Wheatears!

Had a lay in this morning which meant I missed the 2 early Pomarine Skuas and the 2 Black-throated Divers.
Driving along the approach road about 07.30 I noticed that there seemed to be a few Wheatears around, parking at the new lighthouse I walked back along the shingle to the lifeboat station with AJG we counted c70 Wheatears, 6 Shelduck flew over but little else was noted.

 Gleaming in the morning sunshine

1 of six that flew over The Point this morning

The rest of the morning I spent at home waiting for a parcel delivery which gave me the opportunity to do some sky watching. 2 Common Buzzards, 2 Marsh Harriers and a Hobby were the highlights of an otherwise slow watch.

Early afternoon at the ARC found Reed and Sedge Warblers still in small numbers, Common and Lesser Whitethroat and Cetti's Warbler were all very vocal, also a Cuckoo there and 2 Hobby's over the tower pits,  however very little of note on the lake.

I then wandered down to The Patch where c30 Common Terns were around the boil, c100 large Gulls in the roost several bearing black Norwegian rings which due to the heat shimmer I was unable to read, also 2 Wheatears there.

A sea watch from the fishing boats started very well with a Sooty Shearwater heading North into Lade Bay, but that was highlight of a very poor watch.

14.45-16.30 with AJG,MH,RW,CT,JTM et al.

Red-throated Diver: 1E
Great-crested Grebe: 12 around
Sooty Shearwater: 1E
Gannet: 17W
Kittiwake: 11W
Auk sp: 1W
Harbour Porpoise: 6+

Late afternoon visit to Galloways and Dengemarsh Gully found another c40 Wheatears but almost nothing else of note.

An Excellent Dungeness Sea watch!

Arctic Turn over Burrowes this afternoon

05.00-12.30 &15.00-18.30  BC, AJG, OL, RW, JTM, DW, DS, MH,CP, TS, ML et al
Eider: 3E
Common Scoter: 353E    61W
Red-breasted Merganser: 2E
Red-throated Diver: 18E
Great-crested Grebe: 14 around
Fulmar: 48E   36W
Manx Shearwater: 411W     61E
Gannet: 763W    309E
Cormorant: present n/c
Oystercatcher: 5E  1W
Whimbrel: 1E
Great Skua: 31E
Arctic Skua: 29E
Pomarine Skua: 9E
Mediterranean Gull: 1W.  2nd cal yr
Herring Gull: present n/c
Great Black-backed Gull present n/c
Kittiwake: 79W     11E
Sandwich Tern: 707E   55W
Common/Arctic Tern: 668E
Common Tern: 96E
Arctic Tern115E    123W
Little Tern: 16E
Guillemot: 60W.  4E
Auk sp: 64W    17E
Harbour Porpoise: 3+

Bar-tailed Godwits at Cooks Pool this afternoon

In a break from sea watching during the worst of the rain I visited the reserve where on Tanners Pool a Spoonbill was asleep, later by Cooks pool some Bar-tailed Godwits were showing well in the down pour, while over lakes 100s of Arctic and Common Terns, a couple of Little Gulls from Dennis's Hide, also a few more Bar-tailed Godwits, a couple of Sanderling and a Greenshank. Later a Black Tern and 2 Little Gulls per OL et al. 

A quick stop at the ARC on my way home saw more Arctic Terns and 2 Hobby's viewed from the causeway.
On arrival at home 2 Yellow Wagtails alighted on the fence opposite my house and a Cuckoo was singing from the overhead cables.

Red Kite getting the Herring Gull treatment over the fish hut late this afternoon

05.30-08.30 from the sea watch hide AJG, RW et al. Many thanks to AJG for supplying me with this mornings numbers as I was indisposed.
Common Scoter: 67E
Red-throated Diver: 2E
Great-crested Grebe: 14 around
Fulmar: 8W
Manx Shearwater: 8W
Gannet: 220W

Oystercatcher: 2E
Great Skua: 1E
Pomarine Skua: 1E
Arctic Skua: 4E
Hobby: 2 in
Peregrine: 1 on beach
Kittiwake: 10W
Sandwich Tern: 290E
Common/Arctic Tern: 56E also c300 at The Patch
Guillemot: 1W

A lunchtime walk around Scotney found of note 76 Bar-tailed Godwits, 14 Whimbrel, 4 Ringed Plovers, 3 Avocets and 6 Wheatears on the Sward. At the back of the lake 12 Yellow Wagtails, 6 Corn Buntings, another 8 Wheatears, a Little Owl, a Hobby, 20 Avocets and another 4 Whimbrel.
OL relocated the Large Tortoiseshell at the Long Pits early afternoon but it had disappeared by the time I arrived. Another Spoonbill overflew the reserve but it was generally quiet today.

1of the dozens of Wheatears that were around the peninsular today

Little Tern at the fishing boats this afternoon

13.40-17.00 from the fishing boats with AJG, RW, JTM et al.
Common Scoter: 7E
Slavonian Grebe: 1 drifted East
Great-crested Grebe: 13 around
Red-throated Diver: 5E
Manx Shearwater: 2W
Gannet: 36E  358W
Red Kite: 1 over the fish hut drifted inland
Great Skua: 8E
Arctic Skua: 8E
Kittiwake: 16W
Sandwich Tern: 27W
Common/Arctic Tern: c50 feeding off shore
Little Tern: 4 feeding
Guillemot: 36W    1E
Swallow: 11 in
Wheatear: 10+ behind fishing boats

Little Terns off the fishing boats this afternoon

Bar-tailed Godwit Day!

Whimbrel at Southern end of the ARC

Overcast mainly dry morning with brisk NNE wind persistent rain by 13.00.
06.00-10.00 & 12.30-15.15 from the sea watch hide: AJG,MB,DW,DS,PE,JK et al
Brent Goose: 8E
Shelduck: 2E
Shoveler: 2E
Common Scoter: 11E
Red-breasted Merganser: 6E
Red-throated Diver: 3E   2W
Great-crested Grebe: 7 around
Fulmar: 2E   2W
Gannet: 133E      265W
Oystercatcher: 9E   1W
Turnstone: 1E
Sanderling: 8E
Whimbrel: 4E
Bar-tailed Godwit: 828E
Greenshank: 1 over
Great Skua: 2E   2W
Pomarine Skua: 2E
Arctic Skua: 4E
Mediterranean Gull: 1 around
Kittiwake: 13E
Sandwich Tern: 199E
Commom/Arctic Tern: 240E  +  150 over The Patch
Little Tern: 5E  3W
Auk Sp: 4E   12W
Guillemot: 7W
Sand Martin: 1 in
Swallow: 113 in
Yellow Wagtail: 1 in
Carrion Crow: 9 in
Grey Seal first thing
Harbour Porpoise: c10
Mid morning at the ARC the first decent arrival of Swallows, House Martins and a few each of Sand Martin and Common Swift, at the south end 4+ Whimbrel and a Great White Egret.
Elsewhere 6 Spoonbills flew North through Burrowes per PB, a 2nd cal yr Caspian Gull was also on Burrowes MB et al. Wheatears could be found at various sites around the peninsular, as could Yellow Wagtails but migrants were generally scarce.

Highlight of a visit to Galloways

 Pied Flycatcher found by DW at the top of the Long Pits

I took an hour out of the sea watch to see this bird now sadly a scarce migrant on the peninsular.

An early start in anticipation of the S Easterly wind producing the birds, sadly expectations were not met.

05.15 - 15.15 OL, AJG, DS et al
Eider: 1E
Common Scoter: 483E.   10 W
Velvet Scoter: 6E
Red-breasted Merganser: 4E
Red-throated Diver: 16E   2W
Great-crested Grebe: 36 around
Fulmar: 8W
Manx Shearwater: 7E    4W
Gannet: 420W.    192E
Cormorant: 61 flew out at dawn
Oystercatcher: 6E   9W
Sanderling: 17E
Whimbrel:55E
Bar-tailed Godwit: 103E
Turnstone: 1E
Great Skua: 11E
Arctic Skua: 13E
Black-headed Gull: present n/c
Mediterranean Gull: 1W
Common Gull: present n/c
Herring Gull: present n/c
Great Black-backed Gull present n/c
Little Gull: 2E
Kittiwake: 64E
Sandwich Tern: 537E
Common/Arctic Tern: 804E
Little Tern: 4E
Guillemot: 11 around
Auk sp: 43W   18E
Swallow: 2 in
Harbour Porpoise: 4+
Brown Hare opposite Jarmans early morning
The only news from the reserve was the Cattle Egret still present and 3 Common Sandpipers on Burrowes.

07.20-08.00 from the sea watch hide with OL in strong westerly wind:
Brent Goose: 9 E
Shelduck: 1
Common Scoter: 3 E
Fulmar: 5 W
Gannet: 9 W. 6 E
Great Skua: 2 E
Mediterranean Gull: 2 W
Kittiwake: 2 W
Guillemot: 4 around
Auk: 6 W
Swallow: 1 in
Linnet: 5 in

The Patch: 08.15-08.30 with OL
Mediterranean Gull: 6 ( 2 x ad + 4 2nd cal yr)
Herring Gull: c200
GBBG: c30
LBBG: 10+
Common Gull: 20+
Common Tern: c100
Arctic Tern: c150

 Wren at Christmas Dell

With the strong westerly wind blowing across the reserve and ARC it was no surprise that they were generally quiet avian wise. The Cattle Egret was still showing distantly with the cattle at the back of Dengemarsh, a few Whimbrel could be found at various sites around the tracks, small numbers of warblers were mainly heard and small numbers of Hirundines overhead along with the odd Yellow Wagtail.

Great-crested Grebes on the ARC

14.15-16.15 from the sea watch hide with AJG:
Red-throated Diver: 1 E.  1 W
Fulmar: 3 W
Manx Shearwater: 2 W
Great Skua: 10 E
Arctic Skua: 1 E
Kittiwake: 3 E
Swift: 1 in
House Martin: 1 in
Swallow: 8 in
Harbour Porpoise: 3+

A cool morning with virtually gale force westerly wind made for a very poor watch, however a large raptor spotted moving west off shore just before 09.00 by myself and RW which we believe was a Black Kite and lost to view in Rye Bay.
07.00-09.00 with OL & RW
Common Scoter: 51 E   12 W
Velvet Scoter: 1 E
Red-throated Diver: 1 W
Great-crested Grebe: 2 around
Fulmar: 4 W
Manx Shearwater: 10W
Gannet: 73 W   59 E
Black Kite: 1 flew west off shore
Cormorant: present n/c
Great Skua: 6 E
Black-headed Gull: present n/c
Mediterranean Gull: 1 W
Herring Gull: present n/c
Great Black-backed Gull present n/c
Kittiwake: 28 W
Sandwich Tern: c50 around
Common/Arctic  Tern: c120 around
Little Tern: 3 down
Guillemot: 2 around
Auk sp: 42 W
House Martin: 1 in
Swallow: 34 in
Crow: 10 in
Harbour Porpoise: 5+
The wind made general birding very difficult, consequently still low numbers of migrants around.
The Cattle Egret is still around Dengemarsh.
13.20-15.00 this afternoon back at the sea watch hide 5 Great Skuas were the highlight of a painfully slow watch.
The Patch has been devoid of birds for the last few weeks, so it was good to see a few 100s of birds there today including c40 Common Terns.

A fresh SW 3-5 with poor visibility  06.00-08.30 with AJG, who collated the numbers also OL, RO:

Brent Goose: 17 E

Common Scoter: 35 E

Red-throated Diver: 3 E

Fulmar: 5 W

Manx Shearwater: 1 E

Gannet: 84 E

Oystercatcher: 10 W   4 E

Whimbrel: 20 E

Great Skua: 3 E

Arctic Skua: 1 E

Kittiwake: 2 W

Sandwich Tern: 64 around

Common/Arctic Tern: 24 E

Little Tern: 1 W

Swallow: 5 in

 Lesser Whitethroat

Around the reserve Greenshank, Whimbrel, Bar-tailed Godwit, Common Sandpiper, Ringed Plover & Dunlin on Burrowes with more Whimbrel by the entrance track. Still very small numbers of the common Warblers around, though Cetti's were in good voice today. c50 Swallows over Burrowes this morning, several Yellow Wagtails in hay field 1, the Cattle Egret still distant at Dengemarsh also Great White Egret there, a Cuckoo calling at the back of Hookers but little else on my wanderings there.

The fog was rolling in and out this afternoon, at 17.00 the rain set in.

13.30-17.00 joined by OL & AJG
Brent Goose: 56 E
Common Scoter: 3 E
Red-throated Diver: 4 W
Great-crested Grebe: 4 around
Fulmar: 1 W
Manx Shearwater: 22 W
Gannet: 55 W   30 E
Cormorant: present n/c
Oystercatcher: 1 E
Whimbrel: 6 E
Great Skua: 4 E
Arctic Skua: 1 W
Black-headed Gull: present n/c
Mediterranean Gull: 4 W
Herring Gull: present n/c
Great Black-backed Gull present n/c
Little Gull: 4 E
Kittiwake: 32 W
Sandwich Tern: c100 around
Common/Arctic Tern: c25 around
Little Tern: 3 E
Guillemot: 15 W
Razorbill 1 W
Auk sp:  37 W
Harbour Porpoise: 4+

Brindled Beauty, first for the Plodland trap last night

The first of the Poms!

On my way to the beach 2 Cuckoo's and 2 Marsh Harriers flew over the causeway, a Great White Egret and 2 Little Egrets were at the south end of the ARC.
0630-12.00. AJG,RW,OL,DW,SM,JTM et al
Brent Goose: 154 up
Eider: 4 up
Common Scoter: 520 up    18 down
Red-breasted Merganser: 1 up
Red-throated Diver: 9 up.    3 down
Black-throated Diver: 2 up
Great-crested Grebe:  4 around
Fulmar:5 up   3 down
Manx Shearwater: 2 up.    1 down (possibly same bird)
Gannet: 96 up
Cormorant: present n/c
Oystercatcher: 85 up
Whimbrel: 117 up
Common Snipe: 1 up
Great Skua: 14 up + 5 before I arrived
Pomarine Skua: 5 up
Arctic Skua: 18 up  + 15 before I arrived
Black-headed Gull: present n/c
Mediterranean Gull: 2 up
Herring Gull: present n/c
Great Black-backed Gull present n/c
Little Gull: 32 up
Kittiwake: 14 up
Sandwich Tern: 368 up
Common/Arctic Tern: 45 up
Arctic Tern: 5 up
Little Tern: 6 up
Guillemot: 9 around
Auk sp: 14 up
Swallow: 2 in
Crow: 11 out/up
Harbour Porpoise:8+

The Wryneck that was found at the Long Pits this morning was very elusive while I was there.

The first 3 Garganey of the year on the reserve were found today by RW, also the first Hobby per DB, though generally common migrants were quite scarce today around the peninsular. 

Whimbrel flying the wrong way at the fishing boats this afternoon

This afternoon at the fishing boats15.30-18.00 with AS:
Common Scoter: 27 up
Red-throated Diver: 16 up
Great-crested Grebe: 3 around
Fulmar: 2 up

Manx Shearwater: 1 up   1 down
Gannet: 29 up
Cormorant: present n/c
Whimbrel: 53 up
Great Skua: 9 up

Pomarine Skua: 2 up  (1 @ 16.14, 1 @ 17.01)
Arctic Skua: 6 up
Black-headed Gull: present n/c
Herring Gull: present n/c
Great Black-backed Gull present n/c
Kittiwake: 8 up
Sandwich Tern: c25 around
Common/Arctic Tern: 12 up
Guillemot: 9 around
Auk sp: 31 up

House Martin: 1 in . my first of the year

Swallow: 10 in
Harbour Porpoise: 5+ around

There were at least another 5 Great Skuas, 6 Arctic Skuas and a Velvet Scoter between 13.00-15.30 per AJG.

Lesser Whitethroat from yesterday

07.00-09.00 & 13.45-16.45 AJG,RW,SO et al:

Brent Goose: 6 up

Shoveler: 2 up

Common Scoter: 55 up

Red-breasted Merganser: 16 up

Red-throated Diver: 9 up.  1 down

Great-crested Grebe: 8 around

Fulmar: 12 up.  1 down

Manx Shearwater: 4 up

Gannet: 262 up

Cormorant: present n/c

Oystercatcher: 27 up

Curlew: 2 up 

Whimbrel: 126 up

Bar-tailed Godwit: 1 up

Great Skua: 13 up

Arctic Skua: 11 up

Black-headed Gull: present n/c

Herring Gull: present n/c

Great Black-backed Gull present n/c

Little Gull: 20 up

Kittiwake: 22 up

Sandwich Tern: 188 up

Common/Arctic Tern: 329 up
Little Tern: 2 up

Guillemot: 17 around:

Auk sp: 4 up

Swallow: 6 in

Crow: 4 down

Harbour Porpoise: c20 around

 Sandwich Tern at The fishing boats this afternoon

A late morning sky watch from the garden produced a distant Red Kite, a Marsh Harrier, 2 Common Buzzards, a Sparrowhawk, a Kestrel, several Skylarks singing over the fields and the first 2 Yellow Wagtails of the year in the field. There is still a distinct lack of Hirundines around. 

At Dengemarsh this evening 2 Cuckoo's were the highlight while failing to find yesterdays Cattle Egret that was reported as still being present this afternoon.