Wild Geese at Last!

 Common Buzzard Scotney

As it was lovely morning I decided to walk out to the back of Scotney to the wind turbines. The walk was very nice but avian wise a non event, 20 + Bewick Swans could just be seen at extreme range at Cheyne, passerines were non existent except for a couple of Stonechats and a few Pied Wagtails, 2 Common Buzzards, a Marsh Harrier and a Peregrine were seen.

 Black-throated Diver at Dengemarsh

MH called me to say the Black-throated Diver was showing very well on Dengemarsh, on my arrival it still was as was a Great-crested Grebe. Also seen there of note were 2 Great White Egrets and Golden Plovers with all the usual species.

 Black-throated Diver at Dengemarsh

Black-throated Diver at Dengemarsh

Great-crested Grebe at Dengemarsh

Late morning back at Scotney to see the 2 Red-necked Grebes found by Owen, Bernie, Dorian and Eric visitors from Selsey Bill. The Grebes were quickly located and while checking the Greylag flock 20+ Russian White-fronted Geese, 2 Tundra Bean Geese and 3 Brent Geese were located.

Late afternoon on the reserve no sign of the Long-eared Owl at the Dipping Pool. In the gull roost the 1w Glaucous Gull and 2 1w Caspian Gulls were noted, on the lake 2 Goosander among the usual wildfowl. 2 Smew were at Christmas Dell.

A Gloomy Day!

Pintail & a Teal past the fishing boats

08.00-10.00 from the fishing boats with MH, OL, DW & AJG.
Brent Goose: 22 up
Shelduck: 2 up
Pintail: 12 down
Wigeon: 8 down
Teal: 1 down
Common Scoter: 20 up.  5 down
Red-breasted Merganser: 3 down
Red-throated Diver: c50 around up & down
Great-crested Grebe: c40 around up & down
Fulmar: 2 down
Gannet: c30 around up & down
Cormorant: 6,000+ flew into Lade Bay including a single flock of c4,500!!
Oystercatcher: 10 up   2 down
Curlew: 1 up
Great Skua: 1 around
Caspian Gull: regular 1w bird
Guillemot: 100s around
Razorbill: 100s around

 Great Skua over the fishing boats this morning

The regular 1w Caspian Gull in the morning gloom

Late morning at The Patch was disappointing as the power station was flying a drone which spooked all the Gulls.

Early afternoon around Walland found a few Tree Sparrows and Fieldfare but little else. Apparently there are 32 Bewick Swans on the marsh.

Late afternoon on the reserve the 1w Glaucous Gull and a 1w Caspian Gull came into the roost but no sign of the Iceland Gull. A single drake Goosander  was among the usual wildfowl. The Long-eared Owl was still present behind the Dipping Pool but showing very poorly.

An Excellent Day at Dungeness!

A thoroughly dull bitingly cold day turned out to be a brilliant birding day at Dungeness. It was well worth braving the the cold at fishing boats this morning to witness the best sea watch of the year so far.

 1 of 10 Great Skua's that passed the fishing boats this morning

08-10-11.10 in the company of RW & DW.
Brent Goose: 88 up.    4 down
Shelduck: 2 up
Gadwall: 2 up
Pintail: 5 up
Wigeon: 63 up
Teal: 18 up
Common Scoter: 13 up.  5 down
Velvet Scoter: 1 up
Red-throated Diver: 234 up
Great-crested Grebe: 447 up
Fulmar: 5 up
Gannet: 156 up
Dunlin: 2 up
Great Skua: 10 up
Mediterranean Gull: 9 up
Caspian Gull: regular 1w bird
Kittiwake: 289 up
Guillemot: 2,755 up
Razorbill: 1,181 up
Grey Seal: 1 around
Common Seal: 2 around

Late morning/early afternoon while I was at The Patch looking for white wingers and colour rings, I was joined by 2 Foxes which sat just a few feet from me on top the newly dumped shingle, then proceeded to have a fight and run amok on the beach scattering the 1,000s of assembled Gulls Grrrrrr! 

Although I didn't find any northern white wingers I did see 3 Mediterranean Gulls, a 1w Caspian Gull, another Great Skua and many more Red-throated divers, Great-crested Grebes and Auks.

An early afternoon drive down Dengemarsh lane I managed to find 6 White-fronted Geese  reported by RW among the Greylag flock. On the fields opposite Herons Park c300 Lapwing with c100 Stock Doves.
From the reserve entrance track of note c400 Golden Plover, 14 Curlew, a Great white Egret and a little Egret.
Late afternoon on the reserve the islands on Burrowes were black with Cormorants, David Walker made the sacrifice and counted them getting an astonishing total of 5,700!!!  A 1w Glaucous Gull, a 1w Caspian Gull and a Mediterranean Gull were also on Burrowes among 100s of Herring, Black Headed and Great Black-backed Gulls, along with 10 Goosander and at least 4 Goldeneye and the usual wildfowl.

Shooting lures at Dengmarsh yesterday

 Spot the Caspian Gull 

09.00-10.10 from the Fishing Boats:
Brent Geese: 46 up
Shelduck: 4 down
Red-throated Diver: 11 down   8 up.   4 on
Great-crested Grebe: c200 around
Gannet: 23 down.    9 up
Cormorant: c500 around
Great Skua: 1 down
Mediterranean Gull: 3 up
Caspian Gull: Regular 1w bird on the beach
Razorbill: c60 around
Guillemot: c200 around
Auk sp: 74 down
Late morning at The Patch the 1w Glaucous Gull was showing well.

 1w Glaucous Gull at The Patch

 !w Glaucous Gull at The Patch

1w Glaucous Gull  on low building behind The Patch

Late afternoon on the reserve the 1w Glaucous Gull, 2w Iceland Gull and 1w Caspian Gull all roosting on Burrowes Pit. The Long-eared owl was showing very well behind the Dipping Pool compared to recent days. Elsewhere on the ARC the Black-throated Diver, Bittern and Bearded Tits. Nearby at Lade the Long-tailed Duck and Slavonian Grebe still present. 

The regular 1w Caspian Gull showing well at the fishing boats today

08.00-10.00 from the fishing boats:

Brent Goose: 4 up
Shelduck: 1 down
Wigeon: 7 down
Common Scoter: 3 down
Red-throated Diver: 5 down   2 on
Great-crested Grebe: 783 around
Fulmar: 11 down
Gannet: 83 down
Cormorant: c500 around
Turnstone: 13 around
Great Skua: 1 down
Caspian Gull: regular 1w bird
Kittiwake: 379 around
Guillemot: c1,000 around
Razorbill: 11 around

 The regular 1w Caspian Gull showing well at the fishing boats today

1w Little Gull at the fishing boats today

 1w Little Gull at the fishing boats today

 1w Little Gull at the fishing boats today

1w Little Gull at the fishing boats today

On the ARC from Hanson the Black-throated Diver was showing a little better today, also there 2 Goosander, a Kingfisher, Great White Egret, 2 Marsh Harriers and a Merlin that flushed 100s of Lapwing, Wigeon and Teal.

Black-throated diver on the ARC

Late afternoon I was unable to the Long-eared Owl at the Dipping Pool but the 1w Glaucous Gull came into Burrowes to roost.

Smew at Last!

08.15- 10.15 from The Point Dungeness:

Wigeon: 1 down

Red-throated Diver: 9 down.     4 up

Great-crested Grebe: c100 off shore

Fulmar: 26 down    2 up

Gannet: 131 down

Cormorant: many present n/c

Caspian Gull: the regular 1w bird

Kittiwake:  184 down

Guillemot c200 around

A late morning visit to The Patch saw little of note avian wise though the hide is now in a very precarious position.

I'd like to say that the above image was the view I had today of the Lade drake Smew, unfortunately the image below was the view I had as the local farmer flushed it as he walked along the far bank. The above image was taken from Scott hide in 2015. While I was at Lade the Slavonian Grebe showed well on the north lake but I missed the Long-tailed Duck that was still present. 

 Drake Smew at Lade today

Slavonian Grebe on a windswept Lade North

1w Little Gull at the fishing boats this afternoon

This afternoon at the fishing boats many Gulls were present but nothing unusual among them except the 1w Caspian Gull and 1w Little Gull. Offshore the sea was littered with Guillemots Great-crested Grebes and Cormorants.

Late afternoon on the reserve one of the Long-eared Owls was showing very poorly as was the 1w Glaucous Gull which hid behind it's roosting island.

Eleanor blows in an Icy Beauty!

09.00-10.00 from the fishing boats in clear skies & Westerly 7-8:

Red-throated Diver: 53 down.  32 up

Great-crested Grebe: present n/c

Fulmar: 19 down

Gannet: 74 down

Cormorant: present n/c

Caspian Gull: regular 1w bird

Kittiwake: 243 down

Guillemot: 306 down

I had just left the fishing boats when DW called me to say a white winger was feeding off the fishing boats, a couple of minutes later I was watching a superb 2w Iceland Gull feeding among the huge waves and in terrible light conditions. We watched it for a couple of hours before retiring for a cup of tea, on our return it made one pass before moving off towards The Patch. The regular 1w Caspian Gull was feeding around our feet, Gannets and Kittiwakes were skimming the shore line, just offshore many Guillemots, Great-crested Grebes and a few Red-throated Divers were feeding.

 Superb 2w Iceland Gull

  Superb 2w Iceland Gull

  Superb 2w Iceland Gull

  Superb 2w Iceland Gull

  Superb 2w Iceland Gull

  Superb 2w Iceland Gull

  Superb 2w Iceland Gull

 Kittiwakes along the shore line

 1w Caspian Gull

 1w Caspian Gull with a Sea Mouse

 Gannets were coming in close at the fishing boats

 Black-throated Diver on the ARC viewed from the causeway

Late afternoon on my way to the Gull roost on Burrowes I made a brief stop on the causeway to see the Black-throated Diver on the ARC which was found today by a visiting birder. It was rather distant so hopefully better views will be obtained in the next few days.

On the reserve the Long-eared Owl was showing reasonably well behind the Dipping Pool, viewed from Makepiece the 1w Glaucous Gull and another 1w Caspian Gull came into roost. 

1 of the Long-eared Owls showing comparatively well this afternoon behind the Dipping Pool

The Perils of Overhead Cables!

 1w Caspian Gull

As soon as I arrived at the fishing boats this morning I was joined by the regular 1w Caspian Gull looking for its breakfast. A short sea watch saw c100 Gannets feeding offshore, Auks and Kittiwakes  tooing and froing, a few Red-throated Divers moving west with a couple of Fulmars. 100s of Gulls were feeding along the shore but I couldn't find anything interesting among them.

 Slavonian Grebe on Lade south lake

Mid morning I made my first visit of the year to Lade, seeing the long staying Long-tailed Duck out in the middle of the lake, the Slavonian Grebe was a little more obliging. In the willows Goldcrests and Chiffchaffs were flitting around while a couple of Cetti's Warblers were calling deep in, a Dartford Warbler was showing and calling occasionally just south of the aerial.

I found the young Black-headed Gull pictured below on the shingle below overhead wires at lade, it was apparent that it was very badly injured, so I felt I had to take the tough decision to euthanize it.

As the weather closed in I made my way to the reserve where 2 Long-eared Owls could just about be seen, also 3 Caspian Gulls (2 x 1w + 1 x 2w) were on the islands, the weather conditions made it impossible to see much this afternoon though the 1w Glaucous Gull also came into roost.

A Poor Start!

A New Year sea watch from the fishing boats with AJG today was prematurely curtailed due to the thoroughly miserable conditions:
08.20-09.10

Wigeon: 2 down
Common Scoter: 4 down
Velvet Scoter: 1 down
Red-throated Diver: 83 down
Great-crested Grebe: 6 down
Fulmar: 15 down
Gannet: 74 down
Cormorant: c300 around
Caspian Gull: regular 1w bird
Kittiwake: 202 down
Guillemot: 358 down
Razorbill: 4 down

Around Walland I managed to locate 10+ distant Bewick Swans ( apparently there was16 per NB), apart from a flock of c50 Fieldfare and anther of c50 Linnets very little else was seen there.
After lunch when I had dried out, a visit to the reserve saw the 1w Glaucous Gull come in to bathe and roost twice, also the regular 1w Caspian Gull came in for a while before heading off towards Dengemarsh. There was no sign of the 3w Iceland gull this afternoon, though the Gulls were still coming in to roost when I left  in the near darkness. 2 Ravens and a Peregrine were seen from Makepiece, but once again the Long-eared Owl wasn't seen probably due to the poor weather.
Still no Smew at Dungeness nor any wild Geese, so my chances of bettering my 2017 total of 229 species on the peninsula already looks in doubt. 

Wind, Rain and loads of Sea Birds

Gannet past the fishing boats

08.50-11.00  from The Point in heavy rain, wind WSW 6
Brent Goose: 2 up
Red-throated Diver: 243 down.     6 up
Great-crested Grebe: 9 down
Fulmar: 18 down
Gannet: 379 down
Cormorant: c500 around
Caspian Gull: regular 1w bird
Kittiwake: 283 down
Guillemot: 1,463 down  not a single Razorbill noted!

1w Kittiwake

1 of the many Guillemots

1w Caspian Gull joining me at the fishing boats

 1w Glaucous Gull from Makepiece

After lunch the wind was still blowing and the rain still falling, but I made my way to the reserve anyway. From the entrance track several 100s of Golden Plover were flushed by a Marsh Harrier and a Great White Egret looked very dejected at Cook's Pool.

Only small numbers of wildfowl were on Burrowes and very few Gulls when I arrived. A very quick look for the Long-eared Owl unsurprisingly drew a blank. From Firth there were a few Gulls but nothing unusual. From Makepiece more or less the first Gull I saw was a 1w Glaucous Gull presumably the same bird that spent a few days around The Point, the regular 1w Caspian Gull was the next to be found, as the Gulls began to come into roost in the near dark the gleaming white 3w Iceland Gull came in, after a quick bathe it buried itself among the Great Black Backed Gulls.

3w Iceland Gull from Makepiece (16,000 iso)