Sunday 22/12/2019

09.00-10.30 from the sea watch hide with RW & JTM:
Red-throated Diver: 208W   1E
Great-crested Grebe: 2W
Fulmar: 1W
Gannet: 269W
Cormorant: present n/c
Kittiwake: 20W
Guillemot: 380W       5E
Razorbill: 6W
Auk sp: 392W       14E
Grey Seal: 1
Common Seal: 1
At Scotney the 2 Long-tailed Ducks were hiding at the back of the main pit between the Gull islands viewed from the double bends, the usual feral Geese were present as were 1,000s each of Golden Plover and Lapwing, 100s of Wigeon, 2 Marsh Harriers and a Peregrine. The Slavonian Grebe is still present on its usual lake. The 2 Whooper Swans were still viewable distantly from Swam Crossing.
This afternoon The Patch was very quiet with no boil, also a Peregrine was harassing the Gulls and Pigeons on the power station.
Mid afternoon a Great White Egret was at Cook's Pool along with 3 Marsh Harriers and a Great Spotted Woodpecker over the entrance track. On Burrowes the islands are rapidly submerging, those that still exist are covered in Cormorants. A Great Black-backed Gull bearing yellow ring marked D:AU which is probably a Welsh bird came in as darkness fell, also a gleaming white a 1w Caspian Gull came to roost.

Thursday 19/12/2019

Brent Geese past the hide this morning

07:50-11:50 with SO, PT and DW.
Brent Goose: 1,232E         3W
Wigeon: 13E
Red-breasted Merganser: 7W   (5 drakes)
Red-throated Diver: 276W       37E
Great-crested Grebe: 2W     3E          4o/s
Gannet: 82E       51W
Cormorant: present n/c
Oystercatcher: 7E
Kittiwake: 7W       1E
Mediterranean Gull: 4W     9 present
Caspian Gull: 1 x 1w present
Guillemot: 73W    10E        14 o/s
Razorbill: 3W
Auk sp: 27E        138W
Common Seal: 1

Some of the 100s of Guillemots past this afternoon

13:20-14.50 from the fishing boats with AJG
Brent Goose: 334E
Common Scoter: 1W
Red-throated Diver: 44W       1E
Great-crested Grebe: 12W      4 o/s
Gannet: 37W    16E
Kittiwake: 51W
Mediterranean Gull: 3W
Guillemot: 426W
Auk sp: 40W
Grey Seal: 1

Red-throated Diver

The 2 Long-tailed Ducks were still at Scotney today as was the Black-necked Grebe.

Wednesday 18/12/2019

Great Skua in front the sea watch hide this morning

08:10-10:10 from the sea watch hide with RW, SO, LH, PH &BB.

Brent Goose: 547E     2W (It seems seems to be a regular event Brent moving East in December)
Wigeon: 2W
Common Scoter: 25W    17E
Red-breasted Merganser: 2E   1W
Red-throated Diver: 69W    17E
Great-crested Grebe: 5E        3 o/s
Fulmar: 3E  1W
Gannet: 38W     29E
Cormorant: c1,500 o/s
Oystercatcher: 5E
Great Skua: 1E   ( settled on sea close inshore drifting East)
Kittiwake: 12E    21W
Mediterranean Gull: 6E       3W       1 o/s
Guillemot: 24W     7E    26 o/s
Razorbill: 1W
Auk sp: 52W        13E
Common Seal: 1

 I think the Skua had a problem as it was regularly inundated

Some of the Brent Geese passing the hide

At The Patch 100s of Gulls but I could only find a Mediterranean Gull there of note

 Late morning at Scotney, I was unable to find the Long-tailed Duck or yesterdays Goosander, but still 1,000s of Golden Plover and Lapwing present, also 2 Curlew, 2 Ruff, 2+ Marsh Harriers, 188 Barnacle Geese and the 4 hybrids along with 100s of Greylags and Canada Geese.

 Lapwings and Golden Plover

Yesterdays Goosander

The reserve was very quiet this afternoon, the highlight being the 13 Black-tailed Godwits from Firth, no sign of any Chiffchaffs and very Gulls. The islands are rapidly disappearing, what remains is smothered in 1,000s of Cormorants that seem to be getting smellier by the day. By 15.15 the light was rapidly going so myself and RW called it a day.

Monday 16/12/2019

  I spent most of the day doing a WEBs count on the reserve, very disappointing numbers of winter wildfowl, I even managed not to see a Moorhen. There were many more wildfowl around on Dengemarsh, Hookers and Boulderwall Fields, these areas were covered by MH & CT.  A first for me was a Great White Egret grabbing a Long-tailed Tit from a flock that was foraging in the reeds. Another notable sighting was of 2 Ruddy Shelducks that flew over the ARC car park as I was getting out of my car, they quickly disappeared towards Lade.
                             

                          Burrowes/New Excavations     ARC/New Diggings
Mute Swan:                          0                                      2                         
Canada Goose:                     0                                      6                     
Greylag Goose:                    1                                      0                       
Egyptian Goose                    0                                      2                     
Mallard:                              24                                    37                     
Gadwall:                             43                                     78                   
Shoveler:                            68                                     26
Teal:                                   47                                     17                             
Wigeon:                            145                                    94                                     
Tufted Duck:                      76                                   139                                   
Pochard:                             21                                   146                                 
Pintail:                                  2                                       0
Goldeneye:                           1                                       4
Little Grebe:                         0                                       2
Great-crested Grebe:            3                                       6                               
Cormorant:                     2,505                                    57                                     
Coot:                                    74                                   87                                   
Moorhen:                               0                                     0   Cant believe I didn’t find any!                        Water Rail:                            1                               3
Marsh Harrier:                      3                                      5                               
Grey Heron:                          2                                     1                               
Great White Egret:                0                                     1
Bittern:                                  0                                     1
Lapwing:                           136                                   84                               
Ruff:                                      2                                      0                                                                          Black-tailed Godwit:           16                                      0                                                                         
Curlew:                                  0                                     1
Common Snipe:                     0                                     2
Jack Snipe:                            0                                      3

I missed the 8 Bewick Swans that stopped off on the ARC for a short while, probably while I was twitching the 2 Long-tailed Ducks at Scotney.

The Scotney Long-tailed Ducks

The Whooper Swans were still present in there chosen field at Dengemarsh, also the Slavonian Grebe still present at Scotney. 

Sunday 15/12/2019

07.25-08.25 from the sea watch hide RW and AJG who kindly collated the numbers:
Red-throated Diver: 92W
Fulmar: 4W
Gannet: 510W
Cormorant: present n/c
Kittiwake: 31W
Black-headed Gull: present many feeding in the surf
Mediterranean Gull: 2 present feeding in the surf
Common Gull: present n/c
Herring Gull: present n/c
Great Black-backed Gull: present n/c
Lesser Black-backed Gull: present n/c
Guillemot: 3W
Auk sp: 29W
Most of my morning was taken up with domestic stuff which was just as well with the number of heavy showers coming through, some of which were thundery.
Early afternoon the Whooper Swans were still at Dengemarsh.

Siberian Chiffchaff fro Firth this afternoon

 Siberian Chiffchaff

 Siberian Chiffchaff

 Siberian Chiffchaff

Siberian Chiffchaff

This afternoon from Firth Hide a Siberian Chiffchaff was making intermittent appearances with another Chiffchaff, also 2 Firecrests there. The birds are very difficult to photograph from the hide in the afternoon due to the low light. Among the 1,000s of Cormorants present was one bearing an Orange Darvik ring marked CR7, hopefully in the next few days I will find what project it belongs to. Also at least 2 Caspian Gulls present when I had to leave early to go onto the marsh for the monthly Harrier roost count, sadly no birds came into my allotted roost, probably due to very high water levels.

 Firecrest from Firth Hide

Saturday 14/12/2019

07:30-09:30 from the sea watch hide RW and AJG who kindly collated the numbers:
Red-breasted Merganser: 2W
Red-throated Diver: 36W
Great-crested Grebe: 8 o/s
Fulmar: 4W
Gannet: 930W
Cormorant: 1,750W into Rye bay
Kittiwake: 78W
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
Lesser Black-backed Gull: present n/c
Guillemot: 27W    2E
Razorbill: 3W
Auk sp: 24W
From the manure heap in Dengemarsh Road near the entrance to the go-cart track, the 2 Whooper Swans can be seen distantly usually among the Mute Swans.
The Boulderwall Fields were again this morning covered in Lapwing, Golden Plover, Wigeon and feral Geese, once again being flushed intermittently by Marsh Harriers.

 1w Little Gull Caldecott Lane

A drive out the back of Lydd failed to find any Bewick Swans, a few Fieldfare were in Caldecott Lane, also a 1w Little Gull hawking over the fields.

1w Little Gull Caldecott Lane

This afternoon I joined Richard at Burrowes where 3 Caspian Gulls were seen, a 1w + 2w and an adult that refused to come out of the water so I could read the yellow ring it was sporting, also an adult Yellow-legged Gull, 16 Black-tailed Godwits came into roost. At around 15.30 the Gulls started to come in onto the close islands at Firth, but as usual a Marsh Harrier came over and flushed them all, with the light rapidly going we left.   

Friday 13/12/2019

07.20-09.30 from the sea watch hide with AJG & OL:
Red-throated Diver: 238W
Gannet: 445W
Cormorant: present in large numbers n/c
Pomarine Skua: 1W
Kittiwake: 36W
Black-headed Gull: present n/c
Common Gull: present n/c
Herring Gull: present n/c
Caspian Gull: 1 x 1w present
Great Black-backed Gull: present n/c
Lesser Black-backed Gull: present n/c
Sandwich Tern: 1W
Guillemot: 68W    14E
Razorbill: 16W      6E
Auk sp: 76W     22E

 There seems to be many Marsh Harriers around at the moment, this one at southern end of the ARC

Great White Egret at the southern end of the ARC

Boulderwall fields holds large numbers of Lapwing and Wigeon at the moment along c150 Golden Plover, a Ruff and a Curlew, all being constantly flushed by Marsh Harriers.

 6 of the 16 Black-tailed Godwits present on Burrowes today

Adult and 2w Caspian Gull from Firth this afternoon

Disappointingly few Gulls came into Burrowes today, probably because what few islands are left are dominated by the 1,000s of Cormorants. Late afternoon in front of a very gloomy Firth Hide Long-tailed Tits, Blue Tits, Great Tits, a Goldcrest and a Chiffchaff were feeding in the bramble and reeds, the Blue Tits were pulling the Bullrush Heads apart in Penduline Tit fashion.

A Black-throated Diver made a brief stop on Burrowes this afternoon per MH & PB.  

Thursday 12/12/2019

A thoroughly miserable day on the peninsular with heavy rain and gale force winds making birding impossible. After my sea watch I did have a couple of looks at Burrowes from Dennis's hide, where all one could see was 1,000s of Cormorants. At least I got some domestic stuff done.

The undoubted highlight of the sea watch was my first ever Coot on a sea watch, spotted by Owen as drifted eastwards with the tide very close in shore.

07.30-09.00 from the sea watch hide joined by OL:

Common Scoter: 1W     1E

Red-throated Diver: 20W    2E     2o/s

Great-crested Grebe: 7 o/s

Fulmar: 1W

Gannet: 547W            168E

Cormorant: Present n/c

COOT: 1 drifted E close inshore

Kittiwake: 12W           7E

Guillemot: 14W    3E       38 o/s

Razorbill: 2W

Auk sp: 77W        19E

Grey Seal: 1

Wednesday 11/12/2019

Adult Yellow-legged Gull in the Fish Shack roost early morning

08.35-09.35 from the sea watch hide with RW:
Grey Goose sp: 12E
Common Scoter: 6W
Red-throated Diver: 61W     6E
Great-crested Grebe: 3E    7 o/s
Fulmar: 1W
Gannet: 14W
Kittiwake: 71W
Mediterranean Gull: 27W     6E
Black-headed Gull: present n/c
Common Gull: present n/c
Herring Gull: present n/c
Great Black-backed Gull: present n/c
Lesser Black-backed Gull: present n/c
Guillemot: 12W   3E
Auk sp: 136W       22E
Common Seal: 1
Mid morning I joined DW at the fishing boats where a Shag (Scarce at Dungeness) had just swam close in shore past him, I managed a brief distant view of it, but the tide was moving faster than I could walk, apart from another Mediterranean gull and 12 Turnstone nothing else of note was seen.

Some of 2,774 Cormorants roosting on Burrowes Pit.

As there were very few Gulls present on Burrowes, probably due to the plague of Cormorants there I decided to count them, a grand total of 2,774 birds present. As I was walking to Firth a Bittern flew from under the hide over the track and out to the New Excavations. From Firth A lovely Firecrest and 2 Chiffchaffs, a drake Goldeneye was showing from Makepiece Hide.

Distant Whooper Swans at Dengemarsh

A quick look at Dengemarsh before lunch found the 2 Whooper Swans still in their usual field, they probably wont be there much longer as the Sheep will soon be moved to where they are grazing. A Great White Egret flew over the reed bed and several Marsh Harriers were quartering the area.
Back at Burrowes this afternoon 2 Yellow-legged Gulls and a yellow ringed 2w Caspian Gull came in to roost around 15.15, but it was already to dark to read the ring and the rain started again. 

Tuesday 10/12/2019

A chilly morning with a strong SSW wind blowing straight into the hide.
08.40-10.00 from the sea watch hide
Brent Goose: 1E
Shelduck: 2W
Common Scoter: 1W
Red-breasted Merganser: 2W
Red-throated Diver: 21E       1W
Great-crested Grebe: 4E     2 o/s
Fulmar: 3E     1W
Gannet: 143E       96W
Cormorant: present n/c
Great Skua: 1E
Kittiwake: 7E         109W
Mediterranean Gull: 1E
Black-headed Gull: present n/c
Common Gull: present n/c
Herring Gull: present n/c
Great Black-backed Gull: present n/c
Lesser Black-backed Gull: present n/c
Guillemot: 9E     3W
Razorbill: 1E    1W
Auk sp: 63E   12W
Harbour Porpoise: 1
The 2 Whooper Swans were still at Dengemarsh late morning, as far as I know the Glossy Ibis wasn't seen today but viewing was difficult in the weather conditions.
A couple of hours looking at Gulls in grim wet conditions on Burrowes Pit found nothing of note, the highlight was a single female Goldeneye.