Greenfinches feeding on the Sun Flowers in the field opposite home

From the driveway this morning I watched 6 Greenfinches feeding on the Sun Flowers in the field opposite, also there 20+Common Whitethroats, 10+ Sedge Warblers, 10+ Willow Warblers, 20+ Linnets, 8 Goldfinches and 4 Yellow Wagtails.

 Black-tailed Godwits over Denge Marsh early morning

After receiving a text from AJG telling me not to bother with the sea I drove the short distance down to Springfield Bridge this morning, getting out of the car 2 Ravens flew over also flock of 10 Black-tailed Godwits flew over towards The Midrips. From the bridge I could see at least 3 Great White Egrets on the marsh, 100s of Sand Martins and a few Swifts. In the ditch by hay field 3 a party of  5+ Bearded Tits along with many Reed Warblers, a few Sedge Warblers, a Cetti's Warbler and a calling Water Rail. From Denge Marsh Hide 3 Ruff, 2 Common Sandpipers, 3 Common Snipe, 2+ Marsh Harriers and a flock of 45 Golden plover that flew over towards Rye.

 100s of Sand Martins over the lakes again this morning

The walk from Denge Marsh to Makepiece saw 2 Lesser Whitethroats, several Reed Buntings, more Common Whitethroats, Willow Warblers, Reed Warblers and Sedge Warblers and a Sparrowhawk.

From Makepiece 100s of Sand Martins some resting on the newly created islands, 4 Common Sandpipers but little else due to disturbance from on going works. The walk to the VC then up the entrance track and round to Denge Marsh and Springfield Bridge saw basically the same as the first walk to Makepiece with the addition of 2 Wheatears and a Common Buzzard.

Denge Marsh Gully produced more Common Whitethroats, Willow Warblers and another Wheatear.

13.40-16.00 from the fishing boats with AJG & RW many thanks to them foe collating the numbers:

Common Scoter: 47 up

Gannet: 171 down

Ringed Plover: 3 down

Dunlin: 10 down

Whimbrel: 1 down

Arctic Skua: 2 down

Kittiwake: 7 down

Sandwich Tern: 488 down
Common Tern: 25 down
Kittiwake: 7 down
Sand Martin: 22 out
Swallow: 5  out

Yet another Scarce Bordered Straw from the MV last night

2 more Jersey tigers last night

 Willow Warblers

 Willow Warblers, Common Whitethroats, Lesser Whitethroats were around the point in good numbers today along with a few Sedge and Reed Warblers, a juvenile Marsh Harrier drifted high out to sea.
The reserve was quiet with few each of Green and Common Sandpipers per MH & CT.

 Hummingbird Hawkmoth in the obs garden

 Bar-headed Goose

At Scotney the massed ranks of 5 species of feral Geese, 4 Common Sandpipers and little else of note. 

 juvenile Yellow-legged Gull at the fishing boats

13.30-17.00 from the fishing boats with AJG:
Common Scoter: 40 up  12 down
Gannet: c100 around
Cormorant: 24 around
Turnstone: 3 down
Arctic Skua: 5 around
Yellow-legged Gull: 2 around both juveniles
Sandwich Tern: 504 down
Common Tern: 8 down
Swift: 3 out
Sand Martin: 153 out
Harbour Porpoise: 6+
Grey Seal: 1

 Sandwich Tern at the fishing boats

Carrying off its tiny catch

4 of the 5 Jersey Tigers in the mv last night. The Great Tit beat me to No.5 leaving me the wings.

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.