A thousand Oystercatchers

Lade - mild, cloudy, sw 3 - There was not much change on the local patch over the weekend apart from two Long-tailed Ducks showing on south lake yesterday (could only find one today) and a noticeable increase in diving ducks. Shovelers were still present in good number topping out at 220. Chiffchaff and Goldcrest continue to be latched onto a large tit flock in the willow swamp while several different Marsh Harriers hunted over the site.
  From the Tavern viewpoint 1,050 Oystercatchers was our first four figure count for a while with a combined Sanderling and Dunlin flock in similar numbers. Also of note 60 Knot and 30 Barwit, plus a Bonxie harrying the waders and gulls along the tideline.   

                                Lade bay looking towards Hythe

Dungeness - Plenty to see here this morning with a 1st winter Little Gull at the Patch, a Dartford Warbler by Channel View and the usual Caspian Gull at the fishing boat puddles. Offshore, Razorbills were in the ascendancy over Guillemots, plus the usual Kittiwakes, Great Crested Grebes and only a few Red-throated Divers and Gannets further out.
  A tour of the bird reserve delivered a drake Smew, 10 Goldeneye and six Goosanders on Burrowes, plus a male Peregrine that flew in for a bathe scattering the thousands of Lapwings and gulls. From Christmas Dell, Slavonian Grebe and a redhead Smew, and two Great White Egrets on Dengemarsh. The Boulderwall fields were full of thousands of Lapwing, Golden Plover, Wigeon, Coot, feral geese and Starling, plus another Great White and two Little Egrets. From the causeway road the Black-throated Diver could be seen on ARC. All in all a pretty decent mornings birding.
 

                                Bathing male Peregrine

                                White Nun on Burrowes

Elsewhere today the two Tundra Geese were still among the Greylags from the double bend at Scotney and the Bewick Swan flock was reported on Walland Marsh near the wind farm.