A midweek moth trap finally delivered a long overdue Jersey Tiger: it was beginning to feel like we were the only moth trappers in Sussex without having seen one. Unfortunately, it was so worn it looked as though it had swum over from Jersey, but we’re not complaining.
The lure of Wood Sandpiper and Ruff at Pulborough Brooks wasn’t enough to make me drag myself over there. Instead I had a walk on the downs in search of migrants, which have been coming through all week. A couple of Redstarts were an addition to the on-foot list for the year and a Wheatear and Spotted Flycatchers were nice, but infrequent. The bird I was really after was Pied Flycatcher, but there was nothing doing, until, when I was about as far from home as I could be, a friend put out news of one near home. A dash back got me there in time to spend a nearly an hour with a showy bird.
Today Karen joined me on the downs, but it was quieter than yesterday, with just one Redstart and a Wheatear in amongst the Willow Warblers. On the way back news came on about 9 Spoonbills flying past Widewater, on the coast. Wrong place again! We were in sight of the sea, three miles away, and Spoonbills are big and white, so we found a suitable vantage and stared at the sea. Sure enough, after a minute or so 9 white dots appeared and moved along the coast, before moving a bit inland. It’s not often I photograph birds at three miles distance.