Friday 23 September 2016

Chiffchaffs and Swallows

Lade - warm, dry and sunny, light airs - Everywhere we went today Swallows and House Martins were on the move in large numbers. Likewise, Chiffchaffs, with at least 30 around the ponds at Lade, but not a sniff of a `stripy`.
Scotney - No sign of the Spoonbills here but plenty of feral geese, Wigeon, Shelduck, diving ducks, gulls and the like. Out back up to 10 Yellow Wagtails, Linnets, Pied Wagtails, Mipits, Wheatears, Reed Bunting, Raven and a Common Buzzard.
Midley - A run out to the drying barns and nearby feeders delivered a Yellowhammer, five Tree Sparrows, Goldfinch, Greenfinch and a few Mipits but little else.
Greatstone Beach - From the Tavern viewpoint on an incoming tide a decent selection of shorebirds included 150 Knot, 500 plus each of Curlew and Oystercatcher, 200 Sanderling and Dunlins, 50 Barwits and five Grey Plovers. The tern count was 320 Sandwich and 10 Common, while offshore a flock of 100 Wigeon and four Grey Seals noted. Hundreds of Swallows heading south along the beach and the waders flying to roost provided a superb spectacle for Lew.
Dungeness - We finished the bird tour at the fishing boats with a seawatch where the usual Gannets, terns and Arctic Skuas performed offshore, plus 10 porpoises.
  Over the two days 94 species of birds were recorded with the highlights being the hirundine migration and the two Ospreys.

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