Dungeness - mild, cloudy, sw 5 - En-route to the seawatch pitch a late Wheatear was a surprise flitting about amongst the sea containers while several charms of Goldfinches coasted overhead into the brisk south-westerly breeze. An hour at the fishing boats produced plenty of Gannets fishing offshore, a trickle of Sandwich Terns, an Arctic Tern, a Wigeon, two Red-breasted Mergansers, Kittiwake, two Arctic Skuas, several Dunlin, a Sanderling, 10 Swallows and two House Martins. A Black-throated Diver and an Eider had been seen earlier.
It was pretty quiet around the bird reserve this morning with passerines at a premium due to the strong wind. However, there was eight Great White Egrets from Dennis`s hide on Burrowes and the juvenile Little Stint was still present. The Cattle Egret has also been reported on the fields at Boulderwall.
Lade - Working in the garden this afternoon singles of Coal Tit (probably a Continental bird), Goldcrest and Chiffchaff moved through the fir trees. Oddest of all though was a migrant Song Thrush that dropped in from on high (presumably having just crossed the Channel) and landed under the firs. It then briefly hunkered down behind a tree mallow, looking exhausted, after which it moved into deeper cover to recover from its exertions. A typical late autumn record of Song Thrush in the garden.
A trip down the beach late afternoon delivered similar wader numbers to the other day, plus at least 50 Sandwich Terns on the sands.
What sort of wader species are about currently at Lade bay ?
ReplyDeleteThere are 10 species currently. Curlew, Oystercatcher and Dunlin number in the hundreds with lesser numbers of Barwit, Knot, Ringed Plover, Sanderling, Turnstone and only a few Redshank and Grey Plover. They`re best viewed on a falling tide in the afternoon. Good luck.
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