PLODDINGBIRDER: Enjoying the sunshine!

Monday, 18 July 2016

Enjoying the sunshine!

2 adult Harbour Porpoises with a calf off the fishing boats yesterday

1 of 2 juvenile Redshank from Makepiece

Early this morning at The Patch lots of Gulls including 2 juvenile Yellow-legged Gulls, though not a single Tern. There were no Gulls on the beach as our far eastern friends were fishing there for non existent Mackerel.

Common Tern

On the reserve islands are beginning to show, I'm sure a few more days of this glorious weather will be enough to get some islands on the ARC as well as Burrowes. The only waders I saw were a couple of Redshanks, a Whimbrel and a Curlew, apparently 5 Black-tailed Godwits flew in after I left. I spent a bit of time watching the Common Terns fishing in the mill pond like New Excavations, although they only caught tiddlers it seems they are catching enough to raise young on the Tern rafts on Dengemarsh. As I walked towards Christmas Dell a Brown Hawker was posing and a Little Egret flew over. At Dengemarsh I met MH and we wandered around the hay fields where c20 Yellow Wagtails were feeding, a Raven and a Hobby flew over and a couple of Water Rails were squealing. From Dengemarsh hide 3 Marsh Harriers and 2 Bearded Tits were the highlights.

This afternoon at The ARC the only notable things were the Swallows nesting in the screen hide and the Gulls an Lapwings actually standing in the water where the islands should be.

I met MH again at the fishing boats this afternoon where in 45 minutes just a single Gannet flew west, 2 Cormorants were fishing a single Great Black Backed Gull sat on the beach and several Herring Gulls loafed, got to be the worst sea watch I have had at Dungeness! But hey sitting basking in the glorious sunshine sure beats the hell out of working. Retirement rocks!!

Common Tern

Brown Hawker

Little Egret

The last few nights the moth trap has been very busy, a lot of my time has been spent going through the 100s of moths, nothing very unusual so far. A few of them below.