21/04/2025

An Arctic Skua passing the bouy this afternoon

 As I drove to the the towards the beach early this morning the peninsular was covered in dense fog, I decided to make a stop at the ARC  in case there was any new arrivals singing. There were plenty of Sedge, Reed and Cetti's Warblers singing with Blackcaps, Common and Lesser Whitethroats, also 2 Cuckoos my first of the year. From Hanson the islands are appearing quite rapidly but nothing was present when I looked this morning. I Carried on to the beach where I met Richard, due to the fog we decided to walk around the trapping area and Desert, on reflection not the wisest of choices, we saw 1 Wheatear and heard Wheatear and Willow Warbler and the resident Stonechats and not much else. As the fog thinned I spent an hour staring out to sea but saw little as visibility was still very restricted.

A pair of Red-crested Pochard  this afternoon

Back at the sea watch hide this afternoon for a couple of hours with better visibility there was a short spell where 10 Arctic Skuas, 2 Great Skuas and Pomarine Skua came through but little else. 

While I was still sea watching a message came through from Graham that he had found a drake and duck Red-crested Pochard on the Kerton Road, Cemex Pit, as they are barely annual here I resisted the temptation to pack up sea watching straight away and twitch them, though I did see them on way home early evening.

On the reserve the Long-tailed Duck was still present on Burrowes Pit per RW, Greenshank, Whimbrel, LRP and Ruff on the Hay Field per RW also the long staying Greater White-fronted Goose on Denge Marsh. Several Hobbys were also seen

20/04/2025

Some of the Bar-tailed Godwits that flew past the sea watch hide today

This Little Egret was a bit of a surprise this afternoon flying past the sea watch hide

A very cool miserable day with a strong NE wind meant most of my time was spent staring out to sea with Jacob. We logged 5 Manx Shearwaters, 3 Black-throated Divers, a Pomarine Skua, a Bonxie, 6 Arctic Skuas, nearly 600 Bar-tailed Godwits, 250 Arctic Terns, 25 Little Gulls etc so it was a good watch, though there were long periods in the middle of the day when very little was happening.

I did visit Hanson Hide and was pleased to see more islands becoming visible though the only waders present were a Ringed plover and Lapwing, the Willow Trail is now dry but is still blocked due to ongoing works, hopefully it will open fully very soon. A quick visit to Burrowes was disappointing though some Sand Martins were taking an interest in the Sand Martin wall by the visitor centre, there was no sign of the Long-tailed Duck but it could have moved to the New Diggings. With much lighter winds in the forecast for the coming week hopefully we can look forward to to some passerines around the peninsula and some waders on the lakes and hay fields.

A couple of the Yellow Wagtail images from Scotney I tried to post the other day

 

19/04/2025

Bar-tailed Godwits passing the Bouy

Whimbrel passing the sea watch hide today

In the last few days the peninsular has been bereft of newly arrived migrant birds, so I have spent most of time staring out to sea which has been reasonably productive. Several 1,000s of Bar-tailed Godwits having been moving East along with 100s of Whimbrel and smaller numbers of Grey Plover, also our first 2 Pomarine Skuas of the year, several Great Skuas and good numbers of Arctic Skuas. Common Scoter continue to feature and Common and Arctic Terns have started to pass, hopefully some Black Terns soon. Full sea watching numbers can be found on the Trektellen web site.

On th ereserve the Long-tailed Duck is still on Burrowes and there are plenty of Reed and Sedge Warblers and Common and Lesser Whitethroats, hopefully more summer migrants will arrive in the next few days. 

17/04/2025

It would appear that somehow Blogger has lost or deleted all of the post for the17th including all the images.😠

12-13/04/2025

A super weekends birding at Dungeness with the undoubted highlight of the weekend sea watches was the was a Surf Scoter that came past with c1600 Common Scoter on Saturday not long after a Serin flew over the hide, also all 3 Divers, Arctic and Great Skua, 4 species of Tern and much more. Many thanks to the watchers at Beachy Head for alerting us that the Scoter was on its way.

On the land Black-winged Stilt, Hoopoe, Red-rumped Swallow, Bittern, Bearded Tits and the first rush of spring migrants.

This Black Redstart is singing every morning behind the sea watch hide

 

Female Black Redstart behind the hide

The Black-winged Stilt that turned up on Hayfield 1 Saturday morning and ai still present this evening

Black-winged Stilt

Black-winged Stilt

Great Crested Grebes doing the weed dance at Denge Marsh yesterday

Great Crested Grebes doing the weed dance 

Great Crested Grebes doing the weed dance 

Great Crested Grebes doing the weed dance 

A Raven at Denge Marsh yesterday that had just finished bathing

Sedge Warbler at Dengemarsh yesterday, spring arrivals.

1 of at least 12 Yellow Wagtails at the Denge Marsh chicken sheds yesterday

Hoopoe in The Desert this morning

Record images of this afternoons Red-rumped Swallow at Denge Marsh

10/11/04/2025

Todays early morning sea watch was very slow, though what it lacked in numbers it made up for in quality. Red-necked and Black-necked Grebes, Black-throated Diver and 2 Great Skuas, full list can be seen HERE

Yesterdays Purple Herons were still around today, though more elusive with one being in the Long Pits, the other at Denge Marsh. A Wryneck was found on the East side of the Long Pits today, which I missed due to having a cooked breakfast instead of immediately going to see the bird. Very few other migrants were around today, just a handful each of Chiffchaff, Willow warbler and Blackcap.
 

Both Purple Herons

Purple Heron

08/04/2025

A very enjoyable sea watch this morning with a good mix of species, the Hen Harrier was the stand out highlight. A complete list of todays sea watching can be seen HERE

Male Hen Harrier passing East in front the sea watch hide early this morning escorted by a Herring Gull

Male Hen Harrier passing East in front the sea watch hide early this morning 

The first time I've seen Hen Harrier and Common Scoter in the same field of view

 

As far as I'm aware the above image of a presumably tired Cattle Egret resting on the Dungeness Bouy is a first. David Scott kindly gave me permission to use his image, albeit a little embarrassing that I was in the sea watch hide and didn't see the Egret.😂

Several hours spent around the reserve found very little as the cold NE wind continues, there were a several Willow Warblers around the ARC and my first Reed Warbler of the year, a single Water pipit on Hay Field 3 nearby the usual Bearded Tits and singing Bittern, but little else of note. The barnacle Goose is still in residence at Denge Marsh.

A hazy image of a Water Pipit on Hayfield 3 today

The first brood of Greylag Geese on Denge Marsh today

A small flock of Brent Geese made a short stop on Denge Marsh early this afternoon

A pair of Common  Buzzards tussling over the field in front my house today

07/04/2025

 

Mediterranean Gulls passing the sea wath hide this morning

Grey Herons passing the sea watch hide this morning

A little improvement on this mornings sea watch, highlights included 10 Velvet Scoter, 300+ Common Scoter, 13 Little Gulls and 3 Merlins full details can be found on the Trektellen web site. 

Grey Plover and Redshank at Christmas Dell were the highlights of my plod around this afternoon

Redshank at Christmas Dell

This constant NE wind is not doing the reserve any favours, Hayfield 1 and 3 along with Dengemarsh Flood are still holding water due to the pumping, but hay field 2 is drying out rapidly and even hayfield 1 water levels are dropping. On the plus side islands are beginning to reappear on Burrowes and the ARC.

Migrants were were very thin on the ground with just 2 Willow Warblers in the Willow Trail and a few Swallows over the lakes. Yesterdays Yellow Wagtails seemed to have moved on, the Water Pipits are as elusive as ever. Down on The Point Jacob, Owen and David slogged around for very scant reward. Hopefully slightly lighter winds may bring migrants.

This Blossom Underwing has been my highlight of the mothing so far this year, with the cold NE winds continuing I don't see any improvement in the near future. 

03/04/2025

3 Eider passing the sea watch hide early morning

 Another grim day on the land avian wise, a complete circuit of the Scotney complex found plenty of Skylarks, 2 Corn Buntings, 4 Avocet and 2 Green Sandpipers but no Yellow Wagtails and only a small number of Tree Sparrows. 

The sea was quite good this morning and late afternoon with the arrival of our first Great Skua of the spring and first Common Terns. Screenshot from Trektellen below.

01/04/2025

3 of the 25 Garganey that flew East past the hide this morning 

A flock of Avocets passing the hide this morning

A much better than expected sea watch with a nice trickle of Dabblers and Waders.

07.15-10.15 from the hide with RW, JB, AB, JY, OL, DW.

Garganey: 25E 

Shoveler: 61E

Pintail: 7E

Teal: 43E

Eider: 1W

Velvet Scoter: 3W

Common Scoter: 130E  

Red-breasted Merganser: 17E 

Great-crested Grebe: 4E 

Oystercatcher: 2E

Avocet: 12E

Curlew: 1E

Knot: 9E

Dunlin: 4E

Sandwich Tern: 24E

Kittiwake: 2E   

Black-headed Gull: 13E

Common Gull: 32E

Herring Gull: Present n/c

Great Black-backed Gull: Present n/c

Razorbill: 1E

Auk sp: 23E

Red-throated Diver: 7E    1 Present

Gannet: 15E  

Cormorant: present

Meadow pipit: 2E

Raven: Present

Harbour Porpoise: 11+

A couple of close Scoter this morning

Red-breasted Mergansers passing the hide this morning

A drake Garganey with Dunlin on Hay Field 1

Late morning till mid afternoon walk around the reserve in the chilly ENE wind I wasn't expecting to see much. As I approached Hookers my first Sand Martin of the year flew over. On Hay Field 1 31 Dunlin and

a Ringed Plover dropped quickly followed by a fine drake Garganey. While I was there 4 Green Sandpipers flew over and dropped into Hay Field 2, also 12 Brent Geese.

A Water Pipit on Hay Field 3

1 of 3 Cattle egrets in the Cockles bridge Triangle