Thursday 03/10/2019

Around The Point and trapping area many Chiffchaffs, of which good numbers were caught and ringed at the observatory, also present were fewer numbers of Blackcaps and Goldcrests. The Desert was very quiet but did hold my first continental Song Thrush of the autumn.

 Chiffchaff by the the Lighthouse Garden

 House Martin

 Swallow about to swallow an insect

On the wires around the station good numbers of hirundines, including high numbers of Sand Martins for this time of year.

 Sand Martin

 Sand Martin

A poor image of 10 Avocets passing the fishing boats this afternoon

13.30-16.00 with AJG who kindly collated the numbers:
Brent Goose: 217W
Teal: 3W
Common Scoter: 86W
Red-throated Diver: 2W
Great-crested Grebe: 2 around
Gannet: 62W
Cormorant: present n/c
Avocet: 10W
Knot: 16W
Dunlin: 8W
Great Skua: 1W
Arctic Skua: 5W
Kittiwake: 63W
Mediterranean gull: 2W
Sandwich Tern: 57W
Razorbill: 7W
Auk sp: 72W   16E
Sand Martin: 2 out
House Martin: 4 out
Swallow: 113 out
Harbour Porpoise: 2

 Brent Geese past the fishing boats this afternoon (a definite lack of juveniles)

Monday 30/09/2019

A much quieter sea watch today, with just a few sea birds  but loads of Passerines.
07.15-08.30 with AJG who kindly collated the numbers:
Common Scoter: 24W
Red-throated Diver: 1W
Great-crested Grebe: 3 around
Gannet: 62W
Sparrowhawk: 1 around
Arctic Skua: 6W
Sandwich Tern: 38W
Auk sp: 14W
Swallow: 1140 South
Sand Martin: 73 South
House Martin: 362 South
Meadow Pipit:  285 North

 Spotted Flycatcher

A few hours spent around the trapping area saw many Chiffchaffs, Blackcaps, Meadow Pipits, Swallows, House Martins and a few each of Sand Martin and Skylark, along with a Spotted Flycatcher, Whinchat, a Lesser and Common Whitethroat, 3 Wheatears, 17 Stonechats and 3 Black Redstarts.

 Chiffchaff

 Wheatear

 Merlin

Early afternoon at Dengemarsh Gully many Chiffchaffs in the Gully, a superb posing Merlin no doubt attracted by the many Meadow pipits and Linnets.

 Siberian Common Tern

Late afternoon at the New Diggings, I joined DW where we spent some time trying to get some decent images of the Siberian Common Tern, not an easy task in the appalling light conditions.

                                                               Siberian Common Tern

                                                         Siberian Common Tern  

 Siberian Common Tern

                                                       Siberian Common Tern

Sunday 29/09/2019

1 of 9 Sooty Shearwaters past the fishing boats this morning

A long but but very enjoyable sea watch today from the fishing boats sheltered from the worst of the rain and gales.
07.30-13.20 with DW, CP, AJG, RW, SO, JTM, CT et al
Common Scoter: 5W
Eider: 1 duck on sea off the fishing boats
Great-crested Grebe: 21W
Balearic Shearwater: 3W
Sooty Shearwater: 10W
Gannet: 220W
Cormorant: present n/c
Merlin: 2 in
Ringed Plover: 1W
Golden Plover: 5W rarely seen on a sea watch at Dungeness
Turnstone: 7 around
Grey Phalarope: 1W
Great Skua: 1W
Arctic Skua: 71W   c8 around
Kittiwake: 1E
Yellow-legged Gull: 1 adult around
Sandwich Tern: 1,639W
Common Tern: 9W
Guillemot: 4W
Razorbill: 47W
Auk sp: 58W
Swallow: 79 out
Wheatear: 1 around
Harbour Porpoise: 2
Gey Seal: 1

 Arctic Skua seen through a curtain of rain

 Arctic Skua in hot pursuit of a Sandwich Tern

 Common Tern past the fishing boats

Adult Yellow-legged Gull at the fishing boats

Late afternoon at the ARC the putative longipennis Common Tern was still present, also Arctic Tern, Black Tern, 3 Little Gulls, a Garganey, 2 Greenshank, a Little Ringed Plover, 2 Black-tailed Godwits among the usual wildfowl.

Saturday 28/09/19

06:30-09:30 with AJG,DW,RW,CP,OL et al
Brent Goose: 1E
Common Scoter: 3E   2W
Great-crested Grebe: 5 around
Balearic Shearwater: 2W
Gannet: 285W
Cormorant: present n/c
Turnstone: 7 around
Arctic Skua: 33W
Sandwich tern: 166W
Razorbill: 9W
Swallow: 158 out
Meadow pipit: 240 in
Linnet: 15 in

 Common Tern showing characteristics of the Eastern race Longipennis above image by Colin Turley

A couple of hours spent in Hanson Hide this afternoon looking at a possible Eastern Common Tern picked out by David Walker.

Also at the ARC 3 Little Gulls, a Black Tern, a Garganey, 3 Cattle Egrets, 3 Black-tailed Godwits, 3 Greenshank and the usual Ducks and Grebes.

 Grass Snake in front of the hide

 Shoveler with nasal band

This Shoveler has returned to the ARC for the last 3 years at least, it's nasal band was put on in Portugal.

 3 noisy Greenshanks from the hide

Common Gull JJ392 on the ARC from Hanson this afternoon

CR-Code White ring with black code: JJ392 LBM;RBWN(JJ392)

Ringing Centre Stavanger Museum (Norway) Ring number 5197815

Species Common Gull  Larus canus 

Sex Unknown Age Pullus

Ringed on 05.07 2018 at  Godalen VGS, Stavanger, Rogaland, Norway  Husebø, Håvard

Friday 27/09/2019

Another day of strong SW winds and heavy blustery showers meant a day of sea watching.

Rock Pipit this morning, the first to be ringed at the observatory for many years

06.45-10.30 from the hide: with AJG, CP, LH & PH
Brent Goose: 5W
Common Scoter: 2W.  14E
Red-throated diver: 1W
Balearic Shearwater: 15W
Gannet: 408W
Marsh harrier: 1 out
Merlin: 1 in
Great skua: 2W
Arctic Skua: 60W. 5 around
Mediterranean Gull: 4W
Yellow-legged Gull: 1W
Sandwich Tern: 610W
Common Tern: 8W
Guillemot: 4W
Razorbill: 16W
Auk sp: 24W   6E
Meadow Pipit: 600in
Swallow: 200 out

After lunch and a few domestic chores it was back to sea, this time from the fishing boats.
13.30- 17.00 joined by AJG, PH, LH, JTM, DW, PT, SM
Great-crested Grebe: 9 around
Red-throated Diver: 2W
Balearic Shearwater: 5W
Gannet: 126W
Cormorant: present n/c
Turnstone: 3 around
Grey Phalarope: 1W (Juvenile not yet moulted to 1w my opinion only)
Arctic Skua: 28W
Mediterranean Gull: 1 around
Sandwich Tern: 284W
Common Tern: 4W
Razorbill: 9W
Auk sp: 28W   4E
Swallow: 93 out
Grey Seal: 2
Harbour Porpoise: 3
I did not visit the ARC today but from those who did it appears there is little change there, 2 Little Gulls, a Black Tern, all 3 Egret species, Garganey, Greenshanks etc.

Balearic Shearwaters!

A superb day staring at the sea mainly from the sea watch hide, which when the winds were at their strongest was definitely shaking , so whether it will still be there after Sundays predicted storm is anyone's guess. 
09:45-16:30 with AJG,OL,JTM,CP,DW et al
Teal: 1W
Common Scoter: 10E  11W
Red-throated Diver: 2W
Great-crested Grebe: 3 on
Balearic Shearwater: 57W (the second highest day total per DW)
Gannet: 281W
Cormorant: present n/c
Great Skua; 3W  2E
Arctic Skua: 116W    4+ around
Kittiwake: 1W
Sandwich Tern: 794W
Common Tern: 10W
Black Tern: 2W
Guillemot: 6W    1E
Razorbill: 4W
Auk sp: 8E    28W
Swallow: 151 out
Meadow Pipit: 216 out
Harbour Porpoise: 2+ around
Grey Seal: 1 around

Early evening at the ARC from Hanson 2 Little Gulls (adult + Juvenile), a Black Tern, a Garganey, 1 each of Cattle, Great White and Little Egret, 4 Greenshank, 2 Common Terns, lots of Hirundines and an adult male Sparrowhawk flushing everything.

Wednesday 25/09/2019

A relatively close Balearic Shearwater over a stormy sea today

A very enjoyable day was spent mostly sea watching in the relative comfort of the sea watching hide and the shelter of the fishing boats, trying to pick out passing Shearwaters and Skuas among the many Sandwich Terns and Gannets.

07.00-09.00 & 13.00-17.00 with AJG, RW, JTM, OL, CT, MF & DW

Common Scoter: 9W   4E

Red-throated Diver: 1W

Great-crested Grebe: 2 around

Fulmar: 1W

Sooty Shearwater: 2W

Balearic Shearwater: 7W   1E

Shearwater sp: 4W

Gannet: 752W

Cormorant: present n/c

Dunlin: 2W

Great Skua: 10w  1E

Arctic Skua: 72W

Kittiwake: 1W

Sandwich Tern: 1,033W

Common Tern: 11W

Guillemot: 1W

Auk sp: 15W     8E

Swift: 1 out

Swallow: 129 out

Harbour Porpoise: 2+

Grey Seal: 1+

Cattle Egrets from Hanson late morning

A late morning visit to Hanson Hide found 2 Greenshank, a Ruff, a Dunlin, 2 Common Snipe, a Little Gull, 2 Black Terns, a Garganey, 2 Cattle Egrets, a Great White Egret, squealing Water Rails, 5 Pintail, 100s of Hirundines and the usual wildfowl.

 Garganey from Hanson this morning

Little Gull from Hanson this morning

A damp Wheatear by the track to the VC

On Burrowes 2 Common Sandpipers, 5 Dunlin, a Black-necked Grebe and more squealing Water Rails were noted.

24th September!

Record image of 1 of at least 5 Balearic Shearwaters past today

A day of mainly sea watching, often in very damp conditions:

06.45-09.00, 11.00-13.00, 15.00-17.30 with CP, OL, JTM, PT and DW:

Brent Goose: 4W

Shoveler: 1W

Common Scoter: 16W

Balearic Shearwater: 5W

Gannet: 845W

Ringed Plover: 2W

Great Skua: 4W    1E

Pomarine Skua: 1W adult

Arctic Skua: 32W  6+around

Yellow-legged Gull: 1 around

Sandwich Tern: 1,214W

Common Tern: 57W

Guillemot: 5W

Razorbill: 5W

Auk sp: 6W

Swallow: 186 out

Harbour Porpoise: 4+

Grey Seal: 1

A short visit to the ARC late morning saw 2 Cattle Egrets, a Great White Egret, a Greenshank, a Ruff, 15 Dunlin, a Garganey but little else of note.

This map depicts the known travels of a Mediterranean Gull red colour ringed as a Pullus (H5U2) on 18/06/2015. I saw this bird at Copt Point on 14/09/2019.

Monday 23rd

06.20-09.00 from the sea watch hide with Ol and AJG who kindly collated the numbers:
Common Scoter: 6W
Red-throated Diver: 1W
Gannet: 660W  320 feeding off shore
Cormorant: present n/c
Kittiwake: 6W
Mediterranean Gull: 23W
Great Skua: 3W
Arctic Skua: 16W   1E
Sandwich Tern: 806W
Common Tern 5W
Razorbill: 4W
Guillemot: 1W
Meadow Pipit: 7 in
Swallow: 4 out

A  distant Osprey over the New Excavations being chased by Egyptian Geese

The reserve was very quiet, the highlight being an Osprey, the Little stint was still present with 2 Common Sandpipers, also the Black-necked grebe still present.

Another sea watch this afternoon from the fishing boats 13.00-14.30 with AJG, RS & JTM

Great-crested Grebe: 1W    1 on
Balearic Shearwater: 1W
Gannet: 11W   3E
Arctic Skua: 6 around
Common Tern: 8W
Sandwich Tern: 52W
Guillemot: 1W.    2 on
Swallow: 129 out

Sunday 22/09/2019

06:20-08:30 from the sea watch hide with SO, AJG, JTM & CP

Common Scoter: 21E   7W

Eider: 4E

Red-throated diver: 1E   1W

Gannet: 188E   109W

Cormorant: present n/c

Oystercatcher: 11E

Great Skua: 6E    5W

Arctic Skua: 1E    3W

Kittiwake: 6E    1W

Mediterranean Gull: 72E    41W

Sandwich tern: 1,730W

Common Tern: 14W

Razorbill: 1E   1 on

Swallow: 104 out

Harbour Porpoise: 8+

Dolphin sp:1

Grey Seal: 1

At The ARC the now seemingly resident Great White, Cattle and Little Egret, a Ruff, 3 Common Snipe, 7 Black-tailed Godwits and the first Goldeneye of the autumn along with the commoner wildfowl.

The trapping area was again quiet with a Firecrest and Goldcrest, Common and Lesser Whitethroat and Blackcaps per JTM.

12:20-14.20 from the sea watch hide per AJG:

Gannet: 189W

Arctic Skua: 9W

Kittiwake: 7 on sea

Mediterranean Gull: 5 on sea

Sandwich Tern: 237W

Auk sp 1 up

 Little Stint and 2 Dunlin from Firth this evening

I spent most of this afternoon and early evening going through the Great Black-backed and Lesser Black-backed Gull roost by the entrance track reading colour rings. There were 15 GBBG rings and 3 LBBG rings mainly Norwegian, but also Danish, and French.
Below is the life history so far of a 15 year old Nowegian Ringed Great Black-backed Gull JH2C that was in the Gull roost by the entrance track to the visitor centre today.