Brent Geese

Cool, cloudy, NW 4 - Last months heat wave seems a dim and distant memory now that the weather has dramatically changed, delivering bouts of heavy rain and a cold northerly airflow over the weekend and today; infact, this morning, temperature wise, it felt more like the end of October. However, I checked the bay on a rising tide where six species of waders and a few Sandwich Terns noted, but little else. At the point I had my first seven Brent Geese of autumn (heading east), plenty of Gannets fishing offshore along with several more Sandwich Terns, distant auks and an Arctic Skua. En-route to the Patch several each of Meadow Pipit and Linnet noted along the power station fence. Called in at the Obs to view a couple of rare migrant moths: the Littlestone Clifdon Nonpareil and the Lydd Banded Pine Carpet.

                                  Schooner crossing the bay

                                  Island construction, Burrowes

A tour of a windy bird reserve delivered all the usual suspects including two Little Stints, 10 Dunlins, two Ringed Plovers, two Black-tailed Godwits on the wader front from Hanson, plus a Hobby and a Yellow-legged Gull. The digger work to contour islands in front of the new Makepeace hide site continues on Burrowes where the highlights were an increase in Shoveler numbers and a Common Sandpiper. Dengemarsh was awash with Lesser Black-backed Gulls, as was the main island in front of Hanson, which looks set to replace Firth as the go-to place for gull afficionados.