The weekend

2 Sea watches today 07.15-09.50 & 13.30-15.15 thanks to AJG, SP & RW for keeping the logs:

Brent Goose: 1w   3E

Wigeon: 7E

Velvet Scoter: 1E

Common Scoter: 63W   8E

Goosander: 1E

Red-breasted Merganser: 3E

Red-throated Diver: 22W     14E       5 on

Black-throated Diver: 1W

Great Northern Diver: 1W

Great-crested Grebe: 26 around

Fulmar: 1W

Gannet: 762W

Cormorant: 1066 moving between Lade Bay & Rye bay

Peregrine: 2 over beach

Merlin: 7+ all in off the sea most carrying prey

Oystercatcher: 2E

Turnstone: 19 around

Kittiwake: 398W

Mediterranean Gull: 2W   4 around

Sandwich Tern: 6W     1E

Great Skua: 4W

Guillemot: 30W      11on

Razorbill: 69W     21on

Puffin: 1W

Auk sp: 200+ W

Grey Seal: 1

Common Seal: 1 

Harbour Porpoise: 1

Merlin coming in with prey

Merlin with a Linnet

Merlin

1 of at least 5 Red-throated Divers off shore

Whooper Swans On the ARC yesterday

The Whooper Swans have now moved to the Mute Swan Herd in the field in front my house, unfortunately it seems the farmer is going to spray that field, so they are likely to be moved on. A female Scaup was reported at Scotney on the first lake west of the caravan park, in a late afternoon visit I could not find it, but I will try again tomorrow in better light. 

 

20/11/2020

With a flat calm sea this mornings watch in the company of AJG was unsurprisingly a slow one, with just a few Gannets and usual fare. After an hour of tedium we walked around The Point hoping to find some lurking scarcity, but without success. We met OL who told us about a Pallas's Warbler that JD had found in the trapping area. Normally I wouldn't try for anything in the trapping area but it was a pleasant morning and I was at loose end, within seconds of arriving in the area it was seen we could hear it calling and very soon saw it, we saw at least 4 Firecrests, several Goldcrests and a Woodcock, Siskins and Redpolls were going over. 

Vocal Pallas's Warbler in the trapping area

Skylark behind the fishing boats

Goldeneye at Scotney but I couldn't find the Long-tailed Duck

I had a walk along the front of Scotney to Jury's Gap which to be honest was disappointing, I was unable to locate the Long-tailed Duck, though a fine drake Goldeneye is fairly unusual at this site, a brief view of hunting ring tail Hen Harrier along the back of the lake was probably the highlight of a long walk. I couldn't have been further from the car when JD messaged that 2 Whooper Swans had arrived on the ARC, but they were still present when I arrived nearly 2 hours later.

Stonechat at Scotney

Newly arrived Whooper Swans on the ARC this afternoon

The Glossy Ibis still around Cooks Pool

On the reserve The Glossy Ibis was in it's usual spot and a Cattle Egret was nearby, on Burrowes a flock of 5 Ruff were flying around and as the light faded the Gulls came pouring in, among them at least 5 Caspian Gulls, 2 adult and 3 x 1w birds, I probably missed a few more.  

Adult & 1w Caspian Gull (images takes at 4000 iso)

 

18/11/2020

I had some domestic stuff on this morning so I missed the sea watch and the Great Northern Diver, fortunately the watch was generally the same as the last few days. The Long-tailed Duck was still on its favoured lake at Scotney today.

Great White Egret

With domestic duties done I spent a few hours wandering around the reserve, getting nice views of the Egrets, not so good of the Glossy Ibis. I Bearded Tits were calling at several spots around the reserve, also several Cetti's Warblers but saw none probably due to the strong winds, a Common Snipe was flushed from the path at Christmas Dell by one of several Marsh Harriers seen, also an unseen Firecrest calling there. Cormorant numbers on Burrowes are growing fast with 2,000+ on the islands today, also there 1,000+ Lapwings, 3 Black-tailed Godwits were notable. Boulderwall fields held many Wigeon and 2 Ruff of note. A male Hen Harrier was seen but it managed to avoid me again.

Cattle Egret

Grey Heron joining the Egrets sheltering from the wind

Distant Glossy Ibis at Boulderwall

Black-tailed Godwits roosting on Burrowes

 

16/17/11/ 2020

Sea watching at Dungeness the last couple of days has been quite poor, though not surprising considering the WSW wind that has been blowing. The Merlins continue to be seen hunting over the beach and out to sea, today they were joined by a Peregrine. Gannets continue to trickle through along with a few Auks and sea duck.

Presumed Nordic Jackdaw at Scotney yesterday but no sign today

Long-tailed duck still at scorned today

If you are lucky you may bump into 1 of the at least 3 Hen Harriers that are currently frequenting Walland Marsh, but you do have to be lucky as they can appear any where at any time. Still no sign of any wild Swans on Walland and the few wild Geese seem to have disappeared. The first Goosander of winter flew through Lade yesterday per PT, around the lakes only a handful of Goldeneye have arrived. 

Goldeneye on the ARC today

14/11/2020

1 of 2 Sooty Shearwaters past the fishing boats today

Below is the combined totals for todays sea watches from the fishing boats 07.00-10.00 & 14.00-16.00

with AJG, SP, RW, DW, CP, CT.

An excellent sea watch today with the highlight for me being the 89 Little Gulls as they have been so so scarce this Autumn.

Gannets streaming past today

The 1w Caspian Gull that made a brief appearance

Red-throated Diver

1 of the 100s of Kittiwakes past today

Early afternoon at Scotney the Long-tailed Duck was still mostly sleeping among the Pochard

 

13/11/2020

Bonnie past the fishing boats early morning

07.14-11.20 & 14.00-15.00 from the fishing boats with AJG and SP who both kindly kept the log:

Common Scoter: 26W   8E

Red-breasted Merganser: 1W

Red-throated diver: 13W

Fulmar: 1W

Manx Shearwater: 1W

Great-crested Grebe: 128W

Gannet: 1,916W

Cormorant: 2,700W

Merlin: 1 o/s

Peregrine: 1 in off the sea

Dunlin: 1W

Kittiwake: 587W

Little Gull: 6W

Mediterranean Gull: 6W

Common Gull: 107W

Sandwich Tern: 85W

Great Skua: 1W

Pomarine Skua: 2W

Arctic Skua: 1W

Guillemot: 26W

Razorbill: 407W

Auk sp: 222W    5E

Goldfinch: 21W

Harbour Porpoise: 3 present

Peregrine coming in off the sea early this morning

Submarine heading down channel this afternoon

Long-tailed Duck at Scotney late afternoon, image taken after sunset.

 Late afternoon at Scotney JD & SP found a Long-tailed Duck, also there a male and a ring tail Hen Harrier, both of which probably roosted on the ranges, 2 Peregrines, a Merlin and a Green Sandpiper were also there late afternoon.

12/11/2020

Still a few Sandwich Terns around

Todays sea watches with SM and AJG 07.20-09.20 & 14.00-15.15 from the fishing boats:

Brent Goose: 3E

Red-throated Diver: 8W      1E

Red-necked Grebe: 1E

Great-crested Grebe: 8W     11o/s

Gannet: 316W     

Cormorant: 303W out of Lade Bay

Merlin: a minimum of 3 birds hunting over the beach and sea

Turnstone: 2 on beach

Kittiwake: 354W

Black-headed Gull: 401W

Mediterranean Gull: 22W

Common Gull: 102W

Great Black-backed Gull: present n/c

Herring Gull: present n/c

Sandwich Tern: 15W

Great Skua: 1W

Guillemot: 2W

Auk sp: 762W     20E

Alba wagtail: 1W

Common Seal: 1

As I left the the beach with SM around 09.30 he spotted a Black Kite going inland over South View, DB was in his garden so had superb views, DW saw it from The Moat, JD saw it from the Long Pits, OL saw it at New Romney and CP saw it over St Marys Bay but not reported since. I believe DW got some images so hopefully he will put them on the DBO web site this evening.

Black-headed Gull TJVV still around the beach today

Cattle Egret at hay field 1

A walk around the reserve was pleasant enough in the sunshine, apart from a single Cattle Egret in the hay fields, the Glossy Ibis at Boulderwall, several Great White Egrets and a few Bearded Tits and squealing Water Rails little else was seen.

1 of the 2 1w Caspian Gulls that came into roost on Burrowes this evening.

Brambling at South View yesterday, many thanks to Dave Bunney for the access and call

 

09/11/2020

Shelduck with Brent Geese this morning

A very nice mixture of species today made for entertaining sea watching.

Todays sea watch totals for 07.15-09.00 & 13.45-16.00 with AJG who kindly kept the log, CT, SP et al.

Brent Goose: 374W   4E

Shelduck: 8W

Shoveler: 28W

Gadwall: 3W

Wigeon: 71W

Pintail: 46W

Teal: 47W

Scaup: 3W

Velvet Scoter: 1W

Common Scoter: 158W   86E

Red-breasted Merganser: 3W

Red-throated Diver: 9W

Great-crested Grebe: 4W   3 o/s

Gannet: 813W   9E

Cormorant: present: n/c

Oystercatcher: 4E

Bar-tailed Godwit: 1E

Knot: 1W

Dunlin: 13W

Turnstone: 3 on beach

Kittiwake: 204W         246 o/s

Little Gull: 9W

Black-headed Gull: present: n/c

Mediterranean Gull: 4W     25o/s

Common Gull: present: n/c

Great Black-backed Gull: present: n/c

Herring Gull: present: n/c

Sandwich Tern: 8W

Great Skua: 9W         2 o/s

Guillemot: 1W      1o/s

Razorbill: 47W    2o/s

Auk sp: 21W      2E

Meadow Pipit: 14S

Goldfinch: 240S

Siskin: 3S

A Woodcock that flushed from under my feet in The Desert

A first of the year for me was a Woodcock I flushed during my wander around The Point and Desert, a Black redstart was showing well around the lighthouse, while overhead a few Goldfinches, Siskins, Redpolls and a Brambling were heading south. A handful of Redwing were seen with a couple of Song Thrushes, the bushes were fairly quiet with just a few Crests being seen.

Scotney was almost birdless, probably due to the army practicing for the next world war, the noise was deafening and non stop, I would imagine many £1,000s of pounds went up in smoke there today.

Black Redstart at the old Lighthouse

Polish ringed Black-headed Gull TJVV still frequenting the fishing boats this afternoon

Newly arrived migrants making their way to the police to give themselves up, at least boatloads this morning. They must be very cold after spending the night at sea on rubber dingy in such flimsy clothing.
 

08/11/2020

Red-throated Diver from the fishing boats this afternoon

This mornings sea watch from the fishing boats did not live up to expectations with light SSE wind blowing I was hoping for a busy watch, due to the appalling light conditions I feel sure missed quite a bit.

07.00-08.30 with CT, RW and AJG who kindly kept the log:

Brent Goose: 54W      8E

Shoveler: 20W

Teal: 3E

Wigeon: 3W

Common Scoter: 7E   8W

Red-throated Diver: 2W    1E

Great-crested Grebe: 2 o/s

Gannet: 116W

Cormorant: present n/c (noticeably small numbers around)

Merlin: 1 around

Oystercatcher: 10E

Kittiwake: 17W

Black-headed Gull: present n/c 

Common Gull: present n/c 

Herring Gull: present n/c 

Great Black-backed Gull: present n/c 

Sandwich Tern: 2W

Guillemot: 2W

Razorbill: 8W     6 o/s

Goldfinch: c230 out

A wander around the trapping area found good numbers of Goldrests and at least 10 Firecrest, more Goldfinches over with Siskins and Redpolls, also a Great Spotted Woodpecker over. 

On the sward at Scotney all the usual feral Geese, but I could find no wild Geese.

Red-throated Diver from the fishing boats this afternoon

Pale-bellied Brent Goose past the fishing boats this afternoon

15.00-16.20 from the fishing turned into a surprisingly good sea watch after a very slow start, even when I left due the darkness birds were still moving off shore:

Brent Goose: 284W    

Pale-bellied Brent Goose: 1W

Common Scoter: 7E   4W    1 o/s

Red-throated Diver: 2W    1o/s

Great-crested Grebe: 2 o/s

Gannet: 196W

Cormorant: present n/c (noticeably small numbers around)

Merlin: 1 around

Turnstone: 1 on beach

Great Skua: 1W

Kittiwake: 164W including a flock of 90+

Little Gull: 16W a single flock

Black-headed Gull: present n/c 

Mediterranean Gull: 3W

Common Gull: 42W 

Herring Gull: present n/c 

Great Black-backed Gull: present n/c 

Sandwich Tern: 21W

Guillemot: 1 o/s

Part of a flock of 90+ Kittiwakes past the boats late this afternoon

A very poor image of the flock of 16 Little Gulls past the boats late this afternoon

Sandwich Tern