Dungeness - cool and cloudy, SW 4 - An overcast morning with the threat of rain produced ideal light conditions for a seawatch, and there were plenty of birds on the move down-Channel as we joined Jacob and Charlotte at the fishing boats. Almost at once they called out two close Little Auks fizzing by (which I managed to pick out with the bins) one of which landed on the sea and quickly disappeared from view in the swell. Not long after Jacob picked up a Grey Phalarope about half-way out that was only discernible through a scope; interestingly both species were not seen by the watchers in the hide. However, the bulk numbers were provided by a steady stream of auk sp, Razorbills and Kittiwakes and lesser numbers of Gannets further out. Also passing westwards were several Sandwich Terns, Mediterranean and Little Gulls, two pale morph Arctic Skuas and a Brent Goose as well as a scattering of Red-throated Divers fishing just offshore along with two Grey Seals. Pulses of Starlings raced in-off numbering in the low hundreds, while ten Skylarks and a Merlin were noted further along the beach towards the lifeboat station. A decent couple of hours then, as Little Auks are hard to come by in the Channel and certainly not a bird I now see annually. (ref. trektellen website for today`s seawatch details).
Next stop the reserve where the re-contouring of Boulderwall fields is really taking shape and hopefully should benefit the breeding Lapwings and Redshanks next spring. The new hide where Makepeace once stood has now been officially re-named as the Shirley Coward hide and it was from here that an obliging Slavonian Grebe could be seen fishing close by. Elsewhere around Burrowes all the usual wildfowl, egrets, harriers and Lapwings were present, and likewise over the road on ARC. Driving across the causeway road two Peregrines tussling with one another almost got hit by a lorry as they flew towards New Diggings. Checks of Kerton quarry and Lade pits proved fruitless apart from a redhead Goldeneye on south lake, presumably the bird seen on Monday.
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