Caspian Gulls!

 Stonechat hay field 3

A stroll around the hay fields first thing this morning found a posing Stonechat and the Cattle Egret, along with 2 Great white Egrets, c40 Golden Plover and 5 Ruff of note.

 Cattle Egret in the hay fields

 Grey Plover at bottom of Denge Marsh Gully

Denge Marsh Gully was once again virtually bird less apart from the usual Corvids and Gulls, a fly by Grey Plover was notable.

At Scotney from the double bends a count of 62 Shelduck was notable, many Wigeon there along with the feral Barnacle Geese but no sign of any of the more unusual Grebes.

 Adult Caspian Gull on the ARC this morning

At the ARC an adult Caspian Gull was the first I have seen there since last winter, c300 Lapwings and 6 Dunlin were on the islands along with feral geese and usual wildfowl, 2 Great White Egrets were fishing around the margins and Cetti's Warblers were making themselves heard a Marsh Harrier was hunting over the reed beds. In the Willow trail a Firecrest still with several Goldcrests loosely associated with the Tit flock. 

4 Great White Egrets dropped into the Tower Pits where several Cetti's Warblers were also very vocal, while in the pines another Firecrest with several more Goldcrests a Great-spotted and Green Woodpecker.

 2w Caspian Gull on Burrowes

2 visits to Burrowes saw 5 Caspian Gulls, (1 adult, 2 nr adults, a 2w and a 1w) also 5 Yellow-legged Gulls. As is usual with Burrowes all the Gulls were to distant for anything other than record images. The adult Caspian Gull was found to late for any images. 

Also on Burrowes a good number of Duck and Lapwing at least 1,000 Cormorants which one day soon I will endeavour to count properly, just a couple of Goldeneye but no Smew yet. 

Still no sign of any returning Long-eared Owls at the Dipping Pool. 

MH did a 1.5 hr sea watch at the fishing boats this afternoon:

Brent Goose: 1 up

Great-crested Grebe: 36 around

Gannet: 61 down
Great skua: 2 down
Turnstone: 10 on beach
Kittiwake: 226 down

 Nr adult Caspian Gull on Burrowes.

 1W Caspian Gull on Burrowes. (immediately left of Cormorant)

Nr adult Caspian Gull on Burrowes. taken at 10,000 ISO