Kittiwake.
With a stiff north-east wind blowing today, and it being low tide, there was nothing to be seen passing on the sea.
We then decided to give Birling Gap a try.
Birling Gap.
Belle Tout wood on the left and Belle Tout lighthouse in the distance.
Being exposed to the wind, birding was difficult, to say the least and our efforts were only rewarded with a dozen or so Linnets, two Common Whitethroats, a Cuckoo who seemed to like the Belle Tout wood area and appeared in flight on three occasions during our visit, and a Jackdaw that took a liking to Sue’s sandwiches.
Jackdaw (with part of Sue's sandwich).
A Stoat shot down a rabbit burrow a few feet in front of us but, despite staking out the area for about an hour and making the occasional squeaking noise to imitate an injured rabbit by kissing the back of my hand (thanks for the tip Richard), the Stoat failed to reappear. Obviously, it had found and escape route via the labyrinth of tunnels that must exist there.
I hadn’t previously tried the macro facility on my Samsung camera but the shots I got of a Six-spotted Burnet moth, a tiny sprig of Wild Thyme and a Wild Strawberry were all fairly reasonable.
On the way back home, Sue managed a shot of Seven Sisters Country Park in the Cuckmere Valley from the car.
Seven Sisters Country Park.
Not a classic day's birding but still an enjoyable day out.
Graham
A Stoat shot down a rabbit burrow a few feet in front of us but, despite staking out the area for about an hour and making the occasional squeaking noise to imitate an injured rabbit by kissing the back of my hand (thanks for the tip Richard), the Stoat failed to reappear. Obviously, it had found and escape route via the labyrinth of tunnels that must exist there.
I hadn’t previously tried the macro facility on my Samsung camera but the shots I got of a Six-spotted Burnet moth, a tiny sprig of Wild Thyme and a Wild Strawberry were all fairly reasonable.
On the way back home, Sue managed a shot of Seven Sisters Country Park in the Cuckmere Valley from the car.
Seven Sisters Country Park.
Not a classic day's birding but still an enjoyable day out.
Graham
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