27/08/2025

 This mornings sea watch with Richard was again very poor, another sea watch mid afternoon by JY saw 3 Black Terns and and a loafing few Arctic Skuas, late afternoon early evening per Jacob more Black terns and at least 8 Balearic Shearwaters as the wind picked up.

Unfortunately most of my day was spent waiting for deliveries at home, though I did manage to get out late afternoon, where from Firth 5 Garganey dropped in, as did 5 Little Stints and a Black Tern, 2 Yellow Wagtails were present with Ringed and Little Ringed Plovers, also a Red-crested Pochard was present from Dennis's. Very little was from the ARC, from Lade the 5 Black-necked Grenes were still present and another Black Tern.                                                                  Little Stints at Firth                                                        5  Garganey from Firth late afternoon

3 of 4 Ruff from Firth

Juvenile Black Tern with Juvenile Common Terns from Firth

Yellow Wagtails from Firth

A Star-wort Moth less than annual in my trap

Acrobasis Tumidana, my 5th this year

A male Four-Spotted Footman

A Rosy Wave

26/08/2025

Juvenile Hen Harrier over The Desert

Sea watching this morning and this afternoon was agin poor considering the date, no Shearwaters and just a handful of Arctic Skuas lingering off shore, very few Common Scoters and Waders.

The ARC only held 3 Ruff and 4 Common Sandpipers on note. Good numbers of Hirundines were moving through the peninsula along with a few Yellow Wagtails. Another Osprey flew through the peninsula then out to sea.

At Lade the Black Tern was still present along with 5 Black-necked Grebes,. Kerton Road roost held 500 Oystercatchers and 2 each of Knot and Bar-tailed Godwit. A dental appointment put an end to my time out birding.

The juvenile Hen Harrier spiralling up over the beach before flying out to sea

 

Sandwich Tern from the fishing boats this afternoon

23/08/2025

An hour from the sea watch hide this morning produced of any note a single Great Skua West and 4 Arctic Skuas moving East,

A wander around The Desert was very disappointing with just a handful of Common and Lesser Whitethroats and not much else until Jacob caught the Gropper.

A lovely juvenile Grasshopper Warbler trapped in the TA this morning, many thanks to Jacob and the DBO ringing team for showing the bird

Juvenile Grasshopper Warbler showing the lovely lemon underparts

From Hanson 4 Ruff, 5 Common Snipe, 4 Ringed Plovers, 2 LRPs, 5 Dunlin, 2 Knot, Common and Green Sandpiper plus the usual Egrets and Wildfowl.

Burrowes was much the same with addition of a Little Stint per NB, 2 Red-crested Pochard, 2 Yellow-legged Gulls and a Caspian Gull.

 1of at least 2 Fledgeling Reed Warblers still being fed on the reserve

Juvenile Ruff and Reeve showing nicely from Firth

This stunning Striped Hawkmoth was very nice surprise in the trap this morning

My best year of Large Thorns with another 4 today

 

22/08/2025

                     White Stork on a lamp post at roundabout at Brenzett on the Appledore Road                                            Oystercatchers roosting at the Kerton Road Pit                        Just when I thought I'd re-found the Fan-tailed Warbler out pops a Sedge Warbler.

After viewing the Stork early morning I went to Galloways, hoping to see the Fan-tailed Warbler (Zitting Cisticola) again as the wind had finally abated. I and everone else present had no luck with the warbler, some compensation was had when a Dotterel flew over calling, an Osprey flew through before I Arrived. 

Another Osprey flew out to sea from the Point late morning. In the trapping area a Pied Flycatcher was flitting about per Jacob but The Point was fairly quiet.

At the ARC a Wood Sandpiper, 6 Ruff, Common and Green Sandpiper, Dunlin, 4 Ringed Plover, 2 Little Ringed Plover the usual Egrets and Wildfowl.

5 Black-necked Grebes at Lade South Pit this morning per PT, a Black Tern there this afternoon per KE.

                       Acrobasis Tumidana  The highlight in an otherwise poor catch last night

20/08/2025

This mornings sea watch with Richard was as expected poor carrying on the recent theme, the highlight being 2 Black Terns moving East, but you can guarantee the first day I don't look birds will be streaming past, so I will be back again tomorrow.

From Hanson a Little Stint, Common and Green Sandpipers, a Greenshank the usual Egrets and wildfowl though in smaller numbers.

Whilst doing the Moth Trap a message on WhatApp alerted me to the presence of an Osprey over the reserve,  a quick scan from the garden soon spotted it seemingly over New Diggings, I made my way to the top of the Long Pits and the Osprey soon appeared and started to look for fish, hanging around for a few minutes then disappearing, then  reappearing some tome later.

Juvenile Osprey over The Long Pits

Juvenile Osprey over The Long Pits

From the southern end of the ARC a dozen or so Common Swifts were moving North with Sand Martins, an hour later another pulse of 6 Swifts flew over the garden.

The Cisticola was agin showing intermittently at Galloways today, also another Pied Flycatcher was on The Point.

An attractive Calybites phasianpennella a relatively common micro in my trap

18/08/2025

2.5hrs of sea watching saw 400+ Sandwich Terns, 100+ Common Terns but very little else, the juvenile 

Cuckoo was still hanging out behind the sea watch hide as was a Wheatear. From Hanson 3 Green Sandpipers, 4 Common Sandpipers, 2 LRPs andb the usual Egrets and Wildfowl, though this evening 6 Ruff, a Greenshank and a Little Stint were present per JY, also a Spotted Redshank was seen by Rob and Ravi. The Fan-tailed Warbler was showing on and off at Galloways with a few Whinchats.

Highlight of the day came when Ravi found a juvenile Icterine Warbler in The Moat, a Pied Flycatcher was also present.

Juvenile Icterine Warbler

 

17/08/2025

My first stop this morning was at Hanson hide where a  Little Stint,  3 Green Sandpipers, 2 Common Sandpipers, a Common Snipe, 3 Little Ringed Plovers and a Redshank were on view along with the usual Egrets and wildfowl, While I was there news came of a Fan-tailed Warbler  (Zitting Cisticola)  at Galloways. Knowing how narrow the road is at Galloways I drove the short distance home, then cycled down Galloways to where the finder Barry Wright was with Keith and Kevin, to be shown where the was last seen, it wasn't a long wait before it showed again in flight, which it did several times eventually alighting in a fairly distant Broome Bush which allowed reasonable scope views but to far for good images to obtained as my image below shows. A not unexpected bird to be found on the Dungeness peninsular with perfect habitat for it, a nice addition to the Dungeness list and to my cycle list. The rest of my day was taken up with domestic stuff.

Fan-tailed Warbler (Zitting Cisticola)

16/08/2025

 

Some of the 30+ Cattle and Little Egrets sheltering at at the SE end of the ARC early morning

                      Some of the 700+ Mediterranean Gulls moving east past The Point today

Several hours of sea watching today saw a steady eastward passage of Mediterranean Gulls, Black-Headed Gulls, Sandwich and Common Terns with 8 Little and single juvenile Arctic Tern, 2 Arctic Skuas moved west as did a single Balearic Shearwater.

Around the reserve a juvenile Black Tern from Firth with a Little Stint  a Greenshank and Black-necked Grebe per NB. 5 Whinchat and a Spotted Flycatcher at Galloways per BH.

Juvenile Little Tern

Juvenile Little Tern

Adult Little Tern

Sandwich Tern with a Sand Eel

Juvenile Common Tern

The first Marsh Mallow Moth to grace my trap for a few years, they are very rare in the UK