31st December

The regular first-winter Caspian Gull remained at the fishing boats to see the year out and 160 Brent Geese flew east but not much else was seen.

30th December

In gale force  south by south-east winds there was another excellent seawatch. The upchannel passage of Brent Goose gathered strength with 1165 counted along with 14 Shelducks, 24 Wigeon, Most other birds were moving west and included 21 Fulmars, three Sooty Shearwaters, 1163 Gannets, an Arctic Skua, an excellent 17 Great Skuas, 574 Kittiwakes,12 Little Gulls, a Sandwich Tern and 1104 Guillemots.
The first-winter Caspian Gull was still present.
Two Chiffchaffs were seen in the bushes.

A Grey Seal was also seen.

29th December

Single Arctic and Great Skuas flew west whilst 300 Brent Goose flew east. 

28th December

A strong southerly wind was blowing and resulted in an excellent seawatch with three hours of observing producing 408 Brent Goose east, 122 Wigeon, four Teal, 15 Pintail, and two Great Northern Divers, ten Sooty Shearwaters, four Great Skuas, 223 Kittiwakes, 47 Mediterranean Gulls and a Sandwich Tern passing west.
Two first-winter Caspian Gulls were seen again.

A flock of 14 Siskin flew out to sea.

27th December

Three Velvet Scoters and 399 Guillemots flew west offshore and two first-winter Caspian Gulls were seen on the beach.

26th December

Singles of Velvet Scoter and Great Skua flew west and the regular first-winter Caspian Gull was still present.

25th December

A Sooty Shearwater passing west was the highlight of the day. 

24th December

Seawatching produced six Pintail and a Great Skua passing west.

The first-winter Caspian Gull was still present along with an adult Yellow-legged Gull.

23rd December

A bright and sunny, but still windy, day produced an early morning movement of Red-throated Divers, Gannets, Kittiwakes and Guillemots and the first-winter Caspian Gull was still present.

Two Firecrests were seen in the trapping area.

A Grey Seal was also seen.

A couple of Eristalis tenax took advantage of the warm sunshine to visit the winter jasmine flowers.

Eristalis tenax

22nd December

Another very windy and frequently wet day restricted observations to sea and gull watching. Two Caspian Gulls were seen with a new second-winter bird and the regular first-winter bird still present.

Offshore there was a steady passage of Gannets and Kittiwakes, a few Fulmars and two Great Skuas west but Brent Geese continue to think it is spring with another 210 birds in small flocks moving east during the day.

21st December

A very windy, and eventually wet day made observations difficult. A couple of looks at the sea were uninspiring and despite several searches at the Point there was no sign of any Caspian Gulls.

20th December

An adult and the regular first-winter Caspian Gull were seen around the Point again.

19th December

Three first-winter Caspian Gulls and a Yellow-legged Gull were seen around the Point and a few Razorbills and Guillemots were passing westwards offshore.

18th December

Limited coverage today but two Firecrests were seen at the Long Pits and the regular first-winter Caspian Gull was in the gull roost again.

17th December

Another two new Caspian Gulls were the highlights of the day with a second-winter bird at the Patch in the morning and a first-winter bird dropping in briefly at the offerings of bread at the fishing boats in the late afternoon. The long-staying first-winter bird was also seen at both the Point and the Patch during the day where an adult Yellow-legged Gull was also present.

Three Chiffchaffs were seen around the northern Long Pit and six Siskins flew over.

Caspian Gulls Larus cachinnans   first-winters   Dungeness   17th December 2015
Todays new bird (above) and the regular bird (below).

16th December

Extremely quiet offshore but three Caspian Gulls were seen during the day at the Point with new adult and second-winter birds and the first-winter bird first seen on the 10th.

A Kingfisher was seen on the southern Long Pit, a Firecrest was seen in the trapping area and 11 Siskins flew over.

15th December

Limited coverage today but a two-hour seawatch in the morning produced just three Gadwall and a Little Gull of note.

14th December

Seawatching continues to provide most of the interest with 14 Shelducks, a Goosander (a surprisingly scarce bird offshore), nine Red-breasted Mergansers, a Black-necked Grebe, a Great Skua, 45 Kittiwakes and a few auks passing west of interest. However, there was almost a spring feel to the day with 140 Brent Geese passing upchannel.

A new second-winter Caspian Gull was seen in the roost in the morning.

13th December

Seawatching this morning produced a Pomarine Skua and a Sandwich Tern. The afternoon gull watching session revealed three Caspian Gulls on the beach, although only one was a new individual, and an adult Yellow-legged Gull.

12th December

With a brief spell of calm weather this morning a check of the bushes was in order and produced at least eight Firecrests and six Chiffchaffs in the trapping area and around the Long Pits.

Seawatching was pretty uneventful but in the afternoon the third-winter Caspian Gull (PNXB) was seen again and coming to the offerings of bread.

11th December

A 2.25hr seawatch this morning produced 640 Gannets but not much else other than a drake Eider and a few auks. Yesterdays first-winter Caspian Gull was seen again in the gull roost this afternoon.

10th December

Another stormy day with seawatching and gulling the only reasonable options. Nearly six hours of watching produced five Red-breasted Mergansers, four Fulmars, a Sooty Shearwater, a Snipe, two Great Skuas and singles of Little and Mediterranean Gulls of note and numbers provided by 344 Great Crested Grebes, 1010 Gannets, 53 Kittiwakes and 192 auks (mostly Guillemots). An adult and a first-winter Caspian Gull and three Yellow-legged Gulls were feeding and roosting at the Point.

Caspian Gull Larus cachinnans   first-winter   Dungeness   10th December 2015   

9th. December

Very quiet offshore although a new adult Caspian Gull and an adult Mediterranean Gull was seen at the Patch in the afternoon.

Three Firecrests and two Chiffchaffs were seen in the trapping area and 17 Chaffinches, 60 Goldfinches, 29 Siskins and a Redpoll flew over.

8th December

A Leach's Petrel passing slowly west was the obvious highlight of an otherwise fairly quiet four hour seawatch this morning. Another colour-ringed third-winter Caspian Gull was seen in the gull roost.

7th December

Three Balearic Shearwaters were the highlight of the seawatching which also produced seven Fulmars, a Mediterranean Gull and 100 Razorbills whilst another first-winter Caspian Gull was in the gull roost.

Two Firecrests were seen in the trapping area and eight Siskins flew over.

6th December

Over 500 Gannets flew west during 3.5hrs of watching but very little else was passing on another very windy day. A first-winter Yellow-legged Gull came to bread at the Point.

5th December

With more very strong winds the westerly trickle of Gannets continued this morning along with 11 Fulmars and a few Kittiwakes. The Sandwich Tern was feeding offshore again. An adult Yellow-legged Gull was attracted to the bread offerings.

4th December

A Sandwich Tern was feeding offshore and there was a westerly trickle of Gannets and Kittiwakes during the morning. 

A Firecrest was seen in the trapping area and a few finches continue to pass overhead.

3rd December

A second-winter Caspian Gull and two adult Yellow-legged Gulls were feeding at the Patch this morning. Nearly four hours of seawatching produced two Black-throated Divers, 730 Gannets and 100 Kittiwakes.

Two Firecrests and a Chiffchaff were seen at the Long Pits and 530 Starlings arrived.

2nd December

Most of the interest today was at the Patch where a new colour-ringed adult Caspian Gull (PKKK) was seen along with a first-winter Little Gull and a third-winter Yellow-legged Gull amongst hordes of commoner gulls. A party of seven Red-breasted Mergansers and two late Sandwich Terns also flew west at the fishing boats.

Four Firecrests and two Chiffchaffs were seen in the trapping area and a Brambling and 18 Siskins flew over whilst 900 Starlings arrived.

1st December

A Lapland Bunting made a brief appearance on the beach at the fishing boats and a Woodcock and four Firecrests were seen at the Long Pits. Finches continue to move through with 130 Goldfinches, 12 Siskins and a Redpoll of note. 

A couple of other pieces of interest. For those of you who generously contributed to the Acadian Flycatcher bucket fund the trustees decided to use this to purchase a digital microscope. This will help with our ongoing and wide-ranging recording of the wildlife of the Dungeness peninsula. Many thanks.