Black Redstarts & Owls

Dungeness - 0915hrs - mild, overcast start, sunny and warm later, sw1 - Started at the Point with Black Redstarts; one in the timber yard at the entrance to the estate and 2 by the fishermans cabins. Also, 2 singing Skylarks, Mipits, Reed Bunting, Pied Wagtail and Old Faithful hunkered down amongst a group of Herring Gulls. On the sea a trickle of Gannets, Kitts, Guillemot, 52 Brents and 15 Common Scoters east, 200 Great Crested Grebes and Cormorants. Year ticked several visiting weekend birders...
RSPB Reserve - 1115hrs From the causeway road Great White and Little Egrets, plus 4 redhead Smews on New Diggings. At Boulderwall the usual flock of Tree Sparrows on the feeders, a pair of Smews on Gun Club pit and a close hare. From the visitors centre a flock of what appeared to be 28 migrant Barwits had plonked down on the nearest island affording ideal digi-scoping opportunities, as did the Long-tailed Duck. From the ramp plenty of harrier activity and a brief glimpse of a Kingfisher, but no sign of any Bitterns flying around; 11 Dabchicks on Dengemarsh was of note and the Great White flew over New Ex.
Lydd - 1500hrs - A check of several chicken sheds in the Lydd area eventually delivered a pair of Little Owls and a superbly life-like model of a Barn Owl perched on a back garden fence 10 foot from the kitchen window!!! Scotney was a waste of time with very little of note.
Galloways - 1600hrs - Finished in fine style with a hunting Short-eared Owl and a Stonechat on the ranges.
Kerton Rd Cafe - A Yellow Horned moth was potted at the cafe, while an Oak Beauty was trapped along the road last night.

                                          Black Redstart and Old Faithful, Dungeness

                                          Barwits & Long-tailed Duck, Burrowes

                                           Little Owl, Lydd

Bird Tour Weekend

Lade - 0800hrs - cold, grey sw2 - Nothing much to report on the local patch except a few grounded Reed Buntings and Mipits. Chiffchaff and Goldcrest in the garden again.
RSPB - 1330hrs - Sarah and Jean from Sussex, in for a weekends birdwatching. We kicked off with a pause on the causeway road where 4 Smews and 6 Goldeneyes on New Diggings. Plenty of Tree Sparrows, tits and Chaffinches around the car park and on the Boulderwall feeders. From Hanson a single redhead Smew amongst the legions of wildfowl including the incredible sight of about 200 Shovelers dabbling in unison, plus the obligatory Marsh Harriers over every so often. From Screen 8 Curlews, loads more wildfowl, Green Woodpecker, Reed Buntings and Pied Wagtails.
Littlestone - 1530hrs - A cracking end to the day with decent views of a Short-eared Owl hunting over the rough on the golf course, plus 2 singing Skylarks. On the bay plenty of waders, including 400 Knots swirling around in a small cloud at times; also 50 Barwits, 100 Dunlins and 200 Sanderlings.

Stonechat

Lade - 0800hrs chilly start, but bright and sunny, nw2 - Bird of the morning was a male Stonechat working its way along the fence line by south pit, which was the first of the spring on the local patch. Usually they are accompanied by a mate but not this time. It seemed to be finding plenty of insects to feed on, coming off the sunny side of the gorse. Also enjoying the sunshine were two foxes basking against the wall of the 200 foot `mirror`. All the usual wildfowl on the open water including 4 each of Goldeneye and Shelduck.
ARC - 1000hrs No sign of any Scripits at the southern end amongst a flock of 10 alba wagtails. The Great White Egret was in its usual spot on New Diggings. A Firecrest showed well along the willow trail, even giving a brief snatch of song;  also,  Chiffchaff, Long-tailed Tit and Goldcrest. From Hanson hundreds of Wigeon, Shoveler, Teal and diving ducks, plus a single redhead Smew, 8 Goldeneyes and 12 Curlews.

Old Faithful

Dungeness - 0800hrs - cold, grey, sw5 - A choppy sea rarely makes for good seawatching and this morning was no exception with very little on the move apart from some close Gannets. Old Faithful the Glaucous Gull was again lounging about on the shingle as tho sun bathing in the tropics.
ARC/New Diggings - All the usual Smews, Goldeneyes and Great White Egret on New Diggings, while at least one Scandinavian Rock Pipit showing at the south end of ARC.
Lade - Hard work here due to a biting wind blowing across the water. Chiffchaff and Cetti`s Warblers in the willows.
Have had the Plovers moth trap on for 5 days over the past fortnight and not a sniff. However, down at the cafe one or two early moths are coming to light

                                       Old Faithful the Glaucous Gull, Dungeness

                                March Moth, Kerton Road Cafe - a scarce resident in these parts

Slav Grebe & 2 Scripits

Lade - 0900hrs - cold, grey and miserable, nw2 - Still a few Chaffinches knocking around, plus Goldcrest and Chiffchaff in the garden and a couple of Mipits over. On south pit a pair of Oystercatchers had taken up residence on the scaffold island.
RSPB - 1000hrs - Picked up MH for a mornings tour around the bird reserve. First stop the causeway road to look for the reported Slavonian Grebe, (which we eventually saw from Hanson) where 5 Smews, 1 xxxxx Duck and the Great White Egret on New Diggings. Plenty of Tree Sparrow activity around the car park plus several Reed Buntings, Chaffinches and Great Tits. From Hanson had poor views of the Slav Grebe which was the first this winter on the reserve. Hundreds of common wildfowl on the water.
Over the road 5 Marsh Harriers, 50 Goldies and 2 Pintails at Dengemarsh, Long-tailed Duck on Burrowes (where 2 Caspian Gulls reported) and several Green Woodpeckers from the access road.
At the southern end of ARC, 2 Scandinavian Rock Pipits (aka Scripits) showed well, along  with 8 alba wagtails.

                                          Slavonian Grebe, ARC - desperate record shot

                                           Goldeneye, ARC

Chaffinches

Lade - 0700hrs - Grey and windy, rain later, nw gusting 5/6 - Did not remain long in the garden as decidedly unspring like with a scudding wind out of the north-west bending the fir trees and feeling very chilly. However, already there were several Chaffinches on the feeders and more `pinking` away in adjacent cover. This is not a bird I regularly get in the garden, so suspected there was some kind of an overnight movement, and sure enough during the course of the day many more were noted  elsewhere around the Peninsula.
Dungeness - 0830hrs - Pretty horrible conditions here and only lasted 30 minutes for a seawatch from the boats, where a flock of roosting gulls contained the 2nd winter Glaucous. Offshore 50 odd Gannets, a few Kitts, grebes, auks and not much else beside a couple of Chaffinches in off the sea..
ARC - 0900hrs and 1200hrs - From the causeway road 2 Scandinavian Rock Pipits had been seen earlier (PB) at the southern end but the only birds of note when I checked was a Dunlin and 2 Smew. On New Diggings 7 Smew and the Great White Egret.
Plenty of small bird activity around the car park with at least 50 Chaffinches, 20 Tree Sparrows, 10 Reed Buntings and an assortment of tits and a Goldcrest. From Hanson had crippling views of 2 different Bitterns for over an hour creeping around the reedbed in front of the hide; although they wern`t very sociable with the dominant bird stabbing away at the other and forcing it into cover; probably as it had found the best fishing spot. Mostly they took small fish and at least once a frog (marsh?) and were clearly very efficient hunters. Also managed a few digi-pics and a cracking bit of video, but you really couldn`t fail as they were so close. However, check out Plodding Birders blog for the real deal.

Bittern, ARC - one of two individuals that showed continuously for over an hour in the small reedbed in front of Hanson hide

Wet, wet, wet

Dungeness RSPB - light rain, followed by patchy rain, then heavy rain, low cloud, e2 - n4, cold - After 2 days up in London it was good to get out and about around the Peninsula this morning, despite the rain and cold, strengthening wind. From the causeway road a flock of 6 Smews and 8 Goldeneyes on New Diggings, plus the GWEgret. Over the road on ARC another 2 redheads plus a report of the wintering Long-tailed Duck. The willow trail delivered 2 Chiffchaffs, 4 Long-tailed Tits and a Goldcrest. All the usual wildfowl in front of Hanson and Screen hides plus a flyover Bittern. At Boulderwall 20 Tree Sparrows around the cottage, 15 Curlews on the fields and a couple of bedraggled Marsh Harriers on the wing.

                                          Smews, New Diggings

                                          Snow Geese, Scotney

Scotney - The highlight here was a flock of 31 Snow Geese, (3 of which were blue morphs) feeding amongst the cattle following their long transatlantic flight...
Dungeness  - A 30 minute seawatch from the boats delivered a steady flow of Gannets, Kitts and Red-throated Divers, plus 150 Brents and 3 Red-breasted Mergansers east. The 2nd winter Glaucous Gull also put in an appearance.