Common Lizard

ARC - warm, dry, sunny, ne 3 - An early afternoon visit to Hanson hide yielded nothing new with the Glossy Ibis still present and a supporting cast of 2 Ruff, 2 Black-necked Grebe, Garganey and Red-crested Pochard. There appeared to be a lot more Wigeon amongst the dabbling ducks and 2 Golden Plover within the Lapwing flock. A pulse of Sand Martins moved through and a couple of Yellow Wagtails went over calling. Around the Willow Trail, 3 Chiffchaff, Blackcap and Cetti`s Warbler, plus several Common Lizards warming up on the boardwalk.

                                Common Lizard, Willow Trail

Barred Warbler and garden Wrynecks

Greatstone - 0900hrs - mild, cloudy, ne 2 - Checked the wood out at the bottom of Dunes Road but all I could locate was a mixed passerine flock with 15 Long-tailed Tits, Blackcap and Chiffchaff. The sewage works had a large flock of hirundines feeding overhead and a Grey Wagtail went over.
Dungeness - News of a Barred Warbler at the southern end of the Trapping Area came through and by the time I arrived it had moved onto a scrub-clad bank on the edge of the Desert. We had several brief views of the bird in the open, but most of the time it was skulking amongst brambles. A Whinchat and Stonechat was also seen.
An afternoon seawatch from the fishing boats with PB yielded at least 3 close Arctic Skuas, one a cracking light phase adult and a steady trickle of Sandwich and Common Terns feeding just offshore. A Brent Goose flew by and was my first of the autumn and further out a few Gannets and a Kittiwake were noted.
Garden Wrynecks
During my time as county bird recorder (in deepest land-locked Bedfordshire) I could pretty much guarantee being contacted every autumn by someone describing the sighting of an, "odd brown, black and grey little bird hopping around on the garden path feeding on ants". I remember one concerned caller saying after said bird had collided into her patio window, "when I picked it up it contorted its neck around".
Unfortunately, the majority of garden Wryneck records were reported via the jaws of that sweet little mammal the domestic cat. Now, let`s get one thing straight dear reader I`m not about to go on a rant about how many millions of songbirds the UKs cats kill each year, as occasionally Mrs PT reads this waffle, and they`re only doing what nature intended, and she loves her Jim as much as I love my Barney, oh no, not me, never, I`ve even forgiven Jim for delivering a Firecrest and Reed Warbler on the kitchen mat one autumn, honest I have...
Anyhow, that`s enough of that, as I was saying, autumn Wryneck sightings in gardens, so yesterday I received a phone call from a gentleman in Cheriton telling a familiar tale of his family cat catching an unusual bird that turned out to be our much loved migrant. However, this story has a happy ending as the woodpecker was retrieved from the cats clutches, caged overnight and successfully released the following day none the worse for its experience.
But whenever I hear one of these garden Wryneck tales I do wonder just how many more there must be out there that go undetected...

                                Wryneck, Cheriton (by Ron Laker)

Migration Walk

Lade - 0800hrs - cool, dry, cloudy, ne 3 - A couple of hundred hirundines over south lake this morning comprised mainly Sand Martins and a Kingfisher was present around the willow swamp.
RSPB - 1000-1300hrs - Walked the circular route with 12 visitors the theme of which was migrant birds. It felt a bit flat after the weekend but we still managed to find a few warblers in the bushes including one decent mixed flock of passerines that included Blackcap, Lesser Whitethroat, Reed and Garden Warblers, while Whitethroat and Chiffchaff were the most numerous of the tribe. A Wheatear on the shingle by the access road was the only chat on show apart from an elusive Redstart in the car park scrub and a trickle of hirundines, plus Yellow Wagtail and Mipit overhead. Migrant waders such as 5 Blackwit, 4 Whimbrel and 3 Greenshank went straight over, while 50 Lapwing and a few Golden Plover were on Burrowes and Snipe on Hayfield 1. Other odds and ends included Great White Egret and Hobby on Dengemarsh, 4 Marsh Harrier, 3 Kestrel, Raven, 2 Kingfisher, Water Rail and Cetti`s Warbler (heard). On Burrowes, Wigeon and Pintail amongst the commoner ducks.
A pleasant walk in good company with 66 species of birds logged.

                               Great White Egret, Dengemarsh

Back to normal

Lade - 0700hrs - cool, sunny, ne 3 - A fresher feel to the atmosphere this morning for a circuit of the local patch, but without Barney it just didn`t feel right. Anyhow, migrants were noticeable by their absence with not a single martin, chat or flycatcher seen and only a handful of Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps around the willow swamp, although there did seem to be an increase in Blackbirds and Robins. Overhead a trickle of Yellow Wagtails, Mipits and a single Tree Pipit. A pale Common Buzzard sat atop the 30 foot dish `mirror` while being pestered by a couple of Magpies.

                                Common Buzzard and Magpie, Lade

Spoonbill

Lade - Yesterday, during our early morning round of the local patch Barney got trampled on by an out of control Poodle. Now if that sounds a touch embarrassing it was a large, young one about the size of a Labrador and this morning he was hobbling badly and in need of a trip to the vets. The result being that Barney is now grounded for a week until his badly sprained paw heals. Its thrown as all out of kilter down here as walking the local patch without him is just not the same. He`s been moping around all afternoon since coming home from the vets, but hopefully by this time next week normal service will be resumed.

                               "Damn Poodle"

ARC - On the way home from the allotment I called in to Hanson hide from where a Spoonbill was asleep (as usual) on the Cormorant island, which was a belated year tick; I really must dig out that list sometime...

                                Spoonbill, ARC

Lade - Mrs PT caught an unpaid guest entering through the back door of Plovers at the weekend,  a Common Lizard, which promptly disappeared somewhere in the cottage...

                                Common Lizard, now at large in Plovers

Buzzards, hirundines, a shrike and much, much more...

Lade - 0645hrs - mild, cloudy, light airs - With not a breath of wind it was the perfect morning to walk Mockmill. En-route a Tree Pipit went over calling along with a few Yellow Wagtails, a Common Sandpiper, Greenshank and a Sedge Warbler in the cattery scrub. In the sewer scrub small numbers of Common Whitethroat, Sedge and Willow Warblers, Blackcap, 4 Whinchat and a Stonechat. On the walk back along the edge of south lake thousands of House and Sand Martins were swarming over the water, dipping down to drink, and settling on the bank side willows, a truly breathtaking spectacle.
Dungeness RSPB - 0900hrs - We met up with 14 members of the Bedfordshire Bird Club in the car park for their autumn migration meeting, and while many of yesterdays warblers and flycatchers had shipped out in last nights clear spell there was still much for the group to enjoy around the reserve; the only disappointment being a shortage of waders due to high water levels. However, during the circuit we noted Greenshank and Whimbrel over calling, plus Common Sandpiper and 4 Snipe. The scrub opposite Firth yielded a clutch of Willow, Cetti`s, Sedge and Reed Warblers, Chiffchaff and Common Whitethroat, plus 4 Lesser Whitethroat near Christmas Dell. Several Marsh Harriers drifted over while on Dengemarsh two Great White Egrets, 5 Whinchat, Bearded Tits, Raven, Swift and masses of hirundines on the move were the highlights. News came through concerning the relocated Red-backed Shrike in scrub at the end of the return trail and the group all enjoyed good views of what has now become almost a true rarity down here. Several Clouded Yellow, Small Copper and Common Blue butterflies were also on the wing.
Back at a packed car park for lunch, in humid weather conditions, we were treated to an unprecedented passage of at least 20 Common Buzzard and one Honey Buzzard crossing the peninsula.

                                    Red-backed Shrike, Return Trail

ARC - After lunch we moved `over the road` where 2 Spotted Flycatcher and a Common Redstart performed to order on overhead wires near the car park. From Hanson 2 Black-necked Grebe, Red-crested Pochard, Ruff, 5 Garganey, 5 Black Tern and 2 Sparrowhawk were the highlights amongst hundreds more hirundines, common wildfowl and Lapwings, while the Glossy Ibis showed from Screen hide.

                               Bedfordshire Bird Club, Dungeness

Dungeness - Moving onto the fishing boats for an afternoon seawatch turned out to be a more productive hour than I expected with a trickle of Sandwich and Common Terns, Gannets, gulls and 5 Arctic Skua, several of which approached close to shore. We also had good views of half a dozen Harbour Porpoises and a Grey Seal munching on a large flatfish. A steady passage of Swallows was also in progress, while Wheatear and Meadow Pipit were noted.
Over the weekend we rattled up 108 species with a memorable list of drift migrants including Wryneck and Red-backed Shrike and the spectacle of thousands of migrating hirundines.
In summary a great weekends birding amongst long standing friends, as well as catching up on a bit of gossip from the old county.

Magical Dungeness day of drift migrants

Dungeness - 0700hrs - warm, dry, overcast, light airs - With two old birding mates (Rob Dazley and Pete Marshall) down from Dunstable for the weekend I was hoping for a "bit of drift migration" to show off to the old landlubbers, but what we got was way above expectations...
We had  to start with a quick look at the sea, being as Brogborough Clay Pit is the largest area of water they ever see! Predictably there was little on the move apart from a few Gannets and a couple of Arctic Skuas beating up the terns. At the Patch plenty of gulls, 50 Common and a single juv Arctic Tern.
And so to the land, which was brilliant, with drift migrants all over the place, the pride of place going to a Wryneck at the southern end of the Trapping Area. Over the course of the morning and early afternoon we racked up 50 Yellow Wagtail, 10 Spotted Flycatcher, 4 Pied Flycatcher, 5 Common Redstart, 10 Whinchat, 5 Stonechat, 15 Wheatear, 10 Pied Wagtail, 20 Common Whitethroat, 5 Lesser Whitethroat, 20 Willow Warbler, 5 Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Reed Warbler, Grey Wagtail, Tree Sparrow, Goldfinch, Linnet, Greenfinch, Reed Bunting, Robin, Dunnock, Wren, Great and Blue Tits.
Hundreds of hirundines moved through with a fabulous spectacle of several hundred House Martins settled atop Dungeness A Station. Raptors included 3 Sparrowhawks, Kestrel and Marsh Harrier. Phew!
Scotney - For a change of scene we walked the back track out onto Walland in a quest for waders on the gravel pits where we found 2 Green Sandpiper, 3 Dunlin, 50 Lapwing, Curlew and Common Sandpiper. Also here Wigeon, Pintail and Egyptian Geese amongst hundreds of common wildfowl, Little Egrets, plus two Common Buzzards, one with a pale tail and at least 100 Yellow Wagtails. On the walk back the farm track at one stage was covered in hirundines, a truly amazing spectacle.

                                Hirundines, Scotney

Galloways - A circuit of the range road produced numerous Spotted Flycatchers, Whinchats and Wheatears, Sedge Warbler, plus 2 Ravens and Kestrel.
Dengemarsh Gully - More migrants here with Garden Warbler new for the day, plus more Pied and Spotted Flycatchers, Willow Warblers, Common and Lesser Whitethroats, Whinchat and Wheatear.
ARC - Finished off at the Screen hide where the Glossy Ibis and Spotted Redshank were on show, plus 3 Garganey amongst the wildfowl and a Black Tern over the lake..
Another terrific day migrant hunting across the peninsula.
NB: Also today Nightjar and Firecrest at Long Pits and a Red-backed Shrike briefly at Boulderwall.