Today I decided to check out the harbour and seafront for interesting Northern Gulls, in view of recent sightings. Naturally, this initiative produced less gulls than usual, but it was a pleasant walk along to Bulverhythe in the sunshine. Scanning the sea revealed a lack of passing Divers, or grebes and seaducks on the water, but scanning the sky for the cause of frequent pigeon and gull panics revealed a female Sparrowhawk.
A Kingfisher was staring into the water at the Bulverhythe sluice channel, always nice to see; soon after I crossed over the main road to Coombehaven. Walking around here I heard Water Rails [stimulated to call by hooting trains but otherwise silent], glimpsed a Cettis Warbler, and had close views of a Treecreeper in a tangle of wet scrub.
[I reflected that birders with access to decent reedy areas take Cettis Warblers for granted now, but this "Hastings rarity"- 3 records removed from the British list- was not reliably recorded in Britain until 1962 in Hampshire. I saw my first in 1971 in Berkshire, standing in a line of long-haired birders fashionably attired in Afghan coats , described by an outraged local ringer as "looking like red indians !]
Treecreeper at Coombehaven
