Pintails

Dungeness - warm, dry and sunny - For once a superb day and a relief to be out in the field after the dull, dreary wet weather of late. We started at Lade to give Ted a bit of leg room out across the desert towards the water tower and back along Mockmill behind the `mirrors` where two Buzzards and a Kestrel were hunting the wet fields. There was no change to the duck numbers across both waters with five Goldeneyes and a drake Pintail still present. Moving onto Dungeness a 30 minute seawatch from the boats delivered plenty of auks, Kitts and Gannets moving offshore plus a party of five east-bound Pintails. Next stop the bird reserve where hundreds more wintering wildfowl were on ARC from Hanson hide including two more Pintails, four Shelducks and two Goldeneyes. The wet fields across the road at Boulderwall looked superb in the bright sunshine and perfect habitat for the wader passage this spring, for which I`ve got high hopes... However, today c500 Lapwings and a couple of Curlews were present along with a hundred or more feral geese and three cracking drake Pintails that dropped in on what was formerly Tanners Pool. Across the wetlands down to Dengemarsh at least six Great White Egrets were noted along with `pinging`  Bearded Tits from the ramp, several Marsh Harriers, Buzzards, Kestrels and a Sparrowhawk, and a Water Pipit on the flood. We finished the day off checking the bay waders where eight species were logged. Bird of the day though was the Pintail, surely the smartest of ducks.

Elsewhere this past week the two wintering Whooper Swans are still around Walland, although mobile; this morning they were reported from Cockles Bridge. On Monday I saw seven distant Tundra/Pink-footed Geese and 42 Bewick`s at Midley, plus hundreds of Fieldfares and a few Redwings, Yammers and Tree Sparrows along the remaining hedgerows that have survived the ravages of the landowners. The small grey goose flock containing White-fronts, Tundra/Pink-footed Geese was also reported on Walland today from Beaconsfield fleet by SM. 

                                  Boulderwall Wetlands

    Pintails - ARC   

Cormorants

Mild, cloudy, showers - A seawatch from the boats this morning in a fine drizzle was notable for the great skeins of Cormorants coming out of the bay; at least 6,000 birds but probably many more were on the move. Also noted on the sea, feeding on a shoal of fish amongst the Cormorants, were hundreds more auks, Kittiwakes, Gannets and a few Red-throated Divers.

                                  Cormorants off the fishing boats

                                   Mockmill flood

                                  Lade north

This past week has been taken up mostly with family matters but when I`ve been out birding with Ted at Lade, Dungeness and around New Romney nothing much has changed; Lade still has up to five Goldeneyes and a Pintail, while a few Snipe have been disturbed from the wet fields behind south lake and Lade north. The bay continues to attract good numbers of shorebirds.

Seabirds

Dungeness - mild, cloudy, SE 3 - The past few days have been predictably quiet around Lade and on the RSPB reserve where the Great Northern Diver continues its winter sojourn. While time spent walking the bay checking for Snow Buntings along the strandline has been fruitless it has enabled me to clock-up all 11 species of wintering shorebirds, including three Black-tailed Godwits from Littlestone Green. On Monday, together with Chris P, we checked the foreshore at various points between Hythe and Dymchurch for Purple Sands and a 1st winter Glaucous Gull (reported from Willop Basin) without success; although we did note a few Teal on the bay, plus Kittiwakes and a Little Gull at Hythe. Also noted along the way two decomposing Harbour Porpoises and a piece of flotsam complete with Goose Barnacles. On Tuesday an hour at the fishing boats in the morning proved productive with the brisk onshore wind delivering hundreds of close Guillemots, Razorbills, Kittiwakes and Gannets, several Red-throated Divers and a party of 30 Brent Geese and five Little Gulls heading up-Channel. This morning we walked the foreshore at Dungeness down to the Patch hide (which is now a sorry old sight) where plenty more auks, Gannets, gulls, Red-throats and a couple of Fulmars were rounding the point. 

                                   Sanderlings - Lade beach

                                  Kittiwake - fishing boats

                                 Goose Barnacles - Lade beach

    Brents - fishing boats

    Patch hide

Wildfowl and Harriers

Mild, cloudy, light airs - Perfect weather for counting birds, being calm and dry with good light. The monthly WeBS count at Lade and Kerton wetlands produced low numbers of ducks now that Friday`s flock of c400 Teal had moved on. The highlights were five Goldeneyes and a single drake Pintail, while only Pochard, Tufted Duck and Coot reached three figures. Also noted two Buzzards, Kingfisher, Green Woodpecker and several Meadow Pipits. Called in at the reserve where the Boulderwall fields held the usual feral geese but little else. However, Burrowes was stacked out with large gulls, Cormorants, common ducks (including two Goldeneyes and four Pintails) and Lapwings, plus the wintering Great Northern Diver in front of Coward hide, two Kingfishers and at least five Great White Egrets scattered around the margins. At Cockles Bridge the field opposite hosted the regular pair of Whooper Swans amongst the Mutes.

                                  Goldeneye - Lade

                                  Great Northern Diver - Burrowes

This afternoon I joined Chris for the harrier count out on Walland Marsh where 16 Marsh Harriers came to roost along with a stunning adult male Hen Harrier. Also noted from our watchpoint: c100 Fieldfares, 57 Corn Buntings, 50 Linnets, hundreds of flighty Lapwings, 10 Snipe, two Buzzards, three Kestrels and several calling Golden Plovers, Water Rails and Cetti`s Warblers. On the walk back to the car in the dark the Bewick`s Swan flock left Midley, wooping loudly, as they flew to roost on the reservoir 

Water Pipit

Dengemarsh - Dry and sunny, light airs - A decent day at last; although it looks as though the rain is back tomorrow. However, we started at the gully where the highlight was a Firecrest amongst very few passerines but did include two Redwings, three Ravens and a singing Cetti`s Warbler. From Springfield Bridge several Marsh Harriers were making the most of the fine weather quartering the wetlands with good numbers of common wildfowl and gulls on the lake, plus three Great White Egrets and calling Bearded Tits. The Flood held around 20 Pied Wagtails, 50 Starlings and a single Water Pipit, presumably the over-wintering bird; 50 more Pied Wagtails were also noted along the range road near Galloways. Next stop Scotney where Owen had earlier reported a Little Stint on the roadside sward opposite the lay-bye, which took some relocating over by the edge of the lake amongst several Redshanks, four Ruffs and hundreds of nervy Lapwings and Golden Plovers as the shepherd was moving the sheep flock. The main lake was heaving with hundreds of Coots and ducks; mostly Wigeon, Teal, Pochard, Tufted Duck and Shoveler, plus five Barnacle Geese and an array of feral Greylags and Egyptian Geese. At Pigwell the Little Owl was enjoying the sunshine from its usual perch atop the broken barn.

                                   Little Owl - Lydd

Elsewhere this past week we`ve had the two Whooper Swans and various numbers of Bewick`s Swans (max of 20 from Caldecote Lane) at several locations around Lydd; 12 Cattle Egrets along the Airport Road; a few Redwings, three Goldeneyes and a Pintail at Lade; and a Firecrest in our New Romney garden and also in the holm oaks at Sainsbury`s.

Pink-footed Goose

Scotney - cold, misty, drizzle, light airs - We spent the morning at the Scotney complex in grim light with a dank atmosphere which apparently, according to the weather forecast, was the calm before the named Storm Goretti sweeps in off the Atlantic this evening delivering gale force winds and a bucket load of rain. At the sand pit the immature Scaup was still present amongst a flock of Tufted Ducks and various skeins of geese flew over, being moved around by gas-guns; mostly hundreds of Greylags, several White-fronts and a lone Pink-footed Goose within a flock of 20 Greylags that flew off towards Camber. Waders present around the sheep fold included Lapwings and Golden Plovers, a Green Sandpiper and Redshank plus several Snipe and a Little Stint. The roadside lakes were stacked out with large numbers of wintering ducks, feral geese and Coots, plus two Black-necked Grebes at the Sussex end. Whilst scanning from the double bends a Spoonbill flew in from Camber direction and landed on the back of the main island but was only viewable from the road down to the farm. At Dennes Lane 40 White-fronts and 50 Egyptian Geese were close to the road and on the way home at least 10 Corn Buntings were noted along Caldecote Lane.

                                  White-fronted and Egyptian Geese - Lydd

 

Frozen!

 Lade - Cold, dry and sunny - Following several nights of sub-zero temperatures (-6 C last night) it was no surprise that both lakes and the willow swamp were entirely frozen over. The only birds present were a few flocks of Common and Black-headed Gulls along with a handful of dabbling ducks roosting on the ice. However, several Water Rails were noted along the causeway and around the frosted margins. We walked Mockmill disturbing four Snipes while three Buzzards and two Kestrels were on patrol behind the `mirrors`. 

                                  South Lake

                                 North Lake

                                  Pale morph Buzzard

Elsewhere over the weekend before the freeze-up a drake Pintail was on south lake along with three Goldeneyes, while a Short-eared Owl and a Red-breasted Merganser were also reported. Farmland walks around New Romney yielded Water Rail, Snipe and Kingfisher along the New Cut, plus Firecrest and Chiffchaff in the garden.