Recent Sightings
July 2009
What a difference a month makes! At the start of July the reserve was still thronging with young birds, especially Ternery Pool where 500 pairs of Sandwich Tern and almost 120 pairs of Common Tern raised several hundred young, all clamouring for attention and contributing to a real sea-bird spectacle. By the end of the month, in contrast, the breeding season was effectively over (apart from the odd straggler), Ternery Pool was beginning to look like an avian desert in comparison to earlier in the year, and the first of the passage migrants began to move through as they headed south towards their southern wintering grounds.
Waders probably provided the greatest evidence of passage movement during July, with records including up to 126 Curlew (above), 21 Common Sandpiper, 18 Whimbrel, 15 Ruff, 13 Green Sandpiper and 10 Little Ringed Plover. In addition, small numbers of Greenshank, Black-tailed Godwit and Snipe passed through, while a Wood Sandpiper was present at Castle Water on the 3rd. The highlight however was a Stone Curlew seen briefly on the Beach Reserve in the early hours of the 16th. Notable waterfowl included up to six Garganey and 64 Little Egret at Castle Water. Decent numbers of hirundine during July, with up to 300 Sand Martin and smaller numbers of House Martin moving through from mid-month.
Other passage migrants were few and far between, the only bird of note being a Grasshopper Warbler at Castle Water on the 2nd. In addition, there were regular records of Bearded Tit at Castle Water, with a maximum of seven on the 23rd. Passerine highlights during July were a superb male Red-backed Shrike (above) and an equally stunning male Golden Oriole, both on the 3rd after high winds and heavy rain the night before! Raptors this month included regular Marsh Harrier, with four on several dates, and the occasional Hobby and Peregrine. Little offshore movement recorded during the month, though a couple of Little Tern were present on the Beach Reserve virtually throughout and a Red-throated Diver was on the shore on the 4th.
Still good numbers of Painted Lady around, with at least 800 at Castle Water on the 25th, while other migrants included small numbers of Clouded Yellow and Red Admiral, one or two Humming-bird Hawk Moth (above) and the black and the black and white hoverfly Scaeva pyrastri. Similarly, the highlight in the Lime Kiln moth trap was the uncommon migrant Bordered Straw, while other long distance travellers included Silver Y, Rush Veneer and Diamond-back Moth. Also at Lime Kiln, the resident Wasp Spiders began to show well as the females reached maturity, while spider highlight for July was the discovery of a small colony of Labyrinth Spider at Castle Water, a first for the reserve. Dragonflies on the wing included Migrant Hawker, Emperor, Black-tailed Skimmer and Ruddy Darter. Plants in flower this month included Viper’s Bugloss, Wild Carrot, Rottingdean Sea-lavender (below) and Fleabane.
