Red-necked Grebe

Lade - cold, sunny, nw 3 - A nippy morning with a scudding wind out of the north-west, but at least it was dry. A circuit of the local patch delivered five Goldeneyes on the lakes and a Marsh Harrier over. A Redpoll perched briefly atop a birch tree by the ponds, before flying off inland calling, was something of a surprise and a scarce bird here. Yesterdays work party had done a fine job of clearing the last of the willow scrub from the ponds.

                               Greenfinch, Lade ponds

  This afternoon, whilst at the point checking the gulls, news filtered through regarding a Red-necked Grebe found on ARC earlier in the day. We were soon on site along with a small group of locals enjoying obscured views of the grebe within a flock of diving ducks, on the edge of a reedbed seen from the track to Hanson hide looking towards the tower. AP et al also told of a flock of 17 Water Pipits that they`d not long seen on the hayfields and, sure enough, the pipits were still present as dusk approached on hayfield 2, although flighty. 
  At Scotney four Long-tailed Ducks were still on the western pit outback, plus five Whooper Swans on the roadside pit to the east of the farm track (AP.)

Longshore Drift

Lade - mild, cloudy, drizzle, wsw 5 - The seemingly endless wet and windy weather systems originating from the mid-Atlantic continue to sweep up-Channel battering the coastline, though fortunately its not cold.
  We always try and have at least one or two days a week (normally at the weekend) without using the car, which is not a problem for me living as I do within easy walking distance of bird-rich habitats across the peninsula. Anyhow, this morning we did a long, loop walk up to Kerton Road, down on the beach, back north to Greatstone beach, up Seaview Road and back home via Lade pits.

                                Gull fest continues

                               Waders on the beach

  The gull fest continues with thousands of birds still feeding by the Pilot, including several Mediterranean Gulls and at least two Yellow-legged Gulls (OL reported Caspian Gull this morning). Walking down the beach on an incoming tide at least 20 Ringed Plovers were noted, a sure sign that spring isn't far away, plus a mixed flock of Bar-tailed Godwits, Knots and Dunlins, 20 Sanderlings and 350 Oystercatchers, but gull numbers were low. The open, wind-blown lakes were virtually devoid of wildfowl as they sheltered from the gale, although there was plenty of passerine activity around the ponds from tits, finches, Cetti`s Warbler, Chiffchaff and Goldcrest.

                                Shingle creep on Greatstone beach

                               New shingle bar, Romney Tavern

                               Spring tide damage to dune system


Longshore Drift -  Just a quick observation and comment on the shingle movement along the local foreshore. The geological phenomenon known as longshore drift, whereby flints are dragged out of the chalk seabed in Sussex and rolled eastwards, up-Channel, by tides and wave action to form the Dungeness cuspate has been ongoing for some 5-6,000 years. But you don`t have to be as old as Methuselah to witness this dynamic process; just wander along the beach opposite the lifeboat station to the area known as the `dustbin` after a spring tide and you`ll see the latest shingle deposits thrown up by the sea. As for where the scouring action on the ever-shifting shingle bank is currently occurring, you need look no further than the mechanical diggers working frantically away in front of the power stations and Jury`s Gap.
  And so to the famous sandy beach at Greatstone, which is becoming, well, not so sandy as this winter a 200yd finger ridge of shingle has been extended by the storms from the Romney Tavern along the front of the sand dunes, with more pebbles scattered over a much wide area further down towards Littlestone. Mother Nature it seems is always evolving and where this section of the coastline is concerned, pretty much unstoppable.

Counting gulls

Lade - cold, cloudy, sw 5 - Another nippy old morning with a scudding wind out of the west; not ideal for counting gulls, but nothing ventured nothing gained, so`s to speak. With short tides I counted on the ebb from opposite Lade boardwalk, around the bay to Littlestone using a combination of counting blocks of 100 and multiplying, and photographing distant sections that I then magnified on the laptop and added to the tally. The result: 13,000 gulls, give or take 500 each way. However, there were, perhaps, a thousand more birds along the foreshore from the boardwalk towards the Pilot, and no doubt many more were lurking out of sight around the Dungeness cuspate, so the true figure could easily be in excess of 20,000 gulls.
 

                                Some of the thousands of bay gulls

                               And more towards Dungeness

                                Assistant gull counter!

  As for the species balance I would say that 75% were Black-headed and Common Gulls with 20% Herring Gulls, and the remainder a mix of the two Black-backs and Mediterranean Gulls. A lone Brent Goose was also noted and a small flock of Sanderlings. The predominant shellfish on the strandline was Cockle, while a few Lesser-spotted Dogfish and Barrel Jellyfish were also washed up.

                               What`s not to like about Sanderlings!

                                Lesser-spotted Dogfish

                                Barrel Jellyfish

Black Redstart

Dungeness - cold, sunny, w 3 - A morning session with the guests checking the gulls around the point for white-wingers drew another blank, although an Iceland Gull was seen earlier by TG and SO at the Patch. From the beach near the lifeboat station thousands of gulls could be seen across Lade bay feeding on bivalve molluscs and other crustaceans providing an impressive spectacle, and a Peregrine sat atop the power station structure basking in the sunshine. The foreshore opposite Jarman`s attracted several Meadow Pipits and a couple of pairs of Skylarks into song and we had good views of a male Black Redstart and four Stonechats in a private garden.

                               Black Redstart, Dungeness

  Moving onto Scotney and the roadside pits held the usual feral Barnacle Goose and Wigeon flock, plus a few Redshanks, two Shelducks, a distant Marsh Harrier and flocks of Golden Plovers and Lapwings. A couple of hours driving the lanes of Walland Marsh was a largely fruitless affair apart from 10 each of Kestrel and Buzzard, 200 Fieldfares at Midley and 10 Corn Buntings off Caldecote Lane.
  We finished the Birdwatching Break for Clare and Peter on 94 species birds.
 

Firecrest

Dungeness - cold sunny morning, cloudy afternoon, sw 4 - We started the day with a brief seawatch at the hide where very little was moving offshore apart from a few Gannets and a couple of Red-throated Divers and auks, plus the usual gulls foraging along the foreshore. A scout around on the land produced a few Meadow Pipits, Dunnocks, Kestrel and Stonechat.

                                Firecrest from Firth hide

  Moving onto the bird reserve where a circuit produced the drake Smew on Tanner`s pool, two Water Pipits on the hayfields, a flyover Bittern at Dengemarsh and, bird of the day, stunning views of a Firecrest in front of Firth hide. There was a good supporting cast of Goldeneyes, Marsh Harriers Great White and Little Egrets, Black-tailed Godwits, nine Ruff, Golden Plovers, Cetti`s Warbler, Reed Bunting, Chiffchaff, Long-tailed Tit and all the expected wintering wildfowl, gulls, grebes and Cormorants. Over on ARC several hundred Shoveler and three Goldeneyes on the lake, plus Sparrowhawk and calling Water Rail and Chiffchaff around the hide.
  We finished off the afternoon at the fishing boats where a flock of 58 Brents moved up-Channel and managed to miss the Glaucous Gull by five minutes - for the second time today!

Green Woodpeckers

Hythe - cold, cloudy, showery, sw 4 - We started a Birdwatching Break for Clare and Peter from London this afternoon, commencing at the sea defence blocks where there was no sign of the Purple Sandpipers, just two Turnstones and plenty of gulls foraging the strandline for molluscs.

                               Lympne Castle

  Moving onto West Hythe where a circuit down to the dam and back delivered at least four Green Woodpeckers, two Common Buzzards, Kestrel, Jays, Long-tailed Tits, Goldcrest, Song Thrush, Goldcrests and a calling Kingfisher along the canal. Crossing Romney Marsh via Newchurch was a pretty grim experience and largely devoid of birds apart from a few Starling, crow and gull flocks, plus 10 Linnets.
Lade Bay - Much better fare here on the incoming tide and in good light with thousands of gulls on the sands, including Kittiwake and Mediterranean Gull. The wader count was low apart from 500 plus Oystercatchers, 20 Curlews, 10 Knots, 20 Dunlins, 15 Sanderlings and six Redshanks.

Brent Geese

Dungeness - mild, cloudy, sw 4 - With Storm Dennis forecast to reach a full head of steam tomorrow we spent the morning on the peninsula. Offshore, however, the wind was already picking up, although the temperatures remain well into double figures due to the airflow originating from the Caribbean. Apart from several small flocks of Brent Geese passing east and distant Gannets there wasn't a great deal of movement, while large numbers of gulls continue to forage the strandline for remnant bivalve molluscs washed up from last weekend`s storm.
  The wooden seawatch hide has now been bolted securely onto its concrete pad and, fingers crossed, it should survive tomorrows blow even though its on the edge of the shingle bank, as thankfully the tides aren't as high as earlier in the week. The Patch hide is faring slightly better as the diggers have ramped up more shingle in front of it.

                                Seawatch hide

                                Patch hide

 

                                Moorhen under the feeders

  The bird reserve was looking pretty windswept by midday, but the Boulderwall fields still attracted the regular winter visitors including the drake Smew on Tanner`s pool and at least two Ruffs amongst the plover flock. The bird feeders at the car park were busy with tits and finches, but no sign of any Tree Sparrows. Two Water Pipits were noted on the hayfield behind Christmas Dell hide this morning (PB).
  An afternoon visit to Lade pits yielded very little as most of the wildfowl and grebes were taking shelter in the willow swamp out of the wind and rain.