Sand Martins

Warm, cloudy, SW5 - We spent the morning on the bird reserve which we had largely to ourselves as a buffeting wind off the Atlantic delivered occasional pieces of drizzle via low scudding clouds that enveloped the tops of the power stations. A circuit of Dengemarsh produced little of note apart from the usual breeding birds including several pairs of Common Terns feeding juveniles on the new islands and family parties of Bearded Tits in Hookers reed-bed. Hayfield 1 had a puddle of water that attracted a couple of Lapwings and an Oystercatcher. Common and Lesser Whitethroats, Sedge and Reed Warblers were all heard in half-hearted song as their short breeding seasons reach the final furlong. Also seen during the circuit: a Great White Egret, two Marsh Harriers, plus Yellow Wagtail and Corn Bunting on the farmland section. The Cuckoo was noticeable by its absence and it is at least a week or more now since I last heard a singer. Having been here for barely a couple of months I guess that most of the males have already departed south-east leaving the females to follow next month and the youngsters in August/September. Every year about this time when they fall silent I wonder whether any will return next spring, such has been their decline in my lifetime (about 70%). Their migratory route is a hazardous one: down through Italy before crossing the Mediterranean Sea and Sahara Desert and on to the rain forest band in central Africa, providing they can avoid being trapped, netted or shot en-route. However, on a brighter note it was good to see the first decent passage of Sand Martins streaming south across the fields and wetlands this morning. It is one of the great birding spectacles down here at Dungeness which continues into early October as this tiny migrant seeks the shortest sea crossing over the Channel. On Burrowes the Sand Martin wall is still a hive of activity as juveniles continue fledging, although a Mink was seen entering one of the nesting holes earlier today. There have a number of sightings of this invasive animal recently across the reserve and at Lade, so if you do encounter one please let the RSPB staff know. On ARC there was plenty of Avocet and Common Tern activity, two Common and a Green Sandpiper, plus a Hobby over Boulderwall fields. We finished off at Kerton Road quarry for the high tide roost where a large mixed flock of Black-headed and Common Gulls held four Mediterranean Gulls and 20 each of Curlew and Oystercatcher and two Ringed Plovers. More Sand Martins were noted here and at Lade yesterday.

                                  Eclipse Mallard and Gadwall, Hookers

                                  Marsh Mallow, Dengemarsh

                                  Mediterranean Gull, Kerton Road quarry

                                  Silver Barred (from yesterday`s haul) 

Ted on Trial

Cool, cloudy, W5 - It was a miserable morning of cooler weather along with occasional pulses of drizzle driven on by a brisk westerly for our morning Ted outing across the peninsula. We started at Lade where up to 200 Pochards and 100 Tufted Ducks sheltered from the wind at the south end of both lakes with at least 50 Great Crested Grebes attracted to the baulks of flowering Canadian pond weed. The small island that normally appears in late summer at the south end of south lake is now visible (at least a month early) and briefly harboured a returning Common Sandpiper, my first of the autumn passage. As is typical in such windy weather hundreds of Swifts and House Martins hawked insects over the water. A dead adult Great Crested Grebe on the causeway shingle showed no obvious signs of its demise, but it did seem a strange location to find one... 

                                  Great Crested Grebe

                                  Leopard Moth (from the weekend)

Moving onto Kerton quarry where two more Common and a Green Sandpiper confirmed that the wader passage is underway, along with a group of 20 Lapwings on the main island. Loads more Swifts swooped over ARC as we crossed the causeway road en-route to the bird reserve where four Grey Plovers on Burrowes included a cracking adult bird in breeding plumage. I counted at least six sitting Common Terns on the smallest shingle island in front of Dennis`s where the hide is now being used for a trial period until August for birders with `well-behaved dogs`; and I`m pleased to report that Ted received plenty of praise from the visitors in the hide this morning. Now, I fully appreciate that not everyone is a dog-lover and personally I will be checking whether anybody has an aversion to dogs before entering the hide with Ted. But for now thanks to the RSPB for trying something different.

                                                              Grey Plovers, Burrowes

                                                        Common Terns, Burrowes

                                                            Ted in Dennis`s hide

Hawk-moths

Warm, dry and sunny - The summer heat wave continues, although thankfully not as intense as over the weekend when the temperature on our garden thermometer in New Romney hit 30C on Saturday afternoon. Out and about around the peninsula has revealed little change to the bird life with most of the warblers now into second broods and Sand Martins fledging from the wall colony on Burrowes. Post-breeding Pochard and Lapwing numbers are on the rise across the wetlands where a handful each of Avocets and Common Terns are in breeding mode and the female Red-crested Pochard is now down to a single duckling on ARC. While there has been a few confirmed Redshank, Lapwing and Oystercatcher fledglings in Kerton quarry, elsewhere across the reserve few wader chicks have survived the ravages of predation. 

                                                     Lime Hawk-moth

                                                   Four-spotted Footman

                                                          Herald

Moth numbers and diversity, on the other hand, have picked up considerably over the past week with the humid nights delivering amongst others three new species of macro to the garden trap: Lime Hawk-moth,  Four-spotted Footman and Leopard Moth. A session out at St-Mary-in-the-Marsh with Chris P produced a different range of species including a gorgeous Peach Blossom and a very worn Striped Hawk-moth.

                                            Peach Blossom, St Mary-in-the-Marsh

                                              Striped Hawk-moth, St Mary-in-the-Marsh

                                               

Little Gulls

Hot, dry and sunny, light airs - A circular walk around the main trail on the reserve this morning produced all the expected breeding birds including three pairs of Common Terns on Dengemarsh and two pairs on Burrowes. There was much activity around the Sand Martin colony as adults busily fed juveniles. The hayfields are now pretty much dried out with a pair of Avocets and Shelducks attracted to a puddle on hayfield 2. A Hobby hawked insects high over Hookers where several parties of Bearded Tits were active in the reedbed. Across the road from Hanson hide several pairs of Avocets and Common Terns were nesting alongside hundreds of eclipse Pochard and Gadwall, plus Garganey, Shoveler, two Ringed Plovers and a flighty Curlew.

                                  Common Terns, Dengemarsh

                                  Oystercatchers, Dengemarsh

This past week has been fairly predictable with several immature Little Gulls coming and going at ARC and the first hints of autumn with returning Willow Warblers at three locations along the coast and New Romney and an increase in Lapwings and diving ducks around the wetlands. With summer temperatures kicking in its been busy in the garden moth trap and it looks set to get warmer still by the weekend.

    Little Gulls, ARC

    Barred Red, New Romney

Carp

Warm, dry and sunny, E4 - With the car out of action from Monday to Wednesday our Ted walks have been restricted to the arable lands around New Romney, which needless to say has been hard work and unrewarding. However, the highlight on a murky Monday morning was the spectacle of  hundreds of Swifts and hirundines (mostly House Martins) swarming over a local turf field feeding on a mass of flying insects emerging from a section sowed with clover; it also attracted a mixed flock of 30 Black-headed and Common Gulls. Green and Great Spotted Woodpeckers are a regular feature in the larger wooded gardens hereabouts and both species had juveniles abroad at two locations. The usual Yellowhammers, Skylarks, Reed Buntings, Common and Lesser Whitethroats, Sedge and Reed Warblers, Buzzards and Kestrels were all noted north of the town, plus plenty of Marsh Frogs in the ditches and several Painted Lady and Red Admiral butterflies on the bare tracks. Yesterday`s additions in the Belgar Farm area included two singing Corn Buntings, a Little Owl and best of all a pair of Oystercatchers with two well-grown juveniles - in a potato crop!

                                  Curlew - Kerton Quarry

                                 Spawning Carp - Kerton Quarry

Thankfully, the car is now back on the road so this morning we hurried down to the coast for a circuit of Dungeness where a cooling sea-breeze tempered the heat. It was pretty quiet bird-wise and there was no sign of yesterdays Rosy Starling or this early morning`s Serin around the moat. However, on the midday high tide a few Oystercatchers, Curlews, Bar-tailed Godwits, Ringed Plovers and Sanderlings were logged at Kerton Road quarry, plus two flyover Sandwich Terns, a Mediterranean Gull and where the main point of interest came from several large carp thrashing about in the shallows presumably spawning.

    Ted in summer plumage

Tree Sparrows

Scotney - Cool, sunny, NW 3 - After the strong winds and rain of the past couple of days this morning dawned sunny with a light, cooling breeze, perfect then for a session at Scotney. There was little of note on the front pits and sheep folds apart from a steady westward stream of Swifts which continued while we were out on the farmland until just before noon. It must`ve involved hundreds/thousands of birds with many more also reported across Dungeness today. The long walk out to the old farm produced six pairs of Yellow Wagtails and three pairs of Corn Buntings in the wheat fields (all with juvs nearby); which may sound good, but even only ten years ago would`ve turned up double that number. On the plus side, a 30 acre field by the main track that had been taken out of production and seeded with a wild flower mix will remain so for two years according to a farmer I met along the way. It was popular with both aforementioned species (presumable for insects) as well as at least two singing Sedge Warblers and Reed Buntings; it also looks perfect for Quail, if we get any this summer, being adjacent to a huge pea field. However, the main objective was to check on the Tree Sparrow colony around the old farm house and we were not disappointed as there was plenty of activity on site during our two hour visit. At least 15 of the nest boxes had been used or were still in use, judging from the droppings around the entrance holes, while there were other boxes that I didn`t check as I wanted to keep any disturbance to a minimum. The good news is that at least six healthy juveniles were seen perched amongst the bushes, preening and `chupping` away in the warm sunshine, and as Tree Sparrows are double/treble brooded, hopefully there will be plenty more nippers to come through the summer to bolster their declining population. 

                                  Grey Heron

                                  30 acre set-aside field

                                  Corn Bunting

                                  Spot the Yellow Wagtail!

                                  Yellow Wagtail, male

                                  Yellow Wagtail, female

    Yellow Wagtail, male

    Tree Sparrow boxes

    Tree Sparrow, adults

    Tree Sparrow, juveniles

Manxies

Cool, cloudy, showery, SW 5 - The light overnight rain showers continued into the morning as we checked out Kerton quarry for high tide roosting waders. Present were 11 Bar-tailed Godwits, 15 Curlews, Ringed and Grey Plover, plus the usual breeding Lapwings, Redshanks and Oystercatchers on the main island. Post-breeding flocks of wildfowl included a Bar-headed Goose amongst 100 feral geese, 100 Tufted Ducks, 20 Pochards, 10 Mute Swans and two Shelducks. Moving onto Dungeness where a seawatch from the hide (1115-1215 hrs) produced 20 Gannet, 15 Sandwich Tern, 10 auks, six Common Scoter, an Arctic Skua and three distant west bound Manx Shearwater (17 noted by JS earlier). We then called in at the bird reserve where the Sand Martins proved entertaining feeding young and where several Tundra Ringed Plovers were on a distant island. Reports from ARC confirmed the first local breeding record of Red-crested Pochard with four ducklings, while 17 Hobbys were counted over Dengemarsh (ROR).

                                  Grey Plover - Kerton quarry

                                  Bar-headed Goose - Kerton quarry

Sand Martins

Cool and cloudy, SW5 - Another breezy day across Dungeness with yet again the much-needed rain showers missing us. From Hanson hide two pairs of Avocets on the islands looked fed up and showed no signs of going down again to nest. Otherwise, apart from loads of eclipse wildfowl, two Common Terns, six Black-headed Gulls and a Ringed Plover the main interest was aerial with hundreds of Swifts and hirundines over the water along with three Hobbies and a distant 1st summer Little Gull. At the pines a Cuckoo flew over and two more Hobbies were slumped on the Desert shingle waiting for the temperature to pick up and bring forth flying insects. Along the main track another half dozen Hobbies were noted, including one bird close to the road (below) on the pebbles. From the visitor centre the islands on Burrowes delivered eight smart Tundra Ringed Plovers amongst the gulls and a few Common Terns while two more immature Little Gulls were at the southern end feeding alongside Black-headed Gulls, Swifts and hirundines. It was a treat to see that (at long last!) the Sand Martins have `discovered` their purpose built wall on the bund below Dennis`s hide where there was a constant toing and froing from the adults bringing in food with several little heads poking out of holes begging to be fed. Great stuff!

 

                                  Hobby - RSPB track

                                  Little Egret - Lade south

                                  Stonechat and Linnet - Galloways

Elsewhere this week our Ted walks took us to Galloways on a sunny Monday morning as no live firing was taking place. The dry scrub either side of the road was alive with nesting activity from various Stonechats, Linnets, Common Whitethroats, Dunnocks and a Dartford Warbler, while the damp grasslands attracted one or two pairs each of Skylark. Meadow Pipit, Reed Bunting, Sedge and Cetti`s Warblers. Visits to Lade yielded very little of note apart from continuing Cuckoo presence and both Little and Great Crested Grebes with fledglings on the water. I searched in vain for any orchids, but the grasslands where they normally grow are as dry-as-a-bone..

Garden Moths

Warm, dry and cloudy, SW2 - The past few days has felt very much as though spring migration is just about over and that we`ve slipped into summer mode; even the garden moth trap has picked up of late due to the humid overnight conditions. Having said that a few waders were still passing through Burrowes last Friday, mostly Sanderlings and Dunlins along with singles of Little Stint and Curlew Sandpiper, plus a first summer Little Gull amongst the Black-headed Gulls. Hobbies are still present in double figures across the peninsula with three noted at Lade and others over farmland around New Romney this weekend. Mediterranean Gulls were regularly heard `mewing` high over the town and a `kettle` of five Buzzards attracted the attention of the Herring Gulls yesterday afternoon. The local House Martins are back and actively nest-building around the apple estate while it was good to see a Mistle Thrush feeding second brood fledglings on the town park this morning and hear a distant Cuckoo calling.  

                                  Cormorants, ARC

                                  Great Crested Grebe on nest, Burrowes

                                  Poplar Hawk-moth

                                  Treble Lines

    Waved Umber