Sunday 26 January 2014

Another Dungeness Sea Bird Spectacular!

A photograph cannot convey the sheer numbers of birds on the sea and passing!
 From the fishing boats with DW till 11.00 when the rain arrived:
Red Throated Diver: c120 most in one flock pushed off the sea by a fishing boat.
Great Crested Grebe: N/C but many could be seen in Hythe Bay.
Fulmar: 2W
Gannet: c200 past and feeding off shore
Cormorant: N/C but c400 feeding
Goldeneye: 2W
Teal: 4W
Avocet: 4W
Turnstone: 6 on beach
Little Gull: 10+W and feeding along the tide line
Kittiwake: c800W and feeding
Mediterranean Gull: 1W
Black Headed Gull:  several 1,000sW
Guillemots: c12,000W and on sea
Razorbill: c2,000W and on sea  working on an approximate ratio of 6 to 1 in favour of Guillemots
Grey Seal: 1
The counts of Auks and Kittiwakes are only estimates as the birds were passing in such numbers it was impossible to count them individually.

 A small part of the flock of Red Throated Divers.
 1W Little Gull
 Adult winter Little Gull
 Adult winter Little Gull
Driving back across the causeway I could see the 2 Black-throated Divers and a Great White Egret at the southern end of the ARC.
As I left home this morning 14 Red Legged Partridges were in the field opposite.

4 comments:

  1. Hurry up with the Wheatear pictures Martin!!

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  2. Great post Martin, You capture it all so well in words and pictures - I regret I couldn't get down there this weekend.

    Regards,

    Nick

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  3. Just love those "dancing" Little Gulls Martin

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