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Local weather

Update

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16th Mar

A bright and sunny day for a change meant some good coverage of the land which produced four Egyptian Geese, a Golden Plover, a Woodcock, a Great Spotted Woodpecker, a Merlin, 11 Chiffchaffs, three Firecrests, 19 Redwing, three Wheatears and three Siskins of interest. The sea was slow-going but 280 Brent Geese, a Red-breasted Merganser, two Mediterranean Gulls and three Sandwich Terns were seen.

Four Porpoise were seen offshore.


15th Mar

A fairly quiet day on both land and sea. The morning seawatch produced just 85 Common Scoters, five Mediterranean Gulls, ten Sandwich Terns and six Fulmars of note whilst the meagre highlights on the land were a Jack Snipe, ten Chiffchaffs and three Wheatears. Two Egyptian Geese also landed on the Point.

Five Porpoise and a Grey Seal were feeding offshore and a Brown Hare was seen in the Desert.

14th Mar

The first Wheatear of the spring was seen but it was otherwise fairly quiet on both land and sea. A trickle of birds on the sea included 237 Brent Geese, a Gadwall, 14 Shovelers, four Pintail, 15 Teal, six Velvet Scoters (west) and 233 Common Scoters. Other bits on the land included a Rock Pipit, 19 Chiffchaffs and a Siskin

Three Porpoises were feeding offshore.

Small White, Peacock and Small Tortoiseshell butterflies were all seen.

13th Mar

Despite light rain and a massive movement of Redwings overnight it was fairly quiet on the land by the morning but with a Woodcock, three Firecrests, 70 Redwings and 80 Chaffinches of note.  The sea was reasonably good this morning with 1880 Brent Geese, 68 Pintails, three Velvet Scoters, three Sandwich Terns and two Spoonbills being noteworthy. A first-winter Caspian Gull and a Merlin were seen at the fishing boats.

As already mentioned there was a huge passage of birds overnight with the Audiomoth recorder registering an incredible 14,000 Redwing calls, 74 Fieldfare calls and 25 Song Thrushes calls along with a singles flocks of Wigeon and Common Scoter, a Water Rail, a Grey Plover and a Bullfinch.

Only one Porpoise was seen offshore.

12th Mar

The miserable weather continues and very little moving offshore. Also very little on the land despite a massive movement of thrushes overnight so a couple of Woodlarks which spent a few minutes just south of the trapping area were a nice surprise.

Woodlark Lullula arborea   Dungeness   12th March 2024 (by Tom Wright)

As suggested above there was another massive nocmig overnight. Redwings were easily the most abundant with 4200 calls in seven hours but the most interesting record was of two sets of Stone-curlew calls. Other notable records included a Grey Plover, four Snipe, three Redshanks, five very close passages of Mediterranean Gulls, 122 Fieldfare calls and a Bullfinch.

Two Grey Seals were feeding offshore.


11th Mar

A miserable, wet day grounded a few Chiffchaffs with at least 17 seen and also five Goldcrests and three Song Thrushes. Seawatching was dominated by Brent Geese with 2,229 east along with eight Wigeon, five Teal and three Sandwich Tern of note.

The Audiomoth recorder was deployed last night with some remarkable results. Nine flocks of Brent Geese, an Avocet, 233 Curlew calls, 136 Snipe calls, three Redshanks, 20 Fieldfare calls, 32 Song Thrush calls and an outstanding 4005 Redwing calls were recorded. 

Five Porpoises were feeding offshore and two Brown Hares were seen in the Desert.

10th Mar

Birds continued to move east offshore with 2459 Brent Geese, four Shoveler, 34 Pintails, nine Teal, 398 Common Scoters, a Goldeneye, two Red-breasted Mergansers, 30 Little Gulls, six Mediterranean Gulls, an Arctic Skua, an excellent total of 722 Red-throated Divers and 410 Gannets. Single Velvet Scoter and Sandwich Tern passed west. A cock Pheasant was seen in the Desert  and grounded migrants included a Merlin, five Chiffchaffs, three Firecrests, four Redwings and seven Song Thrushes.

Fifteen Porpoises and a Grey Seal were feeding offshore.

9th Mar

Seawatching was the order of the day where the best movement of the spring so far included 1692 Dark-bellied Brent Geese, three Pale-bellied Brent Geese, 12 Shelducks, 15 Shovelers, 12 Wigeon, 46 Pintails, 29 Teal, three Tufted Ducks, a flock of seven Velvet Scoters, six Curlews, three Sandwich Terns, 443 Red-throated Divers, five Fulmars and 1625 Gannets

A Chiffchaff was seen in the Lighthouse garden.

At least 15 Porpoises were feeding offshore along with single Common and Grey Seals.

8th Mar

Another morning with a stiff easterly wind and a decent seawatch. A three hour watch produced four Shelducks, 57 Shovelers, 33 Wigeon, 71 Pintails, 122 Teal, two Avocets, a Black-tailed Godwit, six Sanderlings, three Mediterranean Gulls, 86 Red-throated Divers, four Fulmars and 740 Gannets. A Chiffchaff was also seen in the Lighthouse Garden.

One Porpoise was feeding close inshore. 

7th Mar

With a stiff easterly wind blowing the sea was the place to be. A six-hour watch this morning produced 410 Brent Geese, 28 Shelducks, 27 Shovelers, 124 Pintails, 61 Teal, 96 Common Scoters, 23 Avocets (flocks of 15 and 8), eight Curlews, two Bar-tailed Godwits, two Mediterranean Gulls, 68 Common Gulls, 376 Guillemots, 73 Razorbills, 129 Red-throated Divers and 138 Gannets. Two Black Redstarts were also seen near the seawatch hide but the trapping area was very quiet.

A Porpoise and a Grey Seal were feeding offshore.