Greenland Wheatears!

The early morning fog quickly cleared leaving a beautiful spring day but little off shore movement

07.00-09.00 with AJG who collated the numbers:

Brent Goose: 41 E

Shelduck: 3 W

Common Scoter: 276 E

Red-breasted Merganser: 7 E

Red-throated Diver: 5 E

Black-throated Diver: 1 E

Fulmar: 1 E

Gannet: 12 around

Oystercatcher: 4 E

Kittiwake: 3 E

Common Tern: 30 E

Auk sp: 3 E

Carrion Crow: 9 in off the sea

We walked around the trapping area and around the Long Pits for little return, c15 each of Willow Warbler and Chiffchaff, 6 Blackcaps, 2 Common Whitethroats, a Green Woodpecker and c5 Sparrowhawks of note. Around the observatory moat a Ring Ouzel, Black Redstart, more Blackcaps, Whitethroats, Willow Warblers and Chiffchaffs could be found.

With news that the Hoopoe had resurfaced Between Boulderwall Farm and the Water Tower, we had a look around the Tower pits to no avail, while doing so Sedge Warbler, Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff, Blackcaps, Common Whitethroats and Marsh Harriers were seen. 

 Greenland Wheatear

This afternoon on the shingle opposite Jarmans, c15 Wheatears at least 8 of which were Greenland's, although star billing went to an early smart Whinchat, also a White Wagtail, 3 Swallows over and 2 Whimbrel there as well as resident Skylarks and Meadow Pipits.

Whinchat (poor image of a flighty bird)

This evening at Springfield Bridge a Bittern booming, a Garganey, the 2 Tundra Bean Geese and the 2 Cattle Egrets at Brickwall Farm.

Yellow Wagtail at Scotney per MH.

The Plodland moth trap was straining under the weight of a single Common Quaker this morning.

A Brilliant Day at The D.B.O.

This morning from the sea watch hide the French coast was clearer than I have ever seen it before. Through the telescope individual trees could be seen and Napoleon was easily discernible, standing on top of his column 49 Kilometres away at Wimereux as the Crow flys. The sea watch itself was very uninspiring.

06.05-08.05 with AJG who collated the numbers. 

Brent Goose: 19 E

Common Scoter: 129 :

Red-breasted Merganser: 2 E

Red-throated Diver:  9 E

Gannet: 32 E

Oystercatcher: 103 E

Great Skua: 2 E

Arctic Skua: 1 about

Kittiwake: 2 W

1w Iceland Gull: 1 flying out to sea from patch area

Common Tern: 19 E  c30 on patch

Sandwich Tern: 304 E

Auk sp: 1 E  1 W

Statute of Napoleon(left hand edge of image) at Wimereux from Dungeness this morning

 Oystercatchers passing this morning

 Ring Ouzels

With such a clear morning it is even more incredible that around 08.30 Blackcaps and Willow Warblers started appearing all around The Point, belying that migrants only appear in numbers in damp overcast conditions.

 Blackcaps and Willow Warblers were recorded in 3 figure numbers, with many Chiffchaffs, at least 3 Ring Ouzels, 4 Common Redstarts, 5+ Common Whitethroats, 2 Black Redstarts, a Pied Flycatcher, a Tree Pipit, a Woodlark, 2+ Redwing, 3+ Song Thrushes and 5 Swallows.

 Common Redstart

 Tree Pipit

 Willow Warbler

 Pied Flycatcher

 A Little Gull dwarfed by the Herring Gulls.

At The Patch this afternoon no sign of this mornings 1w Iceland Gull but a 1st summer Little Gull was some compensation.

Black Redstart(first year male) which finally made its way into the Heligoland Trap rounding a brilliant day at Dungeness.

Blackcaps and a Common Whitethroat

From a crystal clear day this morning to thick fog at 17.00hrs when I left.

A Slow Day!

From the sea watch hide with AJG
who collated the numbers.                                    From the fishing boats:
06.10-08.10                                                        15.40-17.00
Brent Goose: 47 E                                                Brent Goose: 3
Common Scoter: 152 E                                         Red-throated Diver: 5 E
Red-breasted Merganser: 2 up                               Gannet: 53 E
Red-throated Diver: 3 E                                        Arctic Skua: 6 E

Fulmar: 5 E                                                          Kittiwake: 1 W

Gannet: 65 E                                                        Sandwich Tern: c25 o/s

Oystercatcher: 16 E                                              Common Tern: 10 o/s

Great Skua: 3 E                                                    Auk sp: 4 W

Arctic Skua:                                                         Harbour Porpoise: 3+

Mediterranean  Gull: 2E  Ads

Sandwich Tern: 324 E

Common Tern: 7 E

Auk sp: 259 E

A faily slow day around the peninsular with a few migrants. Mid morning around the trapping area a beautiful male Redstart, 3 Willow Warblers, 4 Chiffchaffs, 2 Green Woodpeckers and a Marsh harrier of note.

Early afternoon around Dengemarsh area, 6 Ringed Plovers, 2 Little Ringed Plovers, 4 Lapwings and 2 Shelduck all on Hayfield 3. 2 Tundra Bean Geese, 2 Garganey, 6 Swallows, 2 Little Egrets and a Great White Egret of note. I couldn't find the Cattle Egrets today in a brief search.

1w Iceland Gull!

With the wind swinging round to the the SW and a drop in the temperature there was a corresponding drop in the off shore passage.

06.15-08.15 numbers kindly collated by AJG.            14.00-16.00 

Brent Goose: 559 E                                                    28E

Common Scoter: 117 E                                               12E                

Red-breasted Merganser: 5 E

Red throated Diver: 12 E                                             12E

Black throated Diver: 1 E                                              1W

Fulmar: 17 E

Gannet: 55 W                                                             15 o/s

Oystercatcher: 29 E

Whimbrel:                                                                    4E

Bonxie: 2 E                                                                  1W

Arctic Skua: 3 E

Kittiwake:                                                                    2W

Mediterranean Gull: 3 around

Sandwich Tern: 104 E                                                 27E                                                       Common Tern: 11 E                                                     3E

Auk sp: 4E

In the roost at The Patch a 1w Iceland Gull was found by DW and a probable Glaucous x Herring Gull hybrid. 

 1w Iceland Gull

Probable Glaucous x Herring Gull?

 Both White Wingers

Slavonian Grebe

On the New Diggings the Slavonian Gull still present also 2 Swallows and a Sand Martin.

On Scotney the drake Scaup still present and the 2 Cattle Egrets could be seen around the Brickwall Farm fields.

On the reserve a Ring Ouzel and 2 Whimbrel per PT. 

Pas De Calais(thursday 9th April)

Another great day spent in the Pas de Calais with Tony and Trevor, visiting several sites and seeing plenty of birds in glorious warm spring sunshine. Chiffchaffs were abundant where ever we went and the woods were alive with Nuthatches, Short-toed Treecreepers and Marsh Tits, we also saw, Firecrests, Crested Tits, a Hawfinch, Hen Harrier, several each of Common Buzzards and Sparrowhawks around the woods.

 Firecrest

 Orange Tip!

 White Wagtail!

The wetlands provided highlights of 23 Garganey, many White Wagtails, a couple of Yellow Wagtails, White Storks, Cattle and Little Egrets, Spoonbills, Mediterranean Gulls and Kentish Plovers. We clocked up a respectable 102 species in the day.

 3 of 23 seen in the Pas de Calais!

 Spoonbill!

Crested Tits! 

 Kentish Plovers in the heat haze.

 Squaring up!

Brent Geese still moving!

Another day of mainly sea watching, despite the very poor visibility it was a good day:

06.15-08.30                                             09.45-11.00                                14'00-17.30

Brent Goose:              1273 E                            375E                                        2085E

Shelduck:                         2 E  5 W

Teal:                                2 E

Velvet Scoter:                   3 E

Common Scoter:           532 E                            105E                                            16E

Red-breastedMerganser: 26 E                                                                                 9E  5W

Red-throated Diver:        16 E                                                                                 3E

Black-throated Diver:       1 E

Fulmar:                           2 E

Gannet:                           8 E                                                                                  4E  1W

Oystercatcher:                27 E                                                                                  1W

Dunlin:                                                                                                                   17E

Bar-tailed Godwit:                                                                                                     2E

Curlew:                          26 E

Whimbrel:                                                                                                                 1W

Arctic Skua:                                                                                                            1E

Kittiwake:                         2 E                                                                                  1E

Sandwich Tern:             389 E                               3E                                             193E

Common Tern:                43 E                            13E                                              104E

Guillemot:                        2 E

Swallow:                          1 in

Rook:                                                                                                                      4 in

Linnet:                          c45 in

 Some of the Brent Geese were along the shore line!

 Sandwich Tern moving east along the shore line!

Typical view of a Harbour Porpoise!

A wander around the trapping area was disappointing with just a couple of Chiffchaffs and a Marsh harrier over of note. 2 female Wheatears were by the power station car park.
On the reserve the Garganey is still mobile, the 2 Cattle Egrets still at Brickwall Farm and 3 Great White Egrets at Dengemarsh, also the Slavonian Grebe still on the New Diggings Not much seems to be known about the Hoopoe in the Dengemarsh area, it will be looked for tomorrow, hopefully if found accurate and prompt news will be forth coming.   

Raptors in the Haze!

Another day of sea and sky watching:
07.00-08.30 from the sea watch hide very slow:
Brent Goose: 38 E
Teal: 10 E
Gadwall: 2 E
Common Scoter: 2 E
Red-breasted merganser: 3 E
Fulmar: 1 E
Oystercatcher: 8 E
Black Redstart: 1 behind hide
Harbour Porpoise: 10+
A look around the bushes on The Point found only 1 Firecrest, 2 Blackcaps and 2 Chiffchaffs of note.
A couple of hours sky watching from Plodland garden saw 2 distant Red Kites, 8+ Common Buzzards, 4+ Marsh Harriers, 2 Sparrowhawks, a Little Egret, a Raven and 10 Swallows of note, still no Sand Martin.
This afternoon from the fishing boats 13.20-16.30:
Brent Goose: 318 E
Shoveller: 11 E
Common Scoter: 127 E
Red-breasted Merganser: 2 E
Red-throated Diver: 17 E
Great-crested Grebe: 16 on sea
Gannet: 2 E
Turnstone: 5 on beach
Common Tern: 10 E
Sandwich Tern: 252 E  11 W
Harbour Porpoise: 4+
Brimstone: in off
It would seem according to Twitter(when it works at Dungeness) all the long staying and usual birds were still present on the reserve today.

Mainly Sea Watching!

06.30-09.00 from the sea watch hide with AJG(collated the numbers) and DW:

Brent Goose: 130 E

Pintail: 2 E

Shoveller: 8 E

Teal: 5 E

Common Scoter: 186 E

Red-breasted Merganser: 13 E

Red throated Diver: 13 E

Fulmar: 2 E

Gannet: 46 E 

Curlew 20 up

Mediterranean Gull: 2 E

Kittiwake: 1 E

Sandwich Tern: 198 E

Common Tern: 3 E

Little Tern: 1 E

Harbour Porpoise: 10+

 A wander around the bushes on the The Point found 9 Chiffchaffs, 2 Firecrests, 2 Wheatears, a superb male Black Redstart and a Hare of note.

Cattle Egret being harried by the Black-headed Gulls at Dengemarsh.

A visit to Dengemarsh and the Hayfields saw a drake Garganey, a White Wagtail, Sedge Warbler, 2 Avocet, 3 Curlew, a Ringed Plover, a Greenshank, 6 Egyptian Geese, 2 Tundra Bean Geese, 4+ Little Egrets, a Great White Egret and a Cattle Egret being harassed by Black-headed Gulls of note. A pair of Swallows have returned tothe stables in Dengemarsh Road and another flew over the garden while I was having lunch.

Another watch this afternoon 13.00-16.00 from the fishing boats with MH asnd AJG who once again kindly collated the numbers:

Brent Goose: 35 E
Shoveller: 1 E
Common Scoter: 377 E
Red-breasted Merganser: 9 E
Red-throated Diver: 24 E
Fulmar: 1 W
Gannet: 7 W
Whimbrel: 5 E
Turnstone: 7 on beach
Sanderling: 2 E
Curlew: 2 E
Bonxie: 1 W
Little Gull: 3 E
Kittiwake: 2 E
Sandwich Tern: 204 E
Auk: 1 E

Dolphins!

A Frosty start to a pleasant sea watch, where the undoubted highlight was the 4 White Beaked Dolphins which spent about an hour moving slowly eastwards.
06.00-09.15 from the hide:

Brent Goose: 41 E

Greylag Goose: 3 W

Gadwall: 6 E

Teal: 4 E

Shoveller: 9 E

Tufted Duck: 1 W

Common Scoter: 222 E

Velvet Scoter: 3 E

Eider: 1 E

Red-breasted Merganser: 4 E

Red-throated Diver 2 up

Fulmar: 1 E

Gannet: 6 E

Oystercatcher: 4 

Sandwich Tern: 18 E

Swallow: 1 in

Harbour Porpoise: c12 o/s

White Beaked Dolphin: 4

As it was a sunny bank holiday, Dungeness was somewhat busy, so I stayed home after breakfast doing some gardening and sky watching, but still missed the Red Kite.

This afternoon 15.00-16.30 after a very slow start(I fell asleep) things picked up with the highlight of a flock of 6 Velvet Scoter.

Common Scoter: 5 E

Velvet Scoter: 6 E

Red-breasted Merganser: 10 E

Red-throated Diver: 12 E

Gannet: 13 E    3 W

Curlew: 20 E

Kittiwake: 1 E

Common Tern: 5 E

Sandwich Tern: c250 E

Auk sp: 4 W

 

Goldeneye!

 Black-necked Grebe, New Diggings

Driving across the causeway this morning I noticed the Black-necked Grebe close to the road, so I just had to take a few more pics of it. A bit further along the causeway something was flapping about in the middle of the road, as I got nearer I realised it was a drake Goldeneye, I pulled up blocking the road and caught the bird, I put it in the car and headed for the observatory. I met David Walker at the lighthouse, where he examined the bird, it was very thin but appeared uninjured, so we took it back to the reserve and released it on to Burrowes Pit where it swam off. 

David Walker about to release the Goldeneye on to Burrowes.

A walk around the trapping area with AJG was some what disappointing, with 2 Sparrowhawks, a Water Rail, 4 Chiffchaffs and Green Woodpecker the highlights.

Driving away from the observatory I had got as far as The Moat chatting to O.L when DW called to say an Osprey was flying over, O.L. quickly located as it headed towards the reserve.

A look at Scotney found nothing of note, the same result from Galloways. Dengemarsh held the 2 Tundra Bean Geese and a Great White Egret but no sign of the Cattle Egrets.

A couple of hours spent sitting in the sun at home sky watching saw a Common Buzzard, 2 Marsh harriers, 2 Sparrowhawks, a Peregrine and the first garden Swallow of the year.

Another walk late afternoon around Dengemarsh saw nothing of note in the keen north east wind.