Saturday 16 December 2017

Goring/Ferring 16th December 2017

A full day out in the field saw me rack up 23,483 steps, helped along by my walking rather than cycling to and from the patch today. The sea was quiet and given little attention but did produce a Teal, a Wigeon, six Red-breasted Mergansers, seven Red-throated Divers, a Dark-bellied Brent Goose, seven Great Crested Grebes and a distant auk. Wader numbers comprised 169 Sanderlings, 307 Dunlin, 30 Grey Plovers, 42 Ringed Plovers, 90 Turnstones and 40 Oystercatchers. Some 230 Common Gulls were feeding along the shore towards the end of the day, as were three adult Mediterranean Gulls and a Lesser Black-backed Gull. The pair of Stonechats were still on the east side of the Gap and another male was further west. Other Goring sightings included a Mistle Thrush, a Redwing, five Skylarks, two Meadow Pipits, the Treecreeper, a Sparrowhawk and two Great Spotted Woodpeckers.

At Ferring Rife were two Little Egrets, a Water Rail, a Redwing, two Green Woodpeckers, a Great Spotted Woodpecker, a Grey Heron, two Moorhens and a Sparrowhawk.

Little Egret at Ferring Rife
Grey Heron at Ferring Rife
Stock Dove at Goring
♂ Stonechat at Goring
Sparrowhawk at Goring
Treecreeper at Goring