Mediterranean Gulls

 Lade - warm, dry and sunny, NE 2 - A humid night with rain at times did not deter a respectable 30 species of macro moths coming to light in the garden trap. Highlights were: two male Sussex Emeralds, two Swallow-tailed Moths, 10 Buff-tips, a Privet Hawk-moth and the localised micro-moths, Cynaeda dentalis and Ethmia bipunctella. Five Silver Ys were also present in the trap, but outback on the shingle ridges this morning `hundreds` more fluttered around in the long grass amongst a host of Marbled Whites, Meadow Browns and skippers.

                                  Swallow-tailed Moth

                                  Scalloped Oak

                                  Privet Hawk-moth

                                  Black-headed Gulls on the bay

On south lake two Little Egrets were a sure sign of the changing seasons, as was a flock of 18 Ringed Plovers and five Dunlins on the bay this afternoon at slack water, plus hundreds of Black-headed Gulls. A Hobby made a couple of passes over the cottage, while an Emperor dragonfly paid a visit to the garden pond. 

                                 Sub adult Med Gull with large bill

                                  Adult Med Gull with normal size bill

                                  Mediterranean and Black-headed Gulls on the bay 

Another check of the beach this evening delivered a few more juvenile Black-headed Gulls amongst the adults, plus eight adult/sub adult Mediterranean Gulls (just beginning to moult) close to shore that also seemed to be feeding on small marines crustaceans. Smart birds, as usual, and one individual (depicted above) sporting an exceptionally large bill.

Sussex Emerald

Lade - warm, dry and sunny, light airs - The past couple of nights have been calm, cloudy and humid, ideal weather conditions then for moths coming to light at this time of year; except not here where the sum totals were 14 and eight species of macro moths respectively. I`ve been moth trapping for the past 15 years but cannot remember it being so poor, although I did note the first Sussex Emerald of the season on Friday night.

                                  Sussex Emerald

                                 Micro moth, Epiblema foenella (I reckon!)

On the bay there is already a hint of post-breeding dispersal with hundreds of Black-headed Gulls feeding at slack water on tiny marine crustaceans The only waders were 200 plus Curlews and 100 plus Oystercatchers, while at least 11 Grey Seals periscoped up and down whilst hunting flat fish at high tide. More Bhgs were on the lakes along with several Common Terns and a Common Sandpiper yesterday. A wander around the Trapping Area and Long Pits at Dungeness this morning produced very little of note apart from a few common warblers, Stonechats and a Peregrine on the power station.

Great White Egrets

Lade - muggy, cloudy, SW 3 - The past few days have been much of a muchness on the local patch with breeding in full swing and plenty of Mallard ducklings and young Coots, Moorhens and Dabchicks on the water, plus a brood each of Gadwall and Great Crested Grebe. Whitethroats appeared to have had a good season with juveniles flapping about all over the place on the dry scrub. Along the main track several Marbled Whites were on the wing when the sun briefly broke through. The bay Curlew flock is now up to 220 birds, plus a Whimbrel which has been present since the spring, while the first Sand Martins of the return passage are starting to trickle through. 

                                  Marbled White

                                  Hayfields 1/2

                                 Prize bull!

                                  Great White Egret

A circuit of the bird reserve this morning was a grim experience with not a single Common Tern present on Burrowes now that the Herring Gulls have cleaned out the tern colony of 30 nests. A Common Sandpiper and two Lapwings were the only wader migrants present amongst a host of eclipse ducks, Coots, Cormorants and nesting gulls. The hayfields were empty of birds, although six Great White Egrets were noted across Dengemarsh, plus the usual Marsh Harriers, Bearded Tits, Cetti`s, Sedge and Reed Warblers. A check of ARC produced huge numbers of eclipse waterfowl (2,000 plus?), at least 10 nesting Common Terns on the raft, but no sign of the Ibis, although it was reported earlier in its favoured haunt just past the Screen hide. 

Manxies

Dungeness - 0515 - 0815hrs - low cloud, showers, mild, SSW 7 - An early morning seawatch with a big sea running and 50 mph winds rattling the seawatch hide meant that most seabirds passing up-Channel did so at a fair old rate of knots. Highlights were: 10 Manx Shearwaters (all well offshore) two Bonxies, 30 Fulmars, 200 Gannets, 20 Common Scoter, 20 Sandwich Terns, 10 Common Terns, 10 Kittiwakes, two Med Gulls, six auks and a coasting Swift; some of the Gannets and Fulmars were very close to shore.

 

A Whimbrel over the cottage calling on the tide change this morning was, I suspect, the one that has attached itself to the bay Curlew flock since spring.

Curlews and Cuckoos

 Lade - warm, cloudy, showery, SW 2 - A mixed weekend of weather with sunshine and showers throughout but muggy with light winds off the Atlantic; decent mothing conditions then that last night delivered four species of hawk-moths and a Toadflax Brocade as the highlights in the garden trap. We`ve spent a fair bit of time checking out the local patch for Cuckoos these past few days without success and I`m pretty confident that they have moved back south, making 30th June the last date an adult was present; the first bird was noted here on 20th April, so that makes a total of just 72 days, or 12 weeks, that the `African` Cuckoos` graced us with their presence.

                                  Curlews flying to roost
 

Yesterday morning four Redshanks and a Green Sandpiper were noted flying across south lake, while in the afternoon on a rising tide 178 Curlews flew to roost off the bay. This evening several Sandwich Terns and four Grey Seals fished on the high tide.

Cattle Egret

 Lade - overcast, misty, light airs - A muggy day with a sea fret coming and going throughout that suppressed temperatures somewhat. A thorough look around the local patch failed to find any Cuckoos present for the second day running; although visibility was particularly poor first thing, so I`m not writing them off just yet. Pochard numbers were reduced by about a hundred with the majority on north lake amongst a few more Shoveler and Gadwall. Two female Marsh Harriers quartered the linear reedbed opposite the main track with one successfully grabbing a Mallard duckling.

                                  Distant Cattle Egret, Dengemarsh

A circuit of the bird reserve in  murky light was notable for a flighty adult Cattle Egret in full breeding plumage that went from the hayfields, to the cattle herd on Dengemarsh and then onto the Boulderwall fields. At least five Great White Egrets were also noted across the site, plus the Glossy Ibis at the western end of ARC, five Teal on the hayfields and a `bubbling` Cuckoo from the ramp.

Beautiful Hook-tip

 Lade - warm, dry and sunny, W2 - At last, summer has returned, and a welcome day without rain. The garden moth trap was yet again low in numbers but high in quality with the first Bird`s Wing and Poplar Hawk-moth of the season, plus a Beautiful Hook-tip, new for the trap site. Outback the first Marbled White of summer was on the wing along with a few skippers and browns along the main track.

                                  Poplar Hawk-moth

                                  Bird`s Wing

                                 Beautiful Hook-tip

                                  Juvenile Wheatear, Dungeness

A couple of hours at Dungeness wandering around the Desert and Trapping Area produced the usual warblers and finches, plus a juvenile Wheatear by the Polish war memorial and a few more common grassland butterflies on the wing. There was also a large Border Force presence on the beach dealing with incoming human migrants having just made the perilous Channel crossing.