Pas De Calais!

 I met AJG and BP at silly o-clock to catch the 04.20 ferry to Calais. On the way to Sailly Bray we saw several Grey Partridges Yellowhammers and Corn Bunting in the fields by the motorway. Arriving at Sailly Bray at 07.00 the air was full of bird song. Blackcaps, Garden Warblers, Song Thrushes, Cuckoo's, Reed, Cetti's and Sedge Warblers, a Grasshopper Warbler, 3+ Bluethroats, Marsh Warblers a Melodious Warbler, Rubicola Stonechats, Nightingales, 6 Turtle Doves, over the reed beds were Marsh Harriers, Great White and Little Egrets, White Storks, More Grey Partridges, Hares, nesting Lapwings, Black-winged Stilts, Avocets and more. No Magpies and only 4 Crows were seen and 2 of those were in a Larson Trap which helps to explain the profusion of birds at this site. It is a superb wetland site maintained for hunters with the up side of lots of breeding wading and song birds. A bit different to the Dungeness fields where the Crows and Magpies at least 50 tonight are left to plunder the nesting birds. The few that do manage to get as far as nesting are continually harassed by the Crows as they queue up to take the eggs and young.

 Next stop was St Valery where 40+ Great White Egrets, more Black-winged Stilts, Yellow Wagtails, Wheatears, another singing Bluethroat and more were seen.

 Next stop was Le Crotoy road side pools. Where 100s of noisy nesting Black-headed Gulls were seen, a pair of Garganey mating and another drake, several White Wagtails, 4 Cattle Egrets, more White Storks and Egrets and 2 Swallowtails.

Honey Buzzard near Wissant.

A brief visit to Marquanterre saw more White Storks, Spoonbills, Egrets, Grey Herons and Night Heron and Crested Tits.

A view point over Crecy Forest gave us distant views of 3 Honey Buzzards and a singing Golden Oriole.

On the way home as drove towards Blanc Nez a large raptor was spotted, we quickly pulled up and jumped out of the car to see a superb classic plumaged Honey Buzzard overhead, as it drifted away it did its roller coater display flight and then started wing clapping, a marvellous sight and great way to end a brilliant day seeing a respectable 106 species. 

Stilts!

 A wander around Scotney GP this morning in the glorious sunshine and just a light breeze was quite rewarding. 26 Avocets were seen, including some young from birds that nested on the main lake. 4 singing Corn Buntings, 8 Yellow Wagtails, 3 Egyptian Geese, 2 Common Buzzards, a Hobby, a Marsh Harrier, 3 Whimbrel, and 2 Black Winged Stilts that flew in from the Sussex end as I walked back down the concrete road.

 Corn Bunting Scotney.

Gives you an idea of where the Black Winged Stilts were.

A wander around the Hay fields found 4 Dunlin, a Greenshank, 2 Peregrines, 2 Hobbys a Marsh Harrier and 3 Bearded Tits of note.

5 Spotted Flycatchers were at the north end of the Long Pits per CT.

Sunshine and Showers!

A very brief look at the sea this morning after another birder had spent an hour there and seen nothing.

A wander around the bushes saw at least 5 Spotted Flycatchers (2 at the south end of the Long Pits and 3 at the north end) 2 Willow warblers, 2 Chiffchaffs, 2 Blackcaps a Garden Warbler 10+ Common Whitethroats, 32 Swallows, 1 Sand Martin and 1 Hobby. At West Beach a pair of Black Redstarts.  

 Black Redstarts at West Beach

1 of at least 5 Spotted Flycatchers in the Sallows today 

 Yellow Wagtails Scotney

A brief look at the south end of the ARC saw the 2 roving Egyptian Geese drop in but little else of note.
Dengemarsh from Springfield Bridge 2 Hobbys and a Marsh harrier of note.
At Scotney a surprise in the form of a drake Garganey in the middle of the lake, 3 Whimbrel, 2 Avocet, 6 Ringed Plovers and 2 Yellow Wagtails.
An early evening visit to The Midrips saw 46 Shelduck, 6 Mallard, 2 Gadwall, 2 Coot, 2 Greylags, 4 Mute Swans, 4 Wheatears, 4 Meadow Pipits, 7 Swallows, 1 Whimbrel, 4 Ringed Plovers, 4 Avocet and 1 Grey Plover in its summer finery. Considering the habitat once again The Midrips disappoints, at least there was no wind battering me today.

A very quiet day!

House Sparrow sun bathing at the observatory a couple of days ago.

A slightly less blustery day started at the sea watch hide where little was moving. 9 Common Scoter, a Red-throated Diver flew west and the usual Gannets and Terns were fishing off shore.

A walk around the trapping area and Long Pits with AJG and BM found a few each of Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Whitethroat, Blackcap, Reed Warbler and a Cetti's Warbler but best of all 2 Spotted Flycatchers, also a few 4 Spotted Chasers..

At Scotney still 2 Little Terns, also 3 Avocet, 6 Dunlin, 10 Ringed Plover of note. 

At the reserve no sign of the Black Winged Stilt but a Greenshank, Black-tailed Godwit and Curlew over. At Dengemarsh 2 Marsh Harriers, a Hobby, 3 Bearded Tits and a Raven of note.

Another day of gales!

06.45-08.15 from the sea watch hide saw of note 4 Manx Shearwaters, 16 Fulmars, 2 Little Terns along with a few each of Gannets, Common and Sandwich Terns. Also 6 Swifts and 5 Swallows in.
A blustery walk around the reserve saw only the Black-winged Stilt and 2 Marsh Harriers of note.
In 2 visits to Scotney, morning and afternoon highlights were 2 Little Terns, c 30 Common Terns, 41 Dunlin, 1 Black-tailed Godwit, 15 Ringed Plover and 2 Egyptian Geese.
Lunchtime a wander down to The Patch found c150 Common terns over the boil but nothing else of note.
At Galloways 6 Stonechats and presumably yesterdays Spotted Flycatcher still in the same place.
Another very blustery walk around the hay fields from Springfield Bridge found the Stilt still performing in hay field 1, also 3 Whimbrel and a Geenshank.

Gales!

An hour in The Patch hide this morning where c150 Common Terns were over the boil, off shore 1 Red Throated Diver flew east, as did a Fulmar and a few Gannets were fishing.

At the observatory a Cuckoo was in The Moat and a couple of Greylags flew over.

The ARC from Hanson is still a bit like a watery avian desert.

At Scotney the Herring Gull island was being swamped by the waves caused by the high wind, 4 Turnstones were unusual with 42 Dunlin, 16 Ringed Plover, 2 Avocet, a 1s Little Gull and 5 Barnacle Geese were new.

 Turnstones and Dunlin at Scotney.

 I spent most of the afternoon around Dengemarsh where the Black Winged Stilt was showing well from time to time, by the ramp several Common Lizards were basking on a log pile, a Hobby was hawking over the reed beds, also 2 Marsh Harriers, and 20+ Swifts but most birds sensibly had there heads down out of the gales.

Rained Off!

 From the sea watch hide 07.45-08.45 when visibility was virtually non existent:

Fulmar: 1 up

Gannet: 9 down  2 up

Common Scoter: 31 on sea

Hobby: 1 in

Sandwich Tern: c10 o/s

Common Tern: 23 up in one tight flock + c15 o/s

Swift: 2 in

Swallow: 5 in

Common Whitethroat: 1  New in sheltering behind the hide.

At Scotney 32 Dunlin, 12 Ringed Plover, 1 Sanderling, 1 Whimbrel, 2 Avocet, c50 Swallows, c10 House Martins, 4 Sand Martins and c30 Swifts.

The weather wrote off the rest of the day.

Nightingales and Turtle Doves!

An hour 07.30-08.30 at the sea watch hide this morning was as expected in strong south west winds slow but reasonably entertaining: 

Fulmar: 1 up

Gannet: 22 down 8 up

Shelduck: 2 down

Common Scoter: 24 up

Peregrine: 2 chasing Terns

Arctic Skua: 1 up

Sandwich Tern: c20 o/s

Common Tern: c30 o/s

Swallow: 26 in

Swift: 2 in

On the land a Chiffchaff in the lighthouse garden and Black redstart on the power station. At the observatory DW had had a fruitless early morning in the trapping area, convincing me and AJG that our walking the area would have the same result. As neither of us had caught up with Nightingale yet we decided on a trip to Park Wood where at least 4 birds were singing along with several Blackcaps and Song Thrushes but little else in the windy conditions. On the way back we stopped at the canal at Kennardington where we found more Blackcaps, Common and Lesser Whitethroats, Garden Warbler, Chiffchaffs, Yellowhammers, Mistle Thrushes, House Martins, Sand Martin, Swallows and Swifts.

Coming across the marsh we saw 2 Cuckoo and 2 Turtle Doves!

This evenings walk around the hayfields was uneventful, not surprising in the near gale force wind, but you never know! 

Singing Yellow-browed Warbler.

After yesterdays excitement things were back to normal on the morning sea watch. Thanks to AJG for collating the numbers.

Gannet 23 up

Fulmar 5 up

R t Diver 1 up

Scoter 223 up

Brent Goose 2 up

Whimbrel 8 up

Oystercatcher 24 up

Guillemot 2 up

Great Skua 1 up

Pom Skua 1 up at 0650, 3 up at 0705

Kittiwake 1 up

Arctic Skua 2 up

Common Tern 232 up

DW found a singing Yellow-browed Warbler in the trapping area this morning, it was silent when I arrived, but with a short wait it started singing and calling again, but was very elusive giving only the briefest of glimpses.

Another hour and quarter in the sea watch hide was fairly productive with an Arctic Skua, 6 Little Terns, 151 Commic Terns, 12 Brent Geese and a few each of Gannet, Sandwich Tern and Scoter.

At the south end of the ARC the drake Garganey was still paddling around. Once again I was moved on by the police. The excuse this time was that there have been a number of accidents caused by birders parking there and that the verge is an SSSI!!!!  I held my tongue!

 Queueing up for Lapwing eggs in the Hay field

 Bar-tailed Godwits in the Hay field

 An evening stroll around the Hay fields this evening found 4 Redshank, 3 Bar-tailed Godwit, 2 Wood Sandpipers, 6 Dunlin, 3 Lapwing and a Grey Plover. 50+ Crows were either in or on the fence posts around the fields, so the chances of any waders successfully fledging aren't good.

Grey Plover dropping into the Hay field

Poms!

Sea Watching today 05.15-18.45
Red Throated Diver: 11E

Black-throated Diver: 7E

Great Northern Diver: 1E

Fulmar: 15E

Gannet: 69E

Brent Goose: 9E

Common Scoter: 1,185E

Tufted Duck: 4E

Pintail: 7E

Teal: 5E

Shoveler: 6E

Peregrine: 3 around

Turnstone: 13E

Bar-tailed Godwit: 27E

Whimbrel: 9E

Oystercatcher: 103E

Dunlin: 7E

Sanderling: 24E

Great Skua: 4E

Arctic Skua: 17E

Pomarine Skua: 97E 

Black Tern: 37E

Little Tern: 25E

Commic Tern:995E

Sandwich Tern: n/c

Little Gull: 1E

Kittiwake:34E

Auk: 37E

Swallow: 6 in

Black Redstart: On fence behind hide

Bar-tailed Godwits and Oystercatchers

Drake Garganey at the south end of the ARC on my way home.
Yesterday a good garden tick in the form of a Spoonbill high over the field in front of Plodland, also a Red Kite, 2 Common Buzzards, 2 Marsh Harriers and 4+ Hobbys.