As I sorted out the MV this morning the Gulls started alarming, I looked up to see a large raptor heading towards the reserve suspecting it was a Honey Buzzard, by the the time I got my binoculars from the car the bird was a long way off into the sun, so I wrote it off as one that got away.

Arriving at the sea watch hide AJG was already there and informed me that a Honey Buzzard flew straight out to sea about the time my bird would have been crossing the coast!

The rest of the sea watch was very poor with a few Gannets, Sandwich Terns and Kittiwakes.

A walk around the trapping area found just a few Willow Warblers and Common Whitethroats, single Sparrowhawk and a single Great Spotted Woodpecker of note.

A Melodious Warbler was in a private garden first thing and not seen again.

On the reserve Sand Martins were back in good numbers with a few Swifts, the Black Tern was still present, 10+ Dunlin, 4+Common Sandpipers, 3 Black-tailed Godwits, a Wood Sandpiper flew through as did a Peregrine.

15.00-17.00 from the fishing boats:
Common Scoter: 7 up
Fulmar: 2 up    1 down
Gannet: 124 down     47 up
Cormorant: 19 around
Arctic Skua: 4 down
Mediterranean Gull: 3 up all juvs.
Yellow-legged Gull: 2 juveniles around
Kittiwake: 19 up
Sandwich Tern: c100 around
Common Tern: c20 around
Sand Martin: 9 out
Harbour Porpoise: 8+
Grey Seal: 1

 juvenile Yellow-legged Gull

 Harbour Porpoises

 Harbour Porpoise and Sandwich Tern

juvenile Mediterranean Gull

 There were 4 Hummingbird Hawkmoths by the power station perimeter wall early this morning.

As I arrived at the sea watch hide this morning AJG came out having seen very little in the last half hour of his early watch, though 3 Balearic Shearwaters moved west very early morning.

 Juvenile female Peregrine with prey on the power station

There were a few Willow warblers around the Lightouse and a few more were ringed at the observatory after being caught in The Moat. One of the juvenile Peregrines was enjoying a Pigeon for breakfast watched by an adult that sat high on a pylon.

 A walk around the trapping area saw my first Redstart of the Autumn, along with c30 each of Common Whitethroat and Willow Warbler, 4+ Lesser Whitethroats, 4 Reed Warblers and 3 Wheatears that were opposite Jarmans.

Reed Warbler

A Common Sandpiper, 3 Little Ringed Plovers, 2 juvenile Marsh Harriers were the only notable birds among the 100s of wildfowl on the ARC this morning. There was also a noticeable lack of Sand Martins around today.

Juvenile Black Tern, Burrowes.

This evening on Burrowes a juvenile Black Tern was new in, also 4 Common Sandpipers and 11 Dunlin there.

A late evening vigil by Lade South ended without seeing this mornings Night Heron, while waiting 5 Little Egrets around, a pair of Sparrowhawks and Great Spotted Woodpecker of note. 

Many thanks to AJG for collating the numbers from this morning's sea watch from the hide:

06.30-08.00:

Teal: 7 down

Common Scoter: 15 up  24 down

Fulmar: 1 down

Gannet: 126 around

Dunlin: 5 up

Arctic Skua: 1 down

Kittiwake: 124 down  16 up

Sandwich Tern: 237 around

Common Tern: 12 down

 Great White and Little Egrets at Denge Marsh

At the ARC just 3 Little Ringed Plovers, 2 Dunlin, a Ruff and a Black-tailed Godwit of note among the many Greylags, Coot, eclipse duck, Mute Swans and Lapwings.

Over the road on the reserve Burrowes was inevitably quiet due to the on going works, Denge Marsh however was quite interesting with 5 Green Sandpipers, 3 Ruff, 4 Common Snipe, a Dunlin, 5 Great White Egrets, 3+ Little Egrets, a Common Buzzard and 2+Marsh Harriers.
MH covered Denge Marsh Gully seeing just a couple each of Common Whitethroat and Willow Warbler and a Garden Warbler.

 Sandwich tern at the fishing boats

14.15-16.30 from the fishing boats joined by PT:
Common Scoter: 5 up  15 down
Fulmar: 2 down
Manx Shearwater: 1 up
Gannet: 29 up   14 down
Cormorant: 16 around
Oystercatcher: 3 down
Grey Plover: 1 down
Dunlin: 15 down
Whimbrel: 1 down
Great Skua: 1 down
Arctic Skua: 1 down
Little Gull: 1 adult down
Kittiwake: 43 down
Little Tern: 3 down
Sandwich Tern: 421 down    34 up
Common Tern: 21 down
Sand Martin: 1 out
Harbour Porpoise: 6+
Grey Seal: 1

A short evening sea watch from the hide was uneventful:
18.45-19.30
Common Scoter: 6 up
Fulmar: 3 down
Gannet: 16 down        27 up
Oystercatcher: 2 down
Kittiwake: 9 down  3 up
Sandwich Tern: 84 down     43 up

A wander around the Lighthouse area this morning produced no migrants, the trapping area and Desert wasn't much better producing a handful of Willow Warblers and Common Whitethroats.

 A very distant pic of the 2 Spotted Redshanks on Dengemarsh

On the reserve Burrowes was predictably quiet with the work of re-building islands causing inevitable but hopefully worthwhile disturbance. 6 Black-tailed Godwits were in front of Firth and as is now usual 100s of Sand Martins were hawking over the lake. At Denge Marsh of note 2 Spotted Redshanks were new in, 4 Golden Plover, 3 Ruff, a Black-tailed Godwit, a Common Snipe, a Yellow Wagtail, 4 Great White Egrets and 3 Little Egrets. 

  Great White Egret (red AAH) hatched this year at RSPB Ham Walls, Somerset.

Another doomed Herring Gull at the fishing boats today

A very poor sea watch from the fishing boats this afternoon with AJG:
15.00-16.00
Common Scoter: 29 down    11 up
Gannet: 5 down
Cormorant: 8 around
Kittiwake: 11 down
Sandwich Tern: 38 down
Common Tern: 4 down
Sand Martin: 44 out
Harbour Porpoise: 8+

2 Jersey Tigers and Dark Sword-grass were the highlights from another poor night in the MV.

The Ranges!

 Willow Warbler at Galloways

As the ranges were open today I decided to visit Galloways early this morning, it was predictably very quiet with a handful of Willow Warblers, Common Whitethroats, Meadow Pipits and Stonechats. At Lydd camp the 2 Little Owls were perched up in the usual Elder.

 young Fox at Galloways

 Dunlin at The Midrips

It seemed a good idea to visit The Midrips as well as the ranges wont be open for a while, a Little Egret was unusual there and 18 Dunlin were seen along with 3 Avocet, 5 Ringed Plovers, a Redshank, a Whimbrel and a Wheatear. Offshore a few Sandwich terns and few Sand Martins heading south. Looks like winter has arrived at Scotney as the feral Barnacle Goose flock has returned from it's summer location.

 Little Egret at The Midrips

A very short sea watch this afternoon due to lack of birds and large numbers of visitors.

Knot from Firth

At the ARC 2 Common Sandpipers, 3 Little ringed plovers and a Dunlin of note. While there I was told a Marsh Sandpiper had been reported from Makepiece. When I got there I could only see 2 more Common Sandpipers, though in front of Firth 6 Black-tailed Godwits, a Redshank and winter plumage Knot which was new in today. 

I joined AJG who kindly collated the numbers in the sea watch hide this morning.
05.40-09.40 from the sea watch hide:
Common Scoter: 15 up  10 down
Great-crested Grebe: 1 around
Fulmar: 2 down
Gannet: 542 down
Cormorant: present n/c
Turnstone: 4 down
Dunlin: 3 down
Sanderling: 3 down
Arctic Skua: 3 down
Mediterranean Gull: 1 down
Kittiwake: 72 down
Sandwich Tern: 762 down
Common Tern: 1,078 down
Black Tern: 2 down
Grey Seal: 1
Harbour Porpoise: 6+

Mediterranean Gull past the sea watch hide this morning

The reserve was predictably very quiet with the regular group of 12 Black-tailed Godwits, a few each of Dunlin, Common Sandpipers and Little Ringed Plovers. 2 Wood Sandpipers and Ruff were still on Denge Marsh per CT. 3 Little Stints were new in on the ARC. As is usual this time of year many Sand Martins and a few Swifts could be found hawking over all the pits.
Galloways opened early today but only produced 6 Stonechats and a couple of Common Whitethroats, nearby at Lydd Camp 2 Little Owls were sun bathing in the elders.

13.00-16.00 from the fishing boats(just as well the sun was shining) joined by AJG,CT,BH, PH & EH:

Common Scoter: 2 up

Great-crested Grebe: 1 around

Gannet: 46 down     5 up

Cormorant: 21 around

Oystercatcher: 1 around

Mediterranean Gull: 1 down

Kittiwake: 12 down

Sandwich Tern: 68 down    14 up

Common Tern: 21 down

Swift: 5 out

Sand Martin: 177 out

Linnet: 2 over

Grey seal: 1

Harbour Porpoise: 4+

Bright and Breezy!

I joined AJG and BC in the sea watch hide for a very uneventful hour this morning, an Arctic Skua being the highlight.

 Wood Sandpiper from Makepiece

On a wind swept Burrowes 100s of Sand Martins and a few Swifts were hawking over the lake. From Firth 14 Black-tailed Godwits, 17 Dunlin and a Common Sandpiper of note. From Makepiece a Wood Sandpiper and 2 Dunlin. Late morning at the ARC from Hanson 6 Dunlin, 3 Little Ringed Plovers, a Black-tailed Godwit and 2 juvenile Marsh Harriers were the highlights among the Lapwing, feral geese, Mute Swans and eclipse duck.

 Sand Martin from Makepiece

 Arctic Skua off the fishing boats

12.30-16.30 from the fishing boats with AJG:

Common Scoter: 6 up

Great-crested Grebe: 1 around

Fulmar: 3 down

Gannet: 121 down   27 up

Cormorant: 22 around

Arctic Skua: 2 down

Black-headed Gull:  17 down

Common Gull: 3 down

Herring Gull: c35 around

Lesser Black-backed Gull: 4 down

Great Black-backed Gull: c10 around

Kittiwake: 7 down    1 up

Sandwich Tern: 262 down     14 up

Common Tern: 252 down     6 up

Black Tern: 10 down  (flock of 8 + 2 singles)

Swift: 66 out

Grey Seal: 2

Harbour Porpoise: 4+

 Black Terns off the fishing boats

Common Terns off the fishing boats

Mackerel!

A few Gannets, Sandwich and Common Terns and Common Scoter at the fishing boats this morning. 

For a while the sea was boiling as a large shoal of Mackerel came in shore to feed on Whitebait, at the same time attracting the attention of the ever vigilant Gulls and providing them with excellent feeding opportunities.

 Herring Gull catching breakfast

 Mackerel chasing Whitebait

Kittiwake grabbing Whitebait

On the reserve work started on building up the islands at the north eastern end of Burrowes, while from Firth hide 12 Black-tailed Godwits, 19 Dunlin, 2 Redshank, a Common Sandpiper, 100s of Sand Martins and a few Swifts were the highlights before the rain closed in.

Balearics & Sand Martins!

 Sand Martins at the fishing boats

 Sand Martins at the fishing boats

I joined AJG on his vigil from the sea watch hide this morning, many thanks to him for collating the numbers.
05.45 to 10.00:
Common Scoter: 40 up    85 down
Fulmar: 1 down
Balearic Shearwater: 16 down  1 up
Gannet 1008 down
Cormorant: 17 around
Peregrine: 1 juvenile around
Oystercatcher: 5 down
Sanderling: 2 down
Whimbrel: 1 down
Arctic Skua: 4 down
Kittiwake: 31 down
Sandwich Tern: 44 down
Common Tern: 443 down
Guillemot: 1 on
Auk sp: 5 down
Sand Martin: 449 coasting down
Yellow Wagtail: 2 out

The islands on the ARC from Hanson were covered Greylags and Canada Geese, along with Mute Swans, Lapwings and assorted eclipse duck, the only quality I could find was a juvenile Garganey.

A lunch time visit to Denge Marsh saw of note the Spoonbill, Great White Egret, 3 Ruff and 3 Golden Plover among the Lapwings, a Hobby was chasing Sand Martins and 3 Marsh Harriers were seen.

 Peregrine at the fishing boats

Oystercatchers  past the fishing boats

I joined AJG at the fishing boats this afternoon, once again thanks are due to him for collating the numbers.

12.15-15.45:

Common Scoter: 41 up   11 down

Balearic Shearwater: a flock of 6 down at 12.45

Gannet: 76 down

Cormorant: 8 around

Peregrine: 2 around

Oystercatcher: 7 down

Dunlin: 3 down

Arctic Skua: 2 around

Kittiwake: 11 down

Sandwich Tern: 296 down

Common Tern: 112 down

Sand Martin c1100 out 

Swift: 3 out

 Sand Martins at the fishing boats

 Sand Martins at the fishing boats

Quiet!

 Willow Warbler

Several Willow Warblers, Common Whitethroats and 3 Black Redstarts of note around the bushes on The Point this morning.
Burrowes was disappointing with 5 Black-tailed Godwits, 14 Dunlin, 5+ Common Sandpipers and 4 Little-ringed Plovers.
The ARC was equally disappointing with 5 Dunlin and 5 Little-ringed Plovers of any note.

13.45-16.00 from the fishing boats joined by RW &  MH:
Gannet: 54 down   8 up
Cormorant: 9 around
Dunlin: 4 down
Sanderling: 10 down
Black-headed Gull: 5 around
Herring Gull: c25 around
Great Black-backed Gull: 9 around
Sandwich Tern: 66 down   11 up
Common Tern: 95 down
Sand Martin: 182 out
Harbour Porpoise: 6+
Grey Seal: 2
It can only get better!
Late afternoon on Denge Marsh 3 Great White Egrets, 4 Golden Plover, 3 Ruff, 4 Golden Plover and a Hobby were noted. At Galloways the usual disappointment.

2 Jersey Tigers were the pick of the catch last night