My wife and I had arranged a short break on the Sussex coast, and I was looking forward to some coastal bird photography - until I had an accident with my camera shortly before we went! This resulted in my 80-400 Nikkor being shipped off to Nikon for repair. With migration in full swing, there couldn't be a worse time to lose your main lens!! So off I went to Sussex armed with an extremely inferior Tamron 28-300, and my pocket Sony. The Tamron is next to useless near its full length, but it least it has a passable macro capability at shorter lengths - shame there aren't many insects around at this time of year!
Our first day was almost entirely spent taking the scenic route to Sussex, with time to take a walk along the seafront before it got dark, followed by dinner at Zizzi's.
The next day, fired with reports of a lingering Shore Lark at Cuckmerehaven, we set off westwards. On the way we stopped at Beachy Head. I'm so glad that we did as we had only been there a few minutes when we spotted a Peregrine having a go at a Crow that was in a cleft in the cliff face. This all took place very close to us, and was a great spectacle - I even managed a few flight shots, but had to take great care not to go over the edge as I was doing so, as the cliffs here are quite high, as you can see from the first image below!!
Our first day was almost entirely spent taking the scenic route to Sussex, with time to take a walk along the seafront before it got dark, followed by dinner at Zizzi's.
The next day, fired with reports of a lingering Shore Lark at Cuckmerehaven, we set off westwards. On the way we stopped at Beachy Head. I'm so glad that we did as we had only been there a few minutes when we spotted a Peregrine having a go at a Crow that was in a cleft in the cliff face. This all took place very close to us, and was a great spectacle - I even managed a few flight shots, but had to take great care not to go over the edge as I was doing so, as the cliffs here are quite high, as you can see from the first image below!!
Lighthouse at Beachy Head
PeregrineThe crow survived the encounter, and after a couple of minutes the Peregrine gave up and continued eastwards along the coast.
There were quite a few Wheatear here also, and these tended to stay right on the very edge of the cliff top. Again photography was a little hazardous because of the ragged edge to the cliff, and the numerous rabbit holes on the top surface!
There were quite a few Wheatear here also, and these tended to stay right on the very edge of the cliff top. Again photography was a little hazardous because of the ragged edge to the cliff, and the numerous rabbit holes on the top surface!
WheatearWe then set off to Cuckmerehaven. The Shore Lark had been seen by the mouth of the Cuckmere river, approximately a mile from the road and car park. The walk there turned up Skylark, several distant Little Egret, and a Kingfisher.
Little Egret
(distant!) KingfisherWe arrived to find a few birders present, but the Lark had not been spotted since the previous evening, and after a while we gave up (it was not subsequently reported to the best of my knowledge).
That night we decided to eat in the Belgian Café on Eastbourne's seafront. No driving needed, so I decided to reacquaint myself with some 'old friends' (Belgian beers - my favourite!). The starter (langoustines in Pernod) and main course (chicken in a tarragon sauce) were washed down with bottles of Lindemans Faro - my favourite beer with food, and not too alcoholic at only 4%. With dessert (creme brulée) I decided to push the boat out a bit and start on the Trappist beers, and so was drinking Chimay Bleue (9%), ending up with Rochefort 8 (9.2%), and a complimentary Genever ('Dutch gin'). It was a superb evening, and I can thoroughly recommend this place if you are ever in the area - food, drink, and service all excellent!
That night we decided to eat in the Belgian Café on Eastbourne's seafront. No driving needed, so I decided to reacquaint myself with some 'old friends' (Belgian beers - my favourite!). The starter (langoustines in Pernod) and main course (chicken in a tarragon sauce) were washed down with bottles of Lindemans Faro - my favourite beer with food, and not too alcoholic at only 4%. With dessert (creme brulée) I decided to push the boat out a bit and start on the Trappist beers, and so was drinking Chimay Bleue (9%), ending up with Rochefort 8 (9.2%), and a complimentary Genever ('Dutch gin'). It was a superb evening, and I can thoroughly recommend this place if you are ever in the area - food, drink, and service all excellent!
We woke to find that the brilliant sunshine of the previous day had given way to high winds and driving rain. We didn't hang about, but set off westwards along the coast as we were booked in near Arundel that night. The only photos taken were at Climping where we found Turnstones. The strong on-shore wind with a mixture of sea-spray and rain soon had us scurrying for our car - can you spot all eleven Turnstone in the first image below?
TurnstoneIt was still raining the next morning , and so we spent our time trawling the antique shops, etc. in Arundel. However, the rain stopped soon after lunch (although it remained dull) and so we set off for the local Wetland Centre. I've only been to one of these before (the London WC), and I came away from this one with much the same feelings that I did from the London one - I'll probably not visit again. The whole set-up seems to be geared towards extracting money from the public. I found that I was rather upset by the huge numbers of 'pinioned' birds, that shouldn't normally be there. How can they justify doing this to (for example) large numbers of Eider? I'm sure it's just because they are spectacular and draw the paying punters.
Whilst there I did have my only opportunity during the break to use the macro of the Tamron lens - on a dragonfly. Birds seen (there of their own volition) included Peregrine (2 sightings in 3 days!) and Water Rail (which stayed ahead of us for a couple of hundred metres whilst we walked a boardwalk).
Common Darter (male)
Water Rail
Common PheasantI hope that I'm not too long without the Nikon lens - I feel feel quite lost without it, particularly as there are so many 'good' birds around at the moment!
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