Passage migrants and memory lane

Lade - Saturday - warm, dry and sunny, se 2 - 0800hrs - A fine morning with a trickle of Sand Martins and even one or two Yellow Wagtails south over the Desert. On south lake the only bird of note was a lone Snipe, the first of the autumn, that briefly landed on an island before flying off towards the bird reserve.
The garden attracted some cracking butterflies enjoying the warm sunshine and feeding on nectar-rich flowers, including a succession of Painted Ladies, a Comma and at least one Hummingbird Hawk-moth.

                               Comma and Painted Lady, Plovers

Dungeness - With an old pal of mine, Kevin Downer, paying us a visit for the weekend we headed out for an afternoons birding around the peninsula. First port of call was a seawatch from the fishing boats where nothing much was happening apart from a few distant terns, Gannets and Kittiwakes moving offshore, a close Grey Seal and a trickle of Sand Martins out.
Moving on to ARC pit the car park scrub held a decent array of passage warblers, mainly Common Whitethroats and Willow Warblers along with several Sedge Warblers and Lesser Whitethroats (what gems they are) and a Garden Warbler. Walking down to Screen hide a viz mig of Sand Martins and Yellow Wagtails was well underway with a flock of 12 of the latter briefly alighting on the sandy ridges. The Swallow fed young in the hide nest and out on the water and islands there was the usual array of ducks and Lapwings, four Little Egrets, another Snipe, a few Common Terns, Dunlins and Little Ringed Plovers, an Oystercatcher with two well-grown chicks and a couple of hunting Marsh Harriers.
From Hanson hide a couple of quality waders in Little Stint and Wood Sandpiper amongst 150 Lapwings, plus a Ruff, two Dunlins, three Little Ringed Plovers and a Blackwit. More common passage warblers were noted around the willow trail.
Finally, we joined the ladies on the beach at Lade where the sands held hundreds of gulls, Oystercatchers and Curlews, plus 20 Sandwich Terns and five Redshanks. It was a glorious evening to be slumped on the shingle looking out across the bay in warm sunshine, reminiscing about old times. We ended the day with a superb meal in the Everest Nepalese restaurant in Hythe.

                                Two Old Sweats, 55 years on...

Sunday - warm, dry, sunny, se 2 - Lade - Another cracking summers day with a Poplar Hawk-moth the only noteworthy in the garden trap. A circuit of the local patch delivered a host of butterflies along the grass track by south lake and two Common Sandpipers around the margins. The bushes by the ponds and along north lake were full of passage Willow and Sedge Warblers and Common Whitethroats and the buddleias alive with Painted Ladies. Walking back along the beach on a flood tide 20 Sandwich Terns were fishing nosily just offshore.
We spent the afternoon chatting, whilst eating and drinking in the garden. Two silly old buggers nattering on about the old days, running wild in the countryside around Maple Cross in the Colne Valley on the edge of Chilterns, as a pair of snotty-nosed kids in the 1960s. Subjects covered included: fishing, egging, ratting, scrumping, spud planting, pet crows and magpies, tree camps, camping out at night, trout tickling, catapult fights with neighbouring village kids, falling out of trees, the merits of Jack Russell`s, French arrows, mushrooming, rabbiting, fish-spearing, picking water-cress, hand-milking cows, being chased by bulls and much, much, more.
Oh what an idyllic childhood, pass the rose-tinted spectacles someone...    

Wood Sandpipers

Lade - cool, cloudy, se 2 - Another wretched night in the Plovers moth trap with only 35 macros of 18 species, but did include Ruby Tiger and Brown-line Bright Eye new for the year - not to be confused with Bright-line Brown Eye of course, which I try not too, but still cannot get my head round those two similar names.., plus a very drowsy Migrant Hawker.

                                     Brown-line Bright Eye

                                Migrant Hawker

                                Ruby Tiger

Scotney - Spent most of the morning wandering around out back amongst the smoking linseed (I thought that practise had been banned...) and corn fields scanning harriers of which there was at least five individual Marsh, plus several Buzzards and Kestrels. All the expected farmland passerines noted and it was good to see a number of juvenile Yellow Wagtails in the sheep folds.
On the gravel pits, front and back, a combined tally of ten Dunlins, eight Curlews, five Common Sandpipers and Avocets, two each of Little Ringed Plover and Whimbrel, a Green Sandpiper along the main sewer and a Wood Sandpiper that flew over calling before settling at the Sussex end. The two Spoonbills were still present and at least five fledged Black-headed Gulls sat on an island being attended to by adults. Amongst the hundreds of feral geese and swans were three Egyptian Geese and four Snow Geese types, while a Little Owl was slumped asleep in the roof of a barn.

        Barney enjoying farmland birding, he reckons it beats seawatching any day...

                                Egyptian Goose, Scotney

                                Linseed burn-off, Cheyne Court

                                Sunbathing Starlings, Scotney

ARC - At the allotment House Martins were picking up mud from puddles to repair nests on the eaves of the adjacent housing estate, where there appeared to be young in at least three nests that I could see.
From Hanson hide a smart Wood Sandpiper and a Ruff were busily feeding on the closest island, alongside 150 Lapwings, six Blackwits and four Little Ringed Plovers.

                                Wood Sandpiper, ARC

Southbound Swifts

Lade - 0700hrs - cool, sunny, nw 3 - A chilly night resulted in little activity around the Plovers trap with only 25 macro moths of 15 species, although it did included two each of Garden Tiger and Snout.
Over the pits the only noteworthy event was a passage of several hundred Swifts south, mostly high up in the clear blue sky.
Romney Marsh - Had a mooch around the farmland tracts where the oil-seed rape and barley harvest was in full swing. Apart from a few gulls, Lapwings and a couple of Buzzards there was little of note, while a field near Newchurch was already under the plough, no wonder its a bird less wasteland out there.

                                Newchurch, Romney Marsh

Burrowes and ARC - Pretty quiet with only a handful of waders including six Blackwits on ARC and a couple of Dunlins on Burrowes, while yesterdays Great White Egret remained on Dengemarsh.
Scotney -  With news of a female Montagu`s Harrier reported on the farmland out back we went in search, but drew a blank. All the usual Yellow Wagtails and Corn Buntings noted on the fields, plus two Spoonbills, five Avocets and two Common Sandpipers on the pits and two Little Owls on a barn.
Dungeness - 1500-1630hrs - We joined PB at the fishing boats for the slowest seawatch ever: six Gannets and a few terns, a Grey Seal and a Porpoise in 90 minutes. However, its never a dull moment down here and we were fascinated by the clarity of light over the sea which enabled us to pick out landmarks across to Boulogne, such as the wind turbines on the harbour wall, Napoleon on his tower and the Basilica on the hill above the town. We could even make out the traffic flowing (unlike the M20...) on the autoroute and easily see the chalk cliffs of Cap Gris-nez.
Also of note were at least 100 Swifts heading across the Channel, so high they looked like gnats.

Garden insects

Lade - cool, sunny, nw 3 - A nippy old night resulted in a disappointing 12 moths in the Plovers trap, five of which were Dusky Sallows. However, the bright sunshine soon attracted a decent range of insects into the sheltered part of the garden to bask and feed including a pristine Marbled White amongst eight species of butterflies, plus a Six-spot Burnet and plenty of bees on the lavender.

                                Marbled White

                                Peacock

                                Red Admiral

                                Six-spot Burnet

                                Meadow Brown

I also noticed our favourite, worn out and tail-less Blackbird enjoying the warm rays in the safety of the Leylandii whilst keeping a close eye on Ginger Jim, Mrs PT`s cat. Also nearby was our first Willow Warbler of the return passage.

                                Blackbird

Over the pits another Willow Warbler was noted along with two Marsh Harriers and a trickle of southbound Sand Martins.

Lade Ponds and Red Knots

Lade - cool, cloudy, sw 5 - Following on from the deluge on Sunday the shocking `summer` weather continues with two days of near gale force winds rasping across the peninsula, during which time the moth trap has remained idle. This morning the wind relented a little (although it picked up again during the afternoon) such that you could at least cross the storm ridges without too much of a buffeting. As we ventured over towards the lakes a trickle of Sand Martins were already flying south towards Dungeness, while on the Desert the roosting Curlew flock had hunkered down out of the wind behind a large willow.
Along south lake huge baulks of Canadian pond weed were heaped up on the bank once again attracting two Common Sandpipers and the obligatory Starlings and House Sparrows. More Sand Martins were skimming the lake and a juv Marsh Harrier was making heavy going of it behind the `mirrors`. It was hopeless trying to check the wildfowl, so we headed for the sanctuary of the ponds.

                                             Raspberries and Cream

                                Large White

                                Ribbed Melilot

                                Small White

Lade ponds is my favourite part of the site as it is sheltered from the prevailing winds, being sandwiched between the caravan park and willow swamp; and at this time of year it is a riot of colour and activity. Even though the ponds are beginning to dry out plant growth remains luxuriant with vibrant patches of yellow Ribbed Melilot contrasting with reds of Valerian and tall Hemp Agrimony. Common dragons and damsels were everywhere along with butterflies such as whites, browns, skippers, Painted Lady and at least one Common Blue. We spent a happy hour here just mooching around enjoying the rich diversity of plants and animals on offer before heading back out into the wind tunnel and home for breakfast.

                                Common Blue - its been a poor summer for this butterfly

Burrowes - With the sun arcing over the yard arm it was time for a wader fix; both Burrowes and ARC are best viewed in the afternoon (the later the better) with the light behind you. Hadn`t been down for a week and even more wader-friendly islands had emerged attracting a scattering of distant 10 Dunlins, Ringed and Little Ringed Plovers, Greenshank, two Knots and four Redshanks. However, fortunately the two adult Red Knots flew over and landed on the mud in front of Firth hide affording superb views of these stunning waders in breeding plumage which were just beginning to show signs of wear. Its not often you get such great views of Knots so I made the most of it for a full 10 minutes before they were flushed by a Sparrowhawk. 

                                Red Knots, Burrowes

ARC - Not quite so profitable here with just a juvenile Dunlin and two Little Ringed Plovers amongst 120 Lapwings, plus legions of common wildfowl and hundreds of Sand Martins over the lake.
NB: The first Great White Egret of the season was reported from Dengemarsh this morning, so that's winter on the way then!

Sand Martins

Lade - cool, cloudy, sw 3, rain by mid-morning - A Chinese Character was new for the year in the garden trap, plus the first of many Flounced Rustics no doubt. Moth numbers were low, but did include 15 Silver Ys, probably as a result of the southerly, overnight winds.

                                Chinese Character

                               Silver Y

We flogged the local patch this morning, in cool conditions (sporting me cosy new DBO fleece), ideal weather for Barney who was bouncing around all over the place. First off we walked Mockmill that was full of Sedge Warbler families, some of which I reckon had second brooded, along with a sprinkling of Whitethroats, Linnets, Dunnocks, Blackbirds and two each of Cetti`s Warbler and Stonechat.
Crossing the Desert small groups of Sand Martins filtered south into the increasing head wind making for a Channel crossing, while over south lake there was at least 300 more hawking insects, the largest assemblage of the autumn so far. As migrant numbers have decreased over recent years Sand Martins are one of the last remaining mass, viz mig spectacles at Dungeness with many hundreds of thousands passing down the peninsula until mid September. In spring they`re almost a rarity but over the coming weeks are omnipresent as migrants look for the shortest sea crossing.

                                Curlews leaving their roost

                                                  Sand Martins

                                Tufted Duck brood

The rotting water weed along the margins continues to attract insects which in turn brings in Starlings, House Sparrows and Pied Wagtails, plus today three Commons and a Green Sandpiper. As we counted the wildfowl (including three new broods of Tufted Ducks on the water) the entire Lade Curlew flock of 220 birds flew from their roost site on the shingle towards the bay along with a calling Whimbrel.
Dungeness - With the wind veering southerly and reports of one or two shearwaters passing the point earlier we headed down to the fishing boats to join a small throng of regulars. Over the coming 90 minutes a steady movement of over 100 Gannets and a trickle of Common and Sandwich Terns passed by, plus singles of Fulmar and Little Tern and a flock of 15 Swifts. The weather window soon broke and as the rain returned, reducing visibility, we called it a day. 

                                Gannet, Dungeness

Arctic Skua

ARC - sunny, dry, nw 3 - After yesterdays deluge the sunshine and wind soon dried the shingle out and by midday you wouldn`t have known near 2" rain had fell a short time ago. A wide selection of waders on offer from Screen and Hanson hides included 100 Lapwings, five Dunlins, four LRPs, three Ringed Plovers, Blackwit, Greenshank, Knot, Oystercatcher, Redshank, Common and Green Sandpipers. Also present the long staying immature Little Gull and several Common Terns, while a Hobby swept through sending the Sand Martins skywards.
  DB alerted us to an orchid he`d found by the track down to Hanson hide, which we deliberated over at length, but on later reflection was probably a Southern Marsh Orchid past its prime.

                               Southern Marsh Orchid, ARC


Dungeness - 1600hrs - From the fishing boats this afternoon in the company of SO we had a decent enough hour seawatching with a steady flow of west bound Gannets, Common and Sandwich Terns, plus several Kittiwakes, a Fulmar and 20 Sand Martins. Thirty Common Scoters passed east, along with five Dunlin and a Sanderling, and just as we were about to pack up a cracking adult light phase Arctic Skua, cruised offshore. Several Harbour Porpoises were also noted.