Minibus trip to Rye Harbour (18 July 2026)

It was distinctly cooler than of late as 18 of us arrived at Rye Harbour for our days birding at this superb coastal reserve. Black Terns and Little Gulls had been reported so we abandoned our usual clockwise route and headed towards the Salt Pools via the path along the edge of the New Saltmarsh. We were soon rewarded when 3 Whimbrel were spotted, soon followed by several Curlew, Avocet, a Greenshank and Mediterranean Gulls. We then moved along the bank to the viewpoint overlooking the Narrow Pit. The birds seen here included Stonechat, many Common Terns, Ringed Plover with juveniles, Redshank, Oystercatcher, another Greenshank – but no Black Terns or Little Gulls. Probably the most incongruous sight of the day however was a male Pheasant having an identity crisis sitting on the scrape among the Waders, Terns and Gulls – very strange!

We then walked along the top of the bank towards the Barns and the far end of Long Pit. We had a brief glimpse of a Reed Warbler, Linnets, Chiffchaff, Goldfinches, and a distant Buzzard. We tried our luck with Black Tern here but to no avail, however we were rewarded with excellent views of a family of Lesser Whitethroat scurrying through the base of the willows. Common Whitethroat also put in an appearance and on the pit, handsome Great Crested Grebe, Little Grebe, Little Egret and Gadwall were seen. From the top of the bank we were able to see Sedge Warbler, Oystercatcher, Lapwing, Avocet, Ringed Plover, Common Sandpiper, Teal, a single Snipe gave us good views before skulking back into the reeds and a Cetti’s Warbler gave us a short sharp blast. 

Lunch was taken on the shingle beach with many Sandwich and Common Terns seen fishing out at sea. Following lunch, we walked to the Crittall Hide where we were treated to a very strong smell of Cormorant guano. We didn’t linger but had good views of Ringed Plover and a juvenile, Common Sandpiper, Little Grebe and many Common Terns feeding their fluffy chicks. We then moved on to the Denny and Parkes Hides which afforded views of Dunlin, Black-tailed Godwit, Greenshank, Common Sandpiper, Lapwing, Common and Sandwich Terns and huge Great Black-backed Gulls the size of Cormorants.

As we moved along the top of the bank to complete our loop back to the Gooders Hide, a large female Sparrowhawk flew powerfully across the marsh scattering the Gulls, Terns and Waders in panic, a spectacular sight. By the time we reached the Gooders Hide we had still not seen either the Black Terns or the Little Gulls, however there was an interesting collection of birds on the scrape, the pick of which was a small group of Little Terns, also present were two Turnstone, many Dunlin, Common Sandpiper, Curlew, Avocet, Ringed Plover and Lapwing along with several Mediterranean Gulls.

Time was getting on and the afternoon had become quite warm so a few of the group decided that liquid refreshment was in order while the rest stayed in the hide. They were rewarded with a view of a Black Tern over the scrape- at long last, in time added on while the rest of us were taking a hydration break at the local pub.

It was a fitting reward for their perseverance and a lovely end to a superb day’s birding.

Many thanks to Rebecca and Sandra for all the organising, to Andrew our fantastic driver and to Julia who logged the species list for the day.

by Roy Pattison

Species (seen or heard)

Avocet, Black Tern, Black-tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Buzzard, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Cetti’s Warbler, Chiffchaff, Collared Dove, Common Sandpiper, Common Tern, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Egyptian Goose, Feral Pigeon, Gadwall, Goldfinch, Great Black-backed Gull, Great Crested Grebe, Greenshank, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Lapwing, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Lesser Whitethroat, Linnet, Little Egret, Little Grebe, Little Tern, Magpie, Mallard, Mediterranean Gull, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Redshank, Reed Warbler, Ringed Plover, Sand Martin, Shelduck, Snipe, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove, Stonechat, Swallow, Swift, Teal, Tufted Duck, Turnstone, Whimbrel, Whitethroat, Wren.

Total: 65

Butterflies: Common Blue, Gatekeeper, Red Admiral, Small and Large White.