Nightingale Survey and Dungeness

05.00 at the Military Canal at Warehorne plodding around the tetrad looking for Nightingales. Two hours  and no Nightingales, but seems to be more Blackcaps, Whitethroats and Lesser Whitethroats.
Joined TG in a full sea watch hide at 07.30. These are the totals recorded by TG from 05.30-09.30 and from the fishing boats 14.15-16.45:
Red-throated diver: 5E
Black-throated Diver: 2E
Fulmar: 5W
Gannet: 207W
Brent Geese: 14E
Common Scoter: 139E
Whimbrel: 12E
Bar-tailed Godwit: 12E
Turnstone: 7 on beach
Little Gull: 1 off shore
Kittiwake: 14W
Common Tern: 593E
Sandwich Tern: 61E
Great Skua: 32E
Arctic Skua: 29E
House Martin: 2 in off
Swallow: 12 in off
At the south end of the ARC Pit 5 Channel Wagtails, 6 Yellow Wagtails, 1 White Wagtail, 2 Little Ringed Plovers and 3 Swifts over.

 At Scotney 3 Little Gulls,6 Whimbrel, 8 Dunlin, 1 Redstart, 2 Willow Warblers, 1 Cuckoo and 2 Marsh Harriers. At Boulderwall Farm 10+ Tree Sparrows, 9 Swifts overhead, 4 Whimbrel beside the entrance track and 4+ Marsh Harriers.

Another Great Days Sea Watching

Another great days sea watching. Not as busy as yesterday but certainly alot more comfortable.
06.00-11.45 from the sea watch hide and 14.00-17.00 from The Point:
Red-throated Diver: 10E
Black-throated diver: 16E
Fulmar: 27W
Manx Shearwater: 2W
Gannet: N/C some off shore
Brent Goose: 62E
Pochard: 4E
Goldeneye: 2E
Common Scoter: 675E
Red-breasted Merganser: 3E
Merlin: 1 in off
Whimbrel: 21E
Bar-tailed Godwit: 45E
Dunlin: 2E
Sanderling: 5E
Oystercatcher: 6E
Great Skua: 66E
Arctic Skua: 44E
Kittiwake: 16 W
Mediterranean Gull: 4+ off shore
Yellow-legged Gull: 1 off shore
Little Tern: 6 off shore
Commic Tern: 148E + c250 on The Patch
Sandwich Tern: 95E
Tawny Pipit: 1 in at The Point and flew west (TG,MC)
This evening 2 Blue-headed Wagtails at south end of the ARC Pit per TG 

Superb Dungeness Sea watch

A superb pink blushed Little Gull

Black Tern

06.00-16.00 from a very soggy sea watch hide:
Red-throated Diver: 3E
Black-throated Diver: 25E
Fulmar: 153E    Blue Fulmar: 2E
Manx Shearwater: 3E
Gannet: 1493E  416W
Common Scoter: 272E
Velvet Scoter: 2E
Bar-tailed Godwit: 34E
Whimbrel: 4E
Grey Plover: 2E
Black Tern: 9E
Little Tern: 19E
Common Tern: 1702E
Arctic Tern: 37E
Sandwich Tern: 843E
Great Skua: 123E
Arctic Skua: 41E
Pomarine Skua: 1E
Kittiwake: 20W
Little Gull: 82E
Yellow-legged Gull: 2 off shore
Auk sp.: 35W
Swallow: 1 in off
An excellent days sea watching in great company.

Swifts

A couple of hours sea watch 08.00-10.00 was rather slow this morning with:

Diver sp.: 1E

Gannets: N/C but small numbers mainly moving west

Common Scoter: 26E

Merlin: 2 in off

W£himbrel: 4E

Arctic Skua: 2E

Little Tern: 1E

Arctic Tern: 1E

Common Terns: c170 off shore

Mediterranean Gull: 1W

Swift: 5 in off

Black Redstart: 1 Singing behind the hide.



 On the reserve 6 Whimbrel by the entrance track. On Burrowes of note 9 Swifts, 20+ Swallows, 10+ House Martins and 2 Wigeon. A northern Wheatear at Christmas Dell. On Dengemarsh 2 Garganey, 1 Ruff, 1 Black-tailed Godwit and the Bittern could be heard booming.

 Another hours sea watch this afternoon produced 4 Arctic Skuas in one flock, and a few Kittiwake, Gannets, Common and Sandwich Terns.

At the south end of the ARC Pit this afternoon 2 Ringed Plovers, 2 Little Ringed Plovers, 2 Oystercatchers, 14 Yellow Wagtails, 5 White Wagtails and a Little Egret.

A Soggy Dungeness Seawatch

From the seawatch hide 07.00- 15.00:
Black-throated Diver: 6E
Diver sp: 3E
Fulmar: 3E 16W
Manx Shearwater: 7E  9W
Gannet: 224E  248W
Brent Geese: 20E
Common Scoter: 342E
Shelduck: 6E
Oystercatcher: 2E
Knot: 1E
Bar-tailed Godwit: 243E
Whimbrel: 10E
Arctic Skua: 30E
Great Skua: 58E
Kittiwake: 24W
Little Gull: 22E 1 flock
Black Tern: 4E
Sandwich Tern: 122E
Common Tern: 1194E
Guillemot: 1 on sea
Razorbill: 1 on sea
Auk sp.: 129W
Swallow 1 in off
Harbour Porpoise: 3+ off shore

Another Plod

I arrived at the Military Canal at Warehorne at 05.00 for a dawn start of this tetrad which drew a blank for Nightingales yesterday. By 08.00 I had plodded around all the suitable habitat and still no Nightingales. I did find my first Lesser Whitethroat of the year, but for some reason the dawn chorus was very quiet and short lived. I feel sure I will find Nightingales there some time next week.
A sea watch from the hide 10.00-11.15 was very poor:
Gannet: 17E  6W
Common Scoter: 48E
Bonxie: 2E
Swallow: 1 in off
Linnet: 4 in off
Harbour Porpoise: 2 off shore.

At the ARC Pit a drake Garganey at the south end with a pair of Teal.
In the car park several Tree Sparrows, a Common Whitethroat and a Sedge Warbler. From Hanson the Long-tailed Duck, 1 Little Ringed Plover, a singing Reed Warbler, 2 Marsh Harriers and a Sparrowhawk.
In the Willow Trail a Chiffchaff, 2 Cetti's Warblers and 4 Speckled Wood butterfly's.
By the track to the reserve 6 Whimbrel and 2 Marsh Harriers. The car park at the centre was packed, so I drove round to Dengemarsh Road and walked the path round the flooded fields, where little was seen but to more Garganey on Dengemarsh.
Driving back across Walland 2 Marsh Harriers, 2 Common Buzzards, several Tree Sparrows, 4 Corn Buntings and 3 Yellowhammers by the rubbish pile.

Nightingales

I arrived at Orlestone Forest at 04.15 in the dark this morning to do the first offical visit for the Nightingale survey. As I opened the car door Nightingales could be heard along with a couple of Tawny Owls. I made my way to the furthest end of my tetrads slipping and tripping in the mud and streams that were the clean dry footpaths a week ago. As dawn broke the forest came alive with bird song Mistle and Song Thrushes, Blackbirds, Robins, Wrens, Blackcaps, Nuthatches, Green Woodpeckers, a Cuckoo called from the top of conifer in the growing light and most importantly Nightingales. I arrived back at the car at 07.15 after covering the first tetrad having located 18 singing Nightingales. The second tetrads habitat is not nearly as good for Nightingales but I was still very disappointed not to find any Nightingales. I will have to go back for another go round it at dawn another day.
At Dungeness a seawatch from the hide 09.30-12.00 was not very productive:
Red-throated Diver: 1E
Black-throated Diver: 1E
Manx Shearwatewr: 1W
Fulmar: 1W
Gannet: 22E  7W
Brent Geese: 5E
Common Scoter: 182E
Guillemot: 1 off shore
Mediterranean Gull 1st W: 1W
Bonxie: 1E
Arctic Skua: 3E
Common Tern: 200-300 off shore
The only other birds of note were 8 Whimbrel by the reserve entrance track.

A Disappointing Day at Dunge

I made the choice today having a lay in, with the last 2 mornings bringing excellent sea watches, it could not happen again today, and it didn't. When I arrived at the hide the occupants informed in no uncertain terms that there was sea passage today.  Just a few distant Bonxies and a couple of Divers and the Terns and Gannets tooing and froing off shore. 

At least the Wheatears like the anti predator fence!

A plod around the reserve found little of note. A northern Wheatear at Christmas Dell, a Green Sandpiper and a Common Tern on Dengemarsh, a few Swallows and the obligatory Marsh Harriers.
On the ARC Pit from Hanson the Long-tailed Duck, 2 Little Ringed Plovers and little else. At the south end 2 more LRPs, 2 Yellow Wagtails and a Common Snipe.
Another hours sea watch from the fishing boats produced just a few Terns and Gannets.
A look at Scotney on the way found nothing of note.   

Bonxie day record for Dungeness

A superb day long sea watch mainly from the hide 06.30-17.00:

Red-throated Diver: 7E
Black-throated Diver: 24E
Diver sp.: 2E
Fulmar: 28E 22w
Manx Shearwater: 65w
Gannet: 814E   381w
Brent Geese: 108E
Eider: 6E
Common Scoter: 428E
Whimbrel: 7E
Arctic Skua: 53E
Great Skua: 267E   A day record for Dungeness
Mediterranean Gull: 3E
Kittiwake: 27E  5w
Sandwich Tern: N/C  Several hundred off shore and past
Common Tern: N/C  several hundred off shore and past
Auk sp.: 8+

Bonxies

Bonxie

Arctic Skua

Black-throated Divers

Skua's come with the storm

Dungeness Sea Watch Hide 07.30-13.00    14.00-15.00 The Point:
Red-Throated Diver: 9E
Fulmar: 18E  7w
Manx Shearwater: 2E  1w
Brent Geese: 191E
Common Scoter: 287E  29 w
Velvet Scoter: 6E
Eider: 1 drifted E
Red-breasted Merganser: 8E
Oystercatcher: 1E
Kittiwake: 8E  3w
Arctic Skua: 18E
Great Skua: 39E
Skua sp: 1E
Gannet, Sandwich Tern and Common Tern: N/C but good numbers tooing and froing off shore
Harbour Porpoise: 2 off shore

2 Northern Wheatears by the car park. This afternoon at the ARC Pit 8 Swallows, 3 House Martins, 2 Common Whitethroats, 2 Sedge Warblers, 2 Chiffchaffs, 3 Cetti's Warblers and 1 Wigeon.