Sanderlings

 Lade - warm, dry and sunny, NE 3-4 - A long weekend of fine weather with a keen wind off the bay made for chilly mornings and attracted hundreds of kite-surfers to the beach hereabouts. Due to the influx of holidaymakers we kept well away from Dungeness, concentrating on the local patch and, at last, enjoying a few moths in the garden trap and afternoon butterflies. Moth numbers remain low due to the cool nights but did include a smart and localised White Spot and a Rustic Shoulder-knot, a common enough species but one that I don`t get here very often. 

                                 Sea Kale and clams/gapers on the beach

                                 Rustic Shoulder-knot, White Spot and Shears

Bird wise migration appears to have hit the buffers with a party of 65 summer plumage Sanderlings on the sands yesterday the only migrants of any note. Elsewhere, all the common warblers and Cuckoos are well into their breeding cycles alongside the resident wildfowl and grebes. A mid-morning raptor watch yielded five Buzzards, two Marsh Harriers and a Sparrowhawk thermalling over the airport fields and adjacent shingle ridges, while Sandwich and Common Terns, four Mediterranean Gulls and a Hobby flew over the garden during the course of the weekend. I cannot remember a Bank Holiday weekend when so few unusual birds were discovered across the Dungeness peninsula with just a flyover Serin and Bee-eater of any note, both of which were seen or heard by only a handful of observers.

Spotted Flycatchers

Dungeness - warm, dry and sunny, light airs - At last, a proper spring-like morning with welcome warm sunshine that encouraged a few butterflies onto the wing such as Painted Lady, Common Blue, Small Heath and Holly Blue. Our final session for Clare and Peter started in some style at the north end of Long Pits where five Spotted Flycatchers performed to order in the small aspen copse and adjacent trees towards the Desert. Also noted a female Redstart and plenty of song from Whitethroats, Blackcaps, Chiffchaffs, a Garden Warbler and a soaring Sparrowhawk. 

                                  Common Blue, Desert

                                  Spotted Flycatchers, Long Pits

                                 Glossy Ibis, ARC

On ARC we had good views of the `resident` Glossy Ibis among the Black-headed Gull colony, plus two Redshanks, two Sand Martins and a Hobby overhead. We finished the four day bird tour at Lade where the regular Cuckoos and Little Grebes noted. Our final tally of birds was a respectable 110 species, despite the poor weather for the first three days.

Springwatch - I see Springwatch is back on our screens with the usual team (including the annoying one!) spread around the Kingdom from Strangford Loch to northern Scotland and west Norfolk. I caught up with it last night when there was a superb item on the plight of one of our rarest residents the Willow Tit. Its well worth a watch on catch-up if you missed it and superbly presented by the very able, for-one-so-young, Megan McCubbin. 

Rye Waders

 Orlestone Forest - cool and cloudy, W3 - We spent the morning searching for woodland birds in poor weather conditions where the highlight was at least 10 singing Nightingales, mostly around the recently created habitat in Faggs Wood. Also present: Willow and Garden Warblers, Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs, plus the usual range of common resident species. We checked out the area that held a singing Tree Pipit a fortnight ago of which there was no sign. Back on the Marsh we had good views of a `purring` Turtle Dove by the railway crossing and several Yellowhammers along the lanes.

                                  Turtle Dove, Kenardington crossing

                                  Turnstones and Avocet, Rye Harbour

Rye Harbour - A superb afternoon session on the Beach Reserve where we racked up 10 species of waders including 30 Sanderlings (mostly in summer plumage), 20 Dunlins (all in breeding plumage), a Red Knot, a Bar-tailed Godwit, 26 Tundra Ringed Plovers (much smaller and darker than the nominate race), a Curlew, 12 Turnstones (in a variety of plumages) and a Ruff (in non-breeding plumage) on Ternery Pool, plus the usual breeding Avocets, Redshanks, Ringed Plovers and Oystercatchers. The tern and gull situation was very worrying with only a handful each of nesting Black-headed Gull, Common and Little Terns, presumably due to the poor weather; although we did note two Sandwich Terns and three Mediterranean Gulls. Also noted: Shelduck, Gadwall, Little and Great Crested Grebes, Little Egret, 20 Skylarks and a Wheatear. It was good to see that the new Discovery Centre and all the bird hides were open. On the way home we called in at a site on Walland Marsh where a `booming` Bittern and several Bearded Tits were noted. 

New Discovery Centre, Rye Harbour

Raptors and waders

 Dungeness - cold, cloudy, showery, W 4 - Another shocking day of cold unseasonal weather with a nagging wind throughout making for difficult birding conditions. However, that said we rattled up a fair old variety of species for our guests starting at the point with good views of birds as diverse as Fulmar, Black Redstart, Stonechat, Peregrine and Whitethroat, plus several Wheatears on the beach opposite Jarman`s. Moving onto the bird reserve where a shower of rain downed a flock of six Sanderlings and three Dunlins in summer plumage along with eight Gadwalls and a Shoveler on Burrowes that stayed for all of ten minutes! Also noted around the circuit several Hobbies and Marsh Harriers, Little Egret, Redshanks and Lapwings, Shelducks, Bearded Tit and all the usual warblers. On ARC, Blackcap, Lesser Whitethroat and Chiffchaff were all in song and several Common Terns alighted on the raft; I had brief flight views of the Glossy Ibis over the lake and everywhere across the site there were Swifts.

                                  Marsh Harrier and Yellow Wagtails, Scotney

This afternoon a trip to Scotney produced good views of Yellow Wagtails (including a displaying male above), Corn Bunting, Marsh Harrier and Buzzard, while a pair of Tree Sparrows were still in the nest box by the farmhouse. Also outback seven Avocets and around 100 feral geese and Mute Swans.   

Hobby

 Dungeness - cool and cloudy, SW 4 - This afternoon we commenced a bird tour for two of our regular guests, Clare and Peter. With reports of Manx Shearwaters on the move in the Channel a one hour sea watch from the hide delivered a trickle of Gannets, Fulmars, Common Scoters, Kittiwakes and Sandwich Terns, but the shearwaters had dried up.

                                  Hobby sitting on the main track 

Moving onto Dengemarsh where Yellow Wagtails were very much in evidence in the field by Springfield Bridge along with Skylark, Reed Bunting, Linnet and Kestrel. Around the Hayfields it was good to see two well-grown Lapwing chicks amongst the adults on Hayfield 3, plus Redshanks, Gadwall, Shoveler, Little Egrets, Sedge and Reed Warblers and an immature Hobby sat on the track by Hayfield 2 looking in poor condition, no doubt due to the frigid air temperature keeping large flying insects to a minimum. From the bridge, five Ravens over, plus Marsh Harrier, Great White Egret and hundreds of Swifts over the reed bed.

Swifts galore

 Lade  - cool, sunny, SW 4 - Having spent most of yesterday trapped on the M25 to and from a family gathering at Maple Cross it felt great to be and about across the peninsula today in the fresh, clean air of the Romney Marsh. First off a circuit of the local patch was in order with Barney in tow to blow away the cobwebs. Several Cuckoos were active across the wetlands as plenty of Swifts and House Martins hawked flying insects coming off the Willow Swamp in the cool conditions. The first Mute Swan cygnets had made it onto the water with their proud parents, along with a couple of broods of Coots. 

                                  Kestrel at nest site

                                  Beware - moth caterpillars!

At Scotney the usual assemblage of farmland birds outback included Yellow Wagtails, Skylarks, Linnets, Corn Buntings, Cuckoo, Tree Sparrow and a late Wheatear, plus Avocets, two Common Terns, Shoveler, Common Sandpiper and a 1st summer Little Gull. Also, several Marsh Harriers, Buzzards, a Kestrel, five Little Egrets, Grey Heron and masses of feral geese, with more of the latter on the front fields. The range road delivered good views of breeding Kestrel and Buzzard at the watch tower (but no sign of the Little Owl) and a Hobby at Galloways; where the latest `nanny state` signage referring to the `hazards of Brown-tailed Moth caterpillars` caused mild amusement, particularly as there weren`t any nearby (my favourite nanny sign is the one at the end of the Britannia boardwalk at Dungeness that warns of `deep water ahead` - argh, its the English Channel, what do you expect!). Moving onto Dengemarsh and a check of the flood produced more breeding Yellow Wagtails and Corn Buntings along with Sedge and Reed Warblers, Reed Bunting and two Hobbies. Hayfield 3 held several pairs of nesting Redshanks and Lapwings, where a Crow nabbed a Lapwing chick despite being furiously mobbed by the waders. Hayfields 1/2 attracted a couple more Lapwings, Redshanks and Shelducks, a pair of Gadwall, many feral geese and three more morose looking Hobbies sitting out the chill on fence posts. At ARC the Glossy Ibis was loitering amongst the Black-headed Gull colony and hundreds more House Martins and Swifts swirled over the lake; early afternoon and JY count 1,150 Swifts over the car park in an hour, plus six Hobbies. Burrowes was quiet again, unless you like breeding Common, Herring and Lesser Black-backed Gulls! On the way out two Hobbies flew through and a Great White Egret dropped into the fields at Boulderwall. We finished the day where we started back at Lade overlooking north lake where the Swifts continued to come and go.

                                  Hayfield Hobby

Manx Shearwaters

 Dungeness - mild, sunny, gale force SW - The widely forecast low pressure system off the Atlantic delivered strong to gale-force winds overnight, along with rain and hail rattling the windows around the cottage and causing the chimneys to make a ghostly sound similar to the playing of pan-pipes! The wind continued throughout the day whipping up the Channel into a foaming mass of white horses and spume and shaking the seawatch hide during my two hour sit from 1000 -1200 hrs. An irregular trickle of mainly westbound seabirds made light of the sea state, comprising mostly Gannets along with a few Fulmars, Kittiwakes, Sandwich Terns and auks, plus 40 Common Scoters east. The highlight of the watch, also heading west, was a Great Northern Diver and 16 Manx Shearwaters, two of which passed inside the cardinal buoy. Many more Manxies were recorded before I arrived: full details of which will appear on the Trektellen website (per MC).