10 species of warblers and a Lesser Yellowlegs!

Lade - 0600hrs  - cool, overcast, drizzle, n 2 - Superb range of warblers on the local patch this morning commencing with garden-singing Willow Warblers and Blackcaps whilst clearing the moth trap (30 macros of five species, mainly Tawny Shears). We stomped across the shingle to Mockmill Sewer which was jumping with singing Linnets, Reed Buntings, Sedge and Reed Warblers, Common Whitethroats, two Cetti`s and a `reeling` Grasshopper Warbler, only my second Lade record. In the scrub behind south lake a Lesser Whitethroat and Garden Warbler were seen and heard along with two Cuckoos and a distant Short-eared Owl quartering the rough ground by the airfield. A Grey Plover and several Med Gulls flew over calling, a summer plum Black-necked Grebe swam on the water and two Common Sandpipers flitted over the lake, our first of the year, if only I was keeping such a list... A singing Chiffchaff in the willow swamp was the 10th species of warbler for the morning.

                                Brimstone moth

Dungeness - 1330hrs - News came through of a Lesser Yellowlegs on Burrowes this afternoon. Unfortunately during the hour or so I was on site it stuck to the distant islands giving only limited views, although through the scope you could clearly make out its needle-like bill and yellow legs. As always a very `busy` species, darting here and there and taking short flights across the island, and a first for me at Dungeness.

                                Distant Lesser Yellowlegs

  Also on Burrowes: six Dunlin, two Greenshank, Grey Plover and Sanderling, plus the long-staying drake Ring-necked Duck, a pair of Pintail and four Whimbrels over.
Fishing boats - A 90 minute seawatch from boats this afternoon delivered a steady up-Channel passage of Common Scoters and Commic Terns, a party of two Knot and five Barwits, a few Sandwich Terns, Gannets, and Kittiwakes, plus a Bonxie.
  A text from DB told of a clutch of chats behind Jarman`s and sure enough we were soon watching two Whinchats, seven Wheatears, a Stonechat and two Whimbrels on the Desert. The lighthouse garden was also lively with Willow Warblers, Blackcap and a Redstart.