Leaden Skies!

Waking up to yet another wild wet morning, I took the opportunity to get some domestic stuff done before doing some birding.

Late morning on the ARC 1 each of Smew, Goosander and Great White Egret with the usual common wildfowl. New arrivals on New Diggings were 2 Black Throated Divers. In a look at the Gull roost behind the fish hut I was unable to find anything out of the ordinary.

Another try in the trapping area to get an image of Hume's Yellow Browed Warbler before the rain set in was again fruitless, in fact I didn't even glimpse it let alone photograph it, so in Blue Peter style here's one I took earlier, 6 years earlier.     

Hume's Yellow Browed Warbler, Beachy Head, 31st December 2007.

A short sea watch from the boats saw the usual Kittiwakes, Guillemots, Gannets and Gulls. Great White Egrets are now so regular around the reserve, that I drove straight past 2 by the entrance track this afternoon giving not much more than a cursory glance, had the sun been shining instead of the heavy leaden skies of today I probably would have stopped. Staring out into the gloom from the visitor centre a Goosander swam by and 2 Marsh Harriers were battling the wind over the Open Pit. As I was about to leave the Glossy Ibis flew over the car park, unfortunately for me I was still in the visitor centre.