Disappointing Brian!

A drake Eider was frequenting the fishing boats just before Storm Brian arrived also a summer plumaged Black-throated Diver went west. Storm Brian hasn't so far brought anything unusual to Dungeness. Yesterday the regular Arctic Skuas and a Great Skua with a few Brent Geese, Common Scoter, 6 Grey Plover and the usual Gannets and Sandwich Terns, also a Great Northern Diver which went west before I arrived. This morning the sea was fairly quiet with c150 Gannets and 20+ Sandwich Terns milling around offshore, a single juvenile Arctic Skua and few finches around.

Eider past the fishing boats

Brent Goose battling through the spray from storm Brian

At the ARC from Hanson 2 Little Stints, the Red-necked Grebe, 4 Pintail and a Great White Egret were noted, a Curlew Sandpiper appeared after I left per Steve G. A nice male Ring Ouzel was in the Hawthorns near the Water Tower along with a couple of Song Thrushes, so no big arrival.

On Burrowes 12 Great Whit Egrets and 8 Little Egrets were noted, the Cattle egret was with the cattle in Boulderwall fields. 

Ring Ouzel near the water tower

14.05-15.05 from the fishing boats with RW & AJG who collated the numbers:

Brent Goose 51 down

Wigeon: 6 in

Common Scoter: 4 down   2 up

Red-throated Diver: 1 down

Gannet: 164 down

Turnstone: 21 on beach

Mediterranean Gull: 1 down

Kittiwake: 17 down

Sandwich Tern 3 down

Guillemot: 2 down

Razorbill: 4 down

Auk sp: 7 down

Grey Seal: 1

Harbour Porpoise: 2+

adult Yellow-legged Gull

Late afternoon around the the boats a Merlin came in, 2 more Mediterranean Gulls were seen, an adult Yellow-legged Gull was around the puddles and more unusual 2 Shags quite distant off shore first spotted by Barry Wright, we watched them for a few minutes before they flew off towards Hythe. As the light faded a 1w Caspian Gull came into the puddles only to flushed by walkers.

1w Mediterranean Gull

Red-green Carpet the first for my MV