27/02/2022

Brent Geese and Shelduck passing the sea watch hide this morning

As a stiff South Easterly was blowing I had hopes of a good sea watch this morning, it was not quite as good as hoped for but a definite improvement, with good numbers of Brent Geese and Gannets on the move, also a few dabblers. 

 07.15-10.00 with CP & OL

Brent Goose: 627E (24 parties)

Shelduck: 17E

Teal: 29E

Shoveler: 7E (4 drakes)

Common Scoter: 12E

Red-throated Diver: 159E     88W     

Great-crested Grebe:  15E   

Fulmar: 18E    2W

Gannet: 1,385E      17W     

Cormorant: Present n/c

Oystercatcher: 9E

Kittiwake:  104E       19W

Black-headed Gull: present n/c

Common Gull: present n/c

Mediterranean Gull: 1E  2W

Great Black-backed Gull: present n/c

Herring Gull: present n/c 

Guillemot: 47E   7W

Auk sp: 379E         

Harbour Porpoise: 1

Whilst I enjoyed a hot breakfast and got some domestic stuff done, RW braved the bitter SE wind on the reserve and was scantly rewarded with a few Ruff, Ringed Plover, Curlew, Snipe and Dunlin on the Hay Fields but little else. The Cattle Egrets were still inset at Cockles Bridge this morning.

An unplanned visit to the fishing boats this afternoon thanks to call from OL to say the Iceland Gull had returned to the roost. A few minutes later I arrived not expecting the bird to still be present, as because as usual on a sunny Sunday lots of tourists and there dogs were wandering around, so I was surprised to find the bird still present though not for long as the Gulls were soon flushed by wandering tourists.  

2w Iceland Gull by the fishing boats this afternoon

2w Iceland Gull by the fishing boats this afternoon

It was Harrier count day today after it being abandoned last weekend due to the weather, once again no Harriers roosted in the reed bed I was watching though there were plenty of squealing Water Rails and some Bearded Tits as some recompense.

26/02/2022

Gannets passing East this morning

The morning sea watches continue to be fairly predictable, hopefully in the next week or two they will liven up. 

 07.15-09.15 joined by RW, Ol, SO, 

Brent Goose: 21E
Shelduck: 1W
Common Scoter: 5E
Red-breasted Merganser: 2W
Red-throated Diver: 37E     98W     
Great-crested Grebe:  5E     3W         47 on  
Fulmar: 3E    2W
Gannet: 151E      36W     
Cormorant: Present n/c
Oystercatcher: 19E
Kittiwake:  189E       42W
Black-headed Gull: present n/c
Common Gull: present n/c
Mediterranean Gull: 1E  1W
Great Black-backed Gull: present n/c
Herring Gull: present n/c 
Guillemot: 242E   79W
Razorbill: 14E      37W
Auk sp: 940E    192W      
Harbour Porpoise: 1

The Iceland Gull at the fishing boats on 23/02/2022

The 2 Glossy Ibis are still around but have become very elusive, the same can be said for the red head Smew on the ARC, at least the Cattle Egrets are remaining loyal to Cockles Bridge. Great White Egrets can be seen just about anywhere on the peninsula. The 5 Whooper Swans were still at Baynham Farm this morning per GH. Tree Sparrows, Corn Buntings and Yellowhammers can all be found on Walland but take some searching out.

Cattle Egret at Cockles Bridge today

21/02/22022

 07.50-08.50 from the hide.

Brent Goose: 1W

Red-throated Diver: 5W    2E

Great-crested Grebe: 4E   1W     114 on

Fulmar: 13W   

Gannet: 61W    45E

Cormorant: present n/c

Kittiwake:  24W    7E

Black-headed Gull: present n/c

Common Gull: present n/c

Great Black-backed Gull: present n/c

Herring Gull: present n/c 

Lesser Black-backed Gull: 4W

Guillemot: 8W  20E

Razorbill: 1W     1E

Auk sp: 22W    9E

With the strong winds continuing with frequent showers and the reserve still shut, I spent most of the day on the beach playing with my new Canon R5.

1,000s of Gulls feeding on the abundance of shellfish washed ashore by the storms

Kittiwake

Kittiwake with Shellfish

Black-headed Gull joining the feast

Common Gull with Clam

Cormorant

20/02/2022

07.25-09.25 joined by RW & OL 

Brent Goose: 17E

Red-throated Diver: 31W     2E

Great-crested Grebe: 2E   4W      21 on

Fulmar: 41W     1E

Gannet: 165W    

Cormorant: present n/c

Kittiwake:  47W

Black-headed Gull: present n/c

Common Gull: present n/c

Great Black-backed Gull: present n/c

Herring Gull: present n/c 

Lesser Black-backed Gull: 4W

Caspian Gull: 1x 1w feeding along shore line

Guillemot: 43W  14E

Razorbill: 5W

Auk sp: 37E    4W 

Harbour Porpoise: 1

Some of the huge numbers of Gulls feasting on the large quantities of shellfish washed up by the storms

The Iceland Gull moved from The Patch to the lifeboat station

The Hybrid Black-headed Gull x Mediterranean Gull appeared briefly from the throng

The Smew still on the ARC along with 3 Great White Egrets

19/02/2022

1w Caspian Gull feeding along the surf line

07.15-09.15 from the hide with PT,VW, RW and OL

Brent Goose: 18E

Common Scoter: 6E

Red-throated Diver: 137W       4E

Great-crested Grebe: 4E   2W      183 on

Fulmar: 9W

Gannet: 28W      13E

Cormorant: present n/c

Kittiwake:  74W

Black-headed Gull: present n/c

Mediterranean Gull: 1W

Common Gull: present n/c

Great Black-backed Gull: present n/c

Herring Gull: present n/c 

Caspian Gull: 1x 1w feeding along shore line

Iceland Gull: 1 x2w present

Great Skua: 3E

Guillemot: 5W   7E

Auk sp: 49E    8W 

The 4 Cattle Egrets were feeding in the horse paddocks as I drove to the beach early morning. The red head Smew was among the Tufted Duck and Pochard on the ARC from the causeway as I went home.

With the weather we are having looking at Gulls is the main pastime.

Hybrid Black-headed Gull x Mediterranean Gull right hand bird

1w Caspian Gull

An oiled Great Black-backed Gull, fortunately they are not seen as frequently as in the past, there was also an oiled Herring Gull and a Black-headed Gull around today.

Herring Gull F8ZT a regular at Dungeness in the roost today

The now single legged 2w Iceland Gull

 

16/02/2022

A very uninspiring sea watch this morning, visibility was down to c600mts in the drizzle and salt spume being blown by 50MPH wind.

08.00-09.30 from the hide joined by RW

Common Scoter: 3E.  2W

Red-throated Diver: 31W     

Great-crested Grebe:  1W    1 on

Fulmar: 10W      1E

Gannet: 15W      20E     

Cormorant: Present n/c

Kittiwake: 3W

Black-headed Gull: present n/c

Common Gull: present n/c

Great Black-backed Gull: 35W

Herring Gull: present n/c 

Guillemot: 434W 

Razorbill: 4W

Auk sp: 32W      

Harbour Porpoise: 3

After the sea watch I decided to wander down to The Patch, as the reserve would be a complete waste of time in todays weather with no hides apart from Dennis's. On arrival there was only a few Gulls over a non existent boil and a few in the roost which was not surprising as high tide was approaching. I sat it out for an hour with a steady trickle of west bound Guillemots and Red-throated Divers noted, I couldn't see the Iceland Gull but once again I wasn't that surprised considering the weather. As I stared out to sea a 1w Caspian Gull came along almost in touching distance, by the time I grabbed the camera it was almost gone.

At the fishing boats the wintering Polish ringed Black-headed Gull TJVV immediately came to some bread but nothing else of note. 

On the way back home for lunch I stopped on the causeway spotting the Smew in among the Tufted Duck and Pochard, just had time for a couple of quick snaps before the boys in blue arrived.

Another sea watch with RW this afternoon was abysmal in the deteriorating weather.

The 2w Iceland Gull at The Patch yesterday

The 5 Whooper Swans at Baynham Farm yesterday, but no sign of them today per PT 

One of the 4 Cattle Egrets that appear to be wintering at Cockles Bridge

 

13/02/2022

The strong southerly winds overnight and this morning did not produce the busy sea watch I was expecting. The first hour was was a steady trickle of birds, the next hour was quite slow, hence the early finish time.

07.00-09.00 from the hide with CP & RW

Brent Goose: 6E     4W  

Common Scoter: 2E

Red-throated Diver: 73E     29W    6 on

Great-crested Grebe:  4W

Fulmar: 11W      2E

Gannet: 129E      39W     

Cormorant: Present n/c

Kittiwake: 87E   24W 

Black-headed Gull: present n/c

Mediterranean Gull: 1E

Common Gull: present n/c

Great Black-backed Gull: present n/c

Herring Gull: present n/c 

Lesser Black-backed Gull: 2E

Guillemot: 341W      37E  

Razorbill: 11W

Auk sp: 370W       25E

Harbour Porpoise: 1

As I drove back home for breakfast the Smew was still on the ARC with the Pochard and Tufty flock by the causeway, also the days highlight ran across the road near Cockles Bridge a Red-legged Partridge, the 4 Cattle Egrets were still at Cockles Bridge.

The 2 Glossy Ibis were on Cooks Pool early afternoon per CT who was unable to locate any wild Swans on Walland, so it would seem that they have all left, hopefully to return next winter.

The 2w Iceland Gull was on the beach at The Patch early afternoon per PT, with the rain arriving shortly after.

12/02/2022

07.00-10.00 from the sea watch hide with CP, RW & SO

Brent Goose: 33E (5 flocks)    

Pintail: 2E

Common Scoter: 3E

Red-throated Diver: 585E     27W     2 on

Great-crested Grebe:  5E

Fulmar: 10E      3W

Gannet: 504E      14W     

Cormorant: Present n/c

Oystercatcher: 3E

Turnstone: 1 present

Kittiwake: 253E   36W 

Black-headed Gull: present n/c

Mediterranean Gull: 6E

Common Gull: present n/c

Great Black-backed Gull: present n/c

Herring Gull: present n/c 

Great Skua: 1E 

Guillemot: 142E      

Razorbill: 54W

Auk sp: 2,530E

Common Buzzard Walland Marsh

It would appear that the 36 Bewick's swans at Dennes Road have started their journey back to Russia as they were not seen yesterday or today, the 12 Bewick's at Baynham Farm were still present today, but I was unable to find the 5 Whooper Swans which may also have left. There were still at least 3 Brambling in the large finch flock in the Sunflower field at Brookland, apart from a handful of Yellowhammers and Reed Buntings I saw little else. The guardians of the countryside have been busy again this week ripping out bushes and trees along the airfield edge at Hawthorn Corner, where Long-eared Owls used to roost.

A quick look from Dennis's saw little of note apart some Goldeneye, at least the islands weren't covered in Cormorants.

At the fishing boats this afternoon 300+ Great-crested Grebes off shore along with some Red-throated Divers and Guillemots. A 1w Yellow-legged Gull was attracted to some bread I threw out but didn't stay long due to the hordes of people and their dogs marching up and down the beach.

The lone red head Smew was again in with the Pochard and Tufty flock on the ARC seen from the causeway.

1w Yellow-legged Gull at the fishing boats this afternoon

10/02/2022

Most of my day was taken up sorting out a puncture I carelessly got at the American Robin site, an easy fix, put on the emergency wheel while the other tyre was being fixed today, that is until I managed to get another puncture this morning! As I often say S**t happens!

Eventually late afternoon I got onto Walland where all wild swans were still insitu. On the ATC the Smew was still viewable from the causeway, the Cattle Egrets were still at Cockles Bridge.

Thanks to Liz and Paul for letting me know the Black Redstart was still in the lighthouse area, the Peregrine was on its usual pylon, also that a steady stream of Red-throated divers were moving into Rye Bay (274 in an hour.

Smew by the causeway on Tuesday

Yesterday I joined Owen and Colin on a trip to Eastbourne to see the gorgeous American Robin, it performed very well for us though my image is a little distant, not helped by the fact that I have sold my big lenses ( I'm getting to many aches and pains carrying them) and am waiting for my mirrorless camera and lens to arrive. We didn't stay to long as none of us  enjoy urban birding, especially when you are looking directly at peoples houses. Fortunately I have seen and photographed many American Robins in North America in the past, like the image below taken at Pelee in 2006. Next stop was the Eastbourne Hume's Warbler which was mobile but calling frequently. We made a short visit to Beachy Head, then moved to Cuckmere Haven, then had an enjoyable walk down to the sea, seeing numerous Rock Pipits (quite scarce at Dungeness). We also came across a Short-eared Owl sat out in the open c20mts away, that continued to sit for the ten minutes we were admiring it (also while I kicked myself for not carrying a camera with me, let alone the big lenses) it was still sitting there when we left as the the parking permit was running out of time. Lat stop was to say high to the Polegate Hooded Crow which is probably the same bird that spent some time at Greatstone last year.

 

07/02/2022

A very poor image containing both the Caspian Gulls, dire light conditions and distant

07.45-08.45 from the sea watch hide:

Brent Goose: 5E

Common Scoter: 2E

Red-throated Diver: 67E      15W

Great-crested Grebe: 14E     348 on

Gannet: 17E    31W 

Cormorant: Present n/c

Oystercatcher: 1E

Kittiwake: 9E      74W   

Black-headed Gull: present n/c

Mediterranean Gull: 1E

Common Gull: present n/c

Great Black-backed Gull: present n/c

Herring Gull: present n/c 

Caspian Gull: 2 x 2nd cal yr at The Patch

Lesser Black-backed Gull: 2 at The Patch

Guillemot:174E       23W

Razorbill: 5W

Auk sp: 32E      87W

Heavily cropped images of both Caspian Gulls

The Cockles Bridge Cattle Egrets are so photogenic

The 2 Glossy Ibis flew over towards the fishing lakes as I drove over the causeway. On Walland the 36 Bewick's Swans still from Dennes Road, another 12 Bewick's and 5 Whooper Swans were still in the Baynham Farm fields today. 4 Black-tailed Godwits were roosting on Burrowes.The Smew was still on the ARC per RW.