Red-backed Shrike!

When I finally crawled out of bed this morning I decided on a wander around the reserve starting at Springfield Bridge. It was quite depressing at how few Reed and Sedge Warblers were singing from the ditches and Reed beds, also how few Swallows, Martins and Swifts were seen, I'm still hoping there are more yet to arrive. On the bright side there seemed to be plenty of Lesser and Common Whitethroats also Cetti's Warblers. I watched a couple of Hobby's hawking insects over Dengemarsh hopefully more of them to come. Burrowes had a good selection waders on show Redshank, Sanderling, Dunlin, Curlew, Bar-tailed Godwits, Knot and Common Sandpiper.

 All round the reserve today there many wriggling masses of Lackey Moth caterpillars, so plenty of food for the Cuckoo's that were calling.

At Hookers the leucistic Rabbit that has been around for a couple of years was still present.
I was only half way round the reserve, when I received a call from Richard W saying he and Graham P had found a Red-backed Shrike by the Long Pits. I was a 20 minute walk away from my car which gave me time to call all the other locals all of which arrived before me. It was very elusive and while looking for it I saw my first Whinchat of the year.

 Red-backed Shrike at the Long Pits

  Red-backed Shrike at the Long Pits

I joined AJG who kindly collated the numbers in short sea watch this afternoon
13.20-14.20
Great-crested Grebe: 18 around
Gannet: 19E
Great Skua: 1E
Pomarine Skua: 2E at 1420
Kittiwake 13 up, 11 down
Sandwich Tern 77 up
Swallow 4 in
After the sea watch I went back to get more views of the Shrike being hassled by Common Whitethroats.

Chocholate-tip the highlight of last nights moth catch

Tern Raft!

A shame to see the expensive shiny new Tern Raft on Burrowes Pit already has a pair of Herring Gulls mating on it, hopefully they will moved so as to avoid a repeat of last year, when a pair Herring Gulls nested on a Tern raft at Dengemarsh with 14 pairs of Common Terns, the Gulls seemingly waited for Terns to hatch then used the Tern chicks as a fast food restaurant wiping out all of them. Most of the islands on Burrowes have already been taken by Herring Gulls so it would be a tragedy to let them take the purpose built Tern raft.

05.00-07.30 & 14.15-15.45 with AJG who kindly collated the numbers also RW & OL.
Common Scoter: 72E
Red-throated Diver: 1E
Great-crested Grebe: 15 around
Fulmar: 1W  1E
Manx Shearwater: 1E  1W
Gannet: 17E   8W 68 around
Hobby: 1 in
Oystercatcher: 7E
Dunlin: 9E
Sanderling: 8E
Ringed Plover: 1E
Great Skua: 1E
Pomarine Skua: 2E  @ 06.10
Arctic Skua: 3E
Kittiwake:19E
Sandwich Tern: 517E
Common/Arctic Tern: 343E
Auk sp: 2E. 1w
Harbour Porpoise: 10+ around
Grey Seal: 1
From Dennis's Hide 11 Curlew, 2 Bar-tailed Godwits, a Grey Plover, 2 Redshank and a Little Gull.
Later a drake Garganey was found at Makepiece, while Dengemarsh hosted 4+ Hobby's.

Roseate Tern & A Few More Poms!

04.50-09.00 &11.15-18.15 thanks to AJG for collating the numbers JC,RO et al
Common Scoter: 203E  29W
Red-throated Diver: 7E
Black-throated Diver: 1E
Great-crested Grebe: 16 around
Fulmar: 14E  9W
Manx Shearwater: 40+ around
Gannet: 667E   38W
Oystercatcher: 17E    4W
Dunlin: 7E
Sanderling: 15E
Turnstone: 2E
Grey Plover: 6E
Bar-tailed Godwit: 3E
Whimbrel: 6E
Curlew: 1E
Great Skua: 3E
Pomarine: Skua: 6E
Arctic Skua: 14E
Kittiwake: 75E
Little Tern: 14E
Sandwich Tern: 497E
Common/Arctic Tern: 1,915E
Arctic Tern: 16E
Roseate Tern: 1E   @18.00
Guillemot: 1E
Auk sp: 119E    5W
Swallow: 2 in
Harbour Porpoise: 10+
Grey Seal: 1
Harbour Seal: 1
Thanks to Matt Eade for for letting us know that 4 more Pomarine Skuas were on there way, though this year very few of the Splash Point flocks have reached Dungeness, the lure of 4 very close Poms made at least 4 of us stay till 17.51 when they arrived, though sadly a long way off shore, but 9 minutes later a lovely Roseate Tern came past with a small flock of Common Terns.
It seems once again land birds were few and far between on the peninsula in this continuing poor spring for migrants. 2 Bee-eaters flew around the fishing boats watched by OL while I was few100s yards away at the sea watch hide this afternoon, normal Bee-eater misses resume.

Calais!

 1 of todays Grasshopper Warblers

I joined CP,MH and PT on a trip to Northern France today, we visited various sites all within a 10 mile radius of Calais. Without any effort we racked up 100+ species including 12 species of Warbler including Marsh Warblers and super singing Icterine Warbler which evaded my lens. A Honey Buzzard which appeared to be carrying a food/prey item gave a very brief view as it flew over a ride in the forest. On one of the beaches 5 Kentish Plovers were seen, though their chances of breeding success didn't look good as holidaymakers strolled through the breeding area along with kite buggies.

It was a great day out and actually seeing loads of birds in great company. 

 1 of todays Grasshopper Warblers

1 of todays Grasshopper Warblers

 Kentish Plover

 Kentish Plover

Kentish Plover

Kentish Plovers

Honey Buzzard which appears to be carrying a food item

Shy Common Redstart

Grey Partridge

 Lady Orchid

Roe Deer

Black-tailed Godwits!

This evenings Glaucous Gull by the fish hut found by Dave Bunney

Probably my last silly o clock sea watch of the spring started well but soon died as the visibility deteriorated causing some unusual optical illusions that had fishing boats seemingly suspended in the sky.

The highlight for me was the 2 flocks (90 & 80)  of Black-tailed Godwits that flew high west, I have absolutely no idea where they were going.

05.00-10.00 with AJG, DS, MH,CP et al
Shelduck: 2E
Shoveler: 1E
Garganey: 2E
Common Scoter: 132E
Red-throated Diver: 4E
Great-crested Grebe: 29 around
Fulmar: 2E   1W
Manx Shearwater: 7E    2W
Gannet: 32E     24W
Oystercatcher: 9E
Grey Plover: 6E
Sanderling: 34E
Whimbrel: 25E
Bar-tailed Godwit: 21E
Black-tailed Godwit: 170W  (flocks of 90 & 80)
Arctic Skua: 5E
Pomarine Skua: 4E @ 05.15
Kittiwake: 12E
Sandwich Tern: 407E
Common/Arctic Tern: 823E
Little Tern: 41E
Swallow: 5 in
Harbour Porpoise: 10+
Grey Seal: 1
A short stop at the ARC was again disappointing due to the lack of summer migrants, where are they all! A Cuckoo was again on the wires opposite my house but no sign of the Yellow Wagtails that usually nest in the field.
A short visit to the sea watch hide this afternoon to collect a chair saw 2 flocks of Oystercatchers totalling c50 birds fly west, an Arctic Skua marauding off shore and an Osprey, unfortunately the latter was an American aircraft.
This evening Dave Bunney found a juvenile Glaucous Gull at the fish hut, many thanks to him for getting the news out to the locals so quickly.
It seems that another 5 or 6 Pomarine Skuas were seen this afternoon.
With a few days left of the Pomarine Skua season, it seems that it is going to be a poor year them, I personally have managed to see 50 birds so far, well short of last years personal total of 249.

This evenings Glaucous Gull

Another Superb Dungeness Sea Watch!

Hopefully any Pomarine Skuas tomorrow will be closer!

A very long but brilliant sea watch in brilliant weather and better company: AJG,ML,GH,RW,NB,DW.JTM et al: Nearly 6,500 birds of 35 species past today!
04.55-19.00
Shelduck: 5E
Shoveler: 7E
Common Scoter:423E
Red-breasted Merganser: 1E
Red-throated Diver: 4E
Black-throated Diver: 2E
Great-crested Grebe: 16+ around
Fulmar:3E. 7W
Manx Shearwater: 9E   3W
Gannet: 89E      42W
Cormorant: present n/c
Oystercatcher: 17E  21W
Turnstone: 8E
Grey Plover: 43E
Sanderling: 78E
Dunlin: 17E
Knot: 138E
Curlew: 1 over
Whimbrel: 194E
Bar-tailed Godwit:: 547E
Great Skua: 7E
Arctic Skua: 24E
Pomarine Skua: 15E
Black-headed Gull: present n/c
Mediterranean Gull: 1 over
Herring Gull: present n/c
Great Black-backed Gull present n/c
Little Gull: 2E
Kittiwake: 19E    3W
Sandwich Tern: 853E
Common/Arctic Tern: 3,509E
Arctic Tern: 106E
Little Tern: 80E
Black Tern: 2E
Guillemot: 2W
Auk sp: 4W
Swallow: 12 in
Harbour Porpoise: c20
Grey Seal: 1

 Whimbrel overhead

Arctic Skua in hot persuit

Arctic Skua

 Bar-tailed Godwits

More Whimbrel

 The poor light conditions cannot possible convey the spectacle of all these migrating Terns

Excellent Dungeness Sea Watch!

05.00-12.00 + 15.00-19.45 AJG,MB,ML,AL, SO, DW,JTM et al
Brent Goose: 3E
Shelduck: 3E
Shoveler: 4E
Tufted Duck: 1E
Common Scoter: 112E
Red-throated Diver: 2E   1 around
Great-crested Grebe: 21 around
Fulmar: 1E   5W
Manx Shearwater: 10E     8W
Gannet: 139E
Cormorant: present n/c
Little Egret: 1E
Sanderling: 66E
Dunlin: 2E
Oystercatcher: 54E
Grey Plover: 25E
Knot: 26E
Whimbrel: 280E
Bar-tailed Godwit: 541E
Great Skua: 2E
Pomarine Skua: 12E   5@11.38,  1@15.05, 6 @19.01 (thanks to Matt Eade for the heads up)
Arctic Skua: 21E
Black-headed Gull: present n/c
Mediterranean Gull: 2E  1 around
Common Gull: present n/c
Herring Gull: present n/c
Great Black-backed Gull present n/c
Little Gull: 1E
Kittiwake: 40E   1W
Sandwich Tern: 713E
Common/Arctic Tern: 1,030E
Arctic Tern: 742E
Little Tern: 14E
Black Tern: 1E
Swallow: 18 in
Crow 5 in
Grey Seal: 1
Harbour Porpoise: 6+

There were at least 3 other Pomarine Skuas past Dungeness today that I missed due to incompetence!

Arctic Terns in the Sunshine!

Spooonbill west past the sea watch hide at 06.56 this morning

05.00-09.30 with AJG,MB,RW,ML,AL,GH,NB et al
Greylag Goose: 2 out
Shelduck: 3E  2 out   4 in
Common Scoter: 21E
Red-throated Diver: 1E  1W
Great-crested Grebe: 16 around
Fulmar: 3E  1W
Manx Shearwater: c15 feeding offshore
Gannet: 174E
Spoonbill: 1W
Sparrowhawk: 1E
Oystercatcher: 27E
Ringed Plover: 2E
Dunlin: 1E
Turnstone: 2E
Whimbrel: 222E
Curlew: 1E
Bar-tailed Godwit: 227E
Great Skua: 2E
Arctic Skua: 2E
Kittiwake: 8E.  1W
Sandwich Tern: 536E
Common/Arctic Tern: 72E
Auk Sp: 13E  10W
Swallow: 9 in
Wood Pigeon: 1 on beach
Black Redstart: 1 singing behind hide
Crow: 8 in
Goldfinch: 15E
Linnet: 6E
Harbour Porpoise: 6+
Fox: 1 on beach

Some of the Whimbrel & Bar-tailed Godwits past today

Fulmar over the hide

Beach Fox

 Bittern at the ARC this morning

Arctic Tern

14.30-17.45 with AJG who kindly collated the numbers, also SO,DW,GH & ML.
Brent Goose: 1W
Red-throated Diver: 1E
Fulmar: 1W
Gannet: 49E
Shag: 1E A scarce bird at Dungeness!
Oystercatcher: 1E
Grey Plover: 2E
Dunlin: 20E
Knot: 4E
Whimbrel: 92E
Bar-tailed Godwit: 65E
Great Skua: 3E
Arctic Skua: 9E
Kittiwake: 13E
Sandwich Tern: 136E
Arctic Tern: 2,140E they were still coming past when I left!
Little Tern: 6E
Black Tern: 2E   The first past this year!

Still only small numbers of summer migrants around the Dungeness area, though I did manage to locate a Turtle Dove on the marsh.

May 4th!

Another long day staring at the sea enjoying the sunshine. Many thanks to everyone present for calling out the birds and numbers.
05.05-17.00 with a lunch break 11.00-12.10. AJG,MB,ML,AL,RW,DS et al.
Brent Goose: 4E
Shelduck: 2E  2W
Common Scoter: 160E   1W
Eider: 9E
Red-Throated Diver: 3E
Great-crested Grebe: 31 around
Fulmar: 8 down
Manx Shearwater: 37E   3W
Gannet: 36E   193W
Peregrine: 1 around
Hobby: 1 in
Oystercatcher: 4W  9E
Sanderling: 6E
Bar-tailed Godwit: 2E
Whimbrel: 93E
Curlew: 1E
Great Skua: 9E
Pomarine Skua: 3E   2@06.14, 1@ 13.14
Arctic Skua: 5E
Mediterranean Gull: 4E
Kittiwake: 28W
Little Gull: 1E
Sandwich Tern: 501E
Common/Arctic Tern: 2,465E
Common Tern: 72E
Arctic Tern: 256E
Little Tern: 35E
Auk: 4W
Swallow: 28 in
House Martin: 2 in
Crow: 1 in
Harbour Porpoise: 34+
Grey Seal: 1
It would seem that there were very few migrants on the land again today.

Wheatears!

Had a lay in this morning which meant I missed the 2 early Pomarine Skuas and the 2 Black-throated Divers.
Driving along the approach road about 07.30 I noticed that there seemed to be a few Wheatears around, parking at the new lighthouse I walked back along the shingle to the lifeboat station with AJG we counted c70 Wheatears, 6 Shelduck flew over but little else was noted.

 Gleaming in the morning sunshine

1 of six that flew over The Point this morning

The rest of the morning I spent at home waiting for a parcel delivery which gave me the opportunity to do some sky watching. 2 Common Buzzards, 2 Marsh Harriers and a Hobby were the highlights of an otherwise slow watch.

Early afternoon at the ARC found Reed and Sedge Warblers still in small numbers, Common and Lesser Whitethroat and Cetti's Warbler were all very vocal, also a Cuckoo there and 2 Hobby's over the tower pits,  however very little of note on the lake.

I then wandered down to The Patch where c30 Common Terns were around the boil, c100 large Gulls in the roost several bearing black Norwegian rings which due to the heat shimmer I was unable to read, also 2 Wheatears there.

A sea watch from the fishing boats started very well with a Sooty Shearwater heading North into Lade Bay, but that was highlight of a very poor watch.

14.45-16.30 with AJG,MH,RW,CT,JTM et al.

Red-throated Diver: 1E
Great-crested Grebe: 12 around
Sooty Shearwater: 1E
Gannet: 17W
Kittiwake: 11W
Auk sp: 1W
Harbour Porpoise: 6+

Late afternoon visit to Galloways and Dengemarsh Gully found another c40 Wheatears but almost nothing else of note.