Hooded Crow!

With the a West wind blowing I decided to have a look around the hay fields first thing this morning for Water Pipits, I found none just a couple of Meadow Pipits. Marsh Harriers were over the reed beds but little else of note was seen.

While I was there David Campbell text me to say a Hooded Crow had flown West past the sea watch hide. As I arrived at the sea watch hide AJG & DC left as virtually nothing was passing. I settled in for a slow watch, which was mercifully cut short by news from OL that the Hooded Crow or another was on the beach at the Lifeboat Station heading towards the fishing boats, which is where I caught up with it, also a Wheatear on the beach by the boats.   

An uncooperative Hooded Crow on the beach.

 Yellow Wagtail and Corn Bunting at Scotney.

Around Scotney of note 8 Avocet and 4 Mediterranean Gulls on the back lakes, several each of Yellow Wagtail, Corn Bunting and Skylark but no sign of the 1w Iceland Gull.

Late afternoon on New Diggings still at least 2 Black-necked Grebes nearby 2 red head Smew on the Boulderwall Pools. There were still a few Willow Warblers and Firecrests around the Peninsula per DW & DB.

 Black-necked Grebe

A few Willow Warblers!

A walk around the scrub on The point this morning saw 8+ Willow Warblers, 5 Chiffchaffs, 3 Firecrests, 2 Goldcrests, a Continental Coal Tit, a great spotted Woodpecker and 40 Brent Geese moving east.

Walking along the High Street in New Romney after mid morning trip to the barbers, the local Gulls alerted me to the presence of a Red Kite sailing over.

At the ARC a couple of Sedge Warblers singing along with several Cetti's Warblers, 2 Common Terns over the lake and a male Marsh Harrier displaying high over the Water Tower.

Late morning at the northern end of the Long Pits phyloscs seemed to be in every bush, 40+ Willow Warblers & 30+ Chiffchaffs are probably conservative numbers, also 3 Blackcaps, a Firecrest and several Goldcrests, but no sign of any of the Common Redstarts seen earlier by others.

I've seen plenty of Chiffchaffs with black pollen on there faces, but this is the first Firecrest

 Firecrest lighthouse Garden

 Common Redstart Lighthouse Garden.

Late afternoon in the Lighthouse Garden 3+ Firecrests, 2+Goldcrests and a very elusive Common Redstart that gave the briefest of views before disappearing back into centre of the garden.

A late afternoon stop at the New Diggings found 3 Black-necked Grebes and 2 Slavonian Grebes, nearby on the Boulderwall Pool 5 Smew including 1 drake. In the Boulderwall Garden 5 Tree Sparrows and a female Brambling.

No sign of the Water Pipit at Springfield Bridge this evening. On my return home a Swallow was on the wires outside, 

Swallow at Plodland this evening

A late start at the sea watch hide for me this morning but still a reasonable watch 08.15-09.50:
Brent Goose: 495E
Common Scoter: 194E
Eider: 3E
Red-breasted Merganser: 2E
Red-throated Diver: 37E
Black-throated Diver: 1E
Great-crested Grebe: present n/c
Fulmar: 1E
Gannet: 4E
Cormorant: present n/c
Arctic Skua: 1E
Kittiwake: 3W
Little Gull: 13E
Mediterranean Gull: 2 around
Sandwich Tern: 63E
Common Tern: 2E

On the New Diggings 4 Black-necked Grebes & 2 Slavonian Grebes. On the Boulderwall Pools still 3 Smew 1 drake, 3 Little Egrets and Great White Egret.

 1w Iceland Gull Scotney back pit. bird sat in middle honest!

At Scotney late morning 19 Ringed Plovers, a Dunlin, 3 Redshank, 3+ Yellow Wagtails, 7+ Corn Buntings, a Black Redstart and a 1w Iceland Gull of note.

 Yellow Wagtail, Scotney.

 Going for quantity not quality Steve!

An afternoon sea watch from the fishing boats was slow.
14.40-16.00:
Brent Goose: 5E
Common Scoter: 5E
Red-throated Diver: 30E
Gannet: 7E     2W
Oystercatcher: 1E
Kittiwake: 2E    1W
Sandwich Tern: 24E
Linnet: 1 in
Harbour Porpoise:  2+

Herald moth my 1st of the year in the Plodland MV last night

A stop off at the New Diggings on the way to the beach saw 3 Black-necked Grebes and a Slavonian Grebe among the Coot.
07.45-11.40 from the sea watch hide
Brent Goose: 681E
Shelduck: 7E
Pintail: 9E
Shoveler: 2E
Teal: 2E
Eider: 1E
Common Scoter: 413E    1W
Red-breasted Merganser: 20E
Red-throated Diver: 35E
Black-throated Diver: 7E
Fulmar: 6E
Gannet: 62E     2W
Great Skua: 1E
Arctic Skua: 7E
Kittiwake: 12E
Little Gull: 40E
Mediterranean Gull: 4E    +  2 x 1w on The Patch
Sandwich Tern: 131E
Common Tern: 17E
Auk sp:  11E
Harbour Porpoise: 4+

The reserve was busy but 5 Smew including 1 drake were still on the Boulderwall Pools as was 3 Little Egrets and a Great White Egret. 10+ Little Gulls were on Burrowes, also still 4+ Goldeneye hanging on.
Late afternoon 4 Wheatears opposite Jarmans.

2 Excellent Sea Watches!

Great Skua past the hide

Combined totals for 2 excellent sea watches today: 06.15-10.30 + 13.40-15.40
Brent Goose: 654E   2W
Shelduck: 2E
Common Scoter: 896E
Velvet Scoter: 14E  (flocks of 8 + 6)
Red-breasted Merganser: 18E
Red-throated Diver: 71E    2W
Black-throated Diver: 4E
Great Northern Diver: 2E
Great-crested Grebe: 14 on sea
Fulmar: 10E   1 around
Gannet: 199E   5W
Oystercatcher: 4E
Great Skua: 4E
Arctic Skua: 4E
Kittiwake: 26E
Mediterranean Gull: 6E
Little Gull: 90E
Sandwich Tern: 532E
Common Tern: 42E
Guillemot: 1E
Auk sp: 5E
Wheatear: 2 on beach
Linnet: 2 out
Harbour Porpoise: 5+

Brent Geese past the hide

Keeping up the Wheatear count! 1 of 4 opposite Jarmans this afternoon.

Late afternoon at least 3 Black-necked Grebes and a Slavonian Grebe on the New Diggings.

 Still a few Firecrests around The Point and Long Pits today but not a great deal else, seemingly very little overhead migration. 2 Black-necked Grebes still on the New Diggings. At the ARC a male Brambling by the car park, 2 Chiffchaffs, several singing Cetti's Warbler, numerous Reed Buntings, 3 Marsh Harriers, also a Bittern booming regularly.

Black-necked Grebe

Brambling ARC car park

As the breeze picked up from a southerly vector I thought I'd try a sea watch this afternoon. At least it was warm sitting in the sunshine and the shelter of the boats.
14.00-16.30 From the fishing boats:
Brent Goose: 31E  (6+2+23)
Common Scoter: 7E
Red-throated Diver: 7E
Great-crested Grebe: 6 present
Gannet: 2E
Oystercatcher: 1E
Kittiwake: 3 present
Sandwich Tern: 12E
Harbour Porpoise: 4+ around

Black-necked Grebe!

Much quieter around The Point today, but still a few Firecrests, Chiffchaffs, Goldcrests and Wheatears around. A Brambling flying over the observatory was my first for the year.

On the New Diggings 2 Slavonian Grebes and 2 Black-necked Grebes and a Swallow through. At the back of Scotney my first 2 Yellow Wagtails of the year, also of note a couple of Corn Buntings, some Skylarks, 2 Common Buzzards and Peregrine. On the walk back 2 more Yellow Wagtails flew over.

 Yellow Wagtails, Scotney.

An afternoon wander around Dengemarsh from Springfield Bridge saw of note, 2 Rock Pipits, a White Wagtail, 4 Bearded Tits, another Swallow and a Great White Egret.

Late afternoon following a tip off from Tony and Brenda I got superb views of a Black-necked Grebe on the reserve, also my 150th patch species this year a Merlin.

Keeping the Wheatear count up for Mr Gale!

Firecrests!

First thing this morning as I came out the door this Swallow was flying round in front the house.

Firecrest 1 of an amazing 78 seen by me today!

An excellent morning spent plodding around the bushes at The Point and in the Desert also the very north end of the Long Pits. My personal total of Firecrests was an amazing 61, if only my hearing was as good as DW then I'm sure it would have been 100+. For the cumulative total of Firecrests seen in the DOB recording area see http://www.dungenessbirdobs.org.uk/ also seen were 37 Chiffchaffs, 2 Willow Warblers, a Continental Coal Tit, 4+ Wheatears, 4+ Black Redstarts, a Cetti's Warbler and a Sparrowhawk.

Black Redstart at Lloyds

1 of at least 37 Chiffchaffs in the recording area

Singing Wheatear opposite Jarmans

Small Tortoiseshell at the Long Pits

Partial Summer Plumage Slavonian Grebe

On the New Diggings 2 partial summer plumage Slavonian Grebes and a Black-necked Grebe. Nearby on the Boulderwall Pools a drake and duck Smew.

Bearded Tit ARC

A walk from the ARC car park to the pines saw another 2 Firecrests, 5 Chiffchaffs, a Swallow, 2 Bearded Tits which flew over the track and 2 more Black Redstarts around the water tower.

A distant Tundra Bean Goose 

Dengemarsh Gully and the road side gorse was positively jumping with birds, at least 15 more Firecrests, 40+ Chiffchaffs, a Willow Warbler, a Blackcap, 2 Wheatears, a Raven and 2 Marsh Harriers. The Tundra Bean Geese was trying to distance itself from the Greylags in the fields opposite the chicken sheds.

Galloways was very disappointing with just a single Chiffchaff, a Sparrowhawk, 2 Stonechats and a Red-legged Partridge.

Possibly a victim of storm Katie.

Late afternoon at Scotney a Black-necked grebe on the main lake, 3 Brent Geese on the sward, along with 2 Redshank, a Curlew, 6 Oystercatchers, 7 Ringed Plovers and 23 Wigeon. By the cycle track fence the remains of a Barn Owl which may have been a victim of storm Katie by being blown into the fence.

As the Lydd to Dungeness road was closed between Cockles Bridge and the reserve entrance by fallen power lines for most of the day I visited Scotney. Storm Katie's was still blowing hard. The sward was virtually birdless apart from a few Wigeon and the wing shot Geese that cant get away. Herring Gull was awash, just a handful of Gulls were hunkered down on it.

 Unsurprisingly little to be seen at Scotney today!

My next stop was Galloways where at the bottom a mass of Gulls fed along tide line, though I couldn't find anything of note among them.  

1 of at least 3 Firecrests in Dengemarsh Gully.

Dengemarsh Gully did offer some protection from the wind, 3 Firecrests were seen along with 4 Linnets and the usual Dunnocks, Robins, Wrens.

This afternoon at Dengemarsh viewed from the Chicken Sheds, the Tundra Bean Goose wasn't doing its credentials any favours by associating with 2 Egyptian Geese, 7 Barnacle Geese, 6 Canada Geese and c40 Greylag Geese.

It would seem that there was an arrival of Sand Martins on the peninsula today, not that I saw any, though I'm sure by the end of July I may have seen 1 or 2.

A couple of sea watches

Strong WSW wind this morning with occasional blustery showers didn't inspire me to an early start.
09.00-10.00 from The Point Dungeness:
Brent Goose: 440E
Red-throated Diver: 9E     1 on sea
Great-crested Grebe: present n/c
Gannet: 6E     3W
Cormorant: present n/c
Curlew: 2E
Great Skua: 1E
Sandwich Tern: 3E

16.20-17.20:
Brent Goose: 23E
Red-throated Diver: 2E
Great-crested Grebe: present n/c
Gannet: 3W
Cormorant: present n/c
Kittiwake: 5W
Sandwich Tern: 12W  presumably back to Rye to roost.

On the reserve The Spoonbill, Great White Egrets, Smew, Bitterns, Black-necked Grebes, Tundra bean Goose and more all seen today.