12/08/2021

While sea watching this morning, I watched a RIB full of refugees c6 miles off Dungeness making their perilous crossing of the English Channel being dwarfed by the 400,000 ton Pioneering Spirit as it steams down the channel just in front of them. To put the size in context the Ever Given ship that blocked the Suez Canal is only half the size of the Pioneering Spirit.

A very poor sea watch this morning 

08.30-09.30

Gannet: 86W    4E

Cormorant: 4W

Oystercatcher: 1E

Sandwich Tern: 6W

Common Tern: 12W

Grey Seal: 1

Harbour porpoise: 6+

Hummingbird Hawkmoth warming up on the perimeter wall

Pine Hawkmoth, Privet Hawkmoth, Poplar Hawkmoth and a Jersey Tiger all in the Plodland MV this morning

a minimum 186 Mediterranean Gulls with Black-headed Gulls were in the field opposite my house, frustratingly several were colour ringed, but I was unable to read any of them because of the stubble and furrows.

Mediterranean Gull over the garden lunchtime

Border force recovering a migrant RIB off the fishing boats this afternoon

Sand Martin going out to sea at the fishing boats this afternoon

A visit to the ARC this afternoon could find nothing of note, even scoping from the top of the bank I could find nothing notable. Several lapwing came in and settled on the Tern Raft but soon left.

Burrowes was much the same, very disappointing.