Honey Buzzard Incompetence!

 Whinchat in The Desert

I joined AJG & SO in walk around The Desert when the mist lifted this morning, it was very quiet seeing only 3 Whinchat, 4+ Wheatear, 6 Yellow Wagtails, 14 Meadow Pipits, a few Swallow over, a few each of Common Whitethroat and Willow Warbler and a Hare.

 Honey Buzzard (mega crop)

 Same Honey with 2 Common Buzzards

With Dungeness being full up with day trippers today I spent several hours at home sky watching from the front garden. Over the fields and often over my house myriads of Swallow, House and Sand Martins and even a couple of Swifts, 10+ Yellow Wagtails were constantly present as were Goldfinches and Greenfinches. 2 Hobby's were chasing the Hirundines being joined by a Kestrel and 3+ Sparrowhawks. Common Buzzards started appearing overhead with a maximum of 18 in one loose flock, just a couple of kilometers south of me Honey Buzzards were being seen but all I could find were common Buzzards, a few more Common Buzzards came over the garden then a group of 8 very high but still I could only see Common Buzzards, that is until I reviewed some images this evening and found that a Honey Buzzard had flown right above the garden, albeit very high and I had over looked it through sheer incompetence. In all 31 Common Buzzards over flew the garden this afternoon all heading towards The point.

 Pity the Honey didn't come over like these Common Buzzards

 Swallow over the garden today

 House Martin over the garden today

 Sand Martin over the garden today

 Swift over the garden today

Pectoral Sandpiper from Hanson this afternoon

A tweet from Mike Puxley got me out of the garden late afternoon to see the Pectoral Sandpiper he'd found on the ARC from Hanson, also there 5 Garganey, 34 Black-tailed Godwits and a Little Tern of note.

Hirundines!

 Spotted Flycatcher in the trapping area 

This morning 6 Wheatears at the lifeboats station. In the trapping area a Spotted Flycatcher, 2 Great Spotted Woodpeckers, a Wheatear, a handful each of Willow Warblers and Common Whitethroats, 9 Tree Sparrows, 2 Marsh Harriers and a Common Buzzard were the highlights.

 Swallows, House & Sand Martins behind Plodland

From home once again myriads of Swallows, House and Sand Martins joined by at least 5 Swifts.A couple of hours scanning the skies towards the power station saw good numbers of raptors, 4 Marsh Harriers, 6+ Common Buzzards, 4+ Sparrowhawks, 2 Kestrels, a Peregrine and a Hobby and a frustratingly distant view made worse by the heat haze of a probable Honey Buzzard heading towards The Point. I made the mistake of not doing an afternoon sea watch due the hordes of holiday makers around the beach and duly missed an out going Montagu's Harrier.

The numbers below kindly supplied by a happy AJG.

14.30-15.45 from the fishing boats:

Montagu's Harrier. Adult female 200m offshore heading down at 1450
Great Skua 1 down
Arctic Skua 1 down
Gannet 27 down
Sandwich Tern 188 down
Kittiwake 1 down
Guillemot 1 on sea

 Swallow at Plodland

Yellow Wagtail at Plodland

Cuckoo!

A few Willow, Reed, Sedge and Cetti's Warblers along the track from the ARC car park to Hanson this morning. Very little of note in front the hide this morning, but late afternoon 4 Garganey, 30 Black-tailed Godwits, a Common Sandpiper, 2 Great White Egrets and all the usual wildfowl.

 Common Redstart in The Desert

This mornings walk around The Desert saw of note a Common Redstart, 4+ Willow Warblers, 5+Common Whitethroats, 7 Wheatears, 5 Stonechats, 15+ Yellow Wagtails, a Sparrowhawk and a Marsh Harrier.

 Stonechat in The Desert

Juvenile Linnet in The Desert

 Wheatear in The Desert

1 of many Hummingbird Hawkmoths seen in The Moat recently

 Swallow from Plodland

While emptying my MV Yellow Wagtails were calling virtually non stop as they dropped into the field opposite to feed. Over the fields the sky was full of 1,000s of Swallow, Sand and House Martins, also a couple of Swifts many Gulls attracting the attention of Peregrines, a Sparrowhawk, Kestrel, 2 Common Buzzards and 2 Marsh Harriers while all feasting on what I assume were flying ants, Some of the Swallows and Sand Martins settled on wires in front my house allowing me to get some images from my small balcony. 

 Sand Martin from Plodland

 Juvenile Cuckoo at Scotney

This afternoon at the back of Scotney I spent a lot of time with a juvenile Cuckoo which eventually gave superb views, many Yellow Wagtails there, 6+ Wheatears, a Whinchat, many Hirundines, a Peregrine, 2+Marsh Harriers and a kettle of 10 Common Buzzards. On the lakes a Greenshank, a few Dunlin and the horrible sight of many 100s of feral geese.

  Juvenile Cuckoo at Scotney

  Juvenile Cuckoo at Scotney

1 of many Yellow Wagtails at Scotney today

1 of 2 Turnstones at the fishing boats this afternoon

At the fishing boats this afternoon very little offshore, a Fulmar was the highlight among an handful each of Gannets and Sandwich Terns, 2 Turnstones fed along the shore line. I cut short the sea watch due to the volume of holidaymakers and anglers there. I did see a first for me there someone fly fishing! Needless to say he didn't catch anything while I was there. I think I'll hibernate for the next 3 days.  

At Galloways late afternoon of note just 2 Whinchats, 5 Stonechats, a few Common Whitethroats and Willow Warblers.

Clifden Nonpareil courtesy of the DBO

Dotterel!

This mornings sea watch was very uninspiring and consequently a short one. A wander around the lighthouse, station bushes and out to the eastern end of The Desert saw just a handful of Common Whitethroats, a few Meadow Pipits, 9 Wheatears, 17 Yellow Wagtails, a Marsh Harrier, a few Swallows over and a Hare, when I reached the Pilots Path a movement nearby caught my eye and the shingle morphed into a juvenile Dotterel which showed very well for just over an hour before flying off towards the ARC.

 Juvenile Dotterel

 It did several wing stretches

 Blending in with the shingle as it spots overhead danger

On my way back to my car this Black Redstart popped up in front of me

I went to Scotney to check an odd report of an Ibis sitting on a fence by the main road, needless to say I found no sign of an Ibis. The sward around the lakes was literally smothered with what I estimated to be c2,000 feral geese of 5 species.

An excellent couple of hours at the ARC this afternoon where 2 Spoonbills showed well, as did 4+ Garganey, 31 Black-tailed Godwits, 14 Dunlin, 6 Redshank, a Golden Plover, 4 Ringed Plovers, 2 Little Ringed Plovers, a Common Sandpiper, a juvenile Mediterranean Gull 2+ Marsh Harriers, a Great White Egret, 5 Little Egrets and a photogenic Spotted Flycatcher, also a superb display by a juvenile Peregrine. Also present all the usual wildfowl and the usual many Sand Martins.

 Spoonbills from Hanson

 Juvenile Peregrine from Hanson

 A very photogenic Spotted Flycatcher in front of Hanson (my first this year)

A quick look late afternoon from Firth to see how the islands are progressing saw 40+ Dunlin, 10+ Ringed Plovers and a Sanderling running around within a few feet of the working digger.

P:C65 Polish ringed juvenile Yellow-legged Gull 

05.45-09.45 from the sea watch hide & 10.20-12.00 from the fishing boats with AJG et al:

Shelduck: 15 up

Teal: 3 down

Common Scoter: 71 down    6 up

Great-crested Grebe: 5 around

Fulmar: 6 up

Gannet: 104 up   121 down

Cormorant: present n/c

Turnstone: 6 around

Sanderling: 2 down

Dunlin: 127 down

Great Skua: 4 down

Arctic Skua: 20 down

Pomarine Skua: 1 down

Yellow-legged Gull: 2 juveniles around

Kittiwake: 9 up 7 down

Sandwich Tern: c100 up

Common Tern: c150 down

Black Tern: 2 down

Sand Martin: 4 out

Harbour Porpoise: 8+

Greay Seal: 2

At lunchtime on the reserve 22+ Black Terns on Burrowes, also 60+ Dunlin, 8+ Common Sandpipers, many Sand martins and 20+ Swifts.

Over the road on the ARC 15 Black-tailed Godwits, 4 Dunlin, 2 Common Sandpipers, 3 Ringed Plovers, 2 Little ringed Plovers and the usual wildfowl.

Another sea watch this afternoon 14.10-16.00 was very slow, with just an Arctic Skua, 2 Oystercatchers and a Whimbrel of any note.

Spoonbill!

 Common Whitethroat

A pleasant walk around the lighthouse area, the desert and trapping area saw plenty of birds if you managed to managed to bump into the roving flocks. Common Whitethroats were the most numerous species followed by Great & Blue Tits, Lesser Whitethroats, Reed and Willow Warblers also a single Great-spotted Woodpecker. A Little Egret flew over the desert  as did 2 Dunlin, a Little Ringed Plover, a Common Buzzard, a Peregrine and a Sparrowhawk. Butterflies were numerous with several Painted Ladies and a Clouded Yellow.

 Common Whitethroat taking a spider from its web

 Lesser Whitethroat

 Reed Warbler

 Painted Lady

While having lunch dozens of Swallows and Sand Martins were hawking over the fields in front of the house, 2 Marsh Harriers, a Common Buzzard and a Hobby flew through.

A very slow sea watch at the fishing boats this afternoon, highlights being a Great Skua, an Arctic Skua and a brief juvenile Yellow-legged Gull. 

 Spoonbill on the ARC

On my way home I stopped off at the ARC as Liz & Paul Hunter had told me they had seen a Spoonbill on the islands from Hanson early afternoon. On my arrival the Spoonbill was in usual pose asleep but did wake up briefly, also there 2 Garganey, 4 Dunlin, a Little Ringed Plover, 7 Little Egrets and many Sand Martins. Over the road the juvenile Black Tern seen by JR was still on Burrowes.  

Garganey on the ARC