PLODDINGBIRDER

Thursday 14 April 2022

14/04/2022

With dense fog just offshore todays sea watch was unsurprisingly very poor.

07.30-08.30with DW et al

Common Scoter: 9E

Great-crested Grebe: 3 on

Gannet: 56E

Cormorant: present n/c

Oystercatcher: 1E 1W

Black-headed Gull: present n/c

Mediterranean Gull: 4E 2W

Common Gull: present n/c

Great Black-backed Gull: present n/c

Herring Gull: present n/c

Sandwich Tern: 21E

Harbour Porpoise: 35

A long wander around the back of Scotney lakes found my first Yellow Wagtails of the year, several each of Corn Bunting and Wheatear, 10+ Tree Sparrows, 18 Avocets, many Skylarks, Ravens, Peregrine, Marsh Harriers, Common Buzzards, many Mediterranean Gulls and a bonus of my first ever Bearded Tit at this site.

Corn Bunting

Wheatear

The resident female Kestrel prospecting her usual nest site

The resident Black Swan

On Boulderwall Fields this afternoon 4 Cattle Egrets, several Sedge Warblers and a Reed Warbler. Around the hay fields at least 2 Glossy Ibis and a drake Garganey, several Bearded Tits, Bittern, more Sedge and Reed Warblers.

More of yesterdays superb Red-breasted Flycatcher

Wednesday 13 April 2022

13/04/2022

Great Skua passing East this morning

06.20-09.00 with CP, RW, OL, JS

Brent Goose: 120E

Canada Goose: 2 drifted E

Common Scoter: 124E 19W

Red-breasted Merganser: 5E

Red-throated Diver: 42E

Great-crested Grebe: 1W 5 on

Fulmar: 1E

Gannet: 298E

Cormorant: present n/c

Oystercatcher: 6E 1W

Kittiwake: 9E

Little Gull: 2E

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

Sandwich Tern: 126E

Common Tern: 34E

Great Skua: 5E

Pomarine Skua: 1E

Arctic Skua: 12E

Guillemot: 4E

Auk sp: 38E 12W

White-beaked Dolphin: 5 SW

Harbour Porpoise: 6

Grey Seal: 1

Red-breasted Mergansers passing East this morning

A walk around The Moat found 3 Wheatears, a Chiffchaff, Black Redstart and a female Peregrine. At the top of the Long Pits my first Common Whitethroat of the year 3 Willow Warblers and several Blackcaps. Dengemarsh Gully was disappointing with just 2 Wheatears of any note. A check of Scotney early afternoon found at least 2 Little Gulls still present but no sign of yesterdays Black Tern. There were still at least 2 Garganey on the Hay fields along with a Glossy Ibis, while nearby there were 4 Cattle Egrets per RW.

Wheatear Dengemarsh Gully

2nd calendar year Little Gull at Scotney and 2 of the many Mediterranean Gulls present

Mid afternoon Dave Bunney found this stunning Red-breasted Flycatcher in his garden, he kindly allowed the news to put out for others to enjoy his super find.

Red-breasted Flycatcher

Tuesday 12 April 2022

12/04/2022

A flock of 9 Velvet Scoter passing this morning

Todays sea was not as busy as yesterday but very enjoyable.

06.00-10.30 with JS, DW, OL, SM, et al

Brent Goose: 113E

Shelduck: 8E

Shoveler: 1E

Gadwall: 2E

Teal: 1E

Velvet Scoter: 15E

Common Scoter: 1,307E 12W

Red-breasted Merganser: 3E

Red-throated Diver: 154E

Black-throated Diver: 1E

Great-crested Grebe: 2 on

Fulmar: 4E

Manx Shearwater: 4E

Gannet: 307E

Cormorant: present n/c

Oystercatcher: 13E

Whimbrel: 68E

Knot: 2E

Dunlin: 1E

Sanderling: 1E

Kittiwake: 30E

Little Gull: 20E

Black-headed Gull: present n/c

Mediterranean Gull:15E

Common Gull: present n/c

Great Black-backed Gull: present n/c

Herring Gull: present n/c

Little Tern: 7E

Sandwich Tern: 1,584E

Common Tern: 158E

Arctic Tern: 3E

Great Skua: 1E

Arctic Skua: 34E

Guillemot: 18E

Auk sp: 356E

Harbour Porpoise: 6

Grey Seal: 1

A distant Black-throated Diver

Brent Geese

Black Tern at Scotney early afternoon

At Scotney a fine Black Tern with at least 4 Little Gulls all of which kept their distance, a Yellow Wagtail was found there by SM. Late afternoon a female Common Redstart was found at the southern end of the trapping area by JS. There were very few new migrants to be found on the Peninsula today, hopefully better tomorrow.

Monday 11 April 2022

11/04/2022

Shoveler moving East

A brilliant day spent sea watching with Jacob, David and John, with personal records broken.

06.00-19.30 with JS, DW, JY,

Shelduck: 40E

Shoveler: 315E

Gadwall: 47E

Teal: 179E

Garganey: 13E

Pintail: 118E

Wigeon: 16E

Tufted Duck:16E

Velvet Scoter: 72E

Common Scoter: 1,671E 12W

Red-breasted Merganser: 30E

Red-throated Diver: 92E

Great-crested Grebe: 1E 3 on

Fulmar: 1E 2W

Gannet: 1,194E

Cormorant: present n/c

Oystercatcher: 23E 14W

Avocet: 2E

Redshank: 3E

Whimbrel: 277E

Curlew: 2E

Bar-tailed Godwit: 16

Knot: 8E

Dunlin: 21E

Sanderling: 2E

Kittiwake: 126E

Little Gull:14E

Black-headed Gull: present n/c

Mediterranean Gull: 24E

Common Gull: present n/c

Great Black-backed Gull: present n/c

Herring Gull: present n/c

Little Tern: 5E

Sandwich Tern: 2,898E

Common Tern: 235E

Arctic Tern: 24E

Arctic Skua: 23E

Guillemot: 31E

Razorbill: 1E

Auk sp: 665E

Swallow: 1 in

Linnet: 19 in

Harbour Porpoise: 8+

Velvet Scoters

Whimbrel

Gannets

An unfortunate Gannet with polythene around its beak or ingested

Garganey with Teal

Common Tern

Friday 8 April 2022

08/04/2022

The first of 13 Arctic Skuas past this morning

07.00-10.30 from the sea watch hide:

Common Scoter: 81E
Red-throated Diver: 12E
Great-crested Grebe: 1W 9 on
Fulmar: 4W
Gannet: 383E
Cormorant: present n/c
Oystercatcher: 1E
Kittiwake: 2E
Little Gull: 2E
Black-headed Gull: present n/c
Mediterranean Gull: 2E 2W
Common Gull: present n/c
Great Black-backed Gull: present n/c
Herring Gull: present n/c
Sandwich Tern: 24E
Common Tern: 8E (My first the year)
Arctic Skua: 13E (My first the year)
Auk sp: 2E
Harbour Porpoise: 6+

Arctic Skuas

1 of at least 4 Little Gulls at Scotney today

Brent Goose on the sward at Scotney

At least 5 Garganey at Dengemarsh this afternoon

Along with the Garganey at Dengemarsh, 2 Great White Egret, 2 female Goldeneye, c50 Shoveler and the usual wild fowl, a Bittern booming half heartedly, several Bearded Tits and Cetti's Warblers, 2 Sedge Warblers but no Wagtails or Hirundines. The hay fields look good for waders but only held 4 Redshank, 4 Ringed Plover and 6 Lapwing. A flock of 20+ Corn buntings was feeding in the sheep fields opposite Springfield Bridge. The 5 Glossy Ibis and 3 Cattle Egrets were still present around Boulderwall this morning.

Thursday 7 April 2022

07/04/2022

A force 8 westerly with clear skies this morning did not bode well for a good sea watch:

07.30-11.00 with JS, CP, CT, OL

Greylag Goose: 1E

Eider: 1E

Common Scoter: 1043E 27W

Red-throated Diver: 18E

Great-crested Grebe: 1E 5 on

Fulmar: 3E 7W

Manx Shearwater: 2E 5W

Gannet: 443E 77W

Cormorant: present n/c

Oystercatcher: 1W

Kittiwake: 17W

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: 2W

Sandwich Tern: c10 feeding

Guillemot: 2W 1E

Auk sp: 6W 4E

Linnet: 6 in off

Harbour Porpoise: 2

I finally managed to capture all 5 Glossy Ibis together on Boulderwall fields this afternoon, while watching them a male Marsh Harrier caught a Coot at the top end of Cooks Pool where the 3 Cattle Egrets were feeding. A very windswept Burrowes was disappointing. Scotney was also disappointing as there were still no Yellow Wagtails to be found, the first birds are usually around the farm on the 1st.

Tuesday 5 April 2022

05/04/2022

An exhausted Redwing early this morning, a wall tick for me

A very poor sea watch this morning in the drizzle:

06.30-0830 from the hide

Brent Goose: 2E

Shoveler: 2E

Pintail: 3E

Common Scoter: 27E 7W

Red-throated Diver: 35E

Great-crested Grebe: 7 on

Fulmar: 1E

Gannet: 64E

Cormorant: 22 around

Kittiwake: 1E 1W

Black-headed Gull: present n/c

Common Gull: present n/c

Great Black-backed Gull: present n/c

Herring Gull: present n/c

Sandwich Tern: 18E

Guillemot: 3W

Auk sp: 1E 1W

Peregrine: 2 around

Redwing: 1 on wall

Common Seal: 1

Harbour Porpoise: 2+

Little Gull at Scotney mid morning from the double bends

Monday 4 April 2022

04/04/2022

7C force 7 WSW with rain and poor visibility:
06.30-11.30 with JS:
Brent Goose : 522E (17 parties)
Wigeon: 5E
Velvet Scoter: 4E 2W
Common Scoter: 529E 7W
Red-throated Diver: 12E
Great-crested Grebe: 3E 3on
Fulmar: 4E 3W
Gannet: 459W
Cormorant: 184 around
Kittiwake: 7W
Black-headed Gull: present n/c
Mediterranean Gull: 2E
Common Gull: present n/c
Great Black-backed Gull: present n/c
Herring Gull: present n/c
Lesser Black-backed Gull: 4W
Sandwich Tern: c20 feeding
Guillemot: 15W 4E 3 on
Auk sp: 14W 1E
House Martin: 1 in off
Swallow: 1 in off
Meadow Pipit: 690 in off
Linnet: 65 in off
Harbour Porpoise: 2+

Midday from the causeway 3 Swallows hawking the Sallows on the ARC. The 3 Cattle Egrets were in the sheep fields west of Boulderwall.

Early afternoon 3 Glossy Ibis were at Cooks Pool

Glossy Ibis at Cooks this afternoon

A short slo-mo video the Ibis can be seen HERE

Garganey from Hanson this afternoon

Little Egret from Hanson this afternoon

Sunday 3 April 2022

03/04/2022

Mediterranean Gull heading for The Patch this morning

This mornings sea watch was again rather poor, though not surprising as the temperature was -4 when I arrived, causing horrible haze out to sea.

07.00-09.00 joined by RW,

Brent Goose: 172E (13 parties)

Tufted Duck: 2 in off

Common Scoter: 14E

Red-throated Diver: 12E 1W

Great-crested Grebe: 1E 5on

Grebe sp: 1E Slavonian/Black-necked

Gannet: 81E

Cormorant: 136 on sea

Oystercatcher: 1E

Kittiwake: 2E

Black-headed Gull: present n/c

Mediterranean Gull: 4E

Common Gull: 19E

Great Black-backed Gull: present n/c

Herring Gull: present n/c

Lesser Black-backed Gull: 2E

Sandwich Tern: 4E 9W

Guillemot: 1E

Carrion Crow: 5 in off

Linnet: 1W

Harbour Porpoise: 4+

Grey Seal: 1

Immature male Marsh Harrier at Dengemarsh

There were a handful each of Swallows and Sand Martins seen this weekend, surprisingly no Sedge Warblers as they are usually singing around Dengemarsh by the 1st,, I guess the northerly winds have held them up along with the Yellow Wagtails that are usually present at Dengemarsh and Scotney by now. On The Point Black Redstarts, Wheatears and chiffchaffs can be found in small numbers. Hopefully with westerly and southerly winds forecast the sea watching may improve bringing the first of the Arctic Skuas for me.