New Month No Change!

 1w Glaucous Gull at The Patch

An hour at The Patch this morning, where I had the Glaucous Gull all to myself as it flew around the power station and hide and roosting on the beach, it was still present when I left. Not many other Gulls there and only 2 Norwegian colour rings. Off shore the usual small numbers of Gannets, Red-throated Divers, Kittiwakes and Auks. A Peregrine was again sitting on a rail above last years eyrie.

 1w Glaucous Gull at The Patch

1w Glaucous Gull at The Patch

Norwegian ringed JZJ93 thats been around since late autumn

 2 of 5 Stonechats

Around The Point 5 Stonechats but no sign of any Dartford Warblers or much else, though a Fox was very tame .

Fox by the Brittannia

The 1w Caspian Gull looking stunning in the bright late morning sunshine

At the fishing boats the 1w Caspian Gull was again showing well to all comers though little else was to be seen there.

By the time I reached Dennis's Hide the Glaucous Gull had relocated to Burrowes roosting among the Great Black-backed Gulls, also there the Black-throated Diver.

A visit to the ARC found the Black-throated Diver had relocated there, 2 Great White Egrets could be seen also a Bittern and the usual wildfowl.

The 1w Caspian Gull spent the whole hour I was at the fishing boats cruising in front on the boats

10.00-11.00 from the fishing boats after the rain had stopped:
Brent Goose: 56 up
Red-throated Diver: 5 up    3 down
Fulmar: 6 down
Gannet: 69 down
Cormorant: minimum 1,000 down
Turnstone: 1 on beach
Caspian Gull: regular 1w bird
Kittiwake: 185 down
Guillemot: 532 down
Razorbill: 274 down
A wander around the trapping area saw very little but a Peregrine and 2 Marsh Harriers were notable.
At The Patch nothing of note over the boil or on the beach, just 3 colour ringed birds. A Peregrine was sitting on the rails above last years eyrie.
Another visit to the fishing boats saw much the same as earlier.

 Albino Egyptian Goose

 Albino Egyptian Goose

At the southern end of the ARC an albino Egyptian Goose was the highlight. At Boulderwall the usual Tree Sparrows and a Bittern showed well in the ditch by the track.

On Burrowes the 1w Glaucous Gull was roosting among the Great Black Backed Gulls, 3 Goldeneye were on the lake, the Black-throated Diver was reported on Burrowes. 2 Smew and another Bittern were at Christmas Dell and a Great White Egret flew through.

The 2 Tundra Bean Geese were seen again today on Scotney by RO. 

More of The Same!

1 of many Gannets around today

08.00-10.00 from the fishing boats with RW:

Brent Goose: 4 down
Common Scoter: 15 down.  15 up
Red-throated Diver: 23 down.   9 up
Great-crested Grebe: 6 on sea
Fulmar: 1 down.     1 up
Gannet: 121 down
Cormorant: 1,000+ around
Turnstone: 9 around
Great Skua: 1 down
Caspian Gull: regular 1w bird around
Kittiwake: 171 down
Guillemot: 1,320 down
Razorbill: 880 down
Auk sp: 430 down
2 visits to The Patch produced more of the above and a few colour rings. 14 Meadow Pipits, 5 Pied Wagtails and 2 Linnets were around the sewage plant.
At Scotney the 2 Tundra bean geese were sleeping among the Greylags.

My daily dose of Caspian Gull

This afternoon at the fishing boats was much the same as this morning

Red-throated Diver: 9 down.  6 on
Great-crested Grebes: c250 off shore
Gannets: c150 feeding offshore
The regular 1w Caspian Gull
Kittiwakes: c50 feeding offshore
Guillemotsc200 feeding off shore
The reserve was fairly quiet though the 1w Glaucous Gull put in an appearance on Burrowes.
Late afternoon at the ARC I joined young Jack Headley in Hanson hide, where a Great White Egret and a few Little Egrets flew through to roost, 200+ Wigeon were on the lake, also a couple of Goldeneye, by the hide a Chiffchaff and a couple of Goldcrests. The Black-throated Diver was seen earlier but not while I was there and the Bewick Swans let me down by not coming into roost despite waiting till dark.
Elsewhere a Slavonian Grebe was on the New Diggings and 3 Smew including the drake were at Christmas Dell. 

Mainly Gulling Again!

A lovely morning at The Patch where the Glaucous Gull performed beautifully in the beach roost and around the power station. In the roost a couple of new colour rings and several repeats, all Rainham/Pitsea Herring Gulls & Norwegian Great Black Backed Gulls.

Offshore there small numbers of Guillemots, Razorbills, Gannets and 11 Brent Geese that flew up channel.

 1w Glaucous Gull at the Patch this morning

1w Glaucous Gull at the Patch this morning

 1w Glaucous Gull at the Patch this morning

 1w Glaucous Gull at the Patch this morning

At the fishing boats the 1w Caspian Gull was performing well in return for a few slices of bread, offshore an adult Little Gull was feeding along the colour change along with a few Kittiwakes, Auks, Grebes and a couple of Red-throated Divers.

1w Caspian Gull at the fishing boats  

1w Caspian Gull at the fishing boats 

At Scotney with the weather deteriorating the 2 Tundra Bean Geese spent most their time asleep among the Greylags and Barnacles, but very little else of note there.
From Dengemarsh Lane 2 Great White Egrets, c300 Golden Plover, c500 Lapwing, 8 Curlew and the usual feral Geese.
3 Smew and 2 Goosander were reported from the reserve along with Slavonian Grebe, a Firecrest, Bitterns and Marsh Harriers.

Gulls in The Mist!

1w Glaucous Gull around the power station this morning

A bright sunny start to the day but by the time I had walked down to The Patch the fog rolled in from the sea and persisted most of the day. There wasn't many Gulls at The Patch but the 1w Glaucous Gull flew in and then relocated to the power station giving good views. Offshore small numbers of Razorbills, Guillemots, Gannets, Red-throated Divers and Great-crested Grebes and no shortage of the black plague of Cormorants through the murk. A short wander around the bushes on The Point saw very little as the fog thickened, so an early lunch beckoned.

1w Glaucous Gull around the power station this morning

 The 1w Caspian Gull at the fishing boats early afternoon

Early afternoon at the fishing boats the 1w Caspian Gull flew in for it's feed of bread as I pulled up. On the sea there no change from this mornings sightings from The Patch. 

  The 1w Caspian Gull at the fishing boats early afternoon

Another damp drizzly morning at the fishing boats
08.30-09.30
Brent Goose: 1 up
Red-throated Diver: 18 up.   249 down including single flock of 198 put up by range boat
Great-crested Grebe: 232 on
Fulmar: 1 down
Gannet: 88 down
Cormorant: c1,000 around
Turstone: 4 on beach
Caspian Gull: regular 1w bird
Kittiwake: 216 down
Guillemot: 22 down. 78 on
Razorbill: 264 down.   8 on
Auk sp: 96 down

At The Patch a myriad of Gulls over the boil and more on the beach in the roost, despite an hour scanning back and forth I found nothing of note but did obtain a number of colour ring codes.
Late morning at Scotney the 2 Tundra Bean Geese were sleeping among the Greylags but no sign of the Whitefronts seen earlier by E.H & P.H. all the usual feral geese were present but little else of note.
This afternoon on the reserve of note 3 Smew, 7 Goosander, a Slavonian Grebe, 2 Great White Egrets and the 1w Glaucous Gull.
Late afternoon on the ARC from Hanson of note the Black-throated Diver still present, a Great White Egret, Cetti's Warblers calling and a close fly by of a Bittern at dusk coming into roost.

Another wet and very windy day on the peninsular.
07.30–10.30 joined by OL, PT & DW

Brent Goose: 148 up
Goosander: 1 down redhead
Red-throated Diver: 1 down
Fulmar: 10 down
Gannet: 264 down
Cormorant: c1,000 around
Caspian Gull: the regular 1w bird
Kittiwake: 317 down
Guillemot: 4,253 down
Razorbill: 9 down
Apart from a Little Gull feeding at The Patch nothing else was reported from Dungeness.

A day of Auks!

With such grim weather today, the only viable birding to be done was sea watching from the relative shelter of the fishing boats, very enjoyable it was to.

 Some of the 1,000s of Razorbills past the fishing boats today

08.15-11.30 from the fishing boats joined by OL & MH,

Brent Goose: 265 up    11 down
Common Scoter: 6 down
Red-throated Diver: 9 up. 13 down.  1 on
Great-crested Grebe: c30 around
Gannet: 108 down
Cormorant: 820 down/around
Oystercatcher: 2 up
Turnstone: 3 around
Great Skua: 1 around
Kittiwake: 404 down
Guillemot: c1,500 around/down
Razorbill: 2,300+ down 
Grey Seal: 1

 Some of the 1,000s of Guillemots past the fishing boats today

13.45-15.30 with MH

Brent Goose: 7 up
Red-throated Diver: 4 up.   1 down
Great-crested Grebe: c20 around
Fulmar: 1 down
Gannet: 64 down
Cormorant: c300 around
Little Gull: 1 adult down
Kittiwake: 335 down
Guillemot: 2,823 down
Razorbill 17 down

Just a single adult Little Gull past today

As I drove to the beach this morning the 35 Bewick swans flew out of there ARC roost to feed in the fields on Walland Marsh. At the fishing boats many birds tooing and froing offshore and feeding. 100s of Guillemots but just a handful of Razorbills, along with 100s of Great-crested Grebes and Cormorants, c150 Red-throated Divers moved into Rye Bay with c50 Kittiwakes and a few Gannets with singles of Common Scoter and Shoveler, a Great Skua flew into Lade Bay, on the beach the 1w Caspian gull put in a brief appearance.

At The Patch The 1w Glaucous Gull was joined by the 1w Caspian Gull, a Peregrine was perched high on the power station while offshore more Auks and Grebes.

 1w Glaucous Gull & 1w Caspian Gull at The Patch

A Dartford Warbler was at West Beach with another by Channel View with a Stonechat and Goldcrest.

 1 of several 100 Fieldfare on Walland this afternoon

This afternoon on Walland c1,000 each of Lapwing and Golden Plover, 100s of Fieldfare with smaller numbers of Redwing, 20+ Tree Sparrows, c50 Linnets with c20 Reed Buntings and 2 Great White Egrets. At the Harrier roost 8 Marsh Harriers came in and another 8 flew over towards Cheyne also a huge Saker type falcon caused havoc as it flew over Hooks Wall disappearing towards Fairfield.

Also around today were the Smew and Slavonian Grebe apparently showing well at Christmas Dell, the Black-throated Diver at the southern end of the ARC, the 2 Tundra Bean Geese on Scotney from the double bends, also the first Sooty Shearwater of the year past the fishing boats per MH.

Two Completely Different Days!

Friday dawned a beautiful if chilly winters morning on the peninsular. At the fishing boats not much change with the usual mix of Gannets, Kittiwakes, Cormorants, Great-crested Grebes and Auks, a single flock of 205 Red-throated Divers moving west was notable until the appearance of the range safety boat explaining their sudden appearance.   

Distant Little Owl on Walland Marsh

A walk out to the wind turbines at Scotney was very nice but virtually avian free, a distant Little Owl was the highlight among 2 Peregrines, a Marsh Harrier, a Common Buzzard, a few Skylarks and a single Song Thrush.

As I returned to the car the Greylag flock flew in from the back fields with the 2 Tundra Bean Geese.

 Tundra Bean Geese, Scotney

  Tundra Bean Geese, Scotney

 Tundra Bean Geese, Scotney

Stonechat, Dengemarsh

At Dengemarsh the Black-throated Diver was showing very well, also at least 4 Great White Egrets there, c200 Golden Plover with c50 Stock Doves and the usual Wigeon and Lapwing in the fields behind the marsh.

 Black-throated Diver, Dengemarsh

Black-throated Diver, Dengemarsh

Little Owl, Lydd Camp

A quick visit to Lydd camp saw the Little Owl sunbathing by the watch towers thanks to CT for the message. On the reserve the 1w Glaucous Gull came into roost on Burrowes but few other Gulls, a drake Goosander and 2 Smew there. As the light faded 35 Bewick Swans flew into the ARC to roost.

Coming home from a night out last night a Barn Owl was hunting by the road at Belgar Farm near Lydd Gold Club. 

Today was completely different, it was raining at first light and still raining at last light. I did manage to locate the Slavonian Grebe on the New Diggings this morning and the 1w Glaucous Gull on Burrowes late morning but the rest of the day was a wash out. 

It seems the Black-throated Diver has relocated to the ARC also the Bewick Swans came in to roost there again late afternoon per RW.