Chats and Warblers

Lade - warm, dry and sunny, SW 3 - A circuit of the local patch this morning delivered a decent enough range of autumn passage migrants on the move. Bulk numbers were provided by several hundred hirundines flitting over south lake, mostly Sand Martins and a few Swallows, while the desert scrub delivered a trickle of Yellow Wagtails and a trio of chats; well, at least ten Stonechats, two Wheatears and a Whinchat! The highlight though was a juvenile Redstart that showed briefly by a patch of gorse along the main track. By the time we reached the sun trap by ponds several Lesser Whitethroats, Willow, Sedge and Reed Warblers were busily snapping up flying insects. A single Cattle Egret on south lake flew off towards the reserve, where all the usual waterfowl were logged including Little and Great Crested Grebes with recently hatched young.

                                  Whinchat

                                  Kestrel

                                  Stonechat

Yesterday, en-route to Bedgebury, two White Storks were noted flying over The Dowells just before the train station on the Appledore Road; presumably birds from the Knepp Estate project.

Balearic Shearwaters

Cool, cloudy, showers, SW 4 - It was perfect weather conditions and time of year this morning for Balearic Shearwaters passing down-Channel, and so it proved to be with Jacob having recorded 24 during the first three hours. From the fishing boats I managed to connect with four distant birds, plus one that came much closer as it sheared round the point. Also of note, a Little Tern in amongst several hundred passage Sandwich and Common Terns, a trickle of close Gannets, a Fulmar and several Arctic Skuas rampaging offshore.

                                   Pintails - ARC

From Hanson hide, during a heavy shower, the full range of dabbling ducks took advantage of suitable feeding conditions; mostly Mallard, Teal, Gadwall and Shoveler, plus a pair of Pintail and a Garganey. The only wader present was a lone Little Stint, until five Snipes dropped in, while on Burrowes 50 plus Redshanks and 20 Ringed Plovers were grounded by the rain. A check of Lade for a reported Red-necked Grebe from yesterday drew a blank, but did produce only my second record of Cattle Egret on a distant island.

Black Tern

 Lade - warm, dry and sunny, light airs - We were up and out early around the local patch this morning before it got too hot. There was plenty to check through on south lake where juveniles of Black and Common Tern kept one another company feeding over the water while at least two Black-necked Grebes were out in the middle and two Garganeys by the wall mirror, my first here for several years. Fifty odd Sand Martins swirled over the willow swamp, but apart from a few common warblers by the ponds all was quiet. We called in at Dennis`s hide on the reserve on the way home where a Dotterel had been reported earlier on Burrowes. However, there was no sign of it, just a flock of 30 Golden Plovers and a flighty Grey Plover.

                                   Scarce Bordered Straw

Elsewhere this Bank Holiday weekend we`ve been tramping the farmland around New Romney where the cereal harvest is now complete; some fields having already been ploughed and drilled for next years crop. Preparatory work for a massive turf field attracted hundreds of Common, Black-headed and Mediterranean Gulls. Also noted a Greenshank over calling and several `kettles` of up to six Buzzards soaring over the town. The garden moth trap continues to deliver with Orange Swift new for the site yesterday.

Black-necked Grebes

Warm, dry and sunny, N 2 - A cracking morning to be out and about around the local patch at Lade with Ted. The Black-necked Grebe count was up to six on south lake; whether or not some or all were from the flock of a fortnight ago its impossible to say. Either way its the most I`ve seen here in nearly 20 years, where they were in company with 25 Great Crested and eight Little Grebes. When we first arrived in the early morning chill, hundreds of Sand Martins were feeding low over the water but as the temperature rose so did they, skywards and away south on their long journey towards Africa. Grounded migrants included a handful of Lesser Whitethroats and Willow Warblers by the ponds and several Wheatears and Stonechats on the Desert along with a light overhead passage of Yellow Wagtails and Meadow Pipits. Whilst scanning from the ramp news came through of an Osprey over the point, of which I had distant views of as it went out to sea. Also noted: a Raven and a Ringed Plover over calling, a Green Woodpecker on the Desert and two Common Sandpipers around the lakeside margins. NB: A Black Tern was also seen on lake this morning (DS).

                                  Black-necked Grebe - one of six, south lake

                                  Common Sandpiper - south lake

                                  Wheatear - Desert

                                  Ted - Lade

Moving onto Kerton Quarry where the high tide wader roost comprised the usual hundreds of Oystercatchers, Curlews and gulls, plus 100 Sandwich Terns, 10 Med Gulls, six Knots, six Bar-tailed Godwits and a Whimbrel. Duck numbers were low but did include two Shelducks. Whilst there everything briefly took flight as an Osprey flew over and headed out across the bay, presumably a different bird to the one earlier. 

                                  Gull, tern and wader roost - Kerton Quarry

                                  Curlews at roost- Kerton Quarry

Osprey

Dungeness RSPB - warm, dry and cloudy, NE4 - A guided walk around the circular trail this morning for five guests commenced in some style when an Osprey flew over Burrowes, flushing the terns and wildfowl, before flying over towards the Long Pits where it gave distant views for about 20 minutes. A juvenile Little Stint from Firth lookout was the best of the waders during the circuit which also included Ringed Plover, Redshank, Common Sandpiper, Black-tailed Godwit and 20 Lapwings. Common Tern numbers were well down with most of the adults having already departed leaving the juveniles to fend for themselves. At Dengemarsh the guests enjoyed cracking views of a female Marsh Harrier, three Great White Egrets and the usual selection of feral geese and gulls, plus parties of Sand Martins moving through. Four Cattle Egrets were in Boulderwall fields while another Little Stint, a Greenshank and four Ruff were on ARC from Hanson hide.

                                  Large Thorn - new for the garden trap

                                  Jersey Tiger

                                 Poplar Hawk-moth

                                      Pale Grass Eggar

Yesterday, together with the Apprentice Birder (my 15 year old grandson), we helped out at the RSPB family day event doing moths and pond dipping. With the brisk north-easterly wind supressing moth numbers locally we were fortunate to have the contents of several local traps from across the Marsh; thanks are in order to Chris, Jacob, Dorothy, Richard, John and Martin for running their traps and delivering the goods. Trevor who was organising the pond-dipping had caught a Water Spider, a fascinating creature and a first for me. Thanks also to Graham Parry for sending through his superb pic of the Fan-tailed Warbler sat atop a post on Monday; the bird was still present at Galloways earlier today (per SM). 

    Fan-tailed Warbler - Galloways, 18th August, 2025 ( by Graham Parry)

Fan-tailed Warbler

Galloways - Overcast, drizzle, NE 2 - Surprisingly enough, considering how relatively easy they are  to encounter across the water in coastal Pas-de-Calais, the Fan-tailed Warbler (sorry, but I cannot get to grips with Zitting Cisticola!) has somehow avoided one of the most well-watched corners of the Kent coast; until yesterday that is, when Barry Wright found one at Galloways in typical habitat for this grass-loving warbler. Thankfully, being not much of a migrant, it remained in situ for the late-comers like myself to enjoy. During my 90 minute stakeout it gave several protracted, jerky flight views showing off its characteristic tail pattern and streaked back. It also called a few times, perched amongst cover, and once briefly sat in the open atop a fence post - job done! Many thanks to John Young for forwarding on his superb pics of the bird below, which was new for the Dungeness recording area.

                                Fan-tailed Warbler - Galloways (by John Young)   

Wheatears

Lade - Hot, dry and sunny, E2 - Spent the morning on the local patch (until it got too hot for both us!) birding and blackberrying where there was plenty of both across the site, including the first autumn drop-in of four Wheatears on the desert along with six Stonechats and two Yellow Wagtails, plus several more wagtails overhead calling. The scrub around the ponds was jumping with warblers: Sedge, Reed and Willow Warblers, Chiffs, Common and Lesser Whitethroats, a Blackcap and a single Garden Warbler (scarce here) which very nearly got taken by a Sparrowhawk as it plunged into the sallows feet first. The lakes were busy with Little and Great White Egrets, Grey Herons and two Common Sandpipers around the margins while hundreds of smaller gulls hawked flying insects rising off the water. South lake had a good selection of diving ducks, Coots, Great Crested and Little Grebes, two Black-necked Grebes, a late brood of Tufted ducklings plus several pulses of Sand Martins moving south. On the way home I had to pause at Lydd to pick up some wine-making gear where 120 House Martins were hawking flying ants over the Rype; back home at NR this afternoon I noted a steady trickle of southbound Swallows over the garden to complete the suite of migrating hirundines. 

                                  Wheatears 

                                  Common Sandpiper

Redstart

Warm, dry and sunny, SW3 - This morning`s Ted walk took us on a long, looping walk around the Dungeness peninsula which initially appeared to be largely bird-less apart for a couple of flyovers from a Greenshank and a Great Spotted Woodpecker. The bushes in the Trapping Area yielded very little other than a few Common and Lesser Whitethroats, Blackcaps and Chiffs as confirmed by Jacob at the Obs who`d been trapping since dawn without much joy apart from a Tree Pipit. Anyhow, we then wandered back via Long Pits to give Ted a swim followed by a check of the wigwams where a small flock of passerines comprised mainly Linnets, Lesser and Common Whitethroats, plus two Stonechats and a smart Whinchat. Further along the willow scrub an immature Redstart flicked down to feed on the shingle and a Clouded Yellow basked in the sunshine. It was then on to ARC and a walk down to the pines where a few more common warblers were noted but not much else.

                                  Ted cooling off

                                 Clouded Yellow

                                  Lunar Thorn - New for the garden trap

Yesterday a tour of the reserve produced lower numbers of Common Terns than earlier in the week and just singles of Common Sandpiper and Little Ringed Plover on the passage wader front. However, the bay was heaving with shorebirds on a rising tide enabling the following counts, and very much a minimum for each species: Oystercatcher 720, Curlew 380, Bar-tailed Godwit 10, Black-tailed Godwit 2, Dunlin 4, Little Egret 6, Sandwich Tern 50, Common Tern 20 and a thousand plus Black-headed, Common and Mediterranean Gulls. 

Common Terns

Warm, dry and sunny, NE 4 - Having been away for a week in deepest Oxfordshire at the Cropredy Music Festival it felt good to return to the coast where a cooling easterly airflow tempered the warmth of the summer`s fourth "official" heatwave. An afternoon visit to the reserve saw at least 220 Common Terns active on Burrowes, the majority sat on a sand bar in front of Firth Lookout. Despite a thorough search through the flock I could find nothing unusual, although it was good to see at least 30 juveniles in the mix of majority adults. Also noted two Little Ringed Plovers, a fly over Greenshank and two Pintail within increasing numbers of Teal since my last visit. Over the road from Hanson hide two Black-tailed Godwits, five Great White Egrets and a Garganey were the highlights, while Marsh Harrier, Kestrel, Sparrowhawk and Buzzard were all noted. 

                                 Common Terns - Firth Lookout

Black-necked Grebes

Cool and cloudy, drizzle - SW5 - Yesterday a party of five Black-necked Grebes discovered on south lake comprised an adult in breeding plumage and four juvenile types, so probably a family group, and a most unusual occurrence. My pics were rubbish, but thankfully Dave Scott`s were not, as depicted below; thanks Dave. This morning with the wind picking up as named Storm Floris swept in off the Atlantic I could only find three of the grebes amongst a large mixed flock of waterfowl: Pochard 210, Tufted Duck 180, Coot 130, Shoveler 25, Gadwall 18, Teal 6, Great Crested Grebe 23, Dabchick 12 and a Pintail. We then moved on to the point for a brief seawatch by the hide, joining a trio of birders from Thanet, where a single Shag (scarce here) was on the sea within a flock of large gulls including several Yellow-legged Gulls and 20 Commic Terns. There was also a steady down-Channel procession of Gannets, Sandwich Terns and Kittiwakes. 

                                  Black-necked Grebes - Lade (by Dave Scott)

                                   Black-necked Grebes - Lade (by Dave Scott)

Great White Egrets

Warm, cloudy, NW 2 - This morning`s Ted walk took us first to Dengemarsh where there was plenty of activity from volunteers strimming the fence around hayfield 3 and farmers moving cattle into hayfield 1 via Springfield Bridge. From the hide four Great White Egrets were present along with three Grey Herons and the usual variety of diving ducks, grebes, Coots, Cormorants and gulls, plus a pulse of 50 southbound Sand Martins. Two Common Sandpipers gave close views while it was sad to watch the demise of a moribund Common Tern chick as the parent bird looked on. We then moved on to ARC where a Night Heron had been reported earlier. The willow scrub around Tower Pits looked perfect for this crepuscular heron which quite likely is the bird from last weekend and still present somewhere amongst the willow scrub across the wetlands. From Screen hide two more Great White Egrets, a Little Ringed Plover, a Dunlin and two Common Sandpipers amongst a host of wildfowl.

                                 Great White Egret - one of four on the lake

                                  Adult Common Tern - Dengemarsh

                                  Moribund Common Tern chick - Dengemarsh

                                  Common Sandpipers - Dengemarsh

Yesterday morning we walked the peninsula where Whitethroat, Blackcap, Chiffchaff and Willow Warbler were all seen (but mostly heard) in the Trapping Area, along with Reed and Sedge Warblers around Long Pits, a Wheatear and a Stonechat in the Desert and a Whinchat (my first of the autumn) by the wigwams. Elsewhere this week a large dung heap along Hope Lane, NR has attracted a steady flow of alba wagtails and several passage Yellow Wagtails. The garden moth trap has seen lesser numbers coming to light since the last heat wave but new species keep dropping in, including an Oak Eggar and a Svensson`s Copper Underwing, plus a second Striped Hawk-moth and a third Tree-lichen Beauty. 

    Svensson`s Copper Underwing - New for site

    Oak Eggar - First for the site