Beach gulls

Lade - mild, cloudy, sw 5 - Another breezy day forced the water birds to move onto the more sheltered north lake and around the willow swamp, where 2 Marsh Harriers were in attendance.
The mystery of the green signs has been resolved, apparently they`re markers for testing water quality.
A check of the sands at midday from the tavern revealed at least 500 Dunlins and 300 Sanderlings amongst six species of shorebirds, plus a thousand gulls, mainly Black-headed and Common Gulls.

                               Adult Kittiwake, Dungeness

Dungeness - From the fishing boats this afternoon a steady flow of close Gannets and Kittiwakes moved west, plus a few auks and a Red-throated Diver in an hour. Several hundred gulls on the beach included a few Kittiwakes, plus an immature Caspian Gull located by PB and DW.
NB: On the bird reserve the Long-eared Owl had returned to roost in the sallows behind the discovery pond and 6 Smew were on Burrowes.

Beach birds

Dungeness - 0800hrs - mild, dry, sunny, sw 2 - A superb morning for a walk along the beach. We started at the Patch where there was a couple of hundred commoner gulls over the boil, plus the same again on the foreshore towards Penn Bars, where heavy plant was moving shingle in front of B Station. Pied Wagtail, Mipit and Goldfinch noted along the power station wall and 5 Skylarks flew  overhead calling. Apart from the usual gulls and Turnstones the walk down to the fishing boats delivered brief views of a brown Merlin. A chat with the seawatchers confirmed that apart from a few Kittiwakes, Gannets, scoters and divers, all was quiet on the sea.

                                Turnstones, Dungeness

                               Great Black-back juv with damaged leg

Lade - The wind picked up this afternoon but that didn`t prevent the wintering Short-eared Owl putting on a late show over Mockmill.

December Balearics

Dungeness - 0815-0930hrs - mild, sunny, ssw 3 - We joined the locals for a seawatch from the fishing boats this morning where a warm onshore wind kept the seabird interest ticking over. The highlight was 3 down-Channel Balearic Shearwaters, which I`m almost sure are my first in December. The main feature of the watch though was a trickle of Razorbills, Guillemots, Kittiwakes and Gannets, 12 Red-throated Divers and 3 Fulmars, plus 50 Great Crested Grebes on the sea.
On the beach an adult Yellow-legged Gull was amongst the roosting Black-backs and Herring Gulls.

Lade - No change here from the weekend although it was fascinating to watch a pair of Marsh Harriers trying to work out how to get Coot on their breakfast menu. With so many bunched together by the willow swamp their strategy was to scatter and divide looking for a weakling. The much larger female dropped onto one bird which then dived leaving the harrier floundering amongst the water weed. The smaller male thought better of it and drifted off to search for more suitable prey; while I`ve often seen mature adult females kill Coots, mostly in the winter when they`re desperate, I`ve yet to witness a male doing likewise.Whilst watching the Coot/harrier shenanigans a Kingfisher flashed by with a Sparrowhawk in hot pursuit!
At last knockings we wandered across to Mockmill, into a glorious setting sun, where the wintering Short-eared Owl was already on the wing gliding over the sewer searching for a meal. As the light fell away hundreds of corvids flew to roost along with 5 Marsh Harriers and 3 Little Egrets. On the walk back a cacophony of Water Rails kicked off in the main reedbed on south lake.

                                Sunset over Mockmill

Tideline wander

Lade - mild, cloudy, dry, sw 5 - A blustery old day with Storm Desmond whipping up-Channel; although looking at the rainfall levels in north-west Britain I reckon we`ve got away lightly down here. After checking the pits, where the now expected water birds were still present in huge numbers, we walked the beach down to Littlestone searching the tideline for a Snow Bunting and the like, but all we could conjure up was a few Turnstones, a couple of Pied Wagtails and a Mipit. Out on the bay hundreds of tiny Sanderlings and Dunlins continued to feed in what was sand blizzard conditions.
Lydd -  At the back of Horsebones farm 4 Bewick`s Swans briefly stuck their heads up amongst the oil-seed rape within a Mute Swan flock. Brett`s pit continues to attract a number of Great White and Little Egrets, presumably due to an abundance of food, while the Long-eared Owl was still present on the bird reserve.

The Missed List

Lade - mild, cloudy, sw 3 - Another dry, spring-like day with occasional sunshine. We worked the local patch where a couple of new signs had been erected on the causeway between the two lakes. After tweeting the conundrum out it seems that others had been found at Long Pits and ARC, but nobody locally has any idea who put them up and what for, so the mystery continues...
Birdwise it was pretty much of a muchness with up to 2,000 Coots, ducks and grebes on the lakes with only 2 Goldeneyes of any note. Several Marsh Harriers, Common Buzzard and Kestrel noted plus the usual vocal Water Rails and Cetti`s Warblers around the willow swamp, and the highlight of the morning a flock of 30 Greenfinches.
As depicted below Barney is back on fine form after his teeth extractions. This morning he flushed a rather large brown rat that duly went to ground in a patch of reeds, which was a sensible move on the rat`s part as Barney hates getting his feet wet!
RSPB - A quick look at Burrowes revealed the usual Goosanders and Smews on the lake, plus 2 Yellow-legged and a Caspian Gull from Makepeace hide. The roosting Long-eared Owl continues to attract a steady flow of admirers to the discovery pond sallows.

                                Mysterious marker posts...

The Missed List
Its that time of year again when we start looking back at what birds we missed during our birding sorties around the Marsh in 2015. So far 209 species have been accumulated, which is quite a bit short of the 225 species high of five years ago, not that I`m complaining as there have been some amazing highlights, more of which in a later post.
However, there`s always the chance of something new before the year is out, like a Waxwing flock drifting south or a scarce water bird on the gravel pits, such as Red-necked Grebe or Long-tailed Duck; and despite a fair bit of seawatching this year we never did connect with a Velvet Scoter. Other omissions from the seabird list included Rosy Tern, Long-tailed Skua, Sabine`s and Glaucous Gulls, although the latter could yet still put in an appearance at Dungeness.
Anyhow, it was a poor year for waders, mainly due to high water levels on the pits, with no Pec or Buffy Sandpipers, or even a tricky little `peep` to mull over. Golden Plover flocks were searched for Dotterel, without success, and will we ever find our poster bird - Kentish Plover on the sands at Lade, it`s now ten years and waiting...
Missed raptors, for the third year running, included Osprey, and while there were several we just weren`t in the right place at the right time as they rarely tarry here due to mobbing by gulls. Monty`s and Black Kite were also absentees. To finish off the dipped non-passerines, Bee-eater eluded us, as did Tawny Owl, but no surprise there.
As for passerines there were quite a few we missed, typically brief flyover types such as Woodlark, Serin, Lap and Snow Bunts, plus Water Pipit, Gropper, Golden Oriole, Great Grey Shrike, Short-toed and Common Treecreepers, Barred and Wood Warblers, none of them easy down here and several that put in an appearance when we were off the Marsh.
Aquatic Warbler is another one of those target species, along with Kentish Plover, that nags away and remains absent for another year. The location is right, so is the habitat and there are no shortage of birders searching for them. I guess both species are in such steep decline on their continental breeding grounds that with each passing year the chances of finding one just gets slimmer and slimmer.

                               The ghost of Denge Beach

Whilst on the subject of absentees, this was the first year we didn`t record a Turtle Dove on passage on the local patch at Lade during the spring or autumn. No surprise really as there was only a handful of breeding birds reported on the Marsh farmland.
But by far the biggest omission in 2015 was Grey Partridge. Numbers of this once common farmland bird have simply collapsed. Despite searching all its old haunts locally, and around Walland Marsh, I could not find a single covey, pair, or singing cock bird, nothing. Sad times indeed for this quintessential farmland bird.

Swan search

Lade - mild, dry, cloudy, sw 3 - With the passing of Storm Clodagh yesterday the weather settled down today and was incredibly spring-like, nudging 15C around midday. Flight views of a Bittern was the highlight this morning, followed by a Short-eared Owl this evening from the viewpoint by the school. On the bay Knot numbers were up to 150 and 2 Brents were sat on the sands at low tide.
Walland Marsh - Following reports of the first Bewick`s Swans of the winter yesterday I checked the fields between Old Romney and Lydd, but without success; although one flock of swans in a distant field from Swamp Lane was partly obscured and unidentifiable. Several Marsh Harriers, Kestrel and Buzzard were noted, plus Mistle Thrush and 10 Fieldfares.
On the bird reserve the usual wildfowl, including sawbills on Burrowes, plus the Long-eared Owl  roosting behind the discovery pond.
It seemed odd birding without Barney as he spent the day at the vets having some dental work done. However, when I picked him up I was relieved to see him bouncing around, despite being minus six teeth.

Sparrow challenge

Saturday - Its been a weekend of two contrasting days with Saturday spent up in London and Sunday back home. While Pat went to see Lucy in her final performance of Showstoppers in the West End I met our Kate at Shepherds Bush for my birthday present - QPR v Leeds at Loftus Road. Mum and dad were Londoners and while I grew up in the small Hertfordshire village of Maple Cross, Shepherds Bush still retains a lure through the footie club.
I even managed to get in a bit of birding and set about trying to find a House Sparrow around the `village green`, as Shepherds Bush was once known. Unsurprisingly my quest floundered with not a single cheep of a cheeky, London sparra to be heard anywhere. On the other hand parakeets screeched overhead and Lesser Black-backed Gulls were commonplace, several Goldfinches called from plane trees and a Grey Wagtail flew over calling.
At the ground it was good to meet up with some old, long suffering faces from when I was a season ticket holder, and when Gerry Francis and Phil Parkes were interviewed on the pitch at half time, talking about a reunion of the great side of 75/76, I realised how far the R`s had plummeted from those heady days.
However, back to the present and while the first half was a poor spectacle it improved in the second with the introduction of Charlie Austin, the goal scorer and a 1-0 win. As always at Loftus Road the atmosphere in that tight little ground was cracking, thanks in part to a large and  raucous Leeds support.

Sunday - Lade - mild, overcast, sw 5 - What a difference a day makes, from the madness of London - I know which one I prefer! We did our usual circuit of the local patch in a buffeting wind which by the afternoon had built up to gale force as Storm Clodagh swept up-Channel. All the usual wildfowl and waders were noted on the lakes and beach respectively where a female Marsh Harrier was testing out the Coots on south lake. Hardly any passerines were noted due to the wind.
News from the bird reserve confirmed the Long-eared Owl still present roosting behind the discovery pond.

                                Sanderlings, Lade sands