Eagle Owl



 After a lay in this morning I went to have a look at the presumed escape Eagle Owl that has taken up residence on the NW side of Charter House, Ashford. (Its the largest tallest building in the town centre) For the short time I was there it was mainly asleep and in the shade. I went back this evening  and it was basking the sunshine.

At Dungeness little of note at The Patch, around the point 3 Wheatears and a Peregrine over were the only birds of note.
At the ARC the highlight was Greenshank. 2 Hobby's and 2 Marsh Harriers were over the Tower Pits. 

Little Gull

Mid morning at Scotney 2 Curlew and 2 Bar Headed Geese among all other feral geese, 2 Marsh Harriers hunting the windmill fields and numerous Swifts, House and Sand Martins.

At the south end of the ARC an adult Little Gull of note.

Lunchtime sea watch at the fishing boats produced a few Gannets and Terns off shore. But after c20minutes I received a text from BH about a probable Black Stork over New Romney heading towards Dungeness. After a quick drive to Boulderwall where SB, CT and others were all looking skyward, no Stork but up to 3 Hobby's.

A short spell in Hanson Hide found the Little Gull there for a while until the juvenile female Peregrine made a second pass through flushing most birds there. A juvenile Marsh Harrier was over the reed bed and Little Ringed Plover was on one of the islands. A lot less Swifts over the pit than of late but still plenty of Martins. 



A Summers Day

While pulling on my fleeces on as I got out of the car on another God awful summers day at the ARC this morning 2 Ravens flew over cronking. Myriads of Swifts mainly fairly high over the pit while skimming the surface 100s of House and Sand Martins. The only wader was a single Little Ringed Plover.  

Juvenile Sandwich Tern

By the time I got to the reserve the wind was really blowing. From Firth Hide a few Herring, Lesser Black Backed and Common Gulls hunkered down on the island. From Makepiece the only waders a Ringed Plover and an Oystercatcher also a Juvenile Sandwich Tern flew through. On Dengemarsh the Common Tern Chick numbers have doubled to 2. Over the reed beds 2 Marsh Harriers were battling the wind.

 Back at the reserve centre this Fox cub was trotting around the entrance.

 An afternoon plod around The Tower pits was very under whelming until a family of Great spotted Woodpeckers appeared.

A bit more Botany

I spent this morning around The Point where at The Patch there was 100s of Gulls but very few juveniles(only 5 juv Black-headed Gulls) among them, it was the same story with the Terns.
On the land a single Wheatear 6 Skylarks a few Meadow Pipits and Linnets but no sign of the Serin.
This afternoon GH and DW gave me another Botany Lesson. Primarily we went to see the Green -flowered Heleborine which may need a few more days of fine weather to be at its best. The Yellow Bird's-nest was a very good bonus find by DW.

Yellow Bird's-nest

Green-flowered Heleborine

Swifts

A sea watch from the fishing boats 08.40-11.10 Produced 5 Manx Shearwaters W, 6 Common Scoter W, 2 Curlew W, among the usual Gannets and Common and Sandwich Terns, a Wheatear on the approach road also 185 Swifts flew south.

At the ARC Pit myriads of Swifts at least 1000+ with Hundreds each of House Martins and Sand Martins and luckless juvenile Peregrine making repeated stoops at them.

On the few islands 2 Ruff my first of the autumn, 5 Dunlin, 3 Redshank, 1 Little Ringed Plover and 2 Common Sandpipers.

2 Ruff and a Dunlin with some of the 100s of House and Sand Martins

 On the reserve a Bittern over the entrance track, another at Denge Marsh and more Swifts.

At Scotney more Swifts and the 2 Bar Headed Geese.

ARC Pit

Spent a few hours at the ARC Pit today, although it was relatively quiet it was rewarding. As I walked up the track towards the Water Tower 2 Crossbills flew over chip chipping, still a few Reed and Cetti's Warblers singing around the pits, 2+ Marsh Harriers flushing the eclipse ducks 8 Wigeon among them. 4+ Hobby's hawking over Tower Pits also a Peregrine through. From Hanson 6 Redshank 5ads 1 juv, 1 Little Ringed Plover, 1ad Dunlin, 2 Little Egrets, 3 Shelduck 1ad 2juvs, 1 eclipse Garganey and 2 Ravens over the car park. 

Hard Work

08.40-09.40 from the seawatch hide:

Fulmar; 2W

Gannet:  21E  59W

Common Scoter: 7E  12W

Curlew: 1W

Peregrine: 2 juvs around power station

Mediterranean Gull: 1E

Common Tern: 52W

Sandwich Tern: 5E  11W

Auk sp: 4W

Harbour Porpoise: 3+ off shore

Common Seal: 1 off shore

At The Patch in very windy conditions 2 Mediterranean Gulls among 500+ Black-headed Gulls, 50+ Common Terns and the usual large Gulls.

At the ARC Pit 100s of Swifts with smaller numbers of House Martins and Sand Martins, a juvenile Peregrine was causing havoc among the hundreds of eclipse ducks and feral geese. 2 Hobby's hunting over the Tower Pits. With the wind making birding very difficult I washed the car ready for the wedding I have to attend tomorrow Oh Joy! 

Sunshine but no Serin

Again I spent the best part of this morning trying to catch up with the very elusive and wide ranging  Serin. It was heard at the fishing boats, near the obs and in the trapping area and while looking for it 2 Black Redstarts and Wheatear were seen but not the Serin.
An hour and half sea watch sitting in the glorious sunshine with french coast line clearly visible was not really worth the effort, with a few Gannets, Common and Sandwich Terns, 8 Common Scoter W, 4 Kittiwake W, 6+ Harbour Porpoises off shore and a Hummingbird Hawk Moth came in off the sea. 

Little Egret Screen Hide

 At the ARC Pit no Sandpipers visible today, 3 Little Ringed Plovers, 4 Little Egrets, 3+ Marsh Harriers, 2 Hobby's and still 200+ Swifts, House and Sand Martins over the pit. On the banks by the track to Hanson Hide a very colourful display of Restharrow

Restharrow

This afternoon  on the reserve little of note on Burrowes Pit, at Christmas Dell a juvenile Peregrine made several attempts on a feral Pigeon but went hungry. On the Dengemarsh tern rafts several birds apparently still sitting on eggs but only 1 chick visible. Also there 2 more Marsh Harriers and a Bittern flew over. Then the rain came again. 

Elusive Serin

Storm over the ARC Pit from Hanson this afternoon

I spent most the morning trying to see a very elusive Serin at The Point this morning. It had been heard several times but only seen once in flight. After a short while looking around The Point I got a call from DW saying that it was calling near him. As I made my way over I could see he was looking at something in flight which enabled me to pick up the Serin briefly before it disappeared behind some buildings. We made our way to where we thought the bird landed and we heard it again but did not see it. I then spent most the rest of the morning trying to relocate it without success.
As I walked out to Hanson Hide the rain started. After a short while it eased so I took the opportunity to get back to the car and call it a day. 

Tough life for fledglings

The Patch was full of birds this morning though mostly Black-headed Gulls only a very few of which were juveniles. The wind made viewing difficult and uncomfortable(bring on the new hide). A few Sandwich and Common Terns with some Gannets off shore.
Plodding back to the car park 3 newly fledged Pied Wagtails were being fed, as I was photographing 1 of them, another a few feet further along the wall was taken by Kestrel, amid the very vocal protests of its parents, who chased the Kestrel a short way before losing interest to concentrate on feeding the remaining 2. It's a harsh life for a young bird. 



A tough short life for fledglings 



Kestrel with juv Pied wagtail

 An hour at the fishing boats was very disappointing with just 1 Curlew W, 2 auks W, 4 Common Scoter W and a few Gannets and Terns off shore.

 On the ARC pit i counted 500 Pochard before giving up. Also 150+ Swifts with a sprinkling of House Martins and Sand Martins. On the Islands 2 Wood Sandpipers (a juvenile and washed out adult), 3 Green Sandpipers, 3 Common Sandpipers, 2 Little Ringed Plovers  and 2 Ringed Plovers. I spent an hour watching 2 Hobby's over The Tower Pits that were giving a superb display as they took and plucked Dragonflys, 2 Marsh Harriers also hunted there. A Fox cub was paddling in front of the screen hide.