All about a Gull!

When I managed to get my self out this morning, I looked over to the cow shed to see one of the Cattle Egrets on the roof, then I drove the short distance to Scotney GP where 1w drake Scaup and the 2 Black-necked Grebes were showing quite well at the Sussex end. At the Kent end all the usual feral Geese and 100s of Wigeon.

On the reserve from Dengemarsh hide 3 Marsh Harriers and a Great White Egret of note. Another 2 Great White Egrets from the entrance track. From Dennis's hide 2+ more Great White Egrets, a red head Smew, 5 Goosander, 2+ Yellow-legged Gulls and a superb 3w Caspian Gull sporting what looks like a Polish yellow colour ring PRZC. 

3w Caspian Gull PRZC  (heavily cropped)

A bit of a slog!

At The Point this morning off shore passage was non existent, just 3 Red-throated Divers and a handful of feeding Gannets.

The New Diggings still held the 5 Goosander and 2 Great White Egrets.

With the sun shining, a very light breeze and the ranges open, I parked at the beach at Galloways and walked along the top of beach to The Midrips and back. This stretch of beach is completely undisturbed and ignored by other birders, so there must be at least a couple of Snow Buntings there. 3 hours later I returned to the car having seen 1 Marsh Harrier, 1 Redshank, 2 Meadow Pipits, 3 Shelduck, 2 Mallard a few Great Crested Grebes and Red-throated Divers off shore and a few Carrion Crows. Not even a Common Scoter let alone a Surf Scoter! I really wont be in a hurry to do this walk again.

At Scotney the 2 Black-necked Grebes and 1w drake Scaup still.

 1w drake Scaup 

Adjacent to Lydd FC the Cattle Egrets still being camera shy, always staying at least 2 mts away!
A quick drive around the marsh found that the Whooper Swan and 28 Bewick Swans were still present.
From Dennis's hide the 3 red head Smew, 2 Goldeneye and 2 Great White Egrets of note.
Late afternoon at the ARC a Bittern from the screen and another over the Tower pits, another Great White Egret, 2 Chiffchaff, 2 Bearded Tits, also Water Rails and Cetti's Warblers seemingly calling from every piece of scrub. 

Barn Owl!

08.15-09.00 from The Point:

Wigeon: 2 down

Great-crested Grebe: 150+ feeding off shore

Red-throated Diver: 45 down   8 up

Gannet: 21 down   4 up

Cormorant: c300 off shore

Kittiwake: 4 down

Guillemot: 2 on sea

Auk sp: 12 down

On the New Diggings the 5 Goosander still, 2 Great White Egrets and 2 Little Egrets plus all the usual wildfowl.

ARC south end the rgular flock of 150+ Gadwall.

Adjacent to Lydd FC the 2 Cattle Egrets still performing for the cameras.

At Scotney the 2 Black-necked Grebes, the 1w drake Scaup, 2 Marsh Harriers hunting the north bank and the usual feral geese.

I spent a few hours wandering the more secluded lanes and paths on Walland Marsh today, Redwing, Fieldfare and Blackbirds were numerous, also plenty of Song Thrushes and 10+ Mistle Thrushes. Several Tit flocks were located but contained nothing unexpected, also Tree Sparrows, Corn Buntings, Reed Buntings and Yellowhammers were found though not in big numbers. The 28 Bewick and the single Whooper Swans were also seen but distant. I didn't look for the Tundra Bean Geese but those that did failed to locate them, they are probably still there but in the longer vegetation. 

 This Barn Owl appeared late afternoon over the ARC car park and round Boulderwall.

Mid afternoon on Burrowes from Dennis's hide saw 3 red head Smew, 5 Great White Egrets and 3 Goldeneye of note.
From the entrance track a Great White and a Little Egret with 2 Cattle Egrets in the distance all in the same field of view.
From Hanson of note a Bittern flew across the lake. In the Willow Trail the Tit flock held 2 Chiffchaffs.
From The Screen another or the same Bittern flew over the lake also 2 Marsh Harriers. On the lake apart from 100s of Coot very little else was seen.
Late afternoon in the ARC car park a surprise in the form of a Barn Owl that flew through. 

As You Were!

On my way to The Point this morning in the frosty early morning, saw no change on the New Diggings with 5 Goosander, 2+ Great White Egrets, 2 Little Egrets and the odd Marsh Harrier stirring things up.

The 5 Goosander in the early morning light!

At The Point no change on the sea this morning with a few Red-throated Divers, Gannets, Kittiwakes, Auks, 6 Wigeon and 2 Common Scoter. DW had 2 Goldeneye just after I left.
A wander around the boats and sea containers found no passerines so no change there.

Stock Dove in the Cattle Egret field!

In Lydd the 2 Cattle Egrets still showing ridiculously well at times if you stay in your car, I have already taken far to many pictures of them so I snapped a Stock Dove instead, also 2 Tree Sparrows there.

1w Caspian Gull, Scotney GP.

At Scotney the usual feral geese and wildfowl, the 2 Black-necked Grebes still, but new in or over looked a 1w drake Scaup picked out by Barry Wright among a party of Tufted Duck.
Early afternoon back at Scotney, a 1w Caspian Gull sporting a bright red colour ring with white letters/numbers put in a brief appearance, unfortunately the grass was to long for me to be able read the ring, also a group of birders that walked up to my car to ask what I was looking at flushed it GRRRR!
On Walland the same 28 Bewick Swans with a single Whooper Swan, also the 3 Tundra Bean Geese(per Twitter) that have been present on the marsh for at least a week, the adult male Hen Harrier seemed to be zigzagging across the marsh today being seen behind Scotney, The Woolpack, Midley and at Coldharbour, where good numbers of Redwing, Fieldfare, Song Thrushes, Blackbirds and 2 Bullfinches(sadly very scarce here) were feeding in the hedgerows in the less visited areas. A Long-tailed Tit flock near Old Romney contained a Treecreeper another notable bird on the marsh.
  

Dark Days

A really miserable day on the peninsular after a particularly stormy night. Little moving at The Point this morning though a Pomarine and 3 Great Skuas moved through just after I left.
A scan of The New Diggings found just the 1 drake Goosander and 2 Great White Egrets of note.
Out on the marsh 18 Bewick Swans from Caldecot Lane, further on Between Horse Bone Farm and Hawthorn Corner 10 more Bewicks(3 juvs) with a single Whooper Swan and a Tundra Bean Goose.
At Scotney the usual feral geese but nothing of note.
In Lydd the 2 Cattle Egrets still performing in the field opposite Wraxalls Aggregates.
The afternoon was taken up with a visit to the dentist!

Stormy!

First thing this morning the 2 Cattle Egrets were still performing opposite Wraxalls Aggregates, Dengemarsh Road, Lydd.

An hours sea watch at The Point in the company of AJG was not very inspiring, 2 Eider were the highlights, with a handful of Red-Throated Divers, Gannets and Kittiwakes also a couple each of Guillemot and Razorbill.  

 Family of Bewick Swans, Walland.

A drive out onto Walland found a family of 4 Bewick Swans near Midley, along with 100s of Fieldfare in the Hawthorns and the usual Tree Sparrows round the feeders.

From Caldecote Lane a Whooper Swan with 23 Bewick Swans later joined by the 4 from Midley.

 Whooper Swan, Walland.

Scotney was wind swept and disappointing unless you are a fan of feral Geese!

Joining CT on the reserve the highlight was 3 red head Smew on Burrowes and plenty of common wildfowl.

Another sea watch this afternoon was even quieter than this morning, though there were plenty of Gulls on the shore feeding on Starfish and Sea Mice washed up the storms.

This afternoon 2 Chinooks landed on the beach behind the observatory for a few minutes, seemingly for no particular reason! 

One of the Chinooks on the beach behind the obs this afternoon

Both the Chinooks leaving the beach behind the obs.

Enjoying the Sun!

At first light the 2 Cattle Egrets were already in the cow paddock in Dengemarsh Road.

Just under an hour sea watching at The Point in the company of AJG, was not very productive with just a few Red-throated Divers, 3 Common Scoter and handful of Gannets and Kittiwakes. 

Mid morning I joined AJG in pleasant wander making the most of the glorious sunshine out the back of Scotney GP. In the fields were c 100 Skylark, 30+ Corn Buntings and few each of Tree Sparrow, Meadow Pipit, Song Thrush and Reed Bunting, also 2 Stonechat, 3+ Marsh Harriers, a Peregrine, a Barn Owl and not forgetting 16 Egyptian Geese.
Most of this afternoon was spent in Dennis's Hide with DW, SB and MH seeing a Firecrest, 2 Chiffchaff, 3+ Great White Egret, a couple of Marsh Harriers and a red head Smew.
Late this afternoon from Caldecot Lane 20+ Bewick Swans and a Tundra Bean Goose found by DB, who also saw 2 Black-necked Grebes on Scotney GP from the double bends.

Caspian Gulls!

Sea watch from The Point this morning 08.00-08.45. By 08.20 the Diver passage had ceased:

Red-throated Diver: 49 up   11 down

Common Scoter: 2 up

Gannet: 17 up        12 down

Kittiwake: 3 up

On the New Diggings the 5 Goosander still along with 2 Great White Egrets.

A trip around Walland Marsh looking for the Bean Geese drew a blank, though there are still plenty of winter Thrushes on the marsh, along with Tree Sparrows, Corn Buntings, Yellowhammers and Marsh Harriers.

 Ad.Caspian Gull

From the entrance track to the reserve an adult Yellow-legged Gull in the roost also an East German colour ringed 2w Caspian Gull or possibly a hybrid according to CR-birding.org. The bird does not seem quite right for Caspian to me. I look forward to the ringers reply. I would have liked to get better images but all the gulls flushed soon after I found it, hopefully I may re-find it tomorrow and get better views.

A visit to Dennis's hide found an adult Caspian Gull and 2 Great White Egrets of note.
In Lydd the 2 Cattle Egrets still showing very well today.

Colour ringed 2W Caspian Gull or Hybrid XUDU 

If you stay in your car the Cattle Egrets will come very close

4 Herons from the garden!

Peering through the curtains this morning seeing a dull damp day, I  went back to bed for another hour. When I eventually got myself out and about the 2 Cattle Egrets were showing well still. On the New Diggings from the causeway now 5 Goosander (2 drakes) and 2 Great White Egrets.

A single adult Yellow-legged Gull was in the gull roost on the beach. 

A half hour sea watch is best described as grim!  

Back at Plodland doing some gardening I could see the 2 Cattle Egrets on the cow shed roof and a Little Egret flew over, so I set the scope up and scanned towards the reserve, it wasn't long before a Great White Egret came into view also 2 Grey Herons and 2 Marsh Harriers, not bad without leaving the garden.

It was the coordinated Harrier count this afternoon, I made the trek out the reed bed I cover and as usual no Harriers roosted there, indeed only 2 flew over a very poor showing. However large numbers of Golden Plover and Lapwing were flying around ans as dusk fell 2 Bean Geese (presumably Tundra) flew past me and landed in the fields by Hook Wall, they were also seen by BH while he was watching his allotted reed bed.

Hen Harrier!

At The Point this morning the sea was very quiet again this morning , with a flock of 12 Red-throated Divers the only movement and a Merlin over the beach.

On the New Diggings the 4 Goosander still, 2 Great White Egrets and 2 Little Egrets.

 Opposite Wraxalls Aggregates, Dengemarsh Road, Lydd the 2 Cattle Egrets performing in the sun.

A walk out to the back of Scotney GP with PW, found a flock of 18 Egyptian Geese, good numbers of Skylarks, Meadow Pipits, Corn and Reed Buntings, 2 Stonechats, 3+ Marsh Harriers and best of all a superb male Hen Harrier, which eventually gave us good prolonged scope views. 

 The Hen harrier when it first appeared flying directly into the sun.