Gannet on the beach

 Lade - overcast, mist, E2 - A grim weekend of weather with low cloud and murk throughout and even a bit of mizzle this morning. On Saturday we did a circular Ted walk outback of Romney where several singing Yellowhammers were the highlight along with two Snipe disturbed from along the banks of the New Cut, plus the usual handful of Skylarks over the arable lands but precious little else. Later on yesterday afternoon I received a text from a friend down the coast concerning an adult Gannet sat in the sand dunes at Greatstone. I thanked her for the info and assumed that the night shift would predate it. However, during a circuit of the local patch today the bird was still present, although it had moved out onto a shingle ridge in front of the Romney Tavern. It was unmarked, but did not look well (maybe a victim of bird flu?) so I contacted RSPCA Mallydams and hoped for the best. Elsewhere around Lade five Goldeneyes remained on south lake, while the Cattle Egrets and Whooper Swans were still at Cockle Bridge early afternoon.

                                 Gannet - Greatstone Beach

Black Redstart

Dungeness - mild, cloudy, light airs - Another very mild morning for a circuit of the estate where the highlight was a cracking adult male Black Redstart on the fence around the new lighthouse; and it even delivered a short burst of song. Elsewhere, three Skylarks, six Stonechats and a Meadow Pipit were in song along the foreshore, plus a Chiffchaff and a Goldcrest in the lighthouse garden and a Snipe flushed by Ted from behind the Sanctuary. We then checked Lade as the rain set in where five Goldeneyes were on south lake along with a Great White Egret. 

                                   Black Redstart - Dungeness

Yesterday, in warm sunshine, after a foreshore walk at Dungeness we walked the track down to Dengemarsh where Lapwings were already displaying over the Boulderwall fields along with a host of wildfowl including two White-fronted Geese and the usual egrets and harriers. From the ramp several Cetti`s Warblers and Bearded Tits were heard, plus a Firecrest in the ARC car park willows.  On the way home the Cattle Egret flock was present at Cockles Bridge and the Whooper Swans in the field opposite; while Owen relocated the drake American Wigeon at Scotney from the S bend.

Spring Birdsong

Lade - warm, dry and sunny, light airs - With the first days of metrological spring upon us it felt good to hear the first real burst of bird song across the local patch this morning, including Skylark, Meadow Pipit, Stonechat, Reed Bunting, Song Thrush, Goldfinch, Cetti`s Warbler and Chiffchaff. Duck numbers were significantly down since my last visit, although five Goldeneyes remained on south lake. Yesterday, a circuit of Dungeness delivered the usual resident species on the land, plus a few dabbling ducks past the fishing boats, most notably Pintail and Shoveler, plus a Sandwich Tern and 40 roosting Sanderlings on the beach by the lifeboat station. The wetlands at Boulderwall looked in fine condition and should prove attractive to passage waders as the spring progresses, while two Firecrest were noted in the willow scrub by ARC car park. At Cockles Bridge the egret flock was present in the sheep fold along with the Whooper Swans in the field opposite. 

                                  Goldeneye - Lade south

                                  

I`ve just finished my two winter projects. The first one was to go through my bird logs dating back to 1968 and decide what to do with them (still mulling that one over...), and secondly to build 20 more nest boxes for the fast-declining Tree Sparrows at Scotney (if there are any trees left to put them on!) and tits across Dungeness. Thanks, in advance to Owen, Jacob and Miles for erecting them this month. 

Hints of Spring

Warm, dry and cloudy, SW3 - A most pleasant couple of days of weather, particularly yesterday with the sunshine elevating temperatures into the low teens. At Lade the Dabchicks were trilling across the wetlands along with soaring/displaying Buzzards and Marsh Harriers over the Desert, while the Boulderwall wetlands was full of activity from wildfowl, Lapwings, Curlews and egrets. Today was cloudier with a blustery wind for our circuit of Dungeness during which I noted at least 10 Stonechats holding territories, plus a few singing Meadow Pipits, Skylarks, Dunnocks and Pied Wagtails. The sea was relatively quiet with just a couple of skeins of Brents moving up-Channel and a scattering of Great Crested Grebes, Guillemots and Red-throated Divers on the sea. Cockles Bridge held a flock of egrets (15 Cattle and seven Little) on the sheep paddock and a pair of Whooper Swans in the cereal field opposite. The wintering Bewick`s Swan flock on Walland has now departed on its long and hazardous journey to their breeding grounds in northern Russia.

                                 Curlew - Boulderwall wetlands

                                  Flood water - south of Trapping Area

                                  Ted 

                                  Demolished Sewerage Plant - A Station

    Cattle and Little Egrets - Cockles Bridge

    Whooper Swans - Cockles Bridge

Sad to say that I`m from a generation of birders that has fond memories of the hey-days of the sewerage farm - Maple Cross, Perry Oaks, Reading and Wisbech spring to mind. Throughout the 1960`s most were upgraded, rendering many not so bird-rich; although I was fortunate enough to have Dunstable Sewage Works as my local patch for nearly 30 years which retained four tertiary treatment lagoons, plus additional ponds and scrapes when part of the site was designated a nature reserve. 

However, I mention this while lamenting the demolition of the small treatment plant in A Station at Dungeness this morning; for those of you not so familiar with the layout, it was the section that could be viewed from behind the seawatch hide just beyond the wall. The circular sprinklers over clinker attracted insects which in turn lured the likes of Black Redstart, Pied Wagtail, Meadow Pipit and Chiffchaff to feed, and where once I saw a Hoopoe! 

Slavonian Grebe

Cold, cloudy, showers, SW3 - After a week away up country, dealing with family matters, it felt great to be back home on the Marsh and out birding with Ted this morning, even if the weather was grim. We took a long sweeping walk around Lade and Kerton wetlands taking in Mockmill and returning via the beach. The five wintering Goldeneyes on the lakes contrasted with at least four pairs of Great Crested Grebes in various stages of their nuptials, along with singing Dunnock, Great Tit, Cetti`s Warbler and Song Thrush on the land. North lake attracted five Mediterranean Gulls while a Marsh Harrier and two Buzzards were noted over towards the airfield. Our next port-of-call was Dungeness where the assistant warden Jacob had returned for another summer season; typically, he`d already found a decent bird - a Slavonian Grebe on the sea, and no doubt may more will follow over the coming months. 

                                    Sanderling and Dunlin - Lade bay

Chiffchaff

Cold and wet, S 5 - A miserable day for the monthly WeBS and harrier counts with a biting wind swirling around from the north. At Lade there was not much change to the wildfowl with six Goldeneyes the highlight and an increase in Great Crested Grebes to 12 as pairs move back in for the forthcoming breeding season. This afternoon I ventured out on Walland with Chris where 21 Marsh Harriers (11 of which were males) came to roost at Cheyne Court. There was little else of note due to the grim weather conditions other than a Peregrine, a Kestrel, c10 calling Water Rails and several Cetti`s Warblers.

                                   Chiffchaff - Lade

On Friday, in much fairer weather, a singing Chiffchaff at Lade was my first of the year, while yesterday at least eight Snipe were disturbed from farmland cover along the New Cutt, plus several singing Skylarks, 20 Fieldfares and four Yellowhammers along Hope Lane.

Barnacle Goose

Dengemarsh - mild, dry and sunny, light airs - A half decent day at last with the sun putting in a long overdue appearance and also being appreciated by the Hammonds Corner Little Owl sunning itself on the corner gutter of a barn. First off we walked the gully which was pretty much devoid of bird life apart from a couple of Ravens overhead and a singing Cetti`s Warbler. We then slogged around a soggy circular route where there was a noticeable increase in Reed Buntings across the wetlands with several already in song, a trio of Stonechats, more Cetti`s Warblers, Bearded Tits from the ramp and a flock of 15 Meadow Pipits on the flood field along with at least one Water Pipit. All the usual wildfowl, egrets and harriers were noted along the way plus a couple of Curlews, a Sparrowhawk and a `jangling` Corn Bunting and two singing Skylarks on the farmland. The Bouderwall fields were packed out with Lapwings, Wigeon and feral geese while a flock of Cattle Egrets flew over the car along the Lydd Road (Martin counted 21 earlier). On the way home I called in at the bay for a look at the lone Barnacle Goose reported by Owen first thing, an unusual record and the first I`ve seen here; many thanks to Dave Scott for forwarding on his superb picture below.

Elsewhere this past week a couple of drives out across Walland have yielded the Bewick`s Swan flock (complete with Nadine from the Novaya Zemlya archipelago) and the Tundra/Pink-feet flock, plus pitiful numbers of passerines such as Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Yellowhammer, Linnet, Tree Sparrow and winter thrushes. Visits to Scotney to search for last weekends Red-necked Grebe drew a blank, but I did note the Whooper Swan family on the old sand pit. The American Wigeon has eluded me since its arrival last Friday, having been seen once on ARC but mainly back around the Scotney complex where it was located by Owen today on the lake behind the farm and right of the track.

                                  Barnacle Goose - Lade Sands (by Dave Scott)