Weather woes

                                Sunrise, Lade Bay

Dungeness - 0615-0815hrs - mild, cloudy, light airs - With the promise of a south-easterly we rose early to be greeted by a spectacular sunrise over the bay, but light airs - yet again the Met Office had got it wrong. However, an hour in the seawatch hide with TG and SO delivered the expected early morning movement of Sandwich Terns, gulls and distant Gannets, plus 4 Arctic Skuas, a Bonxie and 2 westbound Balearic Shearwaters that fluttered by reasonably close over a mirror-like sea.
A Grey Wagtail and a few Mipits were on the power station sewage pans with a Black Redstart and Pied Wagtails along the fence. Small flocks of Swallows and martins gathered on wires and above the old light in preparation for a Channel crossing, while the bushes around the point held 20 Chiffchaffs, 2 Willow Warblers, Blackcap and a number of Robins.

                               Hirundines over the old light, Dungeness

Lade - After breakfast it was time for the monthly WeBS count on the lakes where Coot and Gadwall top scored at 560 and 352 respectively, plus 28 Moorhens and 23 Dabchicks also attracted to the huge rafts of floating water weed, some thick enough to support a Grey Heron.
Migrant wise streams of hirundines pushed south, no doubt hoping to cross the Channel before the rain set in. Warblers were thinly distributed with just Chiffchaff and Blackcap noted, while a few Mipits and Yellow Wagtails passed overhead. In the calm before the rain 5 Kestrels, 2 Marsh Harriers, Buzzard and Sparrowhawk all noted. By the time we arrived home, just before noon, the rain band hit making it time for second breakfast.  

                                Cattle Egret, Boulderwall

ARC - By mid-afternoon the rain cleared and we went for a wander down to Screen hide and the pines where a large flock of passerines comprised mainly Chiffchaffs, Great, Blue and Long-tailed Tits, several Blackcaps and a Lesser Whitethroat. Robins were everywhere, plus 10 Blackbirds, 5 Tree Sparrows, 3 Song Thrushes and 2 Reed Buntings. From Screen 3 Marsh Harriers drifted over disturbing the Golden Plover/Lapwing flock and 5 Ruff. On the water, Black-necked Grebe and Red-crested Pochard.
Nipped over the road before going home where the Cattle Egret was present in the Boulderwall fields following the suckling herd around.

Skuas, Sooties and a boatswain bird...

Lade - 0700hrs - mild, cloudy, sw 3 - An early walk out back before the rain band crossed the peninsula revealed a steady passage of Swallows and Sand Martins streaming south with hundreds more over south lake. A flock of 12 Wigeon were new in amongst a big increase in Coot and Gadwall to around 1,000 combined, plus 23 Dabchicks feeding amongst the floating water weed.
In the shelter of the brisk south-westerly at the ponds a few Willow and Reed Warblers, Chiffchaffs and a Blackcap, while a Redstart was a surprise find in the scrub by the main track. Several Mipits, Linnets and Yellow Wagtails passed overhead while scanning from the aerial mound.
The garden moth trap was stuffed with Setaceous Hebrew Characters, Large Yellow Underwings and the like, plus a migrant Vestal and, new for the year, Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing.

                                             Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing

Dungeness - 1000-1130hrs - Joined TG, SO et al in the seawatch hide for a lively session with plenty of Gannets and Sandwich Terns on the move, plus a few Common Terns, a Fulmar, at least 10 Arctic Skuas coming and going and a Bonxie beating up a Great Black-backed Gull. The cream of the crop though was 3 Sooty Shearwaters, one of which cut in quite close, shearing dramatically over a choppy sea at high speed, ably demonstrating why they`re referred to as the `greyhound of the ocean`.

                   Red-tailed Tropicbird, collected from the Mozambique Channel, 1977
                        
Last week Steve Gale posted an article on his blog (www.northdownsandbeyond.blogspot.co.uk )  about a past obsession with dead birds, and it seems that one or two other birders went through a similar morbid phase of collecting corpses in their youth, myself included, which reminded me of a treasured memory many years ago.
During the 1970`s I spent most of my time at sea and encountered a number of birds that came to nocturnal grief by colliding with the ships superstructure. My best pal back home, Kevin Downer, was a trained taxidermist and he showed me how to skin and cure a dead beast; and as I had plenty of corpses to practise on became reasonably accomplished with scalpel and borax. Wilson`s Petrel, Blue-footed Booby, Pintado Petrel and Black Noddy all went under the knife as cabinet skins and given to Kevin to perfect his art once I returned home. What happened to those trophies I don't know, lost in the mists of time and all that, but there was one bird that I remember being transfixed by and has survived to this day.
In 1977 I shipped out on the SS Linga, a Shell tanker, and one of the largest ships afloat at the time; it was so long that we used a bicycle to get from one end to the other! Anyhow, I digress. Whilst on passage to the Persian Gulf (in the Mozambique Channel near the Comoros Islands) I picked up a large, white seabird off the deck one morning that had hit the funnel during the night, but was in immaculate condition.
It was a boatswain bird, as sailors referred to them, and the previous day I`d been watching small flocks of these gorgeous seabirds, with an incongruous flight action, feeding around the ship near their breeding islands. The combination of red bill and tail made for an easy identification: it was an adult Red-tailed Tropicbird. So, out came the blade and powder and the skin was soon flat-packed for the journey home in a suitcase.
However, I didn't want this specimen to remain as a cabinet skin so asked Kevin to mount and case it for show, which he duly did. Sadly, over the years, and several house moves, it has taken a bit of a battering, but still sits in our study as a reminder of one memorable day in the Indian Ocean long, long ago.
What chance one of these beauties on a Dungeness seawatch I wonder...

Quiet end to the week

Lade, ARC, Scotney, Greatstone - warm, dry, sunny,  e 4 - It was a case of slim pickings this morning as we worked our way around four sites in search of migrants. On the local patch 2 Whinchats and a Lesser Whitethroat was about the best we could conjure up, while ARC, from the causeway road, was covered in Sand Martins and Swallows, plus a Black-necked Grebe. The roadside fields at Scotney held 20 Yellow Wagtails, 20 Golden Plovers, 4 Ruff and a Common Sandpiper amongst the feral geese, Curlews and Lapwings. We even tried the small wood at the bottom of Dunes Road where there was several Willow Warblers, Goldcrests, Chiffchaffs and a Spotted Flycatcher, plus 2 Whinchats and a Stonechat in the paddock. The arable fields out back yielded a few more Yellow Wagtails, 2 Wheatears, 3 Skylarks, 10 Mipits and 2 Kestrels. 
Elsewhere today there was no reported sightings of the Cattle Egret or White-winged Tern on the bird reserve and few waders due to the high water levels. However, up to 3 Great White Egrets are still present and no doubt with the predicted weather change over the weekend, and an influx of birders,  something should be found.
At Dungeness the sea could be a good bet tomorrow on a southerly wind as skuas (including a Pom) and terns have been regularly seen all week, plus the odd Sooty Shearwater, along with a few ducks, auks and Gannets. On the land a sprinkling of common migrants, including Redstart and Firecrest were noted today.

White-winged Tern - a patch tick

Lade - warm, dry, sunny, e 4 - 0600hrs - A cracking morning with bright sunshine and a warm easterly airflow had us out and about early before doing breakfasts for guests. A scattering of Whitethroats, Wheatears, 2 Whinchats and a Stonechat was the best of the migrants on the shingle ridges, plus the now regular trickle of Mipits and Yellow Wagtails overhead.
But the main event was on south lake where a juv White-winged Tern was feeding over the water, presumably the bird that has been present on the ARC/The Patch over the past week or more. Normally, a site first would be cause for some celebration, and a high five with Barney, but we`ve been spoiled for white-wingers this year at Dungeness, still nice to see though.
ARC - A mid-afternoon call into Screen hide and the White-winger had moved back to its favoured site out on the lake amongst the hundreds of Sand Martins and Swallows. Also here 2 Pintail, 2 Ruff and 10 Wigeon amongst the common wildfowl.
Now that the Reed Warblers have fledged the Thursday volunteers and staff were clearing the reeds in front of Hanson hide to improve the viewing experience.

"Nothing much was happening"

Dungeness - 0800hrs - warm, dry, sunny, e 3 - A change of scene this morning started with a brief seawatch from the hide where a few Common and Sandwich Terns were moving/feeding offshore, also 3 Common Scoters, Black Tern and Arctic Skua. Nothing much at the Patch apart from the usual gulls and a few terns.
We then checked the bushes across the point and along the edge of the Desert, where a steady passage of Swallows and Sand Martins was underway, but all was quiet apart from a few Willow Warblers, Chiffchaffs, Wheatears, Robins, Great Tits and singles of Whinchat and Lesser Whitethroat.
Dungeness again - Around mid-afternoon we pitched up with the seawatching stalwarts at the fishing boats. While Barney went in search of a piece of driftwood to chew on (seawatching is not his cup of tea) I proffered the age old birders` opening gambit, "much happening?" To which the reply was firmly in the negative from the sunbathing seawatchers. "Didn`t think as much, light`s crap too", said I. After putting the world to rights (now, there`s a challenge...) a couple of non-birders (ie, normal folk) turned up and asked what we were up too, so I set about trying to explain to them our weird obsession on an afternoon when the general consensus was, "nothing much was happening".
Or was it... "You've just missed a Grey Seal which popped up close to the beach", said I, "but never mind there are at least 10 Porpoises feeding just offshore", while a Common Seal was spotted further out as we watched the cetaceans showing off. We then pointed out a number of passing Common and Sandwich Terns, Common Scoters, Gannets, Turnstones, 2 Shelducks, 2 Guillemots on the water and 3 marauding Arctic Skuas, while several pulses of Swallows and Sand Martins struck out towards France.
The couple looked bemused. " I thought you said, nothing much was happening!"  
That's Dungeness for you, it always takes visitors to remind me just how lucky we are down here and how much we take for granted.

White-winged Tern again

Lade - cool, sunny, n 3 - Nothing much of note out back apart from an increase in Mipit numbers with at least 100 grounded on the shingle ridges along with 20 Yellow Wagtails. A large female Peregrine was cruising over the Desert and beyond the `mirrors` scattering all in her wake.

                                   White-winged Tern, ARC

ARC  - From the causeway road the juvenile White-winged Tern had returned and also paused a while on one of the remaining islands in front of Hanson hide, alongside 50 Goldies, Lapwings and a Ruff. Two Black Terns were further out, plus a summer plum Black-necked Grebe on the water and a Merlin being chased by a crow over the far bank.

                               Common Darter and Speckled Wood, Willow Trail

The Willow Trail was alive with common dragonflies and butterflies warming up in the sun traps and Common Lizards on the boardwalk. Several tits, Robins, Wrens, Willow Warblers, Blackcaps and a Spotted Flycatcher were in the scrub, plus a stunning Firecrest. 

                                Stonechat and Wheatear, Return Trail

Burrowes - Pretty quiet here with just a Great White Egret of noted. The Red-backed Shrike was absent from its usual spot by the return trail where Stonechat and Wheatear noted. Another Great White Egret was in the fields at Boulderwall.

A steady trickle of migrants

Lade - Cool, dry and sunny, n 2 - The past couple of days on the local patch have been pretty similar with a trickle of drift migrants either hanging around or moving through in bright sunshine on a light northerly airflow - with the curse of the school holidays now over, we can no doubt look forward to a period of more settled weather. With B&B guests coming and going a late morning walk out yesterday delivered a decent return on butterflies with plenty of Common Blues and Small Heaths still on the wing, plus Painted Ladies, Red Admirals and even a Clouded Yellow. 

                               Clay balls, Lade Bay

                               This fuchsia hedge was alive with bees

On the warbler front a few more Chiffchaffs have been noted around the site today along with plenty of Willow Warblers and lesser numbers of Sedge and Reed Warblers, Whitethroats and Blackcaps. The ponds have been the best spot for mixed flocks of warblers, tits, Spotted Flycatchers and this morning our first Goldcrest of the autumn.

                                Meadow Pipits, Lade Desert

                               Sedge Warbler and Spotted Flycatcher, Lade ponds

Out on the shingle ridges several Whinchats and Wheatears were joined by parties of Yellow Wagtails (DB reported `hundreds` dropping onto the Kerton Road triangle this morning) and Mipits with more passing overhead, plus singles of Tree Pipit and Grey Wagtail, 10 Goldfinches and 3 Siskins. Hirundines keep on coming with a big increase in Swallow numbers today.
A late morning check of the beach resulted in all the usual shorebirds, plus 6 Teal and 2 Shelducks.
As for moths, well, the chilly nights have knocked numbers for six, but Vestals are still coming to light and this mornings highlight was L-album Wainscot.

                                  L-album Wainscot, Plovers

ARC - A look at the wader islands (or what`s left of them) this afternoon revealed 100 Lapwings and Golden Plovers, 3 Knots and a Dunlin, plus all the usual wildfowl and hirundines on and over the lake.
The Red-backed Shrike was into its sixth day by the access road on the bird reserve and the Cattle Egret was reported again on Dengemarsh.