Bewick`s Swans & Satellite

Lade - 0900hrs - mildish, part sunny, nw4 - Surprisingly south pit still had a fair bit of ice and remained frozen around the willow islands. About 200 Teals and Wigeons on the ice was of note along with 4 Goldeneyes on  open water plus the usual diving ducks.
Dungeness - 1000hrs - From the boats a right old feeding frenzy just offshore involving hundreds of gulls, auks, Great Crested Grebes and Cormorants, plus a few Red-throated Divers, Gannets and Kittiwakes. A party of 11 Brents passed east and a seal popped it`s head up briefly.
ARC - 1100hrs - From Hanson a party of 33 Bewick`s Swans on the water, calling and head-bobbing and looking pretty as a picture in the winter sunshine as only they can. Wild swans are undeniably gorgeous creatures, handsome and evocative, that turn up on the Marsh for a few months in the winter from northern lands; funny how the boring old Mute Swan is given the cold shoulder by most birders ...
Still plenty of Wigeons, Shovelers, Gadwalls on the water/ice, plus a scattering of Teals, Shelducks, Goldeneyes, Pintail and a party of 13 Grey Plovers briefly. Marsh Harriers, Sparrowhawk and Kestrel also noted. Over the road on New Diggings 6 each of Ruddy Ducks, Smews and Goosanders.
On the way to and from Ashford drove via Botolph`s Bridge and surrounding lanes checking for yesterdays reported Sea-eagle... well, you never know...

                                           Lade North - last of the ice

                                           Bewick`s Swans - ARC

Satellite - Kerton Road Cafe - one mild night and a moth comes to light, incredible!

A cracking birdwatching break with 95 species noted and some real quality winter birds for the visitors to saviour, including superb views of Bewick`s Swans, White-fronts, Great White Egret, Glossy Ibis, Long-tailed Duck, Smews, Goosanders, Bittern, auks, Marsh Harriers, Black Redstart, Ravens and Tree Sparrows. Birds conspicuous by their absence since the freeze-up were Little Egret, Golden Plover and Kingfisher. That said it always takes visiting birdwatchers to remind me how lucky we are down here with a wide range of species on offer in a small area, and not to take it for granted.

Glossy Ibis & Wigeons

Littlestone - 0900hrs - cold, grey, nw3, brighter later and milder - A cracking winter`s day birding around the Marsh with plenty of good birds and one or two surprises. We kicked of at low tide for shorebirds at Littlestone and nailed 9 out of 10 of the regulars with only Knot proving elusive; decent numbers of both Barwits and Grey Plovers with around 50 of each. A flyover Skylark was noteworthy here, as was a raft of 300 Common Scoters and 500 Great Crested Grebes offshore.
RSPB - 1015hrs - Superb session on the bird reserve with good numbers of sawbills and dabbling ducks; best count I could come up with was 25 Smews and 17 Goosanders across all waters and literally thousands of Wigeons on ARC and Burrowes. From Hanson jammed a 5 minute Glossy Ibis that flew in and landed briefly on one of the islands before leaving high to the east. Also, the wintering Long-tailed Duck and Bittern from Dennis`s hide; Great White Egret, 2 Ravens, Snipe, Christmas Dell;  Blackwit, 4 Marsh Harriers and 8 Dabchicks, Dengemarsh; 6 Ruddy Ducks, New Diggings; Pintails, Long-tailed Tits, Cettis`s Warblers, Sparrowhawk and Chiffchaffs, ARC; Tree Sparrows and Stonechat, Boulderwall; Reed Buntings, car park feeders.
Lydd Wood - 1500hrs Single Woodcock.
Galloways - 1530hrs Black Redstart on the chicken sheds.
Scotney - 1600hrs - Thousands of wildfowl here, mainly Wigeons and feral geese, including 15 Pintails, 30 White-fronts, 12 Brents and an assortment of Barnacles and hybrid Snow/Emperor types.
We finished with 8 Marsh Harriers flying into the ranges to roost.
In summary: surprise of the day was undoubtedly the Ibis but bird of the day, simply due to the sheer numbers, had to be Wigeon.

                                           Glossy Ibis - ARC

                                           White-fronts - Scotney

                                           Wigeons - ARC

Sawbills

Faggs Wood - 1300hrs - Grey, misty, drizzle, 3C -  First Birdwatching Break of the year with Stuart and Raymond down from London for three days. After pick up from Ashford Station called in at Faggs Wood where we had a good range of woodland birds around the car park, including Green and Great Spotted Woodpeckers, Nuthatches, Mistle and Song Thrushes, Redwings and a Goldcrest.
Warehorne 1330hrs - The feeders by the church were packed with Greenfinches, Chaffinches, Blue and Great Tits and several Tree Sparrows. From the bridge had stunning views of a perched male Sparrowhawk, plus several Fieldfares and Lapwings.
Dungeness - 1430hrs - An hour from the fishing boats produced a trickle of auks (one Razorbill), Red-throated Divers, Gannets, Kittiwakes and Cormorants.
New Diggings - 1545hrs - What with ARC still frozen over, a bit of a sawbill fest here with 13 Goosanders and 11 Smews, plus Pochards, Tufteds and 5 Goldeneyes, Great White Egret and 3 Marsh Harriers. On ARC from the road 200 Gadwalls and Shovelers. At Cockle Bridge, single Stonechat.
Walland Marsh - 1600hrs - Finished the afternoon checking out the fields on Walland where 63ish Bewick`s Swans at Midley, Tree Sparrows on the usual feeders and single Buzzard, 5 Marsh Harriers and a Teal nearby. Several more Mistle and Song Thrushes noted along the verges.
Not a bad start, considering the horrible conditions.

WeBS

Lade 1500hrs - cold, grey, icy - Returned from WSussex where most of the pits en-route were frozen over, including Scotney and ARC. No surprises then that Lade was likewise, so the monthly wildfowl count didn't take long, as there weren't any. 355 Curlews on the shingle ridges was of note and a Woodcock was flushed from cover by the main track.

Pagham Harbour

Pagham Harbour - 0800hrs - bitter cold, -7C, clear and sunny, ne2 - I must be the world`s worst twitcher... I had a bad feeling about this when I turned up on North Shore with about a hundred other mugs, when after an hour a Kestrel came up out of the reedbed with an LBJ which it proceeded to eat atop the tyre bush, the Paddyfield Warbler`s favoured haunt... It probably was only a Reed Bunting, but that was enough for me; back to proper birding and get the blood flowing again, as boy was it nippy (birders who`d travelled from the Midlands had recorded -12 C on the way down!).
In the reedbed plenty of Reed Buntings, several Mipits, Wrens, Bearded Tits,2 Water Rails, Cetti`s Warblers and a couple of Stonechats. A circuit westwards provided 3 Rock Pipits besides the bank, flocks of winter thrushes, Blackbirds, Song Thrushes, Goldfinches, Greenfinches, 2 Snipe, 2 Woodcocks, Wigeons, Teals, Buzzard, a cracking male Marsh Harrier and the spectacle of the morning hundreds of Brents on the move. On the harbour at low tide loads of common shorebirds, particularly Grey Plovers, Wigeons and Teals.

                                          Paddy twitch, North Shore

                                           Chichester Gravel Pits

                                          Where`s the water gone...

Chichester Gravel Pits - 1200hrs - My first visit here and most of the lakes were frozen over apart from Ivy Lake which had a couple of thousand tightly packed common wildfowl, grebes and Coots, 12 ****** Ducks and 2 Goldeneyes. Also noted, Grey Wagtail, Chiffchaff, Bullfinch, Long-tailed Tit and by the car park, Nuthatch, Treecreeper and a Firecrest.
Church Norton - 1430hrs - A super spot at high tide with all 10 species of common shorebirds on show, 50 Shelducks, 30 Teals, 200 Cormorants, 10 Med Gulls, 4 Pintails,  5 Herons, 2 Little Egrets, 7 Dabchicks, 1 Merg, 3 Goldeneyes, Sparrowhawk, Siskin, Kingfisher, Greater pecker; and offshore, 7 Red-breasted Mergansers and 2 Slav Grebes.
A top days birding with 95 species noted.

Go West

Bracklesham Bay, West Sussex - cold and sunny - A change of scene 100 miles west for a spot of research; and not a flake of snow to be seen anywhere. A mooch along the beach before lights out was notable for a huge flock of around a thousand Brents on the move. On the sea several Red-throated Divers, Guillemots and a flyover Grey Plover.

                                           Brents over Bracklesham Bay  

Bittern & Chiffchaffs

Lade - 0900hrs - cold, sunny, ne2 - Seemed a bit warmer this morning as the wind had backed off. The Desert looked a treat with the sunshine bouncing off the snowdrifts, where several Blackbirds and a SongThrush were rooting around in the broom. Three Goldeneyes on Lade south amongst the regular ducks was about it.
ARC - 1330hrs - Had a run out with CP and MH this afternoon. First stop the causeway road where a couple of Smews on New Ex and hundreds of Wigeons, Shovelers and Gadwalls on the ARC side. Further down towards Boulderwall we had cracking flight views of a Bittern flying over the road and into the reedbed at ARC, that duly performed again from Hanson later on by flying across the lake. From the hide hundreds of Wigeons, Shovelers, diving ducks, 3 Smews, 2 Shelducks and a Dunlin. Also, incredible views of 3 Chiffchaffs flitting through the reeds and hopping onto the ice, plus singles of Cetti`s Warbler and Water Rail. Walked the Willow Trail for Woodcock without success but did note a few Blackbirds, Wrens and Robins, Redwing and Great Tit.
On the way out bumped into and had a natter with Martin Garner (former Bedfordshire birder) who was in the county to give a talk this evening for KOS in Maidstone.

                                          Lade Desert                                         

                                           Smew and Wigeons

Dungeness - 1510hrs Finished off with a 45 minute seawatch from the concrete road where the highlights were 2 adult Little Gulls, 20 Red-throated Divers, plus a few auks, Kitts, Gannets and a Shelduck.