Jack Snipe

With the rain falling steadily, a lay in, followed by a full English was the best way for me start my day. Mid morning I drove to Scotney where c500 Golden Plover, 9 Ruff, a Redshank and the feral Barnacle Goose flock could be seen. A walk around the outside of the camp looking for Crossbills, was damp and drew a blank.

Late morning I visited the ARC Hanson hide where a very obliging Jack Snipe could be seen bobbing and was still present after my second visit at 17.00. Also seen there the Glossy Ibis, a Bittern, a Curlew Sandpiper, a Greenshank, a Ruff, 12 Dunlin(1 with a colour ring) c250 Golden Plover, 3 Grey Plover, 2 Marsh Harriers, 2+ Water Rail squealing, 2 Cetti's Warblers calling, also many Wigeon, Teal, Gadwall Shovellor present. 

 At the reserve on Burrowes Pit 7 Great White Egret, 9+ Little Egrets, a Ruff, 4 Grey Plover, a Little Stint, a Marsh Harrier, 3 Black-necked Grebes, 12+ Chiffchaffs, 2 Rock Pipits, a Wheatear, and 2 Goldeneye among the common wildfowl.

Crossbills!

07.40-08.25 from The Point:

Gannet: N/C

Brent Goose: 8W

Common Scoter: 12W

Wigeon: 9W

Hen Harrier: 1 in off

Arctic Skua: 1E

Little Gull: 1 off shore

Sandwich Tern: 6 off shore

Swallow: 17 in of

Chiffchaff Lighthouse garden

 In an hour spent looking into the Lightouse garden I managed several brief views of the Yellow Browed Warbler, a Goldcrest and a Chiffchaff. With news that the Two Barred Crossbill was still at Hempstead forest saw myself, DW, BP and DR make our way there. On arrival we were making our way up the track towards the gathered birders who started waving at us as the Two Barred Crossbill was showing. We hastened our walk a little and were soon getting good scope views of the bird, but no good for photography.

Distant Two Barred Crossbill

 We were told on arrival that 2 Parrot Crossbills had been seen, so we waited and after a while the male was picked out on distant conifer, a few moments later it and 2 other Crossbills flew towards us and landed in the trees above the drinking pool. Once again great scope views were had but much to far for me tom get any decent photographs. I believe some good phonescope shots were obtained by others, I am sure over the next few days other good ones will be obtained.

                                                          Parrot Crossbill

Left to right:  Common Crossbill, female type Parrot Crossbill, Male Parrot Crossbill.

Male Parrot Crossbill

This afternoon back at Dungeness the Glossy Ibis could again be seen from Hanson along with all the usual wildfowl. At the Lighthouse the Yellow Browed Warbler was still not behaving itself.

YBW!

I went straight round to the lighthouse garden this morning, within minutes a Yellow Browed Warbler appeared along with a couple of Chiffchaffs and a couple of Goldcrests.

From the fishing boats 09.30-10.00:

Brent Goose: 4E

Common Scoter: 12E   2W

Gadwall: 9W

Wigeon: 7W

Teal:  8W

Grey Heron: 1 out

Sandwich Tern: 6 off shore

Swallow: 22 out

Meadow Pipit: 9 out  

 At the ARC the Glossy Ibis was still performing distantly, also 2 Greenshank, 1 Redshank, 1 Ruff, 1 Bar-tailed Godwit, 24 Dunlin, c100 Golden Plover, c150 Lapwing, my first Goldeneye of the autumn, a Marsh Harrier, good numbers of Wigeon, Teal, Pintail, Shovelor, Gadwall, 2 Water Rails, 8 Swallows through, 2 Chiffchaffs, 2 Cetti's Warblers and a Peregrine.

 This afternoon from Firth Hide the highlights were a Rock Pipit of undefined race, a Ruff, 4 Dunlin, 22 Common Snipe, 2 Black-necked Grebes, 6 Great White Egrets, 6 Little Egrets and a Wheatear.

Late afternoon after the rain had passed and the sun came out, at the Lighthouse Garden The Yellow Browed Warbler was still present and a little more showy than this morning. 

Yellow Browed Warblers and Red Breasted Flycatcher!

Driving out to the fishing boats just after 07.00 I met AJG coming away shaking his head. While turning at the end of the concrete road a Merlin came in off the sea and flopped onto the beach and a Chiffchaff was picking around in a patch of Sea Kale.

From the observatory I walked out into The Desert and around the southern end of the trapping area seeing 6+ Ring Ouzels, 5 Song Thrushes, 12 Redwing, 1 Brambling, 1 Sparrowhawk, 13 Chiffchaffs, 34 Swallows and 9 House Martins. Arriving back at the observatory I was met by AJG with the news that a Yellow Browed Warbler had been trapped, he had phoned and text me but some how I had turned the sound on my phone off!  

YBW trapped at the Obsevatory

 After viewing the YBW at the observatory, myself and AJG went to the lighthouse to look in the garden, where we found another Yellow Browed Warbler which promptly left and visited nearby gardens ending up back in the lighthouse garden.

YBW in garden of Studio 2

YBW in garden of Studio 2

YBW in the experimental station

 OL found a Red-breasted Flycatcher in the trapping which eventually gave me and a couple of others very brief views before disappearing.

Water rail from Hanson

 On the ARC from Hanson a Water Rail showed well in front the hide, the Glossy Ibis showed well on the islands albeit distantly. Also there a Great White Egret, 50+ Golden Plover, a Greenshank, 6 Dunlin, 8 Common Snipe, the juvenile Little Gull and all the usual wildfowl.

Brambling under the reserve feeders

 A short visit to the reserve late afternoon saw the Brambling still by the feeders, 4 Great White Egrets from Dennis's Hide, another from Firth Hide, c25 Common Snipe and a Chiffchaff in front the hide.

Chiffchaff from Firth hide

Herons!

This morning around the ARC 2+ Ring Ouzels, 10s of Redwing and Song Thrush, 8+ each of Chiffchaff and Blackcap, 2+ Cetti's Warblers, 6 Common Snipe over, a Common Buzzard and 2 Marsh Harriers. On the pit the Glossy Ibis could be seen from the Screen and Hanson, 2 Greenshank, 4 Dunlin, 60+ Golden Plover, a Ruff and the juvenile Little Gull. 

Wood Sandpiper

 A plod around the reserve found 2 more Ring Ouzels, a few more Redwing, Fieldfare and Chiffchaffs, 17 Swallows over and Peregrine over. On the small pool on Hayfield 1 the Wood Sandpiper still present, also 2 Black-necked Grebes, 4+ Great White Egrets and a Bittern.

Part of the view from Firth

 Another visit to the reserve late afternoon I headed straight to Firth Hide. From the empty hide, the late afternoon sunshine added to the Mediterranean feel, as 6 Great White Egrets, 8 Little Egrets and 9 Grey Herons fed in the shallows along with several Cormorants, 3 Black-tailed Godwits, a Ruff, 10 Common Snipe, 3 Dunlin,  c50 Lapwing and an obliging Pintail.    

Brambling at last!

With heavy rain forecast for most of the day I had a lay in and a leisurely breakfast this morning followed by some domestic stuff. Mid morning scanning the fields from upstairs window, a Ring Ouzel flew into the hedge opposite along with a couple of Song Thrushes.

Early afternoon following a text from DB I went to the south end of the ARC where the Glossy Ibis was wading around the most southerly island, also the Juvenile Little Gull was still present.

By the feeders on the reserve a male Brambling, my first of the year on the marsh (213) was feeding with few Chaffinches. 

 With the rain still falling I went to Scotney and scrutinised the Golden Plover flock, but found no Dotterel, the 2 Ruddy Shelducks were still present as was the feral Barnacle Goose flock.
Back at the ARC from Hanson apart from the usual wildfowl highlights were a Redshank, 8 Common Snipe, 2 Dunlin, a Peregrine over the track, a Water Rail Squealing and a couple of Cetti's Warblers chattering.

 Late afternoon on the reserve 5 Great White Egrets could be seen from Firth Hide, along with a Black-tailed Godwit, a Ruff, 5 Dunlin, 6 Common Snipe, a Grey Plover, a Black-necked Grebe and 4 Little Egrets as well as usual wildfowl.

Ring Ouzels!

It was no surprise to find The Point awash with Thrushes this morning, but the numbers of Ring Ouzels was a surprise. With estimates of 130+ around The Desert and Moat, another 60+ at Galloways, 50+ reported from Dengemarsh and dozens more reported from the reserve and the ARC.  

One from the Heligoland Trap

No mystery to the exact location of this bird!

Late morning a very short watch from the fishing boats as nothing apart from Brent Geese was moving.
Mid afternoon a walk around the reserve saw another surprise a late Wood Sandpiper on the flood behind Dengemarsh hide. In the bushes c20 Chiffchaffs, 5 Blackcaps and more Ring Ouzels, Redwings and Fieldfare. From Makepiece a Little Stint, a Ruff, 2 Black-tailed Godwits and 2 Black-necked Grebes. Still 6+ Great White Egrets around Burrowes. A juvenile Little Gull on the ARC and a Bittern briefly near the tower.

Glossy Ibis

Back to The Point this morning where the only similarity to Cap Gris Nez was that it was windy!

07.15-10.15: I was joined by DW.

Balearic Shearwater: 1W

Shearwater sp. : 3W

Gannet: 28E  16W

Brent Geese: 227W   48E

Common Scoter: 15E

Wigeon: 12W

Great Skua: 5W

Skua sp. : 4W

Kittiwake: 3W

Little Gull: 24W   7 off shore

Arctic Tern: 1 off shore

Sandwich Tern:  c10 off shore

Razorbill: 1 on sea

Auk sp. : 24E

Rock Pipit: 1 on beach

Common Seal: 1

Harbour Porpoise: 2

 The ARC from Hanson held 3 Greenshank, 1 Redshank, 3 Curlew of note among the common wildfowl.

Late morning on the reserve I only visited Dennis's hide and the VC due to the rain. From Dennis's 7 Great White Egrets and 6 Little Egrets could be seen, from the VC a Little Stint, 8 Dunlin, 2 Ruff, a Black-tailed Godwit, a Grey Plover, a juvenile Little Gull and 11 Avocets that flew in and eventually settled in front of Firth, also 3 Spotted Redshanks flew through. 

Glossy Ibis in front of Firth hide

 Mid afternoon I had just started another sea watch at the fishing boats when a call from DW alerted me to a Glossy Ibis that had just flown in to Firth hide. A few minutes later I arrived had a brief view of it as it walked into cover, fortunately it soon reappeared and showed well before flying off towards Dengemarsh. Also seen there 3 Chiffchaffs, 3 Black-tailed Godwits, a Bar-tailed Godwit, 3 Knot, 2 Marsh Harriers. As we were leaving the first flocks of Fieldfare and Redwing flew over.

Avocets from Firth

What a Difference 25 miles of Sea makes!!!

Cap Gris Nez

 Myself, DW, AJG, CT and BP (AKA King Squacco) deserted Dungeness today. I picked them up at 03.00 and caught the 04.20 ferry to Calais them made the short drive to Cap Gris Nez arriving at c06.30 where the NW wind was blowing hard.

Bonxie 1 of 772 logged !!!!!

 By 07.00 we had got our selves in position and settled on a ledge near the bottom of the cliffs(not  for the faint hearted) with expectations running high. The first 20 minutes saw little activity and I was wondering if we had made the choice, then a few minutes later WOW! the flood gates opened, streams of Skua's. Our totals for 07.00-15.30 are listed below.

Manxie

Little Gull 1 of 2,440 logged !!!!!

Red-throated Diver: 15
Great crested Grebe: 1
Sooty Shearwater: 5  another 5 from the return ferry.
Manx Shearwater: 3
Balearic Shearwater: 23
Leaches Petrel: 3     another 2 from the return ferry
Gannet: c1,500
Brent Geese: 1630
Wigeon: 12
Teal: 8
Common Scoter: 584
Red-breasted Merganser: 4
Peregrine: 1
Oystercatcher: 2
Bar-tailed Godwit: 1
Curlew: 12
Pomarine Skua: 2
Long-tailed Skua: 4
Arctic Skua: 117    another 6 from return ferry
Great Skua: 772   another 20 from he return ferry   Amazing!!!!
Little Gull: 2,440  another 50+ from the return ferry
Sabines Gull: 1
Kittiwake: 40
Common Tern: 2
Arctic Tern: 4
Sandwich Tern: 12
Auk sp: 26

A brilliant days sea watching just c25miles from Dungeness as the Bonxie flys!!!!

Dotterel

With little movement on the sea myself and AJG covered from the observatory to north end of the Long Pits and back. Pick of the bunch was a Ring Ouzel also 14 Siskin, 4 Brambling, 8 Reed Buntings, 7 Swallows, 3 Blackcaps and 27 Chiffchaffs a very meagre return.

On the ARC the usual wild fowl and little else. While on Burrowes 2 Little Stints, 5 Great White Egrets and 5 Black-necked Grebes were the highlights.

A very poor image of the Scotney  Dotterel

With the colder weather coming I was tidying the garden when a text from PT Plovers Blog  alerted me to a Dotterel with the Golden Plover at Scotney GP, a couple of minutes later I was watching it. It was still present when I left at 16.15. Also there the feral Barnacle Goose flock with the 4 of the Heinz 57 that accompany them, a Ruff and 4 Yellow Wagtails.
Going to Cap Gris Nez tomorrow as strong North Westerlies forecast for tonight and tomorrow.