It’s difficult to summarise the wildly variable weather experienced here during June but it certainly felt unseasonably cool for much of it.

On the 1st of the month I spent the day at Rye Harbour NR (RHNR), a safe bet for interesting birding at the time of year with the last bits of wader passage and terns arriving en masse. On Flat Beach was a lovely Curlew Sandpiper, showing the brick-red hues of its summer plumage (the relatively muted red indicates it was probably a female). It associated with a nervous flock of Dunlin and was given a hard time by the local Avocet for some reason.

You never quite know what to expect at Combe Valley CP and a visit on the 6th held two (possibly interrelated) surprises. The first was encountering a man sleeping on, and completely blocking, one of the small wooden bridges along the river path. Contemplating my options, the decision was made for me when the farmer showed up and moved him off. Further up the river, presumably undisturbed by other visitors that morning, I went on to flush a beautiful 2CY Purple Heron from a ditch alongside the path. My second Purple Heron of the spring (and indeed, ever) after last months adult at Castle Water (RHNR). Sounds like it’s been a big year for them nationally.

Also at Combe Valley CP on the 6th were four Eurasian Hobby hunting low over the floods, permitting amazing views. Having seen a couple around on visits in May I haven’t yet been able to discern if I am seeing the same birds repeatedly – I’d assume at least some of these four were freshly arrived migrants though.

I’ve been keeping an eye on the gulls breeding locally and it’s been nice to see Great Black-backed Gull ’99C’, colour-ringed in Normandy as a chick in 2008, raise young on a roof in the Old Town. Following my musings on Lesser Black-backed Gull last year, and some tips from local legend Andrew Grace, I’ve been a bit more attentive to their summer presence this year and have noted a few adults hanging around. I’ve yet to locate a nest with young yet but will keep trying.

The scrapes at Pannel Valley NR, particularly the newly expanded western scrape, entered June in fine condition for hosting waders. While it seems like only yesterday that they were heading north, Green Sandpiper are already gathering there in numbers, with eight present on the 26th along with a lovely male Ruff. Over at RHNR on the 29th there was a Common Sandpiper on Ternery Pool and, more notably, I recorded both Grey and Red-legged Partridge on the beach reserve. Since moving to East Sussex I’ve seen more Purple Heron than I have the latter!

I didn’t spend a lot of time on coastal headlands in June but passerine migration has felt expectedly quite thin on the ground over the month. On the 4th a group of three Common Crossbill flew in from the north over the radar station at Hastings CP, u-turned over the fields and returned back the way they’d come. Young Blackcap, Common Whitethroat and Common Chiffchaff have become a frequent sight there.

My first hint of southward passerine migration were four Sand Martin flying east at Hastings CP on the 20th. Small parties of Common Swift have been occasional at local migration watch points – particularly in overcast and drizzly conditions – but whether these are roaming breeders or migrants it’s hard to say. One in off the sea along Hastings seafront on the 19th was particularly intriguing.

I’ve also spent a bit of the time looking at insects. Bees are a local speciality in the Hastings area, with a number of interesting ground-nesting species making use of the soft-rock cliffs and sandy paths. Inspired by a couple of great talks by Andy Phillips and some local conservation projects focusing on these species, I’ve been trying to get more familiar with them. It turns out that staring intently at bushes and bare ground reveals lots of other interesting things, which my zoom lens is sometimes capable of capturing in identifiable detail. The last part of this post is a set of photos of some of my West Hill finds with some info in captions.