Asian Hornet

Lade - Saturday - warm, dry and windy, S 5 - I wasn't expecting much this morning due to a strong southerly wind blowing across the shingle, but almost the first bird noted was a Short-eared Owl being mobbed by two crows out on the Desert towards the water tower, which was our first of the autumn. Also present a Wheatear and Stonechat, plus five Swallows scuttling south. On south lake two Great White Egrets, a Sandwich Tern and flight views of a Bittern. Very quiet passerine wise with only a few Chiffchaffs and Goldfinches seen in the sheltered willow swamp.
  In the afternoon I tried a one hour seawatch from the beach looking across the sea just after high tide. Most birds were distant but did included 100 Gannets, 50 Kittiwakes, 20 Med Gulls and 30 Sandwich Terns.
  The weather continued unseasonably warm with 22C recorded in the garden early afternoon.

                                Sandwich Tern over south lake

                                Turnstone, Lade bay

                               Great White Egret, Lade

Sunday - warm, dry, cloudy, SSE 2 - Dungeness - With lighter winds this morning we walked the peninsula from the lifeboat station to the Obs, but there were few grounded migrants and no sign of any wheatears. Viz mig comprised a steady trickle of Swallow, Mipit, Skylark, Goldfinch, alba wagtails, Siskin (one flock of 30), Greenfinch and Chaffinch. Plenty of Kestrels were noted along with one or two Chiffchaffs, Stonechats, Blackbirds and Song Thrushes, but no sign of the Wryneck at the southern end of the Desert. From the fishing boats a flock of 50 Mediterranean Gulls was noteworthy.
  A check of the local patch at Lade revealed two Great White Egrets, Sparrowhawk, Marsh Harrier, Green Woodpecker, Goldfinches over and a few Chiffchaffs by the ponds.
  An afternoon visit to ARC yielded few waders from Hanson hide apart from Ruff and Golden Plover, plus Black-necked Grebe and Pintails on the lake. There was no sign of the Yellow-browed Warbler and Ring Ouzels on Tower Pits. Very quiet on Burrowes with just the usual egrets, ducks and Cormorants.
  At the fishing boats hundreds of Kittiwakes and Med Gulls offshore, plus Sandwich Terns, a few auks and Gannets and up to 10 Arctic Skuas. Popped into the Obs on the way home to view the Asian Hornet, a magnificent but unwelcome beast.

                                          Asian Hornet, DBO