Stubby Tail

The tail less 1W Glaucous Gull at Dungeness waited for the sun to make a brief appearance this afternoon before posing on the fishermans hut. From the beach huge numbers of Red-throated Divers moving east (300 in ten minutes at 11.30 A.M. and still good numbers moving at 2.30 P.M.). Also numerous Auks moving west (Those identified were all Guillemots). In a search of the gull roosts on the beach no Caspian Gulls were found. On the ARC Pit  1 Red head Smew, 2 Red head Goosander and a Bittern inflight over the road. On Walland Marsh 160+ Bewick Swans, 5 Egyptian Geese, 27 Corn Buntings, 3 Marsh Harriers and 6+ Tree Sparrows on the feeders.

Pity about the Bean Goose

4 of the 7 Pink-footed Geese

At Pett Level this morning the Pale-bellied Brent Geese were showing well with the Dark-bellied Brents at the Winchelsea end. At the pools the Red-breasted Goose(many thanks to Tony Wilson for putting me on to it) was showing very distantly by Military Canal  with Whitefronts and Barnacles on the sea a few Red-throated Divers and Great-crested Grebes. At Northpoint GP there was 2 Red-head Smew but no Jack Snipe. 400+ Whitefronted Geese flew west in 2 flocks 250+ & 150+ and 84 Bewick Swans flew East.
At Scotney on my second visit today the Geese flock eventually came in. In it there was 7 Pink-footed Geese, 100 + Whitefronts, 100+ Wild Barnacle Geese along with the feral flock of Barnacles and 5 Egyptian Geese including the albino bird, but no Bean Goose.

Gloomy Dungeness

Caspian Gull ?

 First stop Scotney where little was noted due to disturbance by fisherman.  Next stop Galloways Road, where the Rough-legged Buzzard showed itself distantly flying  over the beach then hovering over the beach scrub for a short while before gradually coming closer and closer eventually flying more or less over head and hovering again before appearing to go down near the beach again. A drive over Walland Marsh was frustrating  because of the fog but there were still plent of winter Thrushes there. Next stop Dungeness RSPB where Matt Eade told me there was an adult Caspian Gull Gull from Makepiece Hide. As i was the only one in the hide i found a bird that i presume was the one Matt saw and it certainly looks good but i'm not sure of the underwing detail(hopefully some one will put me right please). Also from the hides were 11 red head Smew, 12 Goosander 3 Bitterns, a Water Rail and 3 Marsh Harriers.  

Smew with Perch

Galloways Rough-legged Buzzard

   A short visit to Galloways to hopefully see the Rough-legged Buzzard was imediately successful as the bird was on show as i arrived albeit distantly. It is a superbly marked bird so hopefully it will remain for a while to give me a chance of getting better photo's and maybe it wont be quite as cold as it was today.
The Grampian Ringing group have been in touch and informed me that the Waxwing i photographed at Hamstreet was the same one photographed in Ebbsfleet by Dylan Wrathall on 20/12/2010 and had been rung in Aberdeen on 31/10/2010

Neck Collar Whitefronts



2 Birds with Neck Collars

 First stop Cockle Bridge where 170+ Greater Whitefronted Geese, 8 Barnacle Geese and 18 Bewick Swans in the field. Scanning through the geese i found 2 with neck collars. White collar with black letters (BJ) and (BR) will be interesting to know where they were marked. The whole flock was flushed by a Marsh Harrier creating a fantastic spectacle. The ARC Pit was mostly frozen with only a small open area filled with Wigeon and Gadwall. A Bittern flew over as did 8 Red Head Goosander. On the New Diggings 5+ Smew including a smart drake were showing well from the road.

Spectacle of wild geese


 The reserve was shut so i went to  Scotney where the Wigeon have increased to easily 10,000 birds on the and around thr 3 pits. Greylag Geese  also appear to have increased dramatically. Feral or Wild? The only Barnacle Geese i could find were the usual feral flock  and the Whitefronts appear to have departed. On Walland Marsh still large flocks of thrushes, 200+ Bewick Swans and 4 Tree Sparrows at the feeders. No sign of the Hamstreet Waxwings. Dipped on the Rough -Legged Buzzard but will try again tomorrow.

Marsh Harrier





Smew on the New Diggings




Fieldfare at the ARC Pit



Colour ringed Waxwing

Browsing the images i took on the 24th at Hamstreet last night, i came across this colour ringed one (Blue on Red on White) probably one of the Aberdeen rung birds. I await Grampian Ringing Groups reply.

Irresistable Waxwings

 An early morning visit to scotney to try and catch the Geese roosting on the pit was a miserable freezing failure thanks to a couple of idiots with shotguns. On the way down as i passed Hamstreet i saw the Waxwings i found on Wednesday in the same place but as it was quite dark i thought i'd re-visit them after i'd looked at Scotney. There were 2 flocks of Barnacle Geese there the usual feral flock of 70+ with its hybrid Emporers and another of 120+ presumably wild birds. This flock contained 2 coloured ringed individuals which i managed to read and have reported. The Greater Whitefronts were scattered across the marsh by the shooters. Wigeon numbers around the pits appear to increase every day with 6000+ probably very conservative. Also seen were 3 Marsh Harriers, 2 Ruff, 40+ Golden Plover and a Peregrine. Walland Marsh still  has many flocks  of mixed thrushes but i could not find yesterdays Waxwings. Back at Hamstreet the sun was now out and the 18 Waxwings i found had increased to 47 with at least 1 colour ringed individual but not yet seen well enough unlike some of the other posing individuals.

Walland Waxwings

As i drove across Walland Marsh i got a text from Jake telling me had just found 30 Waxwings  in Horsham, moments later i found a party of 10 feeding on the Hawthorns along with hundreds of Redwing and Fieldfare. At the feeders were 6 Tree Sparrows and nearby at the drying barn 12 Corn Buntings, 15 Yellowhammers, 8 Linnets, 4 Goldfinches and 20+ Chaffinches and hundreds more thrushes. In the fields 62 Bewick Swans, 100+ Greater Whitefronted Geese, 26 Golden Plover, 2 Marsh Harriers and a Common Buzzard looking dejected sat in a muddy field. Nearby at Scotney pits the Wigeon numbers easily topped 5000, 100+ Greater Whitefronted Geese, 100+ Barnacle Geese some colour ringed. Still no Smew or Goosander there despite fair numbers at Dungeness. 

Foggy Scotney

On my way to Scotney this morning i saw 18 familiar silouettes by the side of the main road at Hamstreet.  Unfortunately i could only get a record picture of 16 of them due to traffic. At Scotney i counted 121 Barnacle Geese  and 73 Greater White Fronted Geese(both counts are probably very conservative) and probably 4 Bean Geese. ID and precise counts was difficult due to the fog, distance and the folds in the landscape. Also 4+ Marsh Harriers were chivvying the 3000+ Wigeon on and around the pit.

Super Sawbills

 A brilliant morning at dungeness started with a Bittern flying over the deserted ARC Pit car park as i arrived. Though the pit was mainly frozen 1000+ Wigeon  were in a small ice free hole along with 8 Goldeneye a few Pochard and Tufted Duck. 4+ Marsh Harriers were chivvying the Coot  and Teal unsuccessfully. The Willow trail held a Chiffchaff and a couple of squealing Water Rail. I followed Ray Turley down the icy entrance track to  the Visitor Centre which we had to our selves. From Firth hide we counted 4 Bitterns on show around the  edge of Burrowes Pit though distant 11 Smew (1 Drake) on the New Diggings and 6 Goosander. From Makepiece Hide a brilliant drake Goosander with 3 Red heads Goosander came right up to the the hide giving myself and Ray the best views we have ever had of Goosanders and 2 red head Smew came nearly as close. At least 2 more Bitterns were seen and a Yellow Legged Gull was on the ice, also another Chiffchaff was in the Willows infront the hide.