Another fairly quiet day on the land with just a Rock Pipit, 25 Siskins and 12 Reed Buntings of any interest. The first Redwings of the autumn were passing heard overhead after dusk. It was also quiet offshore until mid-afternoon when a massive of influx of feeding seabirds appeared with conservative totals of 400 Mediterranean Gulls, 150 Sandwich Terns, two Arctic Terns, 13 Arctic Skuas, 500 Razorbills and 700 Gannets. A total of 360 Brent Geese, ten Shovelers, 65 Common Scoters and 19 Little Gulls also flew west and a first-year Caspian Gull made a brief appearance on the beach.
At least 12 Porpoises, four Grey Seals and a Common Seal were also feeding offshore.
The moth traps were very productive this morning with a Palpita vitrealis, a Box-tree Moth, a Gem, five Pearly Underwing and a new record count of 55 Delicates. A Clouded Yellow was also seen and a Western Conifer Seed-bug was found on the frame of the Heligoland Trap. An evening search for the rarer Orthoptera produced two Large Coneheads, two Sickle-bearing Bush-crickets and 100's of singing Tree Crickets. Four Mediterranean Stick-insects were also found.
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| Large Conehead Ruspolia nitidula male Dungeness 8th October 2023 |
The Pallid Harrier was still making occasional appearances at Dengemarsh.