17/04/2022

Superb Black Kite over the sea watch hide this morning

 05.45.00-13.00 & 14.00-16.30  with JS, WS, CP, SO, SM, NB, JB, DB, RW et al

Brent Goose: 287E

Shelduck: 1E

Garganey: 3E

Shoveler: 59E

Teal: 17E

Pintail: 6E

Velvet Scoter: 28E (single flock)

Common Scoter: 636E

Red-breasted Merganser: 12E

Red-throated Diver: 16E 1W

Black-throated Diver: 6E

Great-crested Grebe: 3 on

Fulmar: 29E 

Gannet: 333E 

Cormorant: present n/c

Black Kite: 1E

Oystercatcher: 12E

Whimbrel: 118E

Bar-tailed Godwit: 3E

Sanderling: 6E

Kittiwake: 71E

Little Gull: 11E

Black-headed Gull: present n/c

Mediterranean Gull:17E 

Common Gull: present n/c

Great Black-backed Gull: present n/c

Herring Gull: present n/c

Lesser Black-backed Gull: 5E

Little Tern: 5E

Sandwich Tern: 611E

Common Tern: 21E 

Arctic Tern: 1E

Guillemot: 473E

Auk sp:140E

Harbour Porpoise: 30+

Grey Seal: 1

Flock of Whimbrel passing

Brent Geese

                                                                                Shoveler

Whimbrel overhead

Black-throated Diver

Wood Sandpiper on Hay field 3 late afternoon

This mornings Black Kite

Hot reception from the Herring Gulls

16/04/2022

Some of the 1,000+ Gannets that passed Dungeness today

Todays combined sea watches with JS, WS, RW, VW, DW,PT et al

Brent Goose: 21E

Shoveler: 36E

Teal: 2E

Pintail: 2E

Wigeon: 2E

Goldeneye: 2E

Common Scoter: 615E

Red-breasted Merganser: 3E

Red-throated Diver: 4E 

Great-crested Grebe: 3 on

Fulmar: 4W

Gannet: 1,228E 

Cormorant: present n/c

Oystercatcher: 14E

Whimbrel: 3E

Bar-tailed Godwit: 17E

Kittiwake: 105E

Little Gull: 2E

Black-headed Gull: present n/c

Mediterranean Gull: 4E 

Common Gull: present n/c

Great Black-backed Gull: present n/c

Herring Gull: present n/c

Sandwich Tern: 263E

Common Tern: 9E 

Arctic Tern: 50E

Great Skua: 3E

Arctic Skua: 3E 

Guillemot: 42E

Auk sp: 6E

Swallow: 1 in

Linnet: 47 in

Goldfinch: 2 in

Harbour Porpoise: 54

Red-breasted Mergansers from yesterday

Common Redstart thanks to Jacob and DBO

At the Egret roost last evening, 5 Glossy Ibis, 3 Cattle Egrets and 7 Little Egrets came in but no Great White Egrets, though there was at least 1 on Cooks Pool today.

The first Lesser Whitethroats of the year appeared today, also my first Small Copper of the year.

At Scotney still at least 3 Little Gulls present among the Black-headed and Mediterranean Gulls, also a few more Yellow Wagtails.

Common Whitethroat at the Long Pits

Small Copper basking in todays sunshine

 

14/04/2022

With dense fog just offshore todays sea watch was unsurprisingly very poor.

07.30-08.30with DW et al

Common Scoter: 9E 

Great-crested Grebe: 3 on

Gannet: 56E 

Cormorant: present n/c

Oystercatcher: 1E 1W

Black-headed Gull: present n/c

Mediterranean Gull: 4E 2W

Common Gull: present n/c

Great Black-backed Gull: present n/c

Herring Gull: present n/c

Sandwich Tern: 21E

Harbour Porpoise: 35

A long wander around the back of Scotney lakes found my first Yellow Wagtails of the year, several each of Corn Bunting and Wheatear, 10+ Tree Sparrows, 18 Avocets, many Skylarks, Ravens, Peregrine, Marsh Harriers, Common Buzzards, many Mediterranean Gulls and a bonus of my first ever Bearded Tit at this site.

Corn Bunting

Wheatear

The resident female Kestrel prospecting her usual nest site

The resident Black Swan

On Boulderwall Fields this afternoon 4 Cattle Egrets, several Sedge Warblers and a Reed Warbler. Around the hay fields at least 2 Glossy Ibis and a drake Garganey, several Bearded Tits, Bittern, more Sedge and Reed Warblers.

More of yesterdays superb Red-breasted Flycatcher

13/04/2022

Great Skua passing East this morning

06.20-09.00 with CP, RW, OL, JS

Brent Goose: 120E

Canada Goose: 2 drifted E

Common Scoter: 124E 19W 

Red-breasted Merganser: 5E

Red-throated Diver: 42E 

Great-crested Grebe: 1W 5 on

Fulmar: 1E 

Gannet: 298E 

Cormorant: present n/c

Oystercatcher: 6E 1W

Kittiwake: 9E

Little Gull: 2E

Black-headed Gull: present n/c

Mediterranean Gull: 6E 

Common Gull: present n/c

Great Black-backed Gull: present n/c

Herring Gull: present n/c

Sandwich Tern: 126E

Common Tern: 34E 

Great Skua: 5E

Pomarine Skua: 1E

Arctic Skua: 12E 

Guillemot: 4E

Auk sp: 38E 12W

White-beaked Dolphin: 5 SW

Harbour Porpoise: 6

Grey Seal: 1

Red-breasted Mergansers passing East this morning

A walk around The Moat found 3 Wheatears, a Chiffchaff, Black Redstart and a female Peregrine. At the top of the Long Pits my first Common Whitethroat of the year 3 Willow Warblers and several Blackcaps. Dengemarsh Gully was disappointing with just 2 Wheatears of any note. A check of Scotney early afternoon found at least 2 Little Gulls still present but no sign of yesterdays Black Tern. There were still at least 2 Garganey on the Hay fields along with a Glossy Ibis, while nearby there were 4 Cattle Egrets per RW.

Wheatear Dengemarsh Gully

2nd calendar year Little Gull at Scotney and 2 of the many Mediterranean Gulls present

Mid afternoon Dave Bunney found this stunning Red-breasted Flycatcher in his garden, he kindly allowed the news to put out for others to enjoy his super find.

Red-breasted Flycatcher

Red-breasted Flycatcher

Red-breasted Flycatcher

 

12/04/2022

A flock of 9 Velvet Scoter passing this morning

Todays sea was not as busy as yesterday but very enjoyable.

 06.00-10.30 with JS, DW, OL, SM, et al

Brent Goose: 113E

Shelduck: 8E

Shoveler: 1E

Gadwall: 2E

Teal: 1E

Velvet Scoter: 15E

Common Scoter: 1,307E   12W 

Red-breasted Merganser: 3E

Red-throated Diver: 154E 

Black-throated Diver: 1E

Great-crested Grebe:  2 on

Fulmar:  4E 

Manx Shearwater: 4E  

Gannet: 307E  

Cormorant: present n/c

Oystercatcher: 13E

Whimbrel: 68E

Knot: 2E

Dunlin: 1E

Sanderling: 1E

Kittiwake: 30E

Little Gull: 20E

Black-headed Gull: present n/c

Mediterranean Gull:15E   

Common Gull: present n/c

Great Black-backed Gull: present n/c

Herring Gull: present n/c

Little Tern: 7E

Sandwich Tern: 1,584E

Common Tern: 158E 

Arctic Tern: 3E

Great Skua: 1E

Arctic Skua: 34E  

Guillemot: 18E

Auk sp: 356E

Harbour Porpoise: 6

Grey Seal: 1

A distant Black-throated Diver

Brent Geese

Black Tern at Scotney early afternoon

At Scotney a fine Black Tern with at least 4 Little Gulls all of which kept their distance, a Yellow Wagtail was found there by SM. Late afternoon a female Common Redstart was found at the southern end of the trapping area by JS. There were very few new migrants to be found on the Peninsula today, hopefully better tomorrow.

11/04/2022

Shoveler moving East

A brilliant day spent sea watching with Jacob, David and John, with personal records broken.

 06.00-19.30 with JS, DW, JY,

Shelduck: 40E

Shoveler: 315E

Gadwall: 47E

Teal: 179E

Garganey: 13E

Pintail: 118E

Wigeon: 16E

Tufted Duck:16E

Velvet Scoter: 72E

Common Scoter: 1,671E   12W 

Red-breasted Merganser: 30E

Red-throated Diver: 92E 

Great-crested Grebe: 1E      3 on

Fulmar:  1E    2W

Gannet: 1,194E  

Cormorant: present n/c

Oystercatcher: 23E     14W

Avocet: 2E

Redshank: 3E

Whimbrel: 277E

Curlew: 2E

Bar-tailed Godwit: 16

Knot: 8E

Dunlin: 21E

Sanderling: 2E

Kittiwake: 126E

Little Gull:14E

Black-headed Gull: present n/c

Mediterranean Gull: 24E   

Common Gull: present n/c

Great Black-backed Gull: present n/c

Herring Gull: present n/c

Little Tern: 5E

Sandwich Tern: 2,898E

Common Tern: 235E 

Arctic Tern: 24E

Arctic Skua: 23E  

Guillemot: 31E

Razorbill: 1E

Auk sp: 665E

Swallow: 1 in

Linnet: 19 in

Harbour Porpoise: 8+

Velvet Scoters

Whimbrel

Gannets

An unfortunate Gannet with polythene around its beak or ingested

Garganey with Teal

Common Tern

08/04/2022

The first of 13 Arctic Skuas past this morning

07.00-10.30 from the sea watch hide:

Common Scoter: 81E    
Red-throated Diver: 12E 
Great-crested Grebe: 1W  9 on
Fulmar:  4W
Gannet: 383E  
Cormorant: present n/c
Oystercatcher: 1E
Kittiwake: 2E
Little Gull: 2E
Black-headed Gull: present n/c
Mediterranean Gull: 2E     2W
Common Gull: present n/c
Great Black-backed Gull: present n/c
Herring Gull: present n/c
Sandwich Tern: 24E
Common Tern: 8E  (My first the year)
Arctic Skua: 13E  (My first the year)
Auk sp: 2E
Harbour Porpoise: 6+

Arctic Skuas

1 of at least 4 Little Gulls at Scotney today

Brent Goose on the sward at Scotney

At least 5 Garganey at Dengemarsh this afternoon

Along with the Garganey at Dengemarsh, 2 Great White Egret, 2 female Goldeneye, c50 Shoveler and the usual wild fowl, a Bittern booming half heartedly, several Bearded Tits and Cetti's Warblers, 2 Sedge Warblers but no Wagtails or Hirundines. The hay fields look good for waders but only held 4 Redshank, 4 Ringed Plover and 6 Lapwing. A flock of 20+ Corn buntings was feeding in the sheep fields opposite Springfield Bridge. The 5 Glossy Ibis and 3 Cattle Egrets were still present around Boulderwall this morning.

07/04/2022

A force 8 westerly with clear skies this morning did not bode well for a good sea watch: 

07.30-11.00 with JS, CP, CT, OL

Greylag Goose: 1E

Eider: 1E

Common Scoter: 1043E       27W

Red-throated Diver: 18E 

Great-crested Grebe: 1E  5 on

Fulmar: 3E     7W

Manx Shearwater: 2E      5W

Gannet: 443E     77W 

Cormorant: present n/c

Oystercatcher: 1W

Kittiwake: 17W

Black-headed Gull: present n/c

Common Gull: present n/c

Great Black-backed Gull: present n/c

Herring Gull: present n/c

Lesser Black-backed Gull: 2W

Sandwich Tern: c10 feeding 

Guillemot: 2W    1E     

Auk sp: 6W     4E

Linnet: 6 in off

Harbour Porpoise: 2

I finally managed to capture all 5 Glossy Ibis together on Boulderwall fields this afternoon, while watching them a male Marsh Harrier caught a Coot at the top end of Cooks Pool where the 3 Cattle Egrets were feeding. A very windswept Burrowes was disappointing. Scotney was also disappointing as there were still no Yellow Wagtails to be found, the first birds are usually around the farm on the 1st.

05/04/2022

An exhausted Redwing early this morning, a wall tick for me 

A very poor sea watch this morning in the drizzle:

06.30-0830 from the hide

Brent Goose: 2E

Shoveler: 2E

Pintail: 3E

Common Scoter: 27E     7W

Red-throated Diver: 35E 

Great-crested Grebe: 7 on

Fulmar:  1E

Gannet: 64E 

Cormorant: 22 around

Kittiwake: 1E   1W

Black-headed Gull: present n/c

Common Gull: present n/c

Great Black-backed Gull: present n/c

Herring Gull: present n/c

Sandwich Tern: 18E

Guillemot: 3W    

Auk sp: 1E     1W      

Peregrine: 2 around

Redwing: 1 on wall

Common Seal: 1

Harbour Porpoise: 2+

Little Gull at Scotney mid morning from the double bends