19th Oct

With wet and windy conditions for most of the day seawatching was the main option with nearly five hours of coverage producing three Shelduck, six Pintails, three Avocets, five Mediterranean Gulls, 85 Sandwich Terns, an Arctic Tern, six Arctic Skuas, a Sooty Shearwater and 516 Gannets of interest. Grounded migrants were fairly scarce in the bushes with just 12 Chiffchaffs, a Blackcap, a Dartford Warbler, three Goldcrests, eight Song Thrushes and a Rock Pipit of note. Visible migration consisted of 42 Stock Doves and 47 Swallows.

Two Porpoises and a Grey Seal were feeding offshore and Nathusius's Pipistrelles were hunting around the moth traps this evening.

The moth traps produced five Palpita vitrealis and three Radford's Flame Shoulders and also a Southern Oak Bush-cricket while a Western Conifer Seedbug was found inside the Observatory.

18th Oct

The highlight of the day was another Yellow-browed Warbler trapped in the Moat. Grounded migrants were otherwise fairly scarce with 30 Chiffchaffs, five Blackcaps, three Dartford Warblers, two Firecrests, eight Goldcrests, 14 Redwings, 24 Song Thrushes and a Wheatear of note. Birds passing overhead included 550 Stock Doves, six Buzzards, two Woodlarks, 33 Skylarks, ten Tree Sparrows, five Grey Wagtails, a Rock Pipit, seven Bramblings, 100 Goldfinches, 16 Siskins, a Yellowhammer and 29 Reed Buntings. The sea remained quiet with just six Pintails and a Sooty Shearwater of note.

Yellow-browed Warbler Phylloscopus inornatus   Dungeness   19th October 2024

The moth traps were surprisingly productive overnight with eight Palpita vitrealis, a Musotoma nitidalis, five Gems,a Scarce Bordered Straw and a Delicate. In addition, a Diasemiopsis ramburalis and a Crimson-speckled were trapped at South View Cottage. A Mediterranean Stick-insect was seen in the Observatory garden again.

Crimson Speckled Utethesia pulchella   Dungeness   18th October 2024

17th Oct

Massive thunderstorms overnight. There were a few grounded migrants in the bushes in the morning with a Woodcock, 20 Chiffchaffs, four Blackcaps, 70 Redwings, 20 Song Thrushes and three Wheatears and of much more interest, an "Eastern" type Lesser Whitethroat, which unfortunately failed to find its way into a net. Two Long-eared Owls were hunting after dark at the Long Pits. Overhead passage included 31 Stock Doves, three Merlins, a Woodlark, 16 Skylarks, three Grey Wagtails, two Rock Pipits, nine Bramblings, 150 Goldfinches, 20 Siskins and 25 Reed Buntings. A Little Gull and two Arctic Skuas were lingering offshore.

Two Porpoises and a Grey Seal were feeding offshore and in the evening there was an almost continuous presence of Nathusius's Pipistrelles, Common Pipistrelles and Soprano Pipistrelles.

An unusual record was a dead Common Toad on the road.

The moth traps were very productive with 24 Palpita vitrealis, five Gems, four Delicates and a Radford's Flame Shoulder. A Hawthorn Shieldbug was also found in the traps and a Western Conifer Seedbug was found at Delhi Cottage. A Mediterranean Stick-insect was seen in the Observatory Garden.

16th Oct

With a strong south-easterly wind in the morning hopes were fairly high for some good bird but it never really happened. Six hours of seawatching produced just 118 Brent Geese, three Shovelers, two Wigeon, three Teal, 163 Mediterranean Gulls, a Yellow-legged Gull, 61 Sandwich Terns, a Great and 15 Arctic Skuas and 287 Gannets. Numbers of birds in the bushes were much reduced with just 14 Chiffchaffs, two Firecrests, five Goldcrests, 40 Redwings, ten Song Thrushes and a Wheatear of note. Birds passing overhead were dominated by the first big movement of 2500 Goldfinches along with a Merlin, 13 Skylarks, 275 Swallows, 215 Meadow Pipits, three Bramblings, two Siskins and eight Reed Buntings.

Four Porpoises and a Grey Seal were seen offshore.

15th Oct

A pretty decent morning with a good number of birds in the bushes and passing overhead and a very decent movement of birds offshore. The highlights from the bushes were a Yellow-browed Warbler and a Siberian Chiffchaff (trapped), 100 Chiffchaffs, a late Willow Warbler, a Lesser Whitethroat, a Dartford Warbler, 14 Firecrests, 38 Goldcrests, 600 Redwings, 30 Song Thrushes and two Wheatears. A Woodcock and three Snipe were also seen. Birds passing overhead included 24 Skylarks, two Rock Pipits, seven Bramblings, 65 Goldfinches, seven Siskin and 11 Reed Buntings. A three-hour seawatch this morning saw a large westerly movement of mainly wildfowl including 3011 Brent Geese, 81 Shelduck, 14 Shoveler, 105 Wigeon, 28 Pintail, 11 Teal and the first Red-breasted Merganser of the autumn along with a Little Gull, 166 Mediterranean Gulls, an Arctic Tern, four Arctic Skuas and a Sooty Shearwater.

Siberian Chiffchaff Phylloscopus collybita tristis   Dungeness   15th October 2024

Three Porpoises and three unidentified dolphins and two Grey Seals were seen offshore. A Brown Hare was seen on the land.

14th Oct

A thoroughly miserable day with heavy rain from first light and until late afternoon. A Little Gull and two Arctic Skuas were the best of the meagre offerings offshore while two Firecrests in the Trapping Area were the only bits of interest on the land.

The moth traps produced a Radford's Flame Shoulder, two Delicates and a Scarce Bordered Straw of note. 

13th Oct

A bright, sunny morning with a light NW breeze. The more unusual records were a Barn Owl in the Trapping Area and a Dartford Warbler in the Moat while other grounded migrants included a Hobby, 35 Chiffchaffs, five Goldcrests, ten Song Thrushes and a Wheatear. There was a trickle of migrants passing overhead with 37 Stock Doves, a Grey Wagtail, two Rock Pipits, 40 Siskins and eight Reed Buntings. The sea was very quiet with just 30 Mediterranean Gulls feeding offshore of any note.

Three Porpoises and a Grey Seal were feeding offshore. 

12th Oct

A wet and windy day with very little on the land and good numbers of birds feeding offshore including 200 Mediterranean Gulls, three first-winter Caspian Gulls, a Great Skua, four Arctic Skuas and a Balearic Shearwater.

Two Porpoises were feeding offshore. 

11th Oct

An excellent morning on the land with the highlight of two Yellow-browed Warblers (one caught), along with 150 Chiffchaffs, 13 Blackcaps, a Lesser Whitethroat, two Whitethroats, two Dartford Warblers, two Firecrests, eight Goldcrests, a Ring Ouzel in the Moat, three Redwings, a late Redstart and a Wheatear. There was also a decent bit of passage overhead with 46 Stock Doves, a Short-eared Owl, five Bramblings, 60 Goldfinch, 50 Siskins, a Yellowhammer and 30 Reed Buntings. A Little Gull and 40 Mediterranean Gulls were feeding offshore in the evening.

Yellow-browed Warbler Phylloscopus inornatus   Dungeness   11th October 2024

A Porpoise was seen offshore.

A Mediterranean Stick-insect and a Mottled Shieldbug were found in the Observatory garden.

10th Oct

A fairly quiet day with 13 Mediterranean Gulls and four Arctic Skuas offshore, 35 Chiffchaffs and two Firecrests in the bushes and singles of Tree and Rock Pipit, two Bramblings, 75 Goldfinch, 21 Siskins and 23 Reed Buntings overhead.

Four Porpoises and a Grey Seal were feeding offshore.

There was a surprisingly good catch of moths overnight with 34 Delicates, a Scarce Bordered Straw, a Radford's Flame Shoulder, nine Udea ferrugalis and two Palpita vitrealis of note.