With the strong westerly winds dominating this weekend any birding was going to be hard work. Sea watching produced a westerly trickle of Gannets, Kittiwakes and Auks, with a few Red-throated Divers, a Sandwich Tern was feeding off shore but little else.
Not a single Caspian Gull was seen on the beach nor on the reserve, though several Yellow-legged Gulls were noted.
The Long-eared Owl sitting on its chosen branch at the back of the dipping pool continues to attract plenty of admirers. On Burrowes up to 4 Goosanders, 5 Smew, 8 Goldeneye could be found among the commoner wildfowl. A walk around the rest of the reserve found little due to the wind.
Most of the Great White Egrets seem to have relocated to the shelter of Brett's Marina.    

Dazzling!

The down side of todays beautiful bright sunny morning at The Point, was that due to the dazzling brightness and low trajectory of the sun trying to sea watch was a hopeless cause.

On the reserve the very popular Long-eared Owl was still on its chosen perch, 4 each of Goosander and Smew, 5 Goldeneye and plenty of the common wildfowl were on Burrowes. Bittern, Bearded Tits, Great White Egret, Marsh Harriers, Chiffchaff, Cetti's Warbler and Water Rail were all showing at Hookers.

Long-eared Owl at the Dipping Pool

Adult Caspian Gull on Burrowes

Late afternoon an adult and 2w Caspian Gull came into Burrowes also 2 Yellow-legged Gulls.

 Long-eared Owl taken at another site.

Lean Fare!

Blogger seems to have a mind of its own at the moment, no matter what I do it centres most text.

A morning 08.00-09.30 and an afternoon 13.00-14.00 sea watch produced:

Brent Goose: 3 SW

Common Scoter: 30 NE

Red-throated Diver: 28 SW

Black-throated Diver: 2 SW

Great-crested Grebe: 19 on sea

Gannet: 583 SW

Cormorant: c250 around

Turnstone: 21 on beach

Kittiwake: 80 SW

Guillemot: 6 SW

Razorbill: 11 SW

Auk Sp: 3 SW

Pied Wagtail: 3 on beach

Starling: 427 in

Chaffinch: 2 in

Goldfinch: 67 over

A visit to Scotney saw the usual feral geese, low numbers of duck and a single Curlew.

Adult Caspian Gull late afternoon on Burrowes

A morning and afternoon visit to the reserve saw the long-eared Owl on its chosen perch, 4 Goosander, 2 Smew, 8+ Goldeneye, 2 Yellow-legged Gulls, a 2w and an adult Caspian Gull along with all the common wildfowl.

Colour Rings

Sea watching from the fishing boats has not been very inspiring lately and today was no different. It will get better and I intend to be there when it does.

08.00-08.45

Great-crested Grebe: 32 on sea

Gannet: 11 SW  2 NE

Cormorant: n/c

Dunlin: 4 SW

Kittiwake: 16 SW

Guillemot: 1 on sea

Auk Sp: 5 SW

My next stop was The Patch. DW was already in the hide when I arrived grilling the 1,000s of Gulls on the beach and over the boil. He had seen a 1w Little Gull among the throng which despite me being there c90 minutes I failed to find. Not long after I arrived we spotted a Yellow ringed adult Caspian Gull, which after much scrutiny and blowing up of images was Yellow PKKK.

A visit to Scotney was disappointing with absolutely nothing of note seen.
A drive around Walland found 4+ Bewick Swans in fields at Horsebones Farm but very distant, a few small flocks of winter thrushes, 3 Marsh Harriers and a Common Buzzard.
No Caspians came into the beach this afternoon but a few colour ringed Gulls were seen.

A regular quite tame Great Black Backed Gull

Another regular Great Black Backed Gull

A3BJ another regular bird

Lapland Bunting !

08.05-0845
Common Scoter:  1 NE    2 SW
Red-throated Diver: 2 SW
Great-crested Grebe: 36 o/s
Gannet: 72 SW
Cormorant: 396 flushed from the bay by the range boat
Turnstone: 26 on beach
Kittiwake: 5 SW  4 on beach
Guillemot: 1 on sea
Razorbill: 1 SW
Auk sp: 3 SW
Lapland Bunting: 1 on shingle behind the boats briefly

I flushed the Lapland Bunting from beside my car and it flew off low towards The Point, despite spending at least an hour scouring the area I was unable to re-find it.

The Long-eared Owl is still showing well behind the dipping pool. On Burrowes 4 Smew, 3 Goosanders, 5+ Goldeneye and the usual wildfowl. A Great White Egret could be seen on the New Diggings. 

Common Buzzard Walland Marsh

A look around the marsh this afternoon failed to find any Bewick Swans or Owls. At least 20 Tree Sparrows by the feeders, also c150 Fieldfare with a few Redwing, 3 Common Buzzards and at one of the harrier roosts 18 Marsh Harriers roosted.

Stormy Dungeness!

08.00-09.30 from the fishing boats on another very stormy Dungeness morning:

Red-throated Diver: 1 NE  1 on sea

Great Northern Diver: 1 SW

Great Crested Grebe: 34 o/s

Gannet: 186 SW     

Cormorant: 326 o/s

Oystercatcher: 1 NE

Turnstone: 3 on beach

Kittiwake: 24 SW   4 on beach

Herring Gull:    P1BT  on beach

Guillemot: 1 on sea

Auk sp: 5 NE

Great Northern Diver from the fishing boats this morning

 Kittiwake in the surf

On the reserve the Long-eared Owl was still showing well behind the dipping pond. From Makepiece hide 3 Goosander and 3 Smew along with all the usual wildfowl. Despite scrutinising 100s of Gulls on Burrowes I could find nothing of note.

On Walland Marsh 3 Bewick Swans at Horsebones Farm and another 15 at Swan Farm, Swamp Road.

At Brett's Marina 4 Great White Egrets and 4 Little Egrets, another Great White Egret on the New Diggings. A Chiffchaff and Cetti's Warbler in the Willow Trail and 3 Marsh Harriers from Hanson Hide.

On the beach this afternoon 43 more Gannets moved SW. A call from DW who was at the other end of the beach curtailed my watch with news of a 3w Caspian Gull was coming to bread.

 3w Caspian Gull near the fishing boats this afternoon

3w Caspian Gull

3w Caspian Gull

Late afternoon an adult Caspian Gull dropped into the beach roost, despite watching it for ages it refused to lift its head for the camera and as soon as I looked away it was flushed by a dog walker. An adult Yellow-legged Gull was also in the roost.

Adult Caspian Gull in the beach roost

Gulls!

08.00-09.00 from The Point, just enough to keep me entertained. The Purple Sandpiper being the highlight.

Red-throated Diver: 1 NE   15 SW

Black-throated Diver: 2 SW

Great-crested Grebe: 7 around

Gannet: 10 NE      13 SW

Cormorant: c150 around

Purple Sandpiper: 1 SW

Kittiwake: 5 SW      3 around

Auk sp: 6 SW       2 NE

On the New Diggings a Great White Egret and 2 Goosander, the Long-eared Owl still showing at the back of the dipping pool, 4 Smew now on Burrowes, also 2 Goosander, a Kingfisher and 2 Brambling over. 

After a full English at home I had a run around a very windswept Walland Marsh, plenty of Tree Sparrows in the usual spots, a flock of c100 Fieldfare with a few Redwing, also pleasingly Greenfinches seemed to be plentiful but most birds had there heads down.

At Scotney ad adult Caspian Gull and 3 adult Yellow-legged Gulls, but little else of note. 

 Ad Caspian Gull + ad Yellow-legged Gull (preening)

3w Caspian Gull from Makepiece

An early afternoon visit to the fishing boats was cut short by a deterioration in the weather, so I retired to the VC for a cup of tea with MH in the OFC. We decided to investigate a report of Red-necked Phalarope from Makepiece, where we found another adult and a 3w Caspian Gull also 2 more adult Yellow-legged Gulls but no Phalarope. The Long-eared Owl was still present at dusk.

Couldn't resist another image of yesterdays Glossy Ibis at Pett.

Glossy Ibis!

First thing this morning the sea was very quiet, just a few Red-throated Divers, Common Scoter and 240 Starling in, not a single Gannet in 30 minutes. At the back of the sea watch hide 2 Black Redstarts fly catching from the perimeter wall and 3 1w Little Gulls over The Patch. 

 On the reserve the Long-eared Owl was still sat behind the dipping pool. The Polish ringed 1w Caspian Gull was on the Island in front of the VC and an adult was out from Makepiece. 3 red head Smew from Scott, a Kingfisher and 100s of Wigeon, Teal and Shoveler with a few Pintail all pushed towards Scott as the wardens were doing necessary vegetation clearance on the islands. From the viewing ramp a Bittern, Bearded Tits, a Kingfisher, 3 Marsh Harriers, Great White Egret, 4 Egyptian Geese, Cetti's Warblers, a Chiffchaff and several Goldcrests.

 Glossy Ibis Pett Pools.

This afternoon following a call from Roger H, I took a rare excursion away from Dungeness to Pett Pools where a Glossy Ibis was giving superb views close to the road. While there Peregrine, Marsh Harrier, Raven, were seen, also a few Common Scoter on the sea and a few Brent Geese among the Greylags in the fields.

Adult Caspian Gull on Burrowes this morning. Taken at 130x on the bridge camera.

L.E.Owl and a Gull!

An uninspiring watch this morning 08.00-09.00 from The Point:
Brent Goose: 1 NE
Common Scoter: 6 NE
Red-throated Diver: 14 NE
Gannet: 14 NE  46 SW
Cormorant: 478 came out of the bay
Turnstone: 6 around
Kittiwake: 7 SW
Guillemot: 2 around
Auk sp: 15 NE       4 SW
Starling: 130 in

From the sea watch hide with Phil B. 2 Little Gulls and a Mediterranean Gull over The patch, a juvenile Pomarine Skua drifted past and 2 Peregrines around.

 On the reserve more or less the first bird I spotted through the visitor centre window was 65P5 the Polish ringed 1w Caspian Gull. From Makepiece Hide 2 red head Smew, 4 Goosander (1 drake) and the usual wildfowl. At Hookers 2+ Bearded Tits, Great White Egret and 2 Marsh Harriers. While there we were told about a Long-eared Owl showing at the back of the dipping pool, which we duly saw. Well done to the couple that spotted it. On the way Raven, Green Woodpecker and Stonechats were seen.

 Bearded Tits

Long-eared Owl  at the dipping pool.

This afternoon I went back to the beach for another sea watch but was distracted by a gorgeous adult Caspian Gull.

 Adult Caspian Gull

65P5

Polish Ringed Caspian Gull 65P5 dropped onto the beach during the sea watch

An interesting watch this morning despite the rain, poor visibility and the fog horn.
08.00-11.00 joined by MH
Brent Goose: 2 NE
Teal: 6 SW
Common Scoter: 4 SW
Red-throated Diver: 8 SW
Fulmar: 26 SW
Gannet: 2 NE       25 SW
Cormorant: 230+  Around
Turnstone: 2 around
Great Skua: 1 SW
Pomarine Skua: 1 SW
Yellow-legged Gull: 1 adult around
Caspian Gull: 1  1w around
Kittiwake: 27 SW
Little Gull: 5 SW
Guillemot: 2 on sea
Auk sp: 18 SW       6 NE

 The poor light and rain does not do this bird justice.

1w Caspian Gull