29/12/2025

Harbour Porpoise washed up near the sea watch hide

07.55-09.30 from the hide with RW & OL. Wind ENE3  4º

Wigeon: 2E

Common Scoter: 4E

Great Crested Grebe: 32E  

Oystercatcher: 17E

Sandwich Tern: 1E

Kittiwake: 4E

Black-headed Gull: present

Common Gull: present

Herring Gull: present

Great Black-backed Gull: present 

Auk sp: 445E

Red-throated Diver: 341E    

Great Northern Diver: 1E

Gannet: 223E 

Cormorant: 7,000 present

Most of the rest of my day was spent around Walland Marsh/Scotney looking at Geese and Swans. Around the lanes a few Tree Sparrows, Yellowhammers and Corn Buntings can be found, but winter Thrushes are pretty much non existent here at the moment.

The reserve is fairly quiet now as there are very few Gulls coming in now the NE gales have abated. There are still no Smew or Goosander and just a handful of Goldeneye, Bitterns can been seen at the ARC with a llittle patience. The work at Boulderwall seems to have come to an end so I'm hopeful  that some of the Walland Marsh wild Geese will drop in to what looks to be great habitat.

Some of a party of 22 Greater White-fronted Geese from Dennes Lane, Walland Marsh

A single Tundra Bean Goose was with the Dennes Lane Whitefronts

2 Bewick Swans were enjoying this puddle at Midley, on Walland Marsh

Some of the 32 Tundra Bean Geese viewed from Hook Wall

The Scaup on Scotney main pit viewed from the double bends refused to lift its head

5 more White-fronted Geese dropped into Scotney main pit viewed from the double bends

Great Northern Diver still on Burrowes Pit

Dutch Green ringed L9 Caspian Gull still hanging around on Burrowes this afternoon

 

27/12/2025

08.00-10.00 from the hide with OL. Wind ENE6  a balmy 6º

Shelduck: 3E

Pintail: 1E

Velvet Scoter: 2E

Great Crested Grebe: 37E  

Oystercatcher: 4E

Kittiwake: 58E

Black-headed Gull: present

Mediterranean Gull: 3E

Common Gull: present

Herring Gull: present

Great Black-backed Gull: present 

Guillemot: 1,870E

Razorbill: 98E 

Red-throated Diver: 222E    13W

Gannet: 324E 

Cormorant: 2,000 present

Grey Seal: 2 present

Common Seal: 2 present

The Auks separated by percentage.

Lapwing in field opposite my house this morning

3 Black-necked Grebes at the Kent end of Scotney main pit

Some of the at least 32 Tundra Bean Geese on Walland Marsh today, viewed from Hook Wall, also from the same viewpoint 3 Barnacle Geese, 5 Greater White-fronted Geese, Greylags, Canadas, and Egyptian Geese, also some Bewick swans.

The centre bird in the image above looks interesting?

Tundra Bean Geese whiffling after a short fly around

On Burrowes the now usual Caspian and Yellow-legged Gulls, along with the Great Norther Diver, 5 Great White Egrets, 4 Goldeneye and 2 Bewick Swans that were new arrivals today.

Yesterday there was probably at least 3 Kingfishers present.

Left to right:1w Caspian Gull, 1w Y L Gull, 3w Caspian Gull, 2w Caspian Gull

Left to right:Cormorant, Dutch ringed 1w Caspian Gull, 1w Herring Gull 1w Caspian Gull, Gull, 3w Caspian Gull, 2w Caspian Gull

2 Bewick Swans on Burrowes Pit today

26/12/2025

Sunrise at Dungeness this morning

07.50-09.50 from the hide. Wind a biting ENE6 

Great Crested Grebe: 126E  

Avocet: 1E

Kittiwake: 4E

Black-headed Gull: present

Common Gull: present

Herring Gull: present

Great Black-backed Gull: present 

Guillemot: 10,925E

Razorbill: 575E 

Red-throated Diver: 356E 

Fulmar: 1E  

Gannet: 821E 

Cormorant: 5,300E

Grey Seal: 1 present

Harbour Porpoise: 1 present

The Auks and Cormorants were counted in several timed counts, the Auks separated by percentage.

Auks passing the Bouy

Great-crested Grebes and a Guillemot

2w Caspian Gull between Great Black-backed Gulls

A wander down to Dennis's saw the now usual Caspian and Yellow-legged Gulls, as well as the Great Northern Diver on Burrowes, most of the islands were covered in a black slick of Cormorants.

1w Caspian Gull centre front

Adult Yellow-legged Gull with an Adult Caspian Gull

Juvenile Great Northern Diver

From Cockles Bridge 2 Bewick Swans, 3 Cattle Egrets and 7 Greater White-fronted Geese. There would appear to have been an influx of Bewick Swans onto Walland as well as Pink footed and White-fronted Geese, difficult to assess numbers as the wildfowlers were out in force today causing much disturbance.

2 Bewick Swans with a Mute Swan at Cockles Bridge

One of 3 Cattle Egrets at Cockles Bridge

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