Tuesday 12/11/2019

With the birding so poor around Dungeness this autumn, I have been struggling to motivate myself to get up and out early. This morning it was after 08.30 before I left home, with a freezing NW wind whipping across the peninsular I was in the shelter of the car at the fishing boats, watching just a few Gannets and Kittiwakes feeding off shore, along with a couple of Sandwich Terns and some Auks tooing and froing but little of note, I was just beginning to think I would be better off at home getting domestic stuff done when a Swallow flew past me heading south, that gave me the encouragement I needed to go to Greatstone and Littlestone just in case there were other migrants around. Greatstone Beach was a complete waste of time, it was like Winalot advert there, loads of seemingly out of control dogs running around with their owners shouting at them. Littlestone however was much better, still loads of dogs, but on leads and sticking to the sea wall path. As the tide pushed up, a flock of c150 Knot were swirling around eventually settling on quiet bit of shingle, Sanderling were running along the incoming tide line with a few Dunlin, Bar-tailed Godwits, Oystercatchers and Grey Plovers headed towards the Varne. Despite walking along to St Mary's and back no Snow Buntings were found  nor anything else.  

 Sanderling, Littlestone Beach

 Part of a flock of c150 Knot on Littlestone Beach

A wander out the back of Scotney saw yet another Swallow, several Marsh Harriers and Common Buzzards, 2 Peregrines, a Merlin, a Sparrowhawk, several Kestrels and a distant ring tail Hen Harrier heading out East Guldeford, with all these raptors around it wasn't surprising that the flock of c1,000 Golden Plover spent most of the time flying around high over the wind turbines,  there were a few Skylarks and Reed Buntings around but I coudn't find any Corn Buntings, all the usual feral Geese were present.
In Lydd Wood a few Great, Blue and Long-tailed Tits, 2 Goldcrests, a Great spotted Woodpecker but sadly no eastern sprites.
Mid afternoon back at the fishing boats a few Gulls came to my offerings of bread but no Caspian Gull.