Firecrests

Lade - A weekend of two differing parts weather wise with warm sunshine and light airs on Saturday, followed by a much fresher feel today with a stiff north-easterly off the sea attracting crowds of kite-surfers onto the bay. On the local patch yesterdays migrants comprised two Wheatears and several Chiffchaffs, plus Black-necked Grebe, four Stonechats, 10 Linnets, 10 Mipits, Skylark, Marsh Harrier and Med Gulls over.

                                Wheatear and Linnet from yesterday

                                Displaying Oystercatchers

 Whilst cutting Barney`s coat this morning a first garden Firecrest of spring showed well in the firs trees and around the pond, as always a real treat even though they are regularly seen on passage here. An afternoon check of the lake resulted in another Firecrest and a Swallow through heading north. I must`ve spent a good hour watching two pairs of Oystercatchers as they went about their nuptials on the shingle, but mostly on the roof of a house in Derville Road. Definitely my favourite wader.
Dungeness - A morning seawatch from the point delivered a trickle of Brent Geese and Common Scoters up-Channel, a few Gannets, Sandwich Terns, four Teal, two Mergansers and a duck Eider that flew towards the Patch. On the land Stonechat, Mipit and Linnet noted, while the Peregrines were active around the power station complex.