Shooter's Bottom is not like Tennis Elbow

A glorious day for birding.

Despite being late September it was very hot and bright up on the chalk Downland behind the cliffs, with a cloudless sky and shimmering blue sea below. In fact it was so bright my little snap camera wanted to run away and hide and has turned most of the photos very dark.

The one less-than-perfect element on this idyllic day was that the birds were absent. As we roamed the cliffs and valleys of the picturesquely named Cow Gap and Shooter's Bottom, near the notorious Beachy Head, it was unnaturally quiet and apart from one slightly busier group of bushes the birds were few and far between.

Oystercatchers & Terns (if camera was better)

Down below the cliffs on the rocks revealed by the retreating tide were a few of my favourite birds Oystercatchers and Terns though and shortly after the air filled with Hirundines (mostly Swallows but also House Martins and even a Sand Martin) a beautiful Peregrine appeared above us and he hunted around the area for some time.

A few LBJs appeared ("Willow Chaff", Great tit, Robin, Bluetit, Stonechat, Blackcap and Goldcrest for example) from time to time and the great slow wingbeat of a Grey Heron crossed below us in the direction of Eastbourne.

There were a number of sailing and fishing boats out on the sparkling sea but they too seemed rather lonely and without avian companions.

It was nevertheless a timeless, wonderful day, more late Summer than Autumn, and sitting enjoying a picnic while watching the Peregrine and later a Sparrowhawk giving an aerial display I was once again moved to thank providence that I wasn't fretting the day away behind a desk in a low-lit room in the centre of town.