Peregrines

Lade - cloudy, drizzle, sw 4 - It was a case of return to form with the weather today with a band of heavy rain and brisk winds not clearing until mid-afternoon. The highlight on south lake was a pair of Peregrines terrorising the ducks. As they dived low over the lake the Teal sprang up and flew around with the falcons twisting and turning attempting to catch a meal, but all to no avail. All this activity  attracted the attention of an opportunistic Marsh Harrier that flew over the ducks several times looking for any weaklings. The Slavonian Grebe remained on north lake. The only other bird of note was a lone Song Thrush flushed from cover on the shingle ridges.

                                Goldeneye & Great Crested Grebe, ARC

RSPB - 1400hrs - A run out with MH this afternoon noted all the expected stuff on Burrowes including two Smew, four Pintail and a Little Gull. In front of Dennis`s hide a mixed flock of passerines comprised Blue, Great and Long-tailed Tits, Chaffinch and Chiffchaff. Over the road from Hanson hide a further five Smew were amongst the wildfowl and a Kingfisher showed briefly. More tits and Chiffchaff noted here. There was no further reports of the Pendulines today.

800 Great Crested Grebes

RSPB - 1000hrs - mild, dry, sunny, sw 2 - Following two days entertaining our 3 year old grandson it was a good to get out and about on what was a cracking spring-like day with Reed Buntings, Cetti`s Warblers and Great Tits all in good voice around the reedbeds and willow swamp. From the causeway road the two Black-throated Divers remained on New Diggings along with two Great White Egrets. Hanson hide was packed with half term birders hoping for a glimpse of the Penduline Tits which hadn`t been seen all morning. Smew, Goldeneye and all the usual ducks were on the lake, plus Chiffchaff in the willows and a couple of Marsh Harriers over.
Dungeness  - A quick scan of the gull flock by the boats revealed little, although they were kept on the move by dog walkers and their uncontrollable mutts; Barney looked on in disgust.
Lade 1400hrs - Wildfowl numbers were similar to the weekend and the Slavonian Grebe was still on the far side of north pit where it spent as much time submerged as on the surface.
With the tide ebbing we headed for Greatstone beach and a scan from the Tavern. On the sands Dunlin and Sanderling numbered 200 each, plus 500 Oystercatchers, 50 Barwits, 20 Grey Plover, 10 Knot and two Redshanks. Amongst the thousand plus gulls were five Littles and two Meds.
Out on the bay the sea was covered in Great Crested Grebes of which I counted a minimum of 800, plus 20 Red-throated Divers and 10 Guillemots.
ps: Some good news broke today for the Romney Marsh as Dungeness `B` Station got the thumbs up for a ten year extension to power generation until 2028. Hopefully, this could pave the way for a third nuclear power station at Dungeness in future.

WeBS & Harriers

Lade - 0900hrs - mild, sunny, sw 2 - It`s that time of the month again to get out the abacus and count wildfowl and harriers. First off the local patch and what a treat it was to be out and about with blue skies, sunshine and light airs replacing the wind and rain of the past week.
Although duck numbers in general are already starting to decline a count of 220 Teal was noteworthy; many of the drakes were displaying to the ducks as were the male Goldeneyes to a small harem of redheads. A Slavonian Grebe on the far side of north lake was the first of the winter. Also noted Marsh Harrier, Common Buzzard, Green Woodpecker and a Bittern that flew over the main reedbed. For the first time since I`ve lived here the water level has now risen flooding the causeway so that the two lake are joined.

Walland Marsh - 1600hrs - Accompanied Marshman on the monthly harrier count on a stunning afternoon with barely a breath of wind. A large mixed flock of Golden Plovers and Lapwings were on the flooded fields while two Common Buzzards looked on trying to work out whether or not a meal was in the offing. There were few small birds again with only a handful of Reed Buntings and Blackbirds noted. Following a call from PB we were alerted to a flock of four Little Gulls on a flood, eventually they flew over us and headed west just before dusk, a rare sighting indeed here.
At the roost site 21 Marsh Harriers came in over a 35 minute period that included four adult males and the distinctive white-fronted adult female. Also noted Kestrel, Sparrowhawk, Barn Owl, four Pintails, six Shelducks and a pair of Mistle Thrush, while Bearded Tits and Water Rails called from the reedbed.

Penduline Tits & Glaucous Gull

Dungeness - 1000hrs - mild, sunshine/showers, gale force sw - Another shocking night with the wind threatening to lift the roof from the cottage during the early hours. A damage assessment in daylight showed nothing missing, but the strong winds continued to cause problems throughout the day.
At the boats hundreds of gulls were slumped down on the shingle ridges at high tide and it took a while to locate yesterdays 1st winter Glaucous Gull hunkered in one of the falls. Eventually, the lot were spooked by a Peregrine and drifted off towards the power station.

                                Gull flock, Dungeness

ARC/New Diggings - A quick scan from the causeway road revealed the two Black-throated Divers in the far corner, close to the bank, sheltering from the gale on New Diggings, while a Great White and two Little Egrets were feeding in the new pools at the eastern end of ARC.
Following a call from SB this afternoon concerning a pair of Penduline Tits showing in front of Hanson I joined DW and PB who`d been watching them 15 minutes before I arrived. An hour later and there was still no sign so I wandered along the flooded boardwalk and joined another birder where we relocated the pair of tits moving through the willow scrub. At least one of the Pendulines was sporting an ankle bracelet. Also from the hide two Smew and six Little Gulls.

                                Smew, ARC

Hythe pond heron

Hythe - 0750hrs - mild, cloudy, wind and rain increasing, sw 5 - Had to go to Hythe this morning so called in to have a look at the putative Chinese Pond Heron on the way. When I arrived there was around 20 birders/twitchers already on site including a good few local faces, but also an advanced guard of the national twitching army, with the Field Marshal in the vanguard holding court. During the hour I was on site views of the heron were crap as it was mainly perched in a tree, at distance and partially obscured by buildings and branches, making my tuppence worth as to its identity worthless. Not that it would`ve mattered anyway if it had been sat out in the open, as my knowledge of Ardeola pond herons is limited to specimens seen in captivity, such as at the Snowdon aviary and Pensthorpe Park, you know, the kind of place you take the kiddies when they`re young to impress `em with your birding knowledge...

                                Ardeola heron, Hythe

Anyhow, after chewing the fat with some of the Marsh regulars, and being familiar with the lay-of-the-land, I had a feeling how things were going to pan out here - you know the sort of thing, the bird plays hide and seek in back gardens as it goes about the business of fishing for Coy Carp, and the twitching SAS just have get closer, even if it means `scoping between houses and into living rooms and blocking the public footpath with tripods so the school kids and dog-walkers have to walk in the road. Was good to see the Field Marshal setting a fine example on how to twitch - `scope up on the edge of someone`s driveway, beside a busy main road, shouting back towards his shock troops the finer points of pond heron id over the din of the school run traffic.

                                Responsible twitching, London Road, Hythe

Back in the safety of the housing estate I got chatting to a couple of local residents, one of whom said he`d been feeding the heron meal worms in his garden for the past month, "is that normal" he asked, "yep", said I, "zoos use `em all the time to feed a wide range of birds, I once had an injured Red-necked Grebe swimming around in my bathtub for a week one winter, it loved meal worms, although didn`t think much when I released it back on Tring Reservoirs and it had to go back to fish!"
The other fella said, "I`m surprised at the amount of attention its caused, there`s been a lot of people here all week". To which I replied, "if you think this is busy, wait until the weekend...".
However, just a final thought, what is it with Hythe and herons: Green Heron, Night Heron, pond heron..., surely there`s not a heron aviary nearby?
Lade - The rest of the day was a wash out with heavy rain and gales force winds lashing the peninsula and even Barney wasn`t keen to brave the elements. 

Bitterns

Dungeness  - 0900hrs - cold, showery, sw 2 - An hour from the seawatch hide produced hundreds of gulls moving west along the shore, plus a trickle of Kittiwakes and auks further out; also five Little Gulls, 24 Red-throated Divers, 2 Gannets and a Common Scoter.
By the time we got to the trapping area the wind and rain had ceased and there was much small bird activity, mostly tits, Robins, Dunnocks and Wrens, plus two Chiffchaffs. At the south-west corner the Hume`s Warbler was heard and briefly seen moving through cover.
Needless to say the water level has risen dramatically across the whole area since a week ago.

                                Black-throated Diver, New Diggings

                                DBO `Desert`

                                DBO moat

ARC - On the approach to Hanson hide we were surprised to see a Bittern standing in the middle of the path before making a short flight into the reedbed, while from the hide two further flight views were had. On the water all the usual ducks including two Smew, plus Chiffchaff, Water Rail and Long-tailed Tits in the scrub. Three Marsh Harriers were on the wing and on the drive back across the causeway road the two Black-throated Divers were noted at the Boulderwall end.
A difficult three days birding due to the weather, but for the guests they were delighted with the divers, Black-necked Grebe, Bewick`s Swans, Long-tailed Duck, Smew, Red-crested Pochard, Bittern, Glossy Ibis and Great White Egrets, birds we tend to take forgranted, and then of course there`s all the gulls, seabirds, shorebirds, raptors and even Tree Sparrow.

Rough weather & a dip

Dungeness - 0900hrs  - mild, cloudy start, heavy rain and gale force 8 sw later - We kicked off with a seawatch at the boats with PB & DW where a steady flow of Guillemots and gulls were rounding the point, including plenty of Kittiwakes, four Little and one Med Gull. Several hundred more Black-heads and Kitts were loafing on the shingle, plus another couple of hundred larger gulls on the foreshore towards the lifeboat station. There was little else during the hour apart from singles of Common Scoter, Shelduck and Red-throated Diver.
Scotney - From the double bends a Black-necked Grebe amongst the Wigeon was a surprise with more ducks on the grass, plus Lapwings and a Curlew. With the wind whipping up the surface we pulled in by the farm entrance, more in hope than expectation, to scan for the Long-tailed Duck which surprisingly was the only bird on the water by the now flooded peninsula.

                                Bewick`s Swans, Lydd

                               Black-necked Grebe, Scotney

Lydd - A count of 55 Bewick`s Swan were in their usual field opposite the chicken sheds in Caldecote Lane and on the way out I very nearly put the car in a flooded ditch.
Hythe - The day then went rapidly downhill as the lure of the Hythe heron drew us off the Marsh for what turned out to be a wasted three hours staring into a wooded valley on the edge of a housing estate. When will I ever learn that twitching is just not my bag, and it is such a waste of time if you have to hang about; worse still if its in a built up area and you end up feeling like some sort of peeping Tom. Anyhow, by mid-afternoon and with the rain lashing down we pulled stumps and headed back to paradise.
Littlestone - Waders on the foreshore included Oystercatcher, Curlew, 20 Barwit, 50 Knot, Dunlin and Sanderling. By 1600hrs the tempest reached its zenith with an incredible hail storm, plus thunder and lightening, so we called it a day and retired to Plovers and the log fire. It was one of those days when I was glad to get home in one piece.