Monday Aug 24th: even the walk down from Winchelsea Station to Dumb Woman’s Lane was more eventful than usual, with a few warblers, a long tangled flock of Long-tailed Tits + hangers-on, a male Marsh Harrier and a flock of c50 House Sparrows in the hedge. The latter was especially interesting since I’ve never seen any number like that here. There are none in winter, then a few pairs move down to the bungalows in the lane for breeding. It could be that I’ve not been here when there have been extensive stubble fields, as there are now, in which sparrows may glean. There was a similar-sized flock in the ditch S of Dairy Cottage then at least 100 east of Ferry House. with a few subsidiary clusters along the way, there must have been a good 200 altogether which would have been a common enough sight years ago but is much less so now.
The west end of Cadborough Cliff was full of action, with warblers darting about everywhere through the gorse, willow & elder scrub. They were principally Whitethroats, but with a lot of Lesser Whitethroats &, Chiffchaffs and fewer Willow Warblers & Blackcaps, difficult to count. I had brief views of a beautiful orange-bellied male Common Redstart while an uncertain number of young Stonechats (local produce) were flicking their wings from the bush-tops.
It was like more Proper Birdwatching, though when there are so many migrants you hope for a few extras: flycatchers…or..a Garden Warbler? (I hardly ever see those on migration.) Further along the cliff there was plenty of buzzing, ticking and peeping to indicate the presence of more warblers, but steeper slopes and thicker scrub kept them better hidden.
Kestrels were moving between the cliff and fields, often harassed by Jackdaws, a Sparrowhawk sailed through (maybe heading for the sparrows?) and the wailing of young Buzzards provided seasonal background music. Goldfinches, Linnets, several Bullfinches and a few welcome Greenfinches were along the way but no Yellowhammers at all and only one Cetti’s Warbler. It looks as if Swallows are doing well on the houses towards Rye.
The stubble fields of Rye Marsh seemed pretty quiet at first and in fact I heard only a few Reed Warblers and no Reed Buntings. Skylarks were few, though a flock flushed by a jogger off the footpath suggested they were just out of the way and keeping a low profile, probably a good idea in view of the Peregrine which tussled with a Kestrel before making triumphant circuits clasping a dead bird – maybe a Starling.
Apart from a great big flock of Rooks & Jackdaws, it was raptors which animated this part of the walk, with up to 6 Buzzards and maybe the same number of Kestrels drifting back and forth. In vain I kept an eye on the former in the hope that some other raptor might join them.
On the dry fields there were just a couple each of Yellow Wagtail, Wheatear & Whinchat – the latter in a strip of unharvested linseed closer to Winchelsea.