Not A Bad day!

 Wryneck at Galloways

Early morning I had Galloways all to myself, lots of Common Whitethroats and Willow Warblers along with a few each of Lesser Whitethroat, Sedge and Reed Warbler were in the Brambles and Gorse and on the fence and road, joined by c14 Whinchats, Stonechats, Meadow Pipits, Wheatears and Reed Buntings all were picking off a multitude of emerging insects as was the very elusive Wryneck. 5 Whimbrel and 3 Curlew flew over and a Corn Bunting put in a brief appearance, an excellent start to the day.

Willow Warbler Galloways

A quick stop by the watch towers saw the Little Owl at Lydd Camp

 1 of many Yellow Wagtails at The Midrips

A walk along sea wall at The Midrips saw c150 Golden Plovers roosting at the western end, many Yellow Wagtails were zipping around all over, a minimum of 10 Wheatears were jumping along the path grabbing emerging insects, while in the shallows on the lakes, 13 Avocets, 10 Black-tailed Godwits, 6 Dunlin, 4 Ringed Plover, 3 Redshank, 2 Greenshank, a Spotted Redshank, a Grey Plover and a Wood Sandpiper were busy feeding.

 Wood Sandpiper at The Midrips

Dunlin at The Midrips

 c150 Barnacle Geese now at Scotney so it looks like the regular wintering flock has returned

Early afternoon from Hanson 2 Wood Sandpipers, a Common Sandpiper, a Dunlin and 2 Garganey were seen among the eclipse ducks but little else.

13.45-15.45 from the fishing boats with AJG who kindly collated the numbers:

Common Scoter: 2

Fulmar: 1W

Gannet: 22 around
Arctic Skua: minimum of 3 around
Sandwich Tern: 880W  32E
Common Tern: 168W
Arctic Tern: 4W
Little Tern: 2W
Black Tern: 7W
Swallow: 2 out
Sand Martin: 12 out
Late afternoon from Firth Hide 6+ Black Terns, c200 Common Terns, a Great White Egret, a Hobby and a Sparrowhawk of note.

Very little coverage of the bushes around the point this morning, but a few Willow Warblers were trapped and processed early before the wind picked up. At Galloways the Wryneck was still present though very elusive and at least 3 Whinchats there per L & PH.

The ARC still had 3 Wood Sandpipers and up to 9 Garganey per BW. 

An hour at the the fishing boats mid morning produced 5 Black Terns, 2 Little Terns, 4+ Arctic Skuas and a Grey Plover of note.

 Little Tern at the Fishing Boats

12.40- 16.45 from the fishing boats with L & PH, RW, BW and AJG who kindly collated the numbers:

Great-crested Grebe: 1 around

Fulmar: 2W   3E

Balearic Shearwater: 2W

Gannet: 37W 116E
Grey Plover: 1W
Little Ringed Plover: 1 landed briefly on beach before flying out to sea
Dunlin: 2W
Turnstone: 1W
Arctic Skua: 4+ around
Mediterranean Gull: 1W juvenile
Yellow-legged Gull: 1+ around
Kittiwake: 13W
Sandwich Tern: 1,196W
Common Tern: 636W
Little Tern: 3W
Black Tern: 1W
Dunlin 2 down
Little Ringed Plover 1 landed briefly on beach before flying out to sea
Harbour Porpoise: 5+ around
Grey Seal: 1 around

 Arctic Skuas at the fishing boats

The above Gull was at the fishing boats late this afternoon, looks like its got Caspian genes in it.
Greater coverts not right but good for Yellow-legged also same applies with bill. Am happy to be put right though.

A few migrants!

Around the trapping area this morning 2 Tree Pipits, 10 Wheatears, 50+ Whitethroats, 20+ Lesser Whitethroats, 10+ Willow Warblers and a Blackcap among a large flock of Great and Blue Tits.

The Patch was very quiet when I visited it. 4 Black Terns flew west early morning per AJG.

There was little change at the ARC where 4 Wood Sandpipers, 3 Common Sandpipers, 68 Golden Plovers, 4+ Garganey, a Black-necked Grebe are all still residing here, 9 Black-tailed Godwits dropped in briefly. 

 Willow Warbler after a bath

At Dengemarsh and the Gully another 5 Wheatears and several each of Whitethroat and Willow

Warbler, also 20+ Yellow Wagtails, 2+ Great White Egrets there.

14.00-15.30 from the fishing boats with AJG:
Gannet: 9W
Osprey: 1 out
Kittwake: 5W
Sandwich Tern: 206W
Common Tern: 130W
Sand Martin: 3 out
Swallow: 2 out
Harbour Porpoise: 5+
Common Seal: 1

 Late afternoon at Galloways a Whinchat, 4 more Wheatears, a Sedge Warbler and several more Common Whitethroats, Willow Warblers and Stonechats. Galloways will be open for the next 3 days.

My first Whinchat of the Autumn at Galloways

The sward at Scotney was covered in Greylags, Canada, Barnacle and Egyptian Geese, also a few more Yellow Wagtails.

Terns on the move!

A few Willow Warblers around The Point first thing but otherwise quiet. The sea was also quiet first thing though there were 3 Arctic Skuas west very early per AJG.

The ARC held of note 3 Wood Sandpipers, 2 Common Sandpipers, 4 Common Snipe, 3+ Garganey. On Burrowes from Firth 3 Black Terns among the Common Terns, a Ruff, 2 Common Sandpipers, a Great White Egret, also 200+ Sand Martins that melted away the moment the sun broke through.

12.45-13.45 at The Patch

Gannet: 12W

Black Tern: 1 present

Sandwich Tern: c1,200W (100 in 4mins 23 secs at start, 100 in 5 min 10 secs at end)most appeared to be coming across the channel.

Common Tern: c40 present

Willow Warbler: 1 behind hide

Arctic Skua at the fishing boats this afternoon

14.00-16.30 from the fishing boats with AJG who kindly collated the numbers:
Common Scoter: 10W
Fulmar: 1 around
Gannet: 67W
Oystercatcher: 4W
Whimbrel: 3W
Arctic Skua: 2W   1 around
Yellow-legged Gull: 4 around
Kittiwake: 44W
Sandwich Tern: 436W
Common Tern: 249W
Little Tern: 2W
Harbour Porpoise: 2+
Grey Seal: 1

Juvenile Sandwich Tern

G.B.B.Gull about show who is boss!

Juv Yellow-legged Gull

Still collecting litter

Yellow-legged Gulls and some Moths!

It was very quiet around The Point this morning, very few birds found there way into the nets and very little moving at sea.

At the ARC from Hanson Hide 4 Wood Sandpipers, a Greenshank, 2 Little Ringed Plovers, 2 Common Sandpipers, a Dunlin, 66 Golden Plover including 1 juvenile, 5 Garganey among the many eclipse ducks.

Chris Philpott was in the car park with a Death's-head Hawk-moth his son had found on a scaffold at Lydd on Sea, he kindly brought it there for me to see.

Death's-head Hawk-moth

 Juv Yellow-legged Gull

A very poor sea watch this afternoon from the fishing boats in the company of AJG:

13.30-15.30 from the fishing boats:
Gannet: 8E.  4W
Yellow-legged Gull: 3 juveniles
Kittiwake: 2W
Sandwich Tern: 59W
Common Tern: 37W
Harbour Porpoise: 3+

This evening on the reserve from Firth the usual Common Terns including a new Dutch ringed juvenile, also 3 Black Terns, another juvenile Yellow-legged Gull, a Dunlin, a Ringed Plover and a Common Sandpiper.

 A Many-lined only the second Dungeness area record

The Plodland MV has produced some nice moths recently the best being a rather worn Many-lined

 Clay Triple Lines the first to grace the Plodland trap

 Convolvulus Hawk-moth  in safe place on the wall

Convolvulus Hawk-moth where I found it on the ground next to the trap

Pale Grass Eggar

06.00-08.30 From the sea watch hide with AJG who collated the numbers

Common Scoter: 17E
Fulmar: 5W
Manx Shearwater: 1W
Gannet: 467E  94W
Great Skua: 1W
Arctic Skua: 1 around
Kittiwake: 54SW
Sandwich Tern: 242W
Common Tern: 148W
Guillemot: 2E
Swift 2 out
Sand Martin 2 out
Harbour Porpoise: 3+

Willow Warbler in the garden this morning

14.10-15.40 from the fishing boats with AJG:
Common Scoter: 7W
Great-crested grebe: 1 around
Fulmar: 1W
Balearic Shearwater: 1W
Gannet: 28W   6E
Arctic Skua: 1 around dp
Mediterranean Gull: 1W juvenile
Kittiwake: 8W
Sandwich Tern: 203W   39E
Common Tern: 44W
Harbour Porpoise: 3+

Herring Gull doing well from the fisherman this afternoon

Late afternoon from Firth the usual Common Terns and 3 Black Terns, elsewhere around the reserve 10 Garganey on the ARC also 2 Wood Sandpipers there, several Common Sandpipers & Dunlin, 2 Ruff, 2 Hobby's and 6+ Great White Egrets. 

Mongolia part 3!

Wallcreeper

Our visit to the Jol Valley was cut short by the weather, despite the rain we did see 3 Wallcreepers, Beautiful Rosefinch, more Lammergeirer's, and numerous Pica's and Voles.

Beautiful Rosefinch

Mongolian Finch's

Daurian Shrike

A short stop at a small wetland near Dalanzgad before the long journey back to Ulan Batur, saw Daurian Shrikes, White-cheeked Starlings, Chine Pond Heron, Little Tern, Isabelline Wheatears, Crested larks, a Paddyfield Warbler, Pacific Swifts, Richards Pipits, Hobby, Saker, Wood, Green and Common Sandpipers, Hoopoe's and more.

Juvenile Isabelline Wheatear

Richards Pipit

Crested Lark

 Steppe Eagle by the road to Ulan batur

Mongolica Hotel our base for our last 3 days, a little bit of luxury for us, hot showers and beer, though cabbage soup for breakfast was not welcomed by all our group but as usual I ate everything put in front of me. We did spend 1 night at the research centre in the Khustai National Park which was very basic, but the food was superb, as was the scenery birds and mammals.

Przewalski's Horses only to be found in the Khustai National Park

Along with the horses, many Siberian Marmots were seen, Griffon and Black Vultures were numerous, also seen Golden Eagle, Saker's, Amur falcons, Upland Buzzards, Demoiselle Cranes, Pied and Isabelline Wheatears, Mongolian Larks, many eastern Short-toed Larks were seen but all evaded my camera, Meadow Bunting, a very brief view of a Daurian Partridge and many more birds and mammals.

Upland Buzzard

Upland Buzzard

Meadow Bunting

Juvenile Pied Wheatear

Blyth's Pipit

 Amur Falcons

 Mongolian Lark

Mongolian Lark

Saker 

Saker

Saker

 3 Asiatic Dowitchers with Black-tailed Godwits

We visited Lake Bayan where Citrine Wagtailsabd various flava Wagatils were abundant but mainly camera shy, White-naped, Common and Demoiselle Cranes, genuine Bar-headed Geese, the only Gulls seen on the trip were also present here, 3 Black-headed Gulls! Richards Pipits were plentiful, Eastern Reed Buntings, Great Reed Warblers, distinctive rusty breasted form of Barn Swallow, a Swinhoe's Snipe identified from poor photographs, numerous Curlew Sandpipers were present, White-winged and Black Terns, a couple of superb very striking male Eastern Marsh Harriers. At the same site several singing Pallas's Reed Buntings one of the birds I most wanted to see.

Barn Swallow

 Pallas's Reed Bunting

 Pallas's Reed Bunting

 Pallas's Reed Bunting

 Pallas's Reed Bunting

 Azure Tit

 Azure Tit

 In the grounds of the Mongolica Hotel Azure Tits, White Capped Penduline Tits,  Great Tits, White-cheeked Starlings, Daurian Jackdaws, Black-eared kites, Amur falcons, Chough, White-backed Woodpeckers, Eastern Common Terns and of course Tree Sparrows amongst others.

 Daurian Jackdaws

White-backed Woodpecker

 Eastern Common Terns

Taiga Flycatcher

A short visit to Terlja National Park gave excellent views of Taiga Flycatcher, Eastern Nuthatch, Hawfinch, Marsh Tits, Willow Tits, Lesser-spotted Woodpecker, a strange plumaged White-backed Woodpecker, Grey Wagtail and Dusky Warbler.

Taiga flycatcher

Taiga flycatcher

Lesser-spotted Woodpecker form amurensis

Strange White-backed Woodpecker

Dusky Warbler

Probably the most imposing statute in the world