Sunday, 31 October 2021

31/10/2021

A thoroughly miserable morning weather wise, but lots of birds piling out of Lade Bay, even during the heavy squally rain and gale force wind which curtailed visibility down to 200mts at times. I was joined at the fishing boats by CT, RW, NB and JB
 06.30-10.00 

Shelduck: 1W
Gadwall: 4W
Common Scoter: 9W
Red-breasted Merganser: 1W
Red-throated Diver: 2W       1 on
Great-crested Grebe: 5 around
Fulmar: 2W
Gannet: 1,219W
Cormorant: c150 around
Kittiwake: 841W
Black-headed Gull: 487W
Little Gull: 4W
Mediterranean Gull: 5W
Common Gull: present n/c
Herring Gull: present n/c
Great Black-backed Gull: present n/c
Lesser Black-backed Gull: present n/c
Sandwich Tern: 73W
Guillemot: 61W
Razorbill: 339W
Auk sp: 494W
Skylark: 1 out
Harbour Porpoise: 2+
Grey Seal: 1
Hooded Crow coming in off the sea . A magnifying gala might help. 😂
When the rain stopped I went back to the fishing boats. The passage had finished but there were odd bits to keep us amused. The star was the Hooded Crow spotted by Neil which seemed to make landfall at Lydd on Sea, 2 or 3 Merlins including a superb adult male and a juvenile that came in off the sea carrying prey. 
2.45-15.00 with NB, JB, RW
Common scoter: 3W
Red-throated Diver: @w  1 on
Great-crested Grebe: 5W.   9 on
Gannet: 52W     8E
Curlew: 1W
Turnstone: 2 around
Kittiwake: 3W
Mediterranean Gull: 8W
Yellow-legged Gull: 1 adult around
Arctic Skua: 1W
Guillemot: 4W
Razorbill: 1W
Auk sp: 17W
Merlin: 2+ adult male + a juvenile or 2
Wood Pigeon: 1 in off the sea
Hooded Crow: 1 in off the sea between Lifeboat and Pilot.


Saturday, 30 October 2021

30/10/2021

Razorbills and a Guillemot passing this morning

07.15-0945 till the rain set in with CT, PT, RW,DW,AJG
Common Scoter: 2W
Red-breasted Merganser: 3W
Red-throated Diver: 2W    
Great-crested Grebe:  4 on
Gannet: 417W
Cormorant: present n/c
Kittiwake: 108W
Black-headed Gull: present n/c
Mediterranean Gull: 2W
Common Gull: present n/c
Great Black-backed Gull: present n/c
Herring Gull: present n/c
Lesser black-backed Gull: present n/c
Sandwich Tern: 137W
Arctic Skua: 1-2 around
Guillemot: 165W
Razorbill: 581W
Auk sp: 783W
Linnet: 150  AJG
Harbour Porpoise: 2
Grey Seal: 1

A loitering Arctic Skua photo bombed by a Harbour Porpoise
Some of the c800 Golden Plover at Scotney early afternoon but little else there
At the fishing boats this afternoon a single Arctic Skua hanging around, c30 Mediterranean Gulls drifted west along with a few Gannets, Kittiwakes and Sandwich Terns.
At Least 10 Cattle Egrets from the reserve entrance track today
From Dennis's late afternoon a Black-necked Grebe and an adult Yellow-legged Gull were the highlights. 

Friday, 29 October 2021

29/10/2021

Red-breasted Mergansers past the fishing boats in this mornings gloom
07.00-10.30 with CT, PS, DW, AJG, PT from the fishing boats:
Brent Goose: 2W
Wigeon: 1W
Gadwall: 3W
Common Scoter: 10W    3E
Red-breasted Merganser: 3W
Red-throated Diver: 2W       2 on
Great-crested Grebe: 2E         4 on
Gannet: 320W
Cormorant: present n/c
Dunlin: 16W
Curlew: 1w
Kittiwake: 177W
Little Gull: 2W
Black-headed Gull: present n/c
Mediterranean Gull: 2W
Common Gull: present n/c
Great Black-backed Gull: present n/c
Herring Gull: present n/c
Lesser black-backed Gull: present n/c
Sandwich Tern: 218W
Guillemot: 234W
Razorbill: 698W
Auk sp: 1,051W
Starling: 960 in
Harbour Porpoise: 2
An uninspiring watch, but withe dearth of passerines around the peninsular at least the Auks were something to look at. Only 2 more days left in October for me to see a Firecrest or Goldcrest, am I going to go the whole Autumn without seeing a Crest?
Adult Yellow-legged Gull behind the fishing boats this afternoon
Shoveler past the boats this afternoon
14.00-15.00 from the fishing boats:
Shoveler: 17W
Gannet: 17W
Turnstone: 1 around
Sandwich Tern: 9W
Guillemot: 4W
Razorbill: 3W
Auk sp: 9W
1 of at least 7 Cattle Egrets at Boulderwall this afternoon, also the 2 Glossy Ibis still at top of Cooks Pool
 

Thursday, 28 October 2021

28/10/2021

Sooty Shearwater taken into the low early morning sun
2 sea watches today with Ct and AJG who kindly kept the log:
07.40-09.40 & 13.20-15.20 from the fishing boats:
Brent Goose: 1W
Tufted Duck: 2W
Common Scoter: 1W
Red-throated Diver: 8W    2 on
Great-crested Grebe: 4W   3 on
Sooty Shearwater: 1W
Gannet: 564W
Cormorant: 182W into Rye Bay
Kittiwake: 130W
Black-headed Gull: present n/c
Mediterranean Gull: 166W
Common Gull: present n/c
Great Black-backed Gull: present n/c
Herring Gull: present n/c
Sandwich Tern: 26W
Great Skua: 1W
Arctic Skua: 1W
Guillemot: 79W
Razorbill: 564W
Auk sp: 546W
Swallow: 23 out to sea
Starling: 765 in
Goldfinch: 25 W
Harbour Porpoise: 2
A5UX a regular at the fishing boats
Clearing weed from the Dengemarsh sewer
A walk around the hayfields saw a couple[le of Stonechats, a Great White Egret and heard a few Bearded Tits in the reed beds, on the hay fields a single Lapwing and 10 Meadow Pipits, very disappointing.
From Scott viewpoint the regular Lapwing and Golden Plover flock could be seen on the islands from Makepiece, but without shelter the wind made it impossible to scrutinise them properly. 

1st calendar year Caspian Gull on Burrowes late afternoon
From Dennis's Hide late afternoon a 1st cal year Caspian Gull was the only notable sighting.
At least 4 Cattle Egrets were present at Boulderwall but I didn't see the Glossy Ibis, though they are probably still present. The poor autumn continues.
A Beautiful Plume the only moth in the trap today, time to put the trap away for the winter

Tuesday, 26 October 2021

26/10/2021

Some of the 80+ Goldfinches coming to my garden feeders
Due to the dreadful dearth of birds at Dungeness this autumn I am finding it increasingly difficult to force myself out of bed in the mornings, consequently in was 09.00 before I managed to get to the beach this morning just as AJG was going back home for breakfast. His sea watch totals below.
07.00-09.00
Common Scoter: 8W
Gannet: 966W
Cormorant: present n/c
Kittiwake: 31W
Black-headed Gull: present n/c
Great Black-backed Gull: present n/c
Herring Gull: present n/c
Great Skua: 1W
Auk sp 112W
Peregrine: 1in off the sea
Merlin: 3 hunting over the sea
I walked down to The patch where the highlight was just 4 Mediterranean Gulls among the many Black-headed and Herring Gulls, no sign of any Black redstarts there today. A wander out into the trapping area was no better with 2 Brambling and 3 Siskin over unseen, 2 Song Thrush were flushed from the path and just a single Chiffchaff was heard, truly abysmal for late October.
On the reserve still at least 12 Cattle Egrets and 2 Glossy Ibis plus the usual Great White Egrets, a single adult Yellow-legged Gull in the roost by the entrance track. On Burrowes at least 12 Grey Plover among the Lapwings and Golden Plover, though todays highlight was the drake Goldeneye, which shows just how poor the birding is around Dungeness at the moment.
Drake Goldeneye on Burrowes this afternoon



 

Friday, 22 October 2021

22/10/2021

Arctic Tern feeding in front the power station
This mornings sea watch from the hide and The Patch
08.00-10.30
Gadwall: 3W
Common Scoter: 2W   1E
Red-throated Diver: 1W   1E   2 on
Great-crested Grebe: 5 around
Gannet: 14W
Cormorant: 159W
Kittiwake: 4W
Black-headed Gull: c500 around
Mediteranean Gull: c50 around
Common Gull: c100
Herring Gull: c500 around
Great Black-backed Gull: 62W   
Lesser Black-backed Gull: 6 around
Sandwich Tern: 14W
Arctic Tern: 1 around
Great Skua: 1W
Arctic Skua: 5W   2 around c50 around
Meadow Pipit: c20W
Goldfinch: c60W
Arctic Tern feeding in front the power station
Arctic Tern feeding in front the power station
On the reserve still at least 8 Cattle Egrets along with the usual Great and Little Egrets, the 2 Glossy Ibis are still around , today they did a mega high circuit of the Peninsular enabling me to add them to my garden list. On Burrowes apart from Lapwing and Golden Plover I didn't see another wader, large numbers of Greylags were on the islands and seem ed to have displaced the Wigeon and Pintail, I was also unable to locate the Garganey that was present yesterday. A walk around the hay fields this afternoons saw the usual Egrets but not the hoped for Water Pipits and waders even though the fields look very good for them. Several parties of Bearded Tits were either seen or heard in the surrounding ditches and reed beds.
Scotney held all the usual feral geese, also c1,000 Lapwing and c500 Golden Plover  but little else of note. 
The 2 Glossy Ibis now on the garden list albeit rather distant
A Garganey on Burrowes yesterday afternoon
 Marsh Harrier with orange wing tags marked SX which I photographed late yesterday afternoon. She was ringed and tagged on 05/07/2021 as a chick at Carlton Marshes, Suffolk and this is the first time she has been seen since being tagged. Many thanks to Phil Littler of NWNRG for sending me her details so promptly.
 

Wednesday, 20 October 2021

With todays stormy weather the only option was to spend most of my time at the fishing boats sea watching, which fortunately was fairly rewarding.
Arctic Tern
7.30-10.30 thanks to all for help with numbers AJG, RW, DW, PE, CG, RB
Common Scoter: 6W
Red-throated Diver: 1W  1 on
Great-crested Grebe: 12W     5 on
Gannet: 1,112W
Cormorant: present n/c
Turnstone: 5 around
Curlew: 1W
Kittiwake: 201W
Black-headed Gull: present n/c
Little Gull: 13W
Mediterranean Gull: 2W
Common Gull: present n/c
Great Black-backed Gull: present n/c
Herring Gull: present n/c
Lesser black-backed Gull: present n/c
Sandwich Tern: 173W
Arctic Tern: 1W
Great Skua: 1W
Arctic Skua: 12W      1 around pale headed bird
Guillemot: 18W
Razorbill: 105W
Auk sp: 143W        36E
Merlin: 1 in
Peregrine: 1 in
Rock Pipit: 1 in
Linnet: 142 over
Goldfinch: 435 over
Grey Seal: 1
Harbour Porpoise: 4+

Arctic Skua
13.30-16.00 with RW & OL

Red-throated Diver: 1W
Gannet: 204W
Kittiwake: 66W
Little Gull: 18W
Sandwich tern: 221W
Arctic Tern: 3W
Arctic Skua: 6W
Guillemot: 13W
Razorbill: 30W
Auk sp: 74W
Swallow: 1 out
The Little Gulls today were somewhat distant
The 16 cattle Egrets with Plodland in the background


Monday, 18 October 2021

18/10/2021

Red-throated Diver in the morning glare at the fishing boats

07.45-10.00 with AJG & DW
Red-throated Diver: 4W    2 around
Great-crested grebe: 4 around
Gannet: 287W   43E
Cormorant: 92 around
Kittiwake: 148W
Mediterranean Gull: 37W        18 around
Sandwich Tern: 32 around
Arctic Skua: 4 around
Guillemot: 19W   7 around
Razorbill: 93W     4 around
Auk: 70W
Merlin: 4 around
Swallow: 3 out
Starling: 950 in
Goldfinch: 75W
Harbour porpoise: 2
Grey Seal: 1
Gannet
0ne of at least 4 Arctic Skuas around today
Posing Glossy Ibis






Cattle Egret after the Ibises Marsh Frog
The Ibises and Cattle egrets can give superb views along the entrance track to the reserve if you stay in your car.
On Burrowes the Golden Plover flock was still roosting on the islands today. Late afternoon 2 1w Caspian gulls were present and an adult Yellow-legged Gull.
At Least 13 Cattle Egrets present today per DW



14.15-15.15 from the fishing boats:
Red-throated Diver: 1W       1 on
Gannet: 43W
Kittiwake: 19W
Mediterranean Gull: 6 around
Sandwich Tern: 61W
Guillemot: 2W
Razorbill: 1W
Auk sp: 7w
Sandwich Tern that repeatedly dived after a piece of Polystyrene





1w Caspian Gull from Dennis's Hide late afternoon