Happy New Year to our ‘Friends’ and to everyone that has supported us by joining our friends, staying at the Observatory, buying our merchandise or following us on social media. Wishing you all a bird filled 2023.
The wet and windy weather continued into the New Year. Three seawatching sessions totaling 5.25hrs produced 25 Brent Geese, 421 Kittiwakes, two Mediterranean Gulls, a first-winter Caspian Gull, over 1000 auks, 279 Red-throated Divers, seven Fulmars and 324 Gannets. A couple of checks of the Trapping Area produced three Snipe, a Kingfisher, two Chiffchaffs and a Firecrest of note.
Singles of Porpoise, Common Seal and Grey Seal were all seen offshore.
In other news we heard over the weekend that DNA analysis by Prof. Martin Collinson at Aberdeen University of the November eastern stonechat confirmed that the bird was indeed a Siberian Stonechat Saxicola maurus. This becomes the first Dungeness and second Kent record of this species.
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| Siberian Stonechat Saxicola maurus Dungeness 5th November 2022 |