Fall of Willow Warblers

Lade - 0730hrs - warm, drizzle, sw 4 - With rain around dawn it was no surprise that the first decent fall of Willow Warblers dropped into the shelter of the willow swamp this morning. Numbers were difficult to ascertain but I counted at least 30 birds, some calling, others in sub-song, but all fuelling up on the myriad of flying insects in the humid conditions. Great stuff, and on the edge of the causeway I also had brief views of a Spotted Flycatcher, the first of the autumn. Both lakes, particularly, north were smothered in Sand Martins, around 500, plus a few House Martins and five Swifts, once again feeding off flying insects.
  An afternoon visit on a falling tide revealed a similar amount of waders to yesterday with hundreds of calidrids on the sands from the Tavern viewpoint, plus several Common and Sandwich Terns.

                                Sanderlings amongst the massed ranks on Lade bay

Scotney - 1000hr - The first 30 Barnacle Geese were back on the field by the main lake alongside three hybrid Snow/Emperor types. Also, three Whimbrels and five Curlews on the grass.
Burrowes - 1200hrs - The adult Little Stint from yesterday was still on the islands in front of Makepeace hide along with six each of Dunlin and Common Sandpiper, two Little Ringed Plovers and a Turnstone. The two Garganey were asleep in front of Firth hide and a juv Cuckoo was flushed from the track by Dennis`s hide.
Dungeness - 1500hrs  - An hour from the fishing boats yielded a trickle of Gannets, Kittiwakes, Common and Sandwich Terns and my first Bonxie of the autumn.