Without Stint or

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Sabine's Gull (juvenile)














A rather less successful but nonetheless pleasant birding trip yesterday. The main object was to try and see the Sabine's Gull at Newhaven and having failed that to investigate the possibility of Little Stints at Arlington.

We spent some time on the beach to the west of the harbour where the gull had been seen several times in the previous days but this time, neither we nor several other brother birders saw anything of the Sabine's.

There wasn't a lot else going on either apart from the usual gulls. A Curlew flew across and a number of Rock Pipits were flitting about above the pebbles.

Once it became fairly clear that the Sabine's was not going to appear we moved on to Arlington Reservoir and walked right round it before stopping at the picnic area for lunch. Nothing spectacular here either but it did get off to a good start with a number of wagtails (Yellow and Pied) in the 'scope near the farm.

At the water's edge there were numerous Canada Geese and within the bounds of that flock also a Greylag, a Grey Heron and oddly, a Bar-headed Goose presumably an escapee from somewhere. As usual there were a few Great Crested Grebes about and we also came across a Common Sandpiper. Above us skimmed Martins and a Swallow. In addition my companion also saw a Wheatear, a Woodpecker, Longtailed Tits, Bluetits and a Great Tit - All of which I either missed or saw briefly as a silhouette as it left.

After lunch we tried our luck at Splash Point and the nearby beach but it was devoid of Kittiwakes and only harboured a group of Cormorants, some with wings outstretched in characteristic pose, and some distant Oystercatchers.

Returning from the beach we had a cup of tea and reconvened the "Railway Film Club" to watch "Oh Mr Porter" a somewhat creaky but still wonderful Will Hay film from the late thirties.