Weekly Summary

Dungeness/Lade - With the past two days delivering strong southerly winds (and one more to come over the weekend) seawatching off the point has delivered surprisingly limited success. Gannets have been in the vanguard along with a trickle of Sandwich Terns, Kittiwakes and at times Mediterranean Gulls. A handful of Arctic Skuas lingered offshore while a few Bonxies and Sooty Shearwaters have passed through the Channel. Brents, auks, Mergansers and scoters have all been noted, and perhaps this weekend will deliver that bit of quality in the form of a Leache`s Petrel, Sabine`s Gull or maybe a large shearwater.
  If the heron tribe are your bag then the bird reserve is the place to be with double figures of Great White Egrets all over the place. Cattle Egrets are still present on Dengemarsh, a Spoonbill has been coming and going and a Bittern has shown well in front of Hanson hide. Also this week on ARC waders such as Ruff, Golden Plover, Snipe, Dunlin and Blackwit have been noted plus Garganey, Water Rail, Marsh Harrier, and Peregrine. On Lade bay wader numbers and variety have steadily increased, although there remains a shortage of calidrids.
  Its been a frustrating week for rarities with a couple of very elusive Yellow-browed Warblers in the Trapping Area and a Wryneck in the high gorse. Chiffchaffs have been the most numerous warbler and a few Wheatears, Black Redstarts and a Whinchat have been noted across the point. Viz mig has been generally poor with a few finches, larks, thrushes and buntings through, while today I had 12 Swallows and two Sand Martins at the fishing boats and a Yellow Wagtail over Lade.
  The temperatures remain above the seasonal average with 22C and dry forecast tomorrow with rain  and cooler conditions on Sunday.