Hard Times

Lade - 0800hrs -bitter cold, grey with a scudding north-easterly 3- The only bird of note was yet another Woodcock flushed from scrub on one the storm-beaches by Barney.
Galloways - 1330hrs - A circuit around the range road produced plenty of small gull activity at the sheep troughs, mostly Common Gulls, plus a few Stock Doves and Magpies. Good views of a Bittern and 2 Smew on Brett`s Pit, plus a couple of sickly Common Gulls. On the chicken sheds a male Black Redstart seemed to be finding food in sheltered corners, but once again there was no sign of any Little Owls.
Dengemarsh - From Springfield Bridge, Raven overhead `cronking`, single male Marsh Harrier, a Woodcock and 5 Curlews on the field edge and hundreds of Wigeons on the open water.
New Diggings At least 7 Smew on the far side from the causeway road.

                                           Galloways                                         

                                          Dengemarsh Sewer

Med Gulls

Folkestone - 1000hrs - v cold, sunny, se4, -1C - Had to go to the cash & carry in Folkestone so thought it only right and proper to check out the Med Gulls at Copt Point. Smart birds (for a gull) are Meds and I can remember back in the 80`s calling in here to twitch one when they were still a scarce bird. Anyhow, saw about 50 in the area today around the old pub, the coastguard lookout and down by the harbour. Several posed on roof-tops for piccies but should`ve taken some bread to bring `em down.
On the fields behind the lookout were 4 Goldies, 2 Lapwings and a Dunlin feeding on a snow-free patch of grass.
On the harbour breakwater and wall, amongst the gulls, were 20 Turnstones, 6 Dunlins, 2 Redshanks and a Purple Sandpiper.

                                           Lade Bay - sunrise

                                           Golden Plovers - Folkestone

                                          Lapwing & Goldie - Folkestone

                                           Adult Mediterranean Gulls - Folkestone

ARC - 1400hrs - From the causeway road 7 Goosanders on the edge of the ice along with hundreds of Wigeons, Gadwalls and Shovelers, plus 3 Dunlins and a Snipe on the frozen mud. Over the road on New Diggings 3 redhead Smews. From Hanson, 1,000 + Wigeons, Shovelers and Gadwalls plus several Shelducks, Pintails and brief view of a Bittern. Opposite Screen a small flock of Long-tailed tits and a Chiffchaff. Out on the ice yet another moribund Common Gull and several other looking decidedly unwell; wonder why this gull in particular seems to be suffering...

Slow Thaw

Lade - 0900hrs - cold, grey, 2C, a slow thaw - Wildfowl wise much the same as yesterday, although an increase in Teal numbers to over 200. Some of the Common Gulls on the ice didn`t look in great shape and further down by the ponds found a moribund individual under a bush;  two foxes sitting on the edge of the ice looked ready to mop up. Flushed a Woodcock from cover by the ponds and a flock of 15 Lottis was a nice surprise.
Dungeness - 1430hrs - An hour from the seawatch hide produced very little apart from a few grebes, auks and Kitts, plus a couple of hundred Black-headed Gulls over the Patch. The most exciting thing was watching two blokes in bosun's chairs atop the new lighthouse.

                                          Lade - south pit

                                          Dungeness Lighthouses

Snowfields and Pack Ice on Denge Beach

Lade - 1100hrs - cold, overcast, overnight snowfall, s2 - The much forecast snow eventually arrived on the Marsh during the early hours dumping several inches across the Dungeness area. Decided to give the local patch a flogging and by and large it paid off. Checked the partially frozen pits first where 9 Goldeneyes amongst the usual diving ducks, Teals and Shovelers. Walking down the track beside south pit 3 Snipe flew over in the gloom and the first group of 5 Redwings, a bird that has been largely absent all winter. Whilst watching hundreds of Curlews leaving their roost site on the desert 2 Woodcocks flew into view; a cold weather movement was obviously in progress. Over the next two hours noted several small flocks of Skylarks (first of the year locally) coming in off the sea, several Mipits and Reed Buntings, 2 more Snipes and a Woodcock that flew over the cottage whilst I was on the phone looking out of the window! Also at the pits watched a Common Gull on the ice keel over and die, something you don't see very often and had good views of Water Rail, Chiffchaff and Cetti`s Warbler. Behind the `mirrors` singles of Buzzard and Marsh Harrier.
The bay at Greatstone was a terrific sight as the sea had frozen at slack water with pack ice sloshing about as the tide receded. The snow cover had largely left the shorebirds and gulls unaffected as the mudflats were full of Curlews, Oystercatchers, Sanderlings, Dunlins and the like. Scores of Carrion Crows and a fox scavenging along the tideline.

                                           Lade north pit

                                           Curlews returning to the bay

                                           Gorse in flower!

                                          Greatstone pack-ice

                                          Happy dog!

Goosanders

Lade - 0900hrs - Cold, sunny, ne2 - Another chilly day but without much wind it felt warmer even though the temperature barely rose above 2C all day. Nothing much of note here apart from a few Goldeneyes and Shelducks amongst hundreds of Teal, Gadwall and Shoveler.
RSPB - 1000hrs - Picked up MH and CP and headed for the bird reserve where  a definite influx of wildfowl noted; particularly Goosanders (probably up to 14 on the reserve today) which have been scarce so far this winter. From the causeway road singles of Goosander and Smew on New Diggings while on ARC 3 Smews, 2 Pintails, 10 Goldeneyes, 3 Dunlins, 2 Kingfishers and hundreds of Gadwall, Wigeon and Teal. From Hanson, Kingfisher, 2 Pintails, 6 Shelducks and hundreds more Wigeon, Teal, Gadwall and Shovler. The Willow Trail produced Long-tailed Tits, Chiffchaff, Goldcrest and calling Water Rail, while several Tree Sparrows were on the feeders at Boulderwall.
Most of the ditches and shallow pools were frozen over on Dengemarsh but the open water in front of the hide delivered hundreds more ducks, including 2 Pintail, Dabchicks and feral geese. Also, 6 Marsh Harriers, Kestrel, Green Woodpecker, 4 Stonechats and 2 Great White Egrets flying over the hayfields that eventually dropped in at New Ex.
Onto Burrowes where 2 Kingfishers, Long-tailed Duck and 3 Smew, including a drake, at the north end, while from Makepeace 5 Goosanders, including 4 drakes, and 12 Pintails showed well in front of the hide. At the visitors centre news came through of an odd duck on ARC...
Back at Hanson we had a 5 minute view of a small, dull drake Teal which showed features of Green-winged Teal but without the vertical slot on the breast; it also lacked the white horizontal line above the flanks and showed less buff on the stern. Unfortunately, it flew off over the far side of the lake before we could get any pics or further details. Verdict: probably a hybrid Teal, but hopefully it`ll show again over the weekend for a more protracted view.

                                          Cormorant, sinensis                                          

                                           Goosanders, Burrowes                                        

Walland Marsh - 1530hrs  - At least 50 Bewick`s Swans at Midley plus 30 Tree Sparrows, Buzzard and Kestrel. Checked out one of the harrier roost sites with CP but despite 6 Marsh Harriers in the area none went to roost and we saw little else apart, from a Sparrowhawk and a Snipe, on a bitter cold afternoon. Throughout the day foxes were noticeable at every site including a black-coated individual on the bird reserve and a pair on Walland coupled for at least half an hour...

Black Redstart & Chiffchaff

Dungeness - 1000hrs - v cold, sunny, ne4 - I doubt whether it got much above 1C today, but felt more like -10C in the biting north-easterly. Plenty of grebe and auk activity from the boats this morning, on a choppy sea, plus a few Kitts, Red-throated divers and a single Bonxie.
ARC - 1115hrs - Eventually located the wintering Long-tailed duck along the far shore from the causeway road; also a host of wildfowl including 12 Goldeneyes, the drakes displaying despite the conditions. From Hanson, 3 redhead Smew and 2 Pintail.
Lydd Aiport - 1215hrs - Checked out the `Dotterel field` which held a small flock of plovers, plus decent numbers of Rooks, Jackdaws, Stock Doves, Red-legged Partridges, 2 Mistle Thrushes, a Blackbird and Robin. Most of `em were loitering in the sun-drenched lee of a hedgerow, sheltering from the wind and taking advantage of invertebrates in the frost-free turf.
Down by the aircraft hangars a Black Redstart was also feeding in a sun-trap; it is amazing how such a frail insectivorous bird can survive in this weather, but it seemed to be finding morsels of food.
Plovers - Continuing on with the, hard-as-nails-passerine theme, was working in the garden this afternoon when a Chiffchaff paid me a visit. While they`re regular here on passage I rarely see a wintering bird, but it too seemed to be finding plenty to eat amongst the ivy and conifers, particularly in one small sun-trap. Once the Chiffy had move off I got the step ladder out and thrust my head into the ivy-clad tree to see what I could find. Incredibly, I soon found a couple of small spiders and a few other creepy crawlies, so it seems that if you know where to look there`s prey to be had, even in weather such as this.

Gadwalls

RSPB reserve - 0900hrs - v cold, sunny, ne5 - A nippy old morning with a bone-chilling wind whipping in off the sea forming small waves on ARC/New Diggings. From the causeway road a decent selection of wildfowl on ARC included 2 Pintails and 12 Goldeneyes amongst the Shovelers, Wigeons, Teals and 6 Dunlins.
At least 300 Gadwalls were also enjoying the weather and I reckon there must have been over 500 scattered across the pit. Smart birds are Gadwalls and they were not always this numerous, as I recall from the days when I used a brass telescope, did a paper round and lived on Mars bars...
Elsewhere around the reserve the Great White Egret was on the fields at Boulderwall and a Raven `cronked` over. Burrowes had another pair of Pintails and 8 Shelducks but I couldnt find any Smews.
Also checked out the plover flocks at Cockles Bridge and Lydd Airport for the Dotterel but could find no sign of it.

                                           Gadwalls - ARC