Wheatears

Dungeness - cool, cloudy E2 - A walk along the foreshore this morning produced a surprising amount of breeding bird action, considering the recent poor weather and the amount of disturbance from human activity. At least two broods of well-grown juvenile Wheatears were the highlight, with an adult still feeding a juv, along with fledged Stonechats and Reed Buntings, plus presence from Skylark, Linnet and Meadow Pipit. On the reserve a smart Cattle Egret was on the Boulderwall fields following the stock while Redshank, Lapwing and Little Ringed Plover were on the wetlands. Over the road from Hanson hide an adult Wood Sandpiper was new in and probably a failed breeder on the move south; that`s autumn on the way then! An eclipse Red-crested Pochard was at the south end of ARC. Moving onto Kerton Road where at least three fully fledged Lapwing chicks and a Redshank chick roamed the main island margins, and Lade pits where already Pochard numbers were on the rise. 

                                  Wheatears - Dungeness

                                  Juvenile Stonechat - Dungeness

                                  Cattle Egret - Boulderwall fields

    Adult Wood Sandpiper - ARC                

Over the weekend the garden moth trap delivered a decent return including a pristine Lime Hawk-moth and a tatty Scorched Wing which was new for the site and something of a surprise being a woodland moth although there are oaks in the town park.

    Lime Hawk-moth

    Scorched Wing

Pas-de-Calais

Pas-de-Calais - Just returned from a five day break across the Channel based at Hardelot-Plage south of Boulogne, where the weather was unsettled to say the least being cool with sunshine/showers and a fresh westerly wind. However, pre-breakfast outings along the foreshore and sand-dunes did deliver a few Sandwich Terns and Rock Pipits, a Crested Lark and a Fan-tailed Warbler, plus Serin and several singing Black Redstarts around the town. A trip to Guines marshes from the boardwalk was good for a variety of warblers including Icterine, Marsh, Grasshopper and Willow Warblers as well as Yellow Wagtail, Short-toed Treecreeper, Cuckoo, Turtle Dove and Marsh Harrier along with a pair of Black-winged Stilts the first I`ve seen at this location; on the way back through the forest we had good views of a Honey Buzzard soaring overhead.  A visit to the aquarium at Boulogne was spectacular (and highly recommended) followed by views of the Kittiwake colony outside along the harbour arm. 

                                  Guines Marshes

                                  Black-winged Stilt - Guines

                                  Kittiwake colony - Boulogne

Thursday was spent at Parc du Marquenterre the famous nature reserve on the Somme estuary and one of my favourite birding locations, with the added bonus of the fabulous restaurant in the visitor centre - the French certainly know how to lunch! After tracking down Crested Tits in the car park pines we moved onto the wetlands where Cuckoo and Turtle Dove were commonplace across the site along with eight species of warblers, singing Nightingales and a Whinchat. The lagoons and lakes held hundreds of Avocets, Shelducks, Pochards, nesting Black-headed Gulls and Cormorants, Common Terns, Black-necked and Little Grebes, Redshanks, Black-winged Stilts and Lapwings, plus three passage Black-tailed Godwits and a Common Sandpiper. Large numbers of Swifts and hirundines streamed overhead in the cool conditions. The final hide is always a treat at this time of year as it overlooks a large mixed colony of tree-top nesting White Storks, Grey and Night Herons, Little, Great and Cattle Egrets and Spoonbills. Its always a pleasure to visit France where the people are laid back, the food is superb and the roads pot-hole free!

    Marquenterre wetlands

    Avocets and Black-winged Stilt

    Cormorant colony

    Great White Egret

    Black-tailed Godwits

    Adult Spoonbill

    Konic Ponies

    Marquenterre hide

    White Storks

Swifts

Dengemarsh Gully - cool, cloudy, SW 4 - With the recent heatwave all but a distant memory this weeks weather has been dominated by a low pressure system sweeping in off the Atlantic delivering much-needed rain, cooler temperatures and a blustery wind reaching near gale force at times. As a result birding has been difficult with nothing new of note apart from an increase in Swifts and House Martins over the lakes, while I had several small flocks of Swifts coming in off the sea yesterday morning. Today we walked the gully and the foreshore along Penn Bars searching for Ringed Plovers where a single pair was present plus breeding Wheatear, Skylark and Meadow Pipit. In the gully scrub there was plenty of fledgling activity from nesting Linnet, Sedge Warbler, Whitethroat and Stonechat but little else. From Springfield bridge a few more Swifts passed over in the strengthening breeze and a Corn Bunting sang from an adjacent weedy field. Also of note this week were two pairs of Little Ringed Plovers with chicks.

                                    Mute Swan family - ARC

                                  Ringed Plovers

Winged Insects

Warm, dry and sunny - This past week`s heatwave has certainly witnessed a rush of winged insect activity. From the garden moth trap to an influx of migrant Painted Lady and Red Admiral butterflies and odenata in between there has been plenty of non-avian interest across the Dungeness peninsula and elsewhere locally. Around Dengemarsh the wetlands produced large numbers of Black-tailed Skimmers, Four-spot Chasers and Emperors along with countless blue damselflies. It was also good to see a couple of Brown Hares during my Ringed Plover survey and find another pair on territory with young. Little Ringed Plover, Redshank, Lapwing and Oystercatcher have all been seen with young around the wetlands recently. At least 15 pairs of Common Terns have taken to the rafts on Dengemarsh and during a circuit on Friday two Cattle Egrets and a protracted flight view of a Bittern were noted as well as Bearded Tits with fledglings. This morning, after a visit to Lade, we checked out Tower Pits where there was no sign of yesterdays Golden Oriole but good views of Hobby, Cuckoo and a pair of Marsh Harriers.

                                   Black-tailed Skimmer

                                 Broad-bodied Chaser

                                   Four-spotted Chaser

                                  Painted Ladies

    Common Terns, Dengemarsh

                                  Mute Swan with a kinked neck

                                  Ted at the ramp

Nightingales and Turtle Doves

Orlestone Forest - warm. dry and still - 0430hrs - It was an early morning wake-up call, in perfect weather conditions, and away to the woods for a guided dawn chorus walk for a friend from New Romney. As soon as we parked up in the half-light we were greeted to a cacophony of bird song from three competing Nightingales and several Blackcaps plus a supporting cast of Blackbird, Song Thrush, Blue and Great Tits, Wren, Robin, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Woodpigeon and a lone Goldcrest. We stood there for a good while and just soaked it all up, a wall of avian noise - terrific stuff! During the course of the circular walk we racked up at least 10 singing Nightingales as well as three Turtle Doves, two Garden Warblers and a Willow Warbler along with Treecreeper, Nuthatch and Great Spotted Woodpecker. On the way home we called in at Kenardington crossing where two more `purring` Turtle Doves, another Nightingale, a Cetti`s Warbler and a Cuckoo were noted, plus several Yellowhammers, Goldfinches, Whitethroats, Buzzards and a Mistle Thrush. 

                                   Yellowhammer - Kennardington

After breakfast I headed out on a Ted walk to Lade, Kerton Quarry and the reserve where there was little change from previous visits this week.

                                  Carrion Crow and Greylag - Boulderwall

Greenish Warbler

Hot, dry and sunny, E2 - The heatwave continued across the weekend with a high pressure system settling over central Europe delivering a humid airflow from the south along with a noticeable arrival of Painted Ladies, mostly along the coastal strip but also a few around New Romney. Today`s highlight was a particularly showy and vocal Greenish Warbler discovered by Jacob in the north-west corner of the Trapping Area. I particularly enjoyed its jerky, rambling song and, when it moved low down through cover, its distinctive pale supercilium and faint wing-bars. My pics weren`t up to much but many thanks to Dave Scott who did far better (see below).  Around midday whilst on the foreshore beachcombing with our Kate I had distant views of a Honey Buzzard soaring over the peninsula, thanks to Dave Bunney via WhatsAp; two more were seen later along with two White Storks. Also reported over the peninsula this weekend were Red Kite and Bee-eater plus Black-winged Stilt, Garganey and Wood Sandpiper on the reserve.

                      Greenish Warbler - Trapping Area (by Dave Scott)

The muggy overnight conditions were perfect for moth activity with 20 species of macros coming to light in the garden trap and on the shed wall.

                                  Peppered Moth

                                  Burnished Brass

                                  Willow Beauty 

Red-breasted Flycatcher

Dungeness - warm, dry and sunny, S 3 - For today`s Ted walk we headed down to the estate where there had been a small, overnight fall of Spotted Flycatchers, mostly around the Long Pits where there was up to ten birds with others reported across the peninsula. The Spotted Flycatcher is one of the latest long-distance migrants to reach our shores where its status is one of steep decline and as a result is Red Listed; thirty years ago ten plus would`ve been considered normal, but not so today. However, much rarer and certainly not an annual spring migrant, was a Red-breasted Flycatcher discovered in the moat that performed throughout the morning in willow scrub by a net ride. Brief snatches of song were heard along with a Wren-like rattling call; I presume, as it lacked an orange chin and was singing that it was most likely a 1st year male, unless, of course, females of this species sing?  Whatever the outcome it was a smart bird and many thanks to Dave Scott for his superb pic and video clip reproduced below.

    Spotted Flycatchers - Long Pits

    Red-breasted Flycatcher - DBO Moat (by Dave Scott)

                                           Red-breasted Flycatcher (by Dave Scott)