23/12/2025

A rather cold watch this morning even in the relative comfort of the hide.

07.55-09.45 from the hide with RW. Wind a biting NE6 

Shelduck: 9W

Eider: 1E adult drake

Common Scoter: 3E

Great Crested Grebe: 23E   14 Present

Oystercatcher: 2E

Kittiwake: 17E

Common Gull: present

Herring Gull: present

Great Black-backed Gull: present 

Guillemot: 645E including an individual with completely white wings that caused momentary excitement. 

Razorbill: 20E 

Auk sp: 2738E 

Red-throated Diver: 378E   

Gannet: 604E 

Cormorant: 2,000+ present

Grey Seal: 2 present

3 Caspian Gulls together 2w, 3w & 1w from Dennis's

2w Caspian Gull & 1w sporting a German yellow colour ring

I went no further than Dennis's Hide as there were not many Gulls with islands covered in Cormorants, also the bitter wind deterred me. The Great Northern Diver was still present at the far NE end of Burrowes along several Goldeneye.

 There are still at least 12 Bewick Swans and 2 Whooper Swans still on Walland per DB.

22/12/2025

A busy sea watch with lost of birds but nothing out of the ordinary.

07.55-09.35 from the hide with RW, OL, CG et al  Wind SE3  

Brent Goose: 358E

Shelduck: 8E

Wigeon: 1E

Common Scoter: 2W  1E

Red-breasted Merganser: 2E

Great Crested Grebe: 2E     33 Present

Oystercatcher: 19E

Kittiwake: 44W

Black-headed Gull: present

Common Gull: present

Herring Gull: present

Great Black-backed Gull: present 

Guillemot: 273E       50+ present

Razorbill: 13E 

Auk sp: 1,752E 

Red-throated Diver: 483E    4W

Fulmar: 3W

Gannet: 762E 

Cormorant: 2,000+ present

Black Redstart: 1 present behind the hide

Grey Seal: 1 present

Adult Caspian Gull from Dennisis's Hide

After a quick breakfast it was back to Dennis's Hide for another Caspian and Yellow-legged Gull fest,

There didn't appear to be quite so many as there has been but enough to keep me busy.

2nd Winter Caspian Gull from Dennis's Hide

I do like a Northern Herring Gull (Argentatus) a real bruiser with its Bubble Gum pink legs.

While browsing the Gulls and searching for the Great Northern Diver at least 6 Goldeneye were seen

A Danish ringed Great Black-backed Gull at Dengemarsh

From Dennis's I wandered round to Dengemarsh with John, to be honest we didn't see a great deal, but we had 2 Ravens fly over and female type Merlin also a Red Admiral.

An adult Yellow-legged Gull from Dengemarsh hide

This bird at Dengemarsh is a real puzzle to me, I'm going for a 2nd winter Yellow-legged Gull, but that is a guess, hopefully more research will reveal its identity. When we arrived back at Dennis's the Great Northern Diver appeared distantly in near darkness.

Great Northern Diver

21/12/2025

After a week away in Fueventura, it was back to my usual routine a morning sea watch:

 08.00-09.30 from the hide:

Brent Goose: 163E

Mute Swan: 1W (not an every day bird on a sea watch)

Wigeon: 3W

Velvet Scoter: 3W      1E

Common Scoter: 3W

Great Crested Grebe: 1W

Oystercatcher: 6E

Great Skua: 1 flew West then back East and settled on the sea

Kittiwake: 3W

Black-headed Gull: present

Common Gull: present

Herring Gull: present

Great Black-backed Gull: present 

Guillemot: 43E       22 present

Razorbill: 2E 

Auk sp: 94W      320E 

Red-throated Diver: 11W    130E

Gannet: 32W  199E 

Cormorant: present

Black Redstart: 3 present behind the hide

1w Caspian Gull on Burrowes

 There are still plenty of Caspian and Yellow-legged Gulls to look at  around the reserve and the usual Starling murmuration and Bitterns at the ARC but not a great deal else, Yesterdays Great Northern Diver appears to have gone. There were 7 Greater White-fronted Geese on Lydd Fields again today, also the Winter Swans are still viewable from Swamp Crossing, hopefully the weather will improve and other areas can be checked out tomorrow.

 

08/12/2025

An uninspiring watch this morning.

08.00-09.30 with RW & OL 

Wind SW 5-6     Temp  12° drizzle

Common Scoter: 1W
Great-crested Grebe: 2 present
Kittiwake: 27W     
Black-headed Gull: present
Common Gull: present
Herring Gull: present
Great Black-backed Gull: present 

Guillemot: 36W

Razorbill: 14W 
Auk sp: 293W  
Red-throated Diver: 38W    18E
Gannet: 320W  14E 
Cormorant: present
Grey Seal: 1 present

2w Caspian Gull with Great Black-backed Gull

1w and Adult Caspian Gulls with a Lesser Black-backed Gull and Herring Gull

2 x 3w Caspian Gulls either side of a Lesser Black-backed Gull

1w Yellow-legged Gull top left, 1w Caspian Gull centre, Adult Caspian Gull right hand side.

The 4 Bewick and Whooper Swans are still viewable from Swamp Crossing, very little other news probably due to the abysmal weather.

This gorgeous boy is now a daily visitor to my garden, these images were taken last Friday

05/12/2025

1 of the Black Redstarts behind the sea watch hide this morning

07.45-09.00 with RW 

Wind SW 1-2 Temp  -1° Sunny

Red-breasted Merganser: 1W   (adult drake)
Great-crested Grebe: 1E    1 present
Kittiwake: 82W     
Black-headed Gull: present

Mediterranean Gull: 1W
Common Gull: present

Herring Gull: present
Great Black-backed Gull: present   
Auk sp: 12W   2E  
Red-throated Diver: 24W    1E
Gannet: 95W  
Cormorant: present

Raven: 2 present

Black Redstart: 2 present
Grey Seal: 1 present

Another Black Redstart behind the sea watch hide this morning

1 of 2 Ravens behind the sea watch hide this morning

One of the Great White Egrets posing from Hanson this morning

The 1w Scaup was showing well from the cycle track at Scotney this morning

A cycle ride to Scotney gave great views of the Scaup and the Black-necked Grebe, I didn't find anything new there. At the back of the old sand pit 7 Greater White-fronts with the Greylag flock, also c1,000 Lapwing, c1,500 Golden Plover and 2 Ruff. Singles of Marsh Harrier, Common Buzzard and Kestrel were the only raptors I saw.

The Black-necked Grebe was also was showing well from the cycle track at Scotney this morning

2w & 1w Caspian Gull with adult Yellow-legged Gull and Great black-backed Gulls.

There was at leat 17 Caspian Gulls and 7 Yellow-legged Gulls roosting on Burrowes this afternoon.

2w Caspian Gull playing with a pebble

1w Caspian Gull with Lesser Black-backed Gulls

German ringed 1w Caspian Gull on Burrowes this afternoon

04/12/2025

As you can see a rather uninspiring watch from the hide this morning!

 07.30-08.30 with RW & OL,

Wind SSE 6-7 Temp  8° Rain

Wigeon: 3W

Common Scoter: 2E

Great-crested Grebe: 2W       8E

Kittiwake: 54E     

Black-headed Gull: present

Common Gull: present

Great Black-backed Gull: present

Guillemot: 2W   1E     

Auk sp: 9W     

Red-throated Diver: 10W    19E

Fulmar: 3W

Gannet: 55W    135E

Cormorant: present

Harbour Porpoise: 1 present

When the rain finally stopped a scan of the Greylag Goose flock opposite my house revealed 7 Greater White-fronted Geese, the first from my garden this winter.

7 White-fronted Geese with Greylags in the field opposite my house this afternoon

Highlights of a visit to Hanson Hide this afternoon was a 1w Caspian Gull and 2 colour ringed Black-backed Gulls. At least 5 Great White Egrets were present along with the usual wildfowl, but no sign of the Jack Snipe.

The 5 Bewick Swans were still Swamp Crossing , also 3 Greater White-fronted Geese there, unsurprisingly with such poor weather most of the day nothing else was reported.

1w Caspian Gull with Great Black-backed Gulls and a Coot from Hanson this afternoon

1w Caspian Gull with a Coot and Cormorant from Hanson this afternoon

1w Caspian Gull open winged

Normandy ringed Great Black-backed Gull from Hanson this afternoon

Dutch ringed Lesser Black-backed Gull from Hanson this afternoon

03/12/2025

Sea watch from the hide 

 07.20-09.20 with RW & OL,

Wind SSW 3-4, Temp  8° Showers

Wigeon: 2W

Velvet Scoter: 2E

Common Scoter: 7E

Red-breasted Merganser: 2W

Great-crested Grebe: 11W

Little Gull: 1W Juvenile

Kittiwake: 136W      

Black-headed Gull: present

Common Gull: present

Great Black-backed Gull: present

Guillemot: 31W     

Razorbill: 26W     

Auk sp: 159W     

Red-throated Diver: 64W    5E

Fulmar: 3W

Gannet: 45W      7E

Cormorant: 1650W

Black Redstart: 1 present

Starling: 130W

Grey Seal: 2 present

3 of the 5 Bewick Swans present on Walland at the moment, hopefully more will arrive

A quick visit to Scotney saw the juvenile Scaup and at least 1 Black-necked Grebe present at the Sussex end, with the advent of the rain I declined to go out the back to check for Geese.

Jack Snipe from Hanson Hide

FRom Hanson hide a quick scan with my thermal imager quickly revealed the presence of a Jack Snipe, however trying to spot with binoculars and camera took much longer despite knowing exactly where it was. There was also 2 Common Snipe from Hanson, 3 Pintail among the many Shoveler, Gadwall, Wigeon and Teal, also 3 Great White Egrets, Marsh Harriers, 3 Goldeneye, Cetti's Warblers and Chiffchaff. A second visit this afternoon gave a great albeit brief view of Kingfisher and 2 Bitterns I missed. 

Common Snipe from Hanson

Great White Egret from Hanson

Kingfisher from Hanson this afternoon

One of 4 Cattle Egrets by the entrance track at Cooks pool early afternoon

02/12/2025

As my car was in for service today I didn't make the early sea watch, as per OL it was not particularly exciting. 

                                Another around the Scotney complex on my bicycle

Juvenile Greater Scaup at the Sussex end of Scotney main pit

                              Juvenile Greater Scaup at the Sussex end of Scotney main pit

One of 2 Black-necked Grebes at Scotney, this one in Sussex

At least 7 Greater White-fronted Geese with Greylags at the eastern end of the old sand pit at Scotney 

As I was scanning through the Goose flock this gorgeous young female Sparrowhawk settled on the fence post just a few yards away from me for a magical few seconds

Meadow Pipits were positively abundant around Scotney today

This Polish Yellow ringed Gull at Scotney at the weekend looks like a definite Caspian at first glance, but the pale iris and shortish legs noticeable in the image below made me think it was a hybrid. 

The bird was ringed as an adult  Caspian Gull(see the life history below) then reported as an argentatus later the same month, then as a Caspian by the same observer a year later. Collins Bird Guide states that about 75% of adult  Caspian Gulls have a dark iris. I have no idea how many adult Caspian Gulls I have seen over the years, certainly double figures possibly 3 figure numbers, this is the first I have seen with a pale iris.🤯

The life history of P:10C