New Years Eve at Brighton, Sussex (31st December 2011)

It was my families idea to spend the new year down in Sussex, on the south coast in a place called Walberton, near Arundel, and luckily I was able to fit in a little bit of birding.

M25 and M23 MOTORWAY TRIP TO BRIGHTON

The trip their was rather shorter than I had imagined and my hopes in getting to see Kestrels into double figures on the motorway trip their failed as I only had 3 Kestrels, 3 Buzzards and a single Red Kite and Great Spottted Woodpecker.

BRIGHTON

cloud 3/3
wind 2/3 moderate south-westerly

We arrived in Brigton around 13:00pm and went directly to the sea were we parked just west of the pier and headed into town from there.  100's of Herring Gulls were, as usual, everywhere as well as Cormorants both fishing in the sea and perched on the disused pier.  Much of the rest of the afternoon was spent in the town however on our return along the sea front at c.16:20 the Starling roost had started and 100's were already swirling around the disused pier.

Starling murmuration, taken by my brother Ephraim Perfect on his new Nikon D3100, without a tripod