31/01/2026

The Lesser Whitethroat (halimodendri) has now survived the all of January in my garden despite the weather and Sparrowhawks.

 07.45-10.30 from the hide with JY, RW, OL  Wind SSW 5  Temp 7º

Brent Goose: 1W      12E

Wigeon:  8W      68E   

Teal: 31W

Common Scoter: 17E     1W

Great-crested Grebe: 1E

Oystercatcher: 1E

Kittiwake: 193W       26E

Black-headed Gull: present

Mediterranean Gull: 6E    2W

Common Gull: present

Herring Gull: present

Great Black-backed Gull: present 

Razorbill: 50W

Auks sp: 1760W        140E  

Red-throated Diver: 25E       464W

Fulmar: 2W     3E

Gannet: 57E     261W

Cormorant: present

Birding the last few days has been very hard work, mainly due to poor weather and the reserve being closed for a couple of days. It was good to get out on my bike today after the sea watch, with the dividend of coming across 3 Whooper swans.

2 adult and a juvenile Whooper Swans on the flooded Jurys Gap sand pit

2 adult and a juvenile Whooper Swans flying out to the fields to feed

                             2 adult and a juvenile Whooper Swans feeding in the fields

1w drake Scaup asleep on Scotney main pit from the double bends

Ruff on the Scotney Sward

26/01/2026

Birding arouns the peninsula was hard work today in the grim conditions. A cold SE wind with mist/drizzle made walking around unpleasant which I didn't do for very long. Unsurprisingly there was very little local news,

A beautifully camouflaged Jack Snipe 

 

1 of 2 Water Pipits that kept there distance in the gloom

A party of 16 Reed Buntings were feeding at the top of hayfield 3, along the bridleway which is very muddy and pretty much impassable without wellies due to vehicles and diggers.

A 1w Caspian Gull at Dengemarsh

The Lesser Whitethroat is still present today. This image taken on the 24th when we had a few minutes of sunshine.

23/01/2026

Guillemot and a Razorbill from the fishing boats

 08.00-10.00 from the hide with RW & 13.30-16.10 with DW from the boats Wind SSE 7  Temp 6º

 

Teal: 3W

Common Scoter: 4E     1W

Little Gull: 1W

Kittiwake: 286W   124E

Black-headed Gull: present

Common Gull: present

Caspian Gull: 5W

Herring Gull: present

Yellow-legged Gull: 1W

Great Black-backed Gull: present 

Lesser Black-backed Gull: 1W

Black Guillemot: 1E

Razorbill: 184E      84W

Guillemot: 1845E     1596W    

Red-throated Diver: 2E       27W

Fulmar: 4E

Gannet: 1782E     168W

Cormorant: present

Grey Seal: 11 present 

Some of the c3,000 Cormorants off the fishing boats this afternoon

A feeding frenzy at the fishing boats this afternoon

1w Caspian Gull

3w Caspian Gull

2w colour ringed Polish Caspian Gull and a 3w Caspian Gull

There are 3 Caspian Gulls in this image

Jack Snipe at the ARC late morning

My garden Lesser Whitethroat was still present lunchtime

22/01/2026

Todays sea watches were virtually a repeat of yesterday and I dare say tomorrow will be the same, but you've got to keep trying if you want to see the odd gem or two.

1 0f 8 Grey Seals present at the fishing boats this afternoon photobombing a Gannet

 08.00-10.00 from the hide with RW & PE 13.00-14.45 with RW from the boats Wind SSE 5  Temp 7º

Brent Goose: 48E

Wigeon: 2E   

Teal: 9W

Common Scoter: 14E     1W

Red-breasted Merganser: 2E

Little Gull: 1E

Kittiwake: 146W  

Black-headed Gull: present

Common Gull: present

Herring Gull: present

Great Black-backed Gull: present 

Razorbill: 33E      157W

Guillemot: 325E     1367W    

Red-throated Diver: 42E       283W

Fulmar: 3W     5E

Gannet: 17E     325W

Cormorant: present

Harbour Porpoise: 1

Grey Seal: 8 present which seemed to be getting frisky.

Guillemots from the fishing boats this afternoon

A very distant Whooper Swan at the back of Scotney Farm late morning

A brisk walk late morning to the back of Scotney saw 1,000s each of Lapwing and Golden Plover and 100s of Wigeon, a Whooper Swan was the best find, a very distant bird in with some Mute Swans.

There was no news of anything else around the peninsula, we seem to be in the winter doldrums.

9 Teal west past the fishing boats this afternoon

Normandy rung Great Black-backed Gull 4A4 at the fishing boats this afternoon a fairly regular bird

The Lesser Whitethroat still surviving in the garden today

20/01/2026

 Most of my day was taken up with sea watching and witnessed the first push of 2026 of East bound Brent Geese with a minimum of  429 individuals, also 1,000s of Razorbills and Guillemots moving between Rye and Lade Bays, along with several 100s of Kittiwakes.  

Brent Geese

 07.45-09.45 from the hide with PT & RW. 12.50-14.50 from the boats Wind SSE3  Temp 7º

Brent Goose: 429E

Wigeon: 7E    6W

Teal: 2W

Common Scoter: 5E     2W

Great-crested Grebe: 1E

Dunlin: 1W

Kittiwake: 479W    486E

Black-headed Gull: present

Mediterranean Gull: 2E   2W

Common Gull: present

Herring Gull: present

Great Black-backed Gull: present 

Razorbill: c1,1200E         c1,100W

Guillemot: c1,200E        c1,800W    

Red-throated Diver: 279E       128W

Fulmar: 1W     1E

Gannet: 443E       72W

Cormorant: present

Harbour Porpoise: 1

Grey Seal: 4 present

Common Seal: 1

There was very little change around the peninsula, the Great Northern Diver, Bewick and Whooper Swans were all insitu, there was no news on any wild Grey Geese today.

Guillemots and Razorbills

Guillemots

Razorbills

Gannets

Kittiwakes

One of 5 Seals at the fishing boats this afternoon

Yes, the Lesser Whitethroat is still in the garden today

17/01/2026

A line of Razorbills and Guillemots moving west past the sea watch hide

08.00-09.30 from the hide with OL,  Wind SSE3  Temp 7º

Brent Goose: 22E

Common Scoter: 4E

Kittiwake: 455W     c30 present 

Black-headed Gull: present

Common Gull: present

Herring Gull: present

Great Black-backed Gull: present 

Razorbill: 505W

Guillemot: 148W     

Auk sp: 369W      71E

Red-throated Diver: 97W   62E

Fulmar: 1W     1E

Gannet: 61W    21E

Cormorant: present

Grey Seal: 1 present

A line of Razorbills and Guillemots moving west past the sea watch hide

A fairly busy sea watch this morning but not a great deal of variety, good numbers of Kittiwakes but very few juvenile/1w birds amongst them, on the way to the sea watch at least 20 Cattle Egrets were in the Horse field opposite Homeleigh Farm.

My first Jack Snipe of the year around the ARC

Around the ARC I found my first Jack Snipe of the year with the help of my thermal imager, a pair of Bearded Tits were nearby as were at least 2 Water Rails and Cetti's Warblers, a Bittern made a short flight disappearing quickly into a reed bed. A pair of Ravens appeared to be mating on the top of the Water Tower.

A Great White Egret posing in front of the screen hide

2 Whooper Swans in the field opposite Cockles Bridge

 By 15.00 the light was very poor, the 2 Whooper Swans were in the field opposite Cockles Bridge, due to the poor light I called it a day. The Lesser Whitethroat is still in my garden for 19th day.

16/01/2026

The early morning sea watch was fairly busy with plenty of Auks again, 2 Velvet Scoter provide the only quality.

                                             Razorbills and Guillemots moving west early morning

07.50-09.30 from the hide with OL, RW & CP.   Wind SSW4  Temp 7º

Brent Goose: 23E

Teal: 5W

Velvet Scoter: 2W

Common Scoter: 2W      7E

Oystercatcher: 1E

Sanderling: 1W

Dunlin: 192W

Kittiwake: 197W   

Black-headed Gull: present

Common Gull: present

Herring Gull: present

Great Black-backed Gull: present 

Razorbill: 528W

Guillemot: 712W     

Auk sp: 832W       327E

Red-throated Diver: 242W  

Fulmar: 3W     

Gannet: 12W    4E

Cormorant: present

Grey Seal: 1 present
A cycle ride around the Scotney complex was disappointing with only the Scaup at the old sandpit the only quality, quantity was made up by Wigeon, Lapwing and Golden Plover.

Lunchtime back home gave me the opportunity to take more pictures of the Long staying Siberian Lesser Whitethroat. Despite it being in the open a good deal of time, once again I didn't manage to see it poo, so still no DNA.

Siberian Lesser Whitethroat

A Walk around the reserve with John this afternoon saw the Great Northern Diver on Burrowes near Scott,

while at Christmas Dell 13 Common Snipe was a reasonable count, John heard the Water Pipits on the flood fields, alas my hearing is now very poor.

At the ARC late afternoon despite the reduced numbers of Starlings the murmuration was still quite spectacular. 2 Whooper Swans came in to roost at 17.00, also 21 Cattle Egrets and 15 Great White Egrets.

Great Northern Diver from Scott

There are at least 8 Common Snipe in this image taken at Christmas Dell

14/01/2026

 07.50-09.20 from the hide with RW. Wind WSW2  Temp 3º

Brent Goose: 5W

Wigeon: 6W      8E

Common Scoter: 3E

Little Gull: 1 adult feeding along the colour change

Kittiwake: 54W   

Black-headed Gull: present

Common Gull: present

Herring Gull: present

Great Black-backed Gull: present 

Puffin: 1W

Guillemot: 419W     

Razorbill: 116W

Auk sp: 2,392W        57E

Red-throated Diver: 258W          1E

Gannet: 25W

Cormorant: present

The local Little Owl was out enjoying some welcome sunshine this morning

After a busy sea watch I stopped off at Cockles Bridge where 3 Cattle Egrets were feeding but no wild Swans today.

While having breakfast I spent a while watching the Lesser Whitethroat in my garden chasing the Great and Blue Tits off the feeders, until the Rook came to feed. The Dunnocks, Robins Gold, Green and Chaffinches all do well from the Rook as it spills lots of Sunflower Chips to the ground.

1w drake Scaup on the flooded Sand Pit

After breakfast I went to Scotney where 100s of Golden Plover and Lapwings were wheeling around with a few Dunlin but I couldn't pick out the Little Stint that was there earlier, the goose highlight there was just 10 Barnacle Geese. At flooded sand pit the 1w drake Scaup was still there with a few Tufted Duck, Pochard, Wigeon and Teal. I spent some time scanning the fields for the Hen Harrier thats been frequenting the area but no joy. A general look around this afternoon in the gloom when the cloud cover had rolled in saw the Great Northen Diver distantly on Burrowes.

The Lesser Whitethroat still in my garden for its 16th day