Ringed Plovers

 Lade Bay - warm, dry and sunny, NW4 - With a brisk wind out of the north and bright sunshine, perhaps not the best weather conditions to check the bay on a falling tide this morning. However, from four points around the bay the following approximate counts of seven species of waders were: 600 Oystercatcher, 250 Curlew, 50 Dunlin, 10 Bar-tailed Godwit, three Knot, two Sanderling and a flock of 52 Ringed Plovers roosting on the beach that were probably of the smaller, darker brown Tundra race. Also noted 120 Sandwich Terns and 20 Mediterranean Gulls. The Kerton Road quarry produced 50 Lapwings and a Common Sandpiper amongst the usual breeding Oystercatchers and loafing gulls. Very quiet around the bird reserve with a Black-tailed Godwit, two Dunlins and five Little Ringed Plovers on Burrowes; four Cattle Egrets in Boulderwall fields; a Greenshank, two Redshanks, two Little Ringed Plovers and the usual wildfowl, egrets and ibises on ARC from Hanson hide.

                                  Tundra Ringed Plovers, Lade beach

                                  Sandwich Terns, Lade Bay

                                  Rosy Footman

                                  Yellow-barred Brindle

New moths in the garden trap this week included Least Yellow Underwing, Yellow-barred Brindle and Rosy Footman, although numbers are somewhat down on last week due to the windy nights.

Yellow-legged Gulls

 Dungeness - warm, cloudy, SW 4-5 - 1330 - 1500hrs - Decent weather conditions then for my first seawatch of the `autumn`, from the fishing boats in the company of MC; and with a super-rare Tystie seen briefly this morning hopes were high... But, oh dear, what a disappointment: 12 Sandwich Terns, six Gannets, two Common Scoters, a Dunlin and a Kittiwake moving down-Channel, plus a couple of Yellow-legged Gulls to bread was about it. Offshore a dead seal drifted by into the bay while a Grey Seal and two Harbour Porpoises were also noted.

                                 Yellow-legged Gulls, Dungeness

Garden moths have been few in numbers these past couple of nights, although a trio of Jersey Tigers and a Light Emerald were new for the NR trap site. On the bird reserve the usual passage sandpipers and plovers, egrets and ibises are still present from Hanson hide, along with a couple of Avocets and Black-tailed Godwits, while yesterday I had my first Wigeon of the season. This evening a Wood Sandpiper and two Yellow Wagtails dropped in alongside a Garganey, 10 Little Ringed Plovers, two Common Sandpipers and five Dunlins. 

                                  Jersey Tigers, NR

Grebes

Lade - warm, dry and sunny, E4 - An early morning check of the local patch, with the emphasis on breeding birds, produced good numbers of Little and Great Crested Grebes out on the water with their young, plus four broods of Tufted Ducks. The reed beds were alive with juvenile Reed Warblers, but there was no sign of any fledged Cuckoos. Two Green Sandpipers around the margins of south lake and Sand Martins over were evidence of ongoing passage. In all the years I`ve lived here I`ve not seen the vegetation so shrivelled up, even the brambles have died back and some of the trees are already shedding leaves as a precaution against the drought. Needless to say everything is dead on the shingle ridges; grasses, gorse, broom all tinder dry and crisp-like.

                                  Grebes and Tufties, Lade

                                 Sunbathing Fox, willow swamp

After a call in at the Obs to check for any moths and a chat with DW it was onto Kerton quarry for a high tide visit. No roosting waders were present but a large flock of mixed gulls contained 100 Sandwich Terns which was great to see considering their struggle with bird flu. The bird reserve was pretty much the same as yesterday with a few passage Little Ringed Plovers and Common Sandpipers, four Glossy Ibises on ARC, four Cattle Egrets in Boulderwall fields and plenty of Sand Martins over.

                                 Mixed gull and tern flock, Kerton quarry

Tufted Ducks

New Romney - warm, dry and sunny, NE 3 - A decent nights mothing from the garden trap with five new species including Webb`s Wainscot, Campion and, one of my favourites, Gold Spot, plus another Pebble Hook-tip. This afternoon I checked out the elm regrowth in Church Lane spinney, concentrating on two areas by the railway line where in previous summers I`ve seen White-letter Hairstreak. However, I drew a blank, but to be fair only had an hour to spare and they can be inconspicuous, spending most of their time up in the canopy feeding on honeydew. A number of Speckled Woods and Hedge Browns were on the wing along with the usual `whites`, a Small Tortoiseshell and a Peacock. 

                                  Gold Spot

                                  Campion

                                  Pebble Hook-tip

                                  Webb`s Wainscot
 

                                 Hedge Brown

Around the bird reserve Tufted Ducks aplenty are out on the water with their ducklings. The other day there were six broods on ARC, three on Burrowes and five around Lade; being a late breeder they seem to benefit from the lush ground cover in which to conceal their nests from ground predators. Hanson hide overlooking the lake and muddy islands continues to be the best spot for passage waders with small numbers of Ringed and Little Ringed Plovers, Common and Green Sandpipers, Dunlins and Black-tailed Godwits throughout, plus yesterday another adult Curlew Sandpiper and a Ruff (flying around calling, which threw me for a bit!). Up to six Glossy Ibis, eight Cattle and a Great White Egret, Kingfisher, Common Tern, Med Gull, Black-necked Grebe, Garganey and Goldeneye have all been reported this past week, along with the usual pulses of Sand Martins and Swifts, a trickle of Yellow Wagtails over and Willow Warblers calling from cover around the car park and willow trail.

                                  Tufted Ducks, ARC

Silent Fields

New Romney - warm, dry and sunny, SW4 - Having neglected the local farmland of late we decided to  walk our normal routes around the town over the weekend where the Marsh landscape is predominantly brown and the grain harvest is starting to kick in. As is the norm in mid-summer bird song is mainly reduced to the hour around dawn, after which most species are either busily feeding juveniles or going into moult; while migrants are preparing for the long haul south with some, such as Cuckoo and Swift already gone. Looking at the warblers first, Blackcaps appear to buck the go-slow trend and are still in reasonably good voice in copses and parks hereabouts, in contrast to Common and Lesser Whitethroats, Cetti`s and Reed Warblers which have largely fallen silent, apart from their persistent contact calls, while the first passage Willow Warblers have been heard along Hope Lane. House Martins are nesting in at least three locations across the town, but only in small numbers, although Swallows appear to have done well with many fledged birds on wires and fences around stables and outbuildings along with a scattering of Pied Wagtails and plenty of House Sparrows (but nothing like the thousands we used to get around the Hertfordshire village of my youth in the 1960`s). Home spun farmland birds are in very short supply though with only a few pairs of Linnets, Chaffinches and Reed Buntings; a pair or two of Yellowhammers and Greenfinches in Hope Lane; two of  Corn Bunting and one of Yellow Wagtail on the Salts and a sprinkling of Skylarks overhead. Poor fare then, but to be expected, considering the industrial-scale arable farming on the Marsh; infact its a minor miracle anything can survive in such a hostile environment. As for non-passerines, Stock Doves and Woodpigeons are commonplace, Green Woodpeckers appear to have done well and the hooked-beak brigade of Kestrel, Buzzard and Sparrowhawk have all produced fledged young. Further afield a couple of visits to the bird reserve yesterday at Dengemarsh and ARC produced the usual suspects, the highlight being a cracking adult Turnstone in breeding plumage from Hanson hide alongside the plovers and sandpipers.

                                  Hope Lane, NR

At the micro-level there has been some excitement this past week around the garden with regular bat sightings at dusk, mostly from pipistrelle types but also once or twice from a much larger beast, probably a Noctule, although a bat detector would be required to confirm the identities. New moths have been lured to light with a Pebble Hook-tip the pick of the past two nights. The buddleia bushes are starting to attract a few precious butterflies, including a cracking Comma the other day, but they really are low in both number and variety. Yesterday evening I was roused from a post gin and tonic slumber by a horrible shrieking out front, and then from the back. At first I thought it was just the local teenage hoodlums, but as I tottered out into the garden the avian equivalent hurtled over again - a damn, great, green parakeet! And to complete this weeks garden safari we`ve had a nocturnal Hedgehog visitation, judging from the presence of some very distinctive droppings...

Common Sandpipers

 Greatstone - warm, dry, cloudy, SE5 - After the excitement of earlier in the week the past couple of nights have witnessed a drop in numbers and variety in the garden moth trap, mainly due to the brisk wind, although Cabbage, Turnip and Pebble Prominent were all new for the site. Following on from yesterdays Swallowtail sighting in the sand dunes I decided to check it out this morning but to no avail, apart from several Yellow Wagtails flushed from cover. Most of the bay waders were roosting at the back of Lade where a large flock of Curlews and a few Bar-tailed Godwits were on the desert at Mockmill, while hundreds of Oystercatchers settled at Kerton quarry, along with 50 Lapwings, two Redshanks, a Dunlin, a Common Sandpiper, five Mediterranean Gulls, two Sandwich Terns and two Little Egrets; more Yellow Wagtails and Sand Martins drifted over heading south. On the bird reserve six Common Sandpipers were noted on ARC along with five Little Ringed Plovers, two Ringed Plovers, 10 Mediterranean Gulls, a Kingfisher, two Marsh Harriers and the usual egrets, ibises, gulls and wildfowl. There was very little of note on Burrowes apart from a couple of Yellow Wagtails in front of Firth and a steady passage of Sand Martins overhead.

                                 Common Sandpiper, ARC

                          Oystercatcher with fully fledged chick, Kerton quarry

Swifts

New Romney - warm, dry and sunny, SW 4 - The past couple of nights have yielded good numbers of moths coming to light in the garden trap, particularly Monday morning when my first 50 species haul was recorded. Wormwood Pug and Canary-shouldered Thorn were both new for the site, while Privet and Elephant Hawk-moths hit double figures. The overnight temperature between the two exceptionally hot days did not fall below 20C with a peak of 33C on Tuesday afternoon, and last night`s thunder and lightening show, while spectacular, failed to deliver any worthwhile rain.

                                  Wormwood Pug

                                  Canary-shouldered Thorn

Whilst clearing the trap around 0600hrs this morning a steady passage of Swifts was of note trickling over the town heading south in the fresher, breezier and overcast weather conditions. A little later on the local sparrows alerted me to a Hobby racing overhead, the first from the garden. A midday walk along Littlestone sea front at low tide produced 10 Mediterranean Gulls within a large mixed gull flock, hundreds of Oystercatchers and Curlews on the sands and several Swifts zooming around the old water tower.

                                 Mediterranean Gulls, Littlestone