Scotney!

05.30-08.00 from the sea watch hide:

Brent Goose: 10E

Common Scoter: 38E

Fulmar: 5W

Gannet: 69W

Oystercatcher: 12E

Kittiwake: 2W

Sandwich Tern: 14E

Common Tern: 228E

Black Tern: 1 on The Patch

Guillemot 2 up, 2 down

Auk sp: 3W

Swallow: 19 in

As the sea watching was so slow and thin fare on the land, I took the opportunity to spend most of the day getting the garden tided up. A visit to Dengemarsh Gully this afternoon found nothing of note.

It is not often you can wander around the back of Scotney pits on a warm still evening. In the 2.5 hrs I spent there this evening, Corn Buntings could be heard singing non stop as could Skylarks and numerous Yellow Wagtails and Linnets. On the islands of the back lake 9 sitting Avocets, at least 7 Little Ringed Plovers, 2 Dunlin, 2 Black-tailed Godwits, a Redshank and a few pairs of Black-headed Gulls and some Common Terns that might be prospecting. On the margins 3 Little Egrets and a Great White Egret, the usual feral geese including 3 Egyptian Geese and a Barnacle Goose. Further out by the wind turbines 2 Barn Owls, 4 Tree Sparrows and a Marsh Harrier. A brilliant evening with the only downside being the myriads of midges that found there way into my ears, nose and mouth.