Chiffchaffs

Lade - warm, dry and sunny, light airs - This morning was my third visit to the local patch this week where the drop off in wildfowl and egret numbers has been noticeable, although Great Crested Grebes remain in the 50 plus bracket. Waders have included 100 Lapwings throughout with five Barwits, two Grey Plovers, a Ringed Plover and a Redshank, while today I had a protracted flight view of a Bittern as it moved between reedbeds on south lake. However, Chiffchaffs have been numerous throughout, particularly today with small flocks scattered across the desert scrub, along the main track and at the ponds where there was also a Blackcap feeding on guelder-rose berries. Also present on the desert were several Stonechats, Meadow Pipits and Blackbirds, 50 Linnets and a light overhead passage of Skylarks, plus Raven, Great Spotted and Green Woodpeckers, Kestrel and Buzzard.

                                  Chiffchaff -Desert

                                  Fox - sunbathing by the ponds

                                  Little Egret - south lake

Elsewhere this week visits to the point yielded loads more Stonechats and Chiffchaffs along with a Whinchat by the wigwams and a trickle of House Martins and Swallows through yesterday. A seawatch from the fishing boats on Wednesday produced four more Balearic Shearwaters amongst a steady stream of Gannets, Commic and Sandwich Terns and marauding Arctic Skuas. On the reserve, where it has been generally quiet, the Pectoral Sandpiper remained on Burrowes, while the American Golden Plover is still present amongst the Goldie flock in fields to the west of Scotney sandpit.    

Dungeness Migration Day

Dungeness - warm,  dry and sunny, S3 - There was a good turnout of visitors for the Migration Day event at the point this morning organised by Kent Ornithological Society and Dungeness Bird Observatory. Unfortunately there was little happening on the migration front with the bushes yielding 20 Stonechats, a couple of Chiffchaffs and several Robins; a Yellow-browed Warbler in the lighthouse garden proved very elusive, although some of my group heard it call. A Wheatear was noted by the moat, along with a few Meadow Pipits, and the group also saw a Stonechat in the hand being processed by Jacob at the Obs.  At least six Kestrels were seen along the way as well as a distant Marsh Harrier over Long Pits while we enjoyed protracted views of the Peregrine pair performing over A Station. We then joined Martin at the seawatch hide where the onshore wind delivered a steady flow of close Gannets and Sandwich Terns plus two Balearic Shearwaters and a distant party of Brent Geese heading down-Channel. 

                                  Ringing Demo at DBO

                                  Fox - car park

Elsewhere this weekend the American Golden Plover was relocated within the Goldie flock at Jury`s Gap/Scotney sand pit and the Pectoral Sandpiper remained on Burrowes. On Friday I had an adult Little Gull, seven Grey Plovers and two Bar-tailed Godwits on Lade south and a few Sanderlings and Ringed Plover along the beach.

                                  Sanderlings and Ringed Plovers - Lade beach

Pectoral Sandpiper

Warm, dry and sunny, light airs - Ted walks this week have concentrated on the farmland to the north of town where there has been an uptick in numbers of Reed Buntings and Chiffchaffs feeding in the reed-fringed ditches, and Meadow Pipits and Skylarks in the arable fields. Two Kingfishers were noted one morning along the New Cut as well as several Stonechats plus a scattering of Linnets, Yellowhammers and Chaffinches along Hope Lane. Pulses of Swallows hurried south and my first Firecrest of autumn was in the garden on Monday. The Buzzard continues to be the most noticeable bird of prey.

                                   Buzzard - New Romney

Wednesday was spent guiding for Clare and Peter from London. We started off at Jury`s Gap and Scotney sand pit searching for the AGP amongst the Golden Plovers and Lapwings but without success. However, numerous Willow Warblers, Chiffchaffs and a Sedge Warbler were noted in the scrub, while a recently drilled field attracted up to 10 Stonechats and two each of Whinchat and Wheatears plus a few Linnets, Meadow Pipits and Skylarks. The lake held a large flock of ducks, mainly Mallard, Tufted and Gadwall along with a scattering of Teal, Shoveler, Wigeon and a Pintail. Also noted nearby a flyover Marsh Harrier and a Spotted Redshank. Moving onto the reserve where the highlight was a Pectoral Sandpiper on Burrowes from Dennis`s hide along with a Greenshank, a Grey Plover and a Common Sandpiper plus a Redshank from Firth. All three species of egrets were noted including two close Cattle Egrets by the access track snapping up crickets. More common wildfowl were seen from Hanson hide as well as a moulting adult Little Gull. An hour seawatch from the fishing boats in the afternoon certainly delivered the goods with hundreds of Sandwich and Common Terns offshore attracting up to ten attendant Arctic Skuas plus plenty of fishing Gannets and a steady flow of passing Kittiwakes, Mediterranean and Little Gulls, six Balearic Shearwaters, five Guillemots, 12 Common Scoters and six Porpoises. We finished the day at Littlestone Green scanning for waders on the bay at low tide: hundreds of Curlews and Oystercatchers, 20 Ringed Plovers, three Sanderlings and singles of Grey Plover and Redshank. Also noted four Little Egrets, 20 Sandwich Terns and the odd sight of seven Grey Herons hunched up together on a sand bar. A decent day`s birding in fine company during which we rattled up 83 species, the highlights being the Pectoral Sandpiper and Balearic Shearwaters.

                                 Pectoral Sandpiper and Greenshank - Burrowes

Balearic Shearwaters

Saturday Lade - warm, dry and sunny SW 5 - A breezy, humid morning for a circuit of the local patch where 52 Cormorants, 38 Great Crested Grebes, 27 Grey Herons, 15 Little and six Great White Egrets were counted around south lake, such is the volume of fish on offer combined with a series of low islands and shallow margins suitable for the long-legs to hunt from. The habitat has been fairly similar from late summer onwards as the drought kicked in and lowered the water table; in over 20 years of watching this site I have never seen anything quite like it for numbers of herons and egrets.

                                   Grey Herons and Great White Egrets - south lake

                                  Kingfisher - Dengemarsh

                                  Pintail - ARC

Visits to the reserve since my last post have delivered distant views of a second White-winged Black Tern on ARC plus a few passage waders such as Ruff, Greenshank, Dunlin and Blackwit and a Spotted Flycatcher by the gate in the car park. The fishing boats produced up to 10 Balearic Shearwaters on Thursday with two more on Saturday plus a host of Sandwich and Common Terns, Kittiwakes, Gannets and Arctic Skuas along with single figures of Black Tern, Little Gull and a Red-throated Diver

Sunday - mild, dry, W2 - Spent the morning birding with Albert my grandson. We started at the gully which was relatively quiet apart from a Wheatear, several Chiffchaffs and Stonechats, plus a light overhead passage of Meadow Pipits. A tour of the bird reserve delivered all the usual suspects and we eventually rattled up a respectable 70 species including Greenshank, Ruff, Cattle Egrets, Sparrowhawk and a large mixed flock of common tits and warblers by the ARC car park. We missed a Pec Sand that was found on Dengemarsh before relocating to the Xmas Dell wetlands.

Clouded Yellows

Dungeness - warm, dry, sunny, NW2 - Spent the morning guiding for RSPB guests around the circular trail during which time we saw a typical range of resident and migrant species. The viz mig spectacle was provided by large flocks of hirundines coming and going over Burrowes and Dengemarsh numbering in their thousands and comprising mostly House Martins. The weather conditions were also suitable for BOPs moving through and we noted up to ten Buzzards, six Marsh Harriers, four Kestrels and a Sparrowhawk during the morning. Waders included seven Dunlins, four Black-tailed Godwits, a Ruff and a Greenshank while Cattle Egrets were seen at three locations numbering 14 in total (inc four from the access road by the bend feeding on crickets). Also noted: a Kingfisher, several Bearded Tits and Cetti`s Warblers, a Whitethroat and a Stonechat, plus all the usual gulls, feral geese, ducks, egrets and Grey Herons. Migrant Hawkers were numerous and we saw at least six Clouded Yellow butterflies along the way.

                                  Clancy`s Rustic

                                       Vestal

                                  Frosted Orange

At home the garden moth trap has been busy with the first Clancy`s Rustic and Vestal typical autumn highlights

Bonelli`s Warbler

Dungeness - humid, drizzle, light airs - We started off along the beach by the fishing boats this morning where plenty of Sandwich Terns fished offshore alongside several Arctic Skuas. The bushes around the point held a few Willow Warblers and Blackcaps plus a Whinchat and Wheatear in the desert and pulses of Swallows and Sand Martins through in the murky weather conditions. Just as I was thinking of moving on news broke of a Bonelli`s Warbler found by Tom and friends at the southern end of Long Pits where it had attached itself to a large flock of Willow/Chiffs and tits. It showed reasonably well at times atop the sallows and appeared noticeably silky off-white underneath with a greenish wing panel, pale face and eye-ring; its call confirmed it to be of the Western race. Whilst there a Sparrowhawk and a calling Golden Plover were noted overhead.

                                 Bonelli`s Warbler - Long Pits

Moving onto Kerton quarry and Lade for the WeBS count where 62 Great Crested Grebes was noteworthy along with declining numbers of diving ducks and dabblers. The margins continue to attract a host of egrets and Grey Herons, gulls, terns and Cormorants plus at least three Common Sandpipers. Large numbers of Swallows and Sand Martins pulsed through both sites as the drizzle came and went including a pure white albino Swallow. 

Elsewhere today a White-winged Black Tern was seen on ARC earlier, before moving to Burrowes where the Red-necked Phalarope is still present. Over the weekend the seawatchers struck gold with a Brown Booby (first for Dungeness) off the fishing boats, while the moulting adult American Golden Plover remained within the Golden Plover flock at Jury`s Gap.

Yellow Wagtails

Lade - warm, dry and sunny, W2 - Once the rain cleared (just after 8am) we headed down to the local patch where there had been a noticeable drop in of migrants particularly on the desert section. Along the main track at least 50 Yellow Wagtails (one of which was ringed) had paused along the fence-line to feed on the myriad of flying insects emerging from the sward and broom. Also present were at least 100 Starlings, 50 House Sparrows, 10 Stonechats, 20 Meadow Pipits, three Wheatears and a scattering of Robins, Chiffchaffs and Willow Warblers. At the ponds the bushes were alive with mainly Chiffchaffs, Willow and Reed Warblers (some in song), plus a few Blackbirds, Blackcaps, Lesser and Common Whitethroats, a Garden Warbler and a Great Spotted Woodpecker. The lakes held good numbers of common wildfowl, grebes and egrets with several Common Sandpipers and a Greenshank on south lake.

                                  Yellow Wagtails - desert

                                  Garden Warbler - ponds

We then moved onto the point for a wander along the foreshore from the new lighthouse to Penn Bars where at least 12 Wheatears and three Black Redstarts (two singing from A station) were present along with several each of  Linnet, Stonechat, Pied Wagtail and Meadow Pipit. Offshore a trickle of Sandwich Terns headed into Rye bay along with a few Gannets fishing further out.

                                  Wheatears - Dungeness