Our day's birding with Kiran, Merryn, Aria and Kate started at Pett Level, where there was plenty on offer! We were greeted by fields full of Curlew and Lapwing. The first scan through the geese revealed a Barnacle Goose but we couldn't find any White-fronts. A Great White Egret appeared through the reeds in a ditch before slinking back into hiding. Flocks of Wigeon and Dunlin wheeled around as we made our way up to the sea wall.
Looking offshore, we picked up a distant raft of Common Scoters, as well as several Red-throated Divers flying past. We drove a little way east to a different vantage point, where we enjoyed a big flock of Golden Plovers, a hunting male Marsh Harrier and a mix of wildfowl including Teal, Shoveler, Pochard and Gadwall.
A Snipe dropped in to the grass in front of us and we spotted a couple of Little Grebes on the pools. Another scan offshore produced improved views of the Common Scoter flock, as well as getting us onto two Red-throated Divers sitting on the sea at a reasonable range.
Another check of the geese on the way out added Egyptian Goose to the day list but there really seemed to be no sign of the visitors from the east!
A muddy Cuckmere Haven was our next stop. We carefully made our way along the river bank, soon finding Rock Pipits, Meadow Pipits, Pied Wagtails and Skylarks, as well as flocks of Wigeon and a scattering of Shelducks and Redshanks.
Around 50 Curlew were in the fields, alongside Little Egrets and Grey Herons in the ditches, and two Dark-bellied Brent Geese and another Barnacle Goose were with the Canada Geese.
An impressive gathering of around 1,000 Great Black-backed Gulls had a few Lesser Black-backeds mixed in, as well as a Yellow-legged Gull, but this bird vanished quickly.
A call from further up the river had us heading back north to try to catch a glimpse of the long-staying Long-billed Dowitcher, a rare visitor from North America which has been in the valley since October last year. And a glimpse is what we managed, before the bird went back around the corner and out of sight!
On the way back to the car, a barrel-rolling Raven kept us entertained before a lunch break on the benches near the meanders.
Penhurst Lane gave us a break from walking, with a beautiful view over High Weald forest. A distinctive silhouette in the treetops gave away our first Hawfinch, and two more followed! A couple of sightings of Sparrowhawk and Buzzard involved birds over the horizon and we logged Great Spotted and Green Woodpeckers. A Nuthatch called and a Brambling was heard overhead.
We couldn't have hoped for a better end to the day on Pevensey Levels, where we instantly found a ringtail Hen Harrier, which was shortly followed by a close fly-by from a beautiful Barn Owl! We also logged a good number of Fieldfares, with a few Redwings, as well as Water Rail, Stonechat and Cetti's Warbler. A very good day's birding!
