22/05/2023

This mornings sea watch was unexpectedly rewarding with a small passage of Terns including a White-winged Black Tern, the watch was only terminated by a message that Dave Bunney had a Bee-eater flying around his house unseen, I managed to get there in time to hear it calling a couple of times but no sight. Again this afternoon the sea watch was interesting with a few more Terns including 16 Little Terns which have been in very short supply at Dungeness this year. 

 07.45-09.10 with OL & 14.30-16.00 with RW

Brent Goose: 2E

Common Scoter: 57E      15W

Great-crested Grebe: 9W    3 present

Oystercatcher 2E

Kittiwake: 28W      114E

Black-headed Gull: Present

Mediterranean Gull: 4 present

Common Gull: present

Sandwich Tern: 40E     4W

Little Tern: 16E

Common Tern: 63E

Arctic Tern: 22E

Commic Tern: 242E

White-winged Black Tern: 1E

Guillemot: 2E

Auk sp: 10E     4W

Fulmar: 2W

Gannet: 103E    60W 

Cormorant: present

Grey Seal: 1

Harbour Porpoise: 8+

Brown Argus at the ARC today

Bird wise the ARC was very quiet although JY saw Spotted Flycatcher in the carpark. The reserve was apparently equally quiet with a flock of 5 Greenshanks per JY the highlight.

First Idea ferugalis of the year in the new 40w attinic

Poplar Hawk Moth on the fence beside the trap

21/05/2023

38 Black-tailed Godwits on the flood behind Dengemarsh Hide, a good count for Dungeness

 

Black-tailed Godwits dropping in Saturday evening,  also 3 Avocet and a Whimbrel unsurprisingly they were all gone Sunday morning.

As the strong cool northerlies continue birding around the peninsula is not productive, the Purple Heron showed a couple of times yesterday but I din't believe it has been seen today, Bitterns are still booming, Bearded Tits, Cetti's Sedge and Reed Warblers can all be seen and heard with patience, Lesser Whitethroats seem to out number Common Whitethroats, top to 6 Hobbys have seen, quite low numbers for here. A single drake Garganey has been frequenting the hay fields but very elusive, also a Cattle Egret has returned. On Burrowes 3 Common Sandpipers and the odd Turnstone. The ARC has been disappointing but it looks as though this dry windy weather will reveal islands in the next couple of weeks, highlight there for me were a pair of Bearded Tits by Hanson Hide.

Several Swifts have been hawking over the reserve the last few days

Nice to see the Herring Gulls have their own security cameras😆

18/05/2023

Todays sea watch highlight 2 drake Eider

 08.00-09.00 with RW

Eider: 2E both drakes

Common Scoter: 53E

Great-crested Grebe: 3 present

Oystercatcher: 1E     1W

Kittiwake: 4E

Sandwich Tern: 12E

Common Tern: c15 feeding c1 mile off shore

Auk sp: 1E

Gannet: 18E   

Cormorant: 11 present

Peregrine: 1 in off the sea

Grey Seal: 1

Harbour Porpoise: 6+

Todays Purple Heron was definitely not a showy bird

Apart from the Purple Heron, a Greenshank flew over Dengemarsh, an adult Cattle Egret was on the Boulderwall Fields, a Garganey was still on the Hay Fields and a few Swifts were seen but little else of note. Yesterdays Black-winged Stilts departed over night and have probably relocated to Worth Marshes.

17/05/2023

Meadow Pipit on the perimeter wall behind the sea watch hide

Thankfully this dire sea watch was cut short by a message from Owen about the 4 Black-winged Stilts he'd just found on the hay fields

 07.45-08.30 

Common Scoter: 4E        25 still on sea

Great-crested Grebe: 4 present

Kittiwake: 3E

Common Tern: 24E

Red-throated Diver: 1 on sea

Gannet: 6E   

Swallow: 4 in

Grey Seal: 2

Harbour Porpoise: 8+

The lovely Black-winged Stilts

An afternoon visit to Rye harbour with the Wednesday Club was a an excellent treat. Thanks to Owen for a definitely not boring Madeira Cake.

It was a treat to see the islands full of nesting Common Terns, Black-headed Gulls Oystercatchers and Avocets, with a few Redshanks, Common Gulls, Mediterranean Gulls and just a couple of pairs of Herring Gulls. The noise from the breeding birds brought back memories of what Dungeness used to sound like this time of year, sadly no longer.

The raft may have seen better days, but the Black-headed Gulls don't care as they have somewhere safe to rear their young.

Confiding Common Tern

At least 6 Turnstones in summer dress were present on the pools

A confiding Redshank

2 of 4 Greenshank feeding around the pools

Fist summer Little Gull frequenting the pools.

A Greater White-fronted Goose seems to be paired up with a Greylag

16/05/2023

Adult male Black redstart on the perimeter wall behind the sea watch hide early morning

An unremarkable sea watch this morning:

07.00-08.30 with RW & OL

Common Scoter: 14E        25 on sea

Great-crested Grebe: 2 present

Kittiwake: 5E

Sandwich Tern:   c15 feeding 

Common Tern: c20 feeding

Arctic Skua: 1E

Red-throated Diver: 1E

Gannet: 87E     12W

Swallow: 2 in

Black Redstart: 1 male on wall behind hide

Grey Seal: 3

Harbour Porpoise: 11+

A bubbling female Cuckoo at the ARC this morning

3 visits to the reserve today saw of note 5 Black-tailed Godwits, a Whimbrel, a Dunlin, 3 Ringed Plover, a Turnstone, a Common Sandpiper, 3 Cuckoos, 4 Hobbys and a booming Bittern, along with the resident species.

14/05/2023

Not surprisingly another underwhelming sea watch this morning.

 07.45-08.45 

Common Scoter: 12E

Great-crested Grebe: 1 present

Sanderling: 5E

Whimbrel: 13E  6 + 7

Kittiwake: 12E

Mediterranean Gull: 2E

Sandwich Tern:   c30 feeding 

Common Tern: c20 feeding

Guillemot: 1E

Auk sp: 1W

Fulmar: 3E

Gannet: 14E     5W

Swallow: 1 in

Grey Seal: 1

Harbour Porpoise: 4+

A wander around the reserve today was notable for its paucity of birds. There were some very bored visitors wandering around the tracks among the cyclists and a couple of dog walkers, I guess this is what the RSPB want these days. A Grey Plover settled briefly on a hay field, I also managed my first and second sighting of Cuckoo for the year here today. 2 Turnstone on the small island from Makepiece were the highlights on Burrowes, I'm not surprised the visitors looked bored, there is no one on site to point things out to them. I met 3 people at the viewing ramp who were hoping to see a Hobby, they asked me if I'd seen one, I pointed out 4 directly above us, at the same time a Bittern was booming which I also pointed out. In the 3 hours I was wandering around the reserve I didn't see a single member of staff outside the visitor centre. 

Early evening at the ARC was equally underwhelming.

A walk around the hay fields produced a single Grey Plover 

My first Cuckoo of the year was behind Christmas Dell

The highlight on Burrowes were these 2 Turnstones

13/05/2023

With a strong NNW wind this morning a slow sea watch was not unexpected.

 08.30-10.00 with AP

Common Scoter: 5W

Red-tbreasted Merganser: 1E

Great-crested Grebe: 5 present

Oystercatcher: 2E

Kittiwake: 14W

Sandwich Tern:   c30 feeding 

Common Tern: c20 feeding

Arctic Skua: 3E

Auk sp: 1W

Fulmar: 1E

Gannet: 17E     41W

Swallow: 4 in

Grey Seal: 1

Harbour Porpoise: 6+

Huddle of 3 Marsh Frogs at the ARC this morning

As the water levels are so high at the ARC there was little to see there avian wise. Many Marsh Frogs were leaping about as I wandered around the Willow trail. 2 Hobbys were hawking over the Tower pits, also a Couple of Common buzzards and a Marsh harrier were thermalling. Reed and Sedge Warblers seem rather subdued.

Hobby at Dengemarsh

Dengemarsh this afternoon saw another 2 Hobbys, a Greenshank was calling unseen by me, as were the Bearded Tits, I didn't spend too much time there due to the cold wind.

France

The Melodious Warbler at Guines was a good singer but a real skulker, so here is one I photographed a few weeks ago in the Sahara Desert.

I joined Chris and Richard on a birding day trip to Calais area, we made a slowish start at Guines, where Turtle Dove was purring, Short-toed Treecreeper was seen, Great White Egret, Reed, Sedge and Cetti's warblers but probably to early for Marsh Warbler, I'm guessing the Bluethroats and Grasshopper Warblers were busy nesting. In the forest the usual woodland species were seen along with the Melodious Warbler. Our next stop was the Oye Plage pools and beach. The pools were full of waders, 20+ each of Greenshank, Redshank, Common Sandpipers, Avocets and Black-winged Stilts, only slightly smaller numbers of Little Ringed Plovers, also several Ruff, Grey Plover, Ringed Plover, Knot, Wood Sandpiper, Curlew Sandpipers, Whimbrel, 2 Temminck's Stints, a minimum of 10 drake Garganey, 8 Black-necked Grebes, Cattle Egrets, c200 each of Sandwich Terns and Little Terns, smaller numbers of Common Terns, at least 10 Kentish Plovers along with all the hirundines and much more.

The tunnel queues and passport control weren't to painful, but I shudder to think what it will be like in the holiday season.

Temminck's Stint with Little Ringed Plovers and Common Sandpiper

Black-winged Stilt

Kentish Plovers

It was depressing to visit Dungeness RSPB today and look out onto the ARC and Burrowes, not a single wader or Tern to be seen. At least the Herring Gulls and Common Gulls are looking rather smart.

10/05/2023

This mornings sea watch was for the most part a typical end of spring passage affair, the Manx Shearwaters were a definite bonus.

06.45-09.15 with CP, RW  

Brent Goose: 7E

Common Scoter: 111E       1W

Swift: 1 in off

Great-crested Grebe: 1E     1W     2  present

Whimbrel: 1W

Kittiwake: 12E     1W

Black-headed Gull: 7E

Mediterranean Gull: 2E

Common Gull: 4E

Sandwich Tern: 64E

Common Tern: 18E

Guillemot: 1E

Auk sp: 9E       7W

Fulmar: 1E     1W

Manx Shearwater: 13E      3W

Gannet: 40E    75W

Cormorant: 6E      9W

Hobby: 1 in off

Carrion Crow: 2 in off

Swallow: 66  in

Pied Wagtail: 1 in off

Grey Seal: 1

Harbour Porpoise: 2

The new Tern raft in front of Dennis's Hide

I sat in Dennis's Hide for a while today spending most of my time winding myself up about the state of the birding on the reserve. In that time a single Whimbrel circled then flew east as there is no place for it on Burrowes, 3 Common Buzzards were thermalling over the Open Pits & c40 40 Swallows were feeding low over the lake opposite Makepiece, but as there is no where to view that area comfortably I did not give them the scrutiny they deserved. As regards the Terns my only hope is the Herring Gulls hatch and fledge quickly leaving the way clear for the Terns to nest late June early July. Elsewhere on the reserve the usual Warblers, Beardies and Marsh Harriers were seen, the highlight being 2 Avocets on the ARC. 

On the mend

 After spending a couple of weeks in Morocco, I came home with a virulent stomach bug caused by food poisoning which absolutely  floored me. I lost 10.5 KG in 10 days which left me with no energy. I am now more or less back to normal if a little skinny.

I did manage to get to the beach for the Pomarine Skuas and caught up with most of the Dungeness scarcities with the help of other locals.

As this mornings sea watch was abandoned early due to thick fog, I joined RW in parking at the the ARC walking to the Pines and back then across Boulderwall and Dengemarsh to Hayfield 3 and back to the ARC. To say it was disappointing would be an understating how we felt back at the cars. The telescope Richard carried did not leave his shoulder, between us we barely raised our binoculars. Apart from the ever present noisy Cetti's Warblers there were a few Sedge and Reed Warblers, with some Common Whitethroats and a couple of Lesser Whitethroats but very few, it is as if the birds have not arrived even though its the 9th May, c30 Swallows were hawking over Dengemarsh, the hay fields held a handful of Lapwing and Redshanks whose breeding attempts are probably doomed to failure due to Crow predation, even the Greylag Geese seem to have only 2 or 3 goslings per pair.

After a late breakfast I went back to the ARC to see if I could find the Glossy Ibises but was unable to find them, as far as I know they have not been seen this month.

Common Terns in front of Dennis's Hide

 Next I drove down to Dennis's hide where at least 4 Common Terns trying to chivvy the Herring Gulls off of the new purpose built Tern raft. The RSPB has allowed one pair of Herring Gulls to build a nest on this raft, Herring Gulls have already taken over the other rafts and all the islands leaving no where safe for the Terns. If management had gone out to the raft a couple of times as soon as the Herring Gulls showed interest in building, they would have moved on to another raft or island lat least giving the Terns a chance.😢

Thoroughly depressed I wandered round the trail passing the new KOS islands at Makepiece, which already have Herring Gulls nesting on them, also a Coot and Oystercatcher so the Herring Gulls chicks won't go hungry. The only highlight in the hours I spent on the reserve were 3 Hobbys actually catching dragonflies.

Hobby over New Excavations

An hour with Richard in the sea watch hide this afternoon saw just 2 Arctic Skuas of any note.

The superb Short-toed Treecreeper that spent a day in the Garden of Southview, many thanks to Dave and Sheila Bunney for their hospitality.