Brent Geese

Dungeness - mild, overcast, SE 4 - One of my favourite migratory spectacles of autumn at Dungeness is the down-Channel passage of Brent Geese, which was in full flow today and last Friday from the fishing boats. The dark-bellied race breed on the Arctic tundra of northern Russia and Siberia and spend the winter period on the estuaries and intertidal harbour zones of southern England and northern France where they seek out their traditional food of eel-grass. This morning straggly flocks of varying sizes clipped the point; some were so close that you could hear their yelping contact calls - great stuff! There was also a good supporting cast from Gannet, Common Scoter, Red-throated Diver, Razorbill, Guillemot, Kittiwake, Mediterranean Gull (particularly on Friday) and Arctic Skua; Long-tailed Skua and Sooty Shearwater were also noted earlier plus a Sabine`s Gull and a Leachs`s Petrel this afternoon. For a detailed report on todays sea-watch checkout Trektellen this evening.

Yesterday`s WeBS count at Lade recorded a dramatic drop-off in duck numbers since last month, which is fairly typical for this time of year. However, with several shingle islands still present on south lake, and high tide approaching, 100 Lapwings were joined by 15 Grey Plovers, five Bar-tailed Godwits and a Greenshank; 300 Curlews and five Whimbrels flew to roost on the desert. Friday`s Black Tern, present on north lake, had departed, but there was still plenty of Chiffchaffs around the ponds plus a Goldcrest calling from the pines in the camp. Ted walks across the local farmland over the weekend produced a few Redwings, Stonechats, Skylarks and Meadow Pipits, Kestrels, Buzzards and a Raven. Bats and hedgehogs continue to be active around the garden while the moth trap has been disappointing due to the cooler nights. 

Elsewhere over the weekend it was generally quiet on the land with the highlight being the long-staying American Golden Plover hanging out within a Goldie flock on stubble fields near Jury`s Gap/Scotney sand pit. 

    Brent Geese on the move off Dungeness

Chaffinches and Rock Pipits

Dungeness - mild, cloudy, rain pm, NW 2-4 - Spent the day guiding for a Naturetrek group commencing at the point with a seawatch from the fishing boats where a steady stream of Gannets, Common and Sandwich Terns and Mediterranean Gulls performed close to shore along with several Arctic Skuas, Guillemots, Razorbills, a Black Tern and a lone Brent Goose. Chaffinches could be heard passing overhead throughout the morning in their hundreds; while Jacob recorded over 3,000 today! On the land we also noted three Black Redstarts, several Robins, Stonechats and Chiffchaffs, two Kestrels and a steady passage of Meadow Pipits and Goldfinches overhead. The afternoon was spent on the bird reserve hide-hopping and dodging the rain at Burrowes and ARC where the highlights included a range of wildfowl (inc Shelduck, Wigeon and Pintail), several each of Great White Egret and Marsh Harrier, 10 Ringed and one Golden Plover, three Snipes a Greenshank, a Dunlin and four Rock Pipits in front of Firth. A mixed passerine flock near Coward hide contained mostly Long-tailed Tits plus a Goldcrest and three Chiffchaffs. We finished the afternoon in Hanson hide where we watched a Grey Heron wrestling with a marsh frog for ten minutes before eventually despatching it. Despite the weather we still managed to rack up 71 species for the day.

                                 Grey Heron with marsh frog - ARC

                                  Marsh Harrier - ARC

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