Seawatching throughout much of the day produced some quality in the form of nine Pomarine Skuas, a Roseate Tern and a Puffin and back up including two Black-throated Divers, a Great Skua, four Arctic Skuas, two Little Terns, nearly 300 Common Terns, and six Arctic Terns. The first-summer Iceland Gull and two first-summer Mediterranean Gulls were feeding at the Patch in the morning.
The overnight rain also grounded a few migrants with a Garden Warbler, eight Spotted Flycatchers and two Whinchats of note on the land. The day was then topped off by a superb male Woodchat Shrike which spent the late afternoon on the open shingle between the estate road and the fishing boats. This is the first Dungeness record since one on May 23rd 2007.
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Woodchat Shrike Lanius senator Dungeness 12th May 2017 |
Butterflies seen during the day included a Holly Blue and 12 Red Admirals and a Hummingbird Hawkmoth was also seen. Small numbers of Silver Y's also appeared overnight.
A Brown Hare was seen on the land whilst at least four Porpoises and a Grey Seal were feeding offshore.