Lade - warm, overcast, showery, SW5 - A blustery, yet very mild (21C) morning for our Ted walk around the local patch. As we approached south lake the bay Curlew flock was en-route to their roost on the desert where I counted 320 birds, which was very much a minimum count as some were already on the shingle, along with singles of Whimbrel, Grey Plover and Black-tailed Godwit. Most of the ducks on the lake were at the south end hugging the shoreline, sheltering from the strong wind; the highlights being 350 Shovelers and 120 Gadwalls. A Swallow nipped over the water, a Wheatear clung onto a wire fence and several Chiffchaffs called from the willow swamp.
Curlews coming to roost, Lade desert
Shovelers, Lade south
Great White Egrets, Lade
Big sea off Dungeness
Ted, seawatching hide
We then moved onto Dungeness where a big sea was running up-Channel out of the Western Approaches, ideal weather conditions then for seabirds on the move with good numbers of large shearwaters being reported further west. Ted had only been in the seawatch hide twice before, and when there was only one other person present, so I was keen to see how he would react with four locals in and loads of noise from the waves crashing on the beach. Well, I`m pleased to report that all went well and he soon settled down for snooze on a foam mat under the ledge. As for the seabirds, the one hour I was present (1030-1130hrs) delivered hundreds of Gannets, auks and Kittiwakes, mostly well offshore, plus several each of Arctic Skua, Little Gull, Sandwich Tern, Common Scoter, two Sooty Shearwaters and singles of Red-throated Diver and Mediterranean Gull. Much more was noted before we arrived and I`m sure Martin C will post the numbers on Trektellen later.
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