sussex 02-06 may 2024

well our annual trip to sussex for the boys birthday  

left mytholmroyd at 3am and had a good drive down the A1 A14 M11 before hitting the M25 around 7 am then it went tits up after crossing the QE2 bridge 

whoever designed the junction of the M25/M26/A21 was on drugs or something , why does the M25 which is a circular motorway just continue onto the A21!!! leaving us having to come off the M25 on a slip road to get back on the M25 typical british planning, then 6 miles of roadworks with only 1 group of workers with only one of them digging.

we were now fed up having being on the road for 6 hours so came of at the A22 stopping at Knights garden center for a rest.

arriving in brighton we parked up and found all the ticket machines are now "pay by phone" not a problem i have the app! just to throw some more fucks into our day the app needs updating so 10 minutes later i try to pay nope card declined try again the same. colette trys same thing! nice of brighton to discriminate people who dont have a smart phone. gave up and headed to brighton marina to stock up for the week at asda then headed to buckle holiday park near seaford 

well what a dump nearly every caravan looked dumped 

note gaffer tape over window 

also a dumped porsche brand new but flat tyres and mould on windows and ford capri, toilet block was shocking 

our pitch was flooded after the heavy rain the night before, set up in wet windy weather.

by 2pm i was ready for some birding so headed to Tidemills a short walk away 

Tidemills is a ruined village by the port in Newhaven 

lots of warblers including the years first sedge,reed, whitethroat and cetties 1 little egret and good numbers of greenfinch 

03/05 

Tidemills 

spent most of the day here usual warblers plus a very showy lesser whitethroat and some very nice stonechats 

back at the van i was checking the birdguides app when a reported kentish plover came up at Tidemills within 10 minutes i was on site to see nothing oh well.

sat on the beach at 21.30 enjoying a beer when a whimbrel flew over calling 

04/05

Tidemills 

weather better but same birds though another lesser whitethroat singing near the campsite and a very small movement of black headed gulls east 

mid morning finally headed to brighton to see the boy and his girl lots of hugs and chats as we walked along the seafront in sunny warm weather, we explored the lanes then the north laines.

i was shocked that the tapas bar i visited some 25 years ago was still going when i went out with a local lass who went to sussex uni good days 

05/05

wind gone se 

so i missed the pom skuas and black tern but i did get gannet 19 whimbrel and 9 common scoter before heading on foot to cuckmere haven some 4 miles away. a long boring slog along seaford front before reaching splash point. a few birders but no point chatting as the southerners are just ignorant so up and over the hill 

seaford

after getting to seaford head the view of the seven sisters is stunning birding took a backseat as i just gazed over such a wonderful view 

seven sisters 

cuckmere haven 

more lesser whitethroats great song lots of little egrets but not much else but a great walk one to be proud of.

got the bus back 

an evening seawatch produced 3 gannets 3 sandwhich terns 21 common scoter 3 whimbrel 

then a bbq with the boy 

06/05 

a day to forget 

woke to rain at 0630 rescued as much as we could given our pitch was 4 inch deep in water 

afer we had packed 

so spent 6 hours in ankle deep water tried to escape at 9am but the van didnt sound good and decided to call the AA who came quickly but said do not start and left by 1330 a truck arrived and took us to cobham services and waited for 3 hours for the next truck. left at 1930 got home at 0130 but great driver and still got 3/4 tank full 

ex AA on a AA truck 

an invitation

 last month i was given an invitation to join a walk at cromwell bottom nr to answer questions on my time there in the 80's/90's 

well yesterday the walk was great with allan and stuart, at times i was more intrested in birding watching my first sand martins of the year plus willow warbler the best for me were 3 blackcaps singing stunning birds 

also had a guided tour of north cut which is the old tip and some great work done on the habitat i also enjoyed seeing lots of familys out with kids anything that involves getting people to even just have a walk in nature can only be a good thing 

easter weekend at seahouses

 a bog standard campsite (springhall farm) just 30mins walk from seahouses 

set off friday lunchtime due to the van needing a new back box, awful drive up the A1 taking 5 1/2 hours but worth it just for the views from the site of the farnes and bamburgh castle, evening spent in the awning due to rain but nice and warm 

saturday

lazy morning and then headed to seahouses via shoreston hall onto the beach, this part of the world has the best beaches, vast clean sand its a beautiful coastline 

a couple of stonechats in the dunes, sandwich terns over the sea were my first ever in march, the rocks approaching seahouses had curlew,turnstone,dunlin and redshank.

the usual eiders in the harbour were fun to watch as was the long tailed duck which ive not seen since our trip around scotland 2 years ago. colette found a grey plover on the sand at the outer harbour wall.

look around seahouses we found a place selling scotch pies warm not bad but the puff pastry top was odd 

headed back to the campsite around 1ish via the same route but i wanted to have more of a walk so headed up the road to monks house a place ive read about for years mostly through bill oddies books, monks pond was very active with gulls but also gadwall and tufted duck great little place.headed back via some footpaths and lanes lots of yellowhammers singing and loads of chiffchaffs and chaffinches 

more yellowhammers back at camp and a sparrowhawk over

sunday 

holy isle 

we have been before but chose to explore the village rather than follow the crowds to the castle, sat for a while looking over ST Cuthberts isle

colette found a red throated diver close inshore very nice. visted the lindisfarne mead shop drank mead bought mead its a nice drink! and after a nice few hours we had a brew in the van then headed to berwick. tried and failed to get something to eat, so back to seahouses for fish and chips from neptunes not brilliant but not bad just a normal fish and chips had better.

then we chose to head home due to rain on monday morning which would make putting everything away a nightmare, it was warm in the sun and all the dew had dried off, so on the road for 1730 and back home for 2100 for more mead! 

monks pool 

monks house 

whooper swans in the fog

whilst waiting at the top of free school lane for my brother to pick me up for the trip to selby for mothers day  heard whooper swans calling sounded to be heading west but given the fog not seen 

cumbria

 we always go away for colettes birthday, so this year we headed to allonby in cumbria 

lovely airbnb across from the beach 

the wirral

after what seems likes weeks of crap weather saturday was looking good......so friday night we choose to go somewhere different New Brighton! 

great little area, lots of free parking, big beaches, and great views over liverpool.

then onto hoylake again free parking with veiws of hilbre island and the welsh coast.

last stop parkgate made a brew in the van and set up the scope i bought in june but its the first time used it away from mytholmroyd!!!! a Vanguard 82ed a , heavy but that gives me a sense of solidness performed well given the afternoon light, as we watched a female marsh harrier sat on a post for an hour 

nice day out finished off with a KFC from cheshire oaks tasty 

 

best self found birds

 nationally 

yellow breasted bunting fair isle august 1989 

oriental pratincole blakney point 4th june 1993 

broad billed sandpiper at hicksons flash fairburn ings 12th may 1996 (first for west yorkshire)

night heron thorne moors june 1996 (first for thorne moors)

raddes warbler beacon lane kilnsea october 2005 

home calderdale 

its where i spend most time birding so not a surprise ive found a few decent birds, with most being seen at elland gravel pits which i went nearly daily from 1987 to 2000, despite it now being called cromwell bottom it will always be EGP to me!! sadly the place is now too overgrown 

anyway i think the rarest bird ive found is

grey headed wagtail june 1990 Elland Gravel Pits 

i was watching the spotted sandpiper from near the banking that separates the 2 lagoons when i saw a wagtail flying towards me it looked to have some yellow so i thought grey wagtail, as it got closer it was an overall yellow/green colour with a dark head,it landed on the lagoon but was not seen again 

i carried on my walk puzzled by the wagtail, i had seen yellow wagtail before in the uk  but never with a dark head 

that evening on returning home i phoned tony gough(bradford recorder and friend) to tell him of my find 

he said it sounds like a blue headed wagtail, i was happy with that conformation and recorded it as such 

the next day after work i cycled to EGP, i headed to the lagoons parked my bike by the canal lock and walked down the dip to the lagoon where i saw tony gough mick cunningham and tony cunningham, i asked 'spotted sand?' the reply was 'no' a bit bemused i asked what you looking at? tony said 'your wagtail....its grey headed wagtail'

for a 17 year old birder it was validation 

now was it coincedence that the last time i saw tony gough was on tresco at the turks head we enjoyed a few pints before the boat back to st marys that would be 1998 and we talked about the wagtail 'a cracking find lad" 

and mick cunningham the last time i saw him was on beacon lane kilnsea we had a good chat and we ended up finding a radde's wabler