21st Mar

There was a small arrival of migrants on the land with 14 Black Redstarts, three Wheatears and a Hawfinch of note along with a Jack Snipe, a Merlin, six Chiffchaffs, a Firecrest, five Song Thrushes and 323 Chaffinches. 

Although much quieter offshore than in the previous two days there were still 27 Garganeys, 425 Common Scoters, six Red-breasted Mergansers, three Avocets, 58 Little Gulls, five Mediterranean Gulls, 237 Sandwich Terns, 233 Red-throated Divers and 1060 Gannets of interest.

Four Porpoises and a Grey Seal were seen offshore.

20th Mar

Another excellent seawatch in a light south-east breeze produced Brent Geese, a Garganey, 75 Shovelers, 21 Pintails, 120 Teal, four Eiders, 3476 Common Scoters, 11 Red-breasted Mergansers, a party of three Slavonian Grebes, 151 Sandwich Terns, 143 Little Gulls, 33 Mediterranean Gulls, an Arctic Skua and 309 Red-throated Divers. The first Swallow and two Wheatears of the spring arrived and a Pheasant, 95 Carrion Crow, fourteen Chiffchaffs, two Firecrest, seven Black Redstarts and two White Wagtails were also of note.  

The non-avian highlight of the day was a pod of about eight White-beaked Dolphins and Porpoises increased to 15. Two Grey Seals and a Common Seal were also seen.

A Hummingbird Hawk-moth was seen on the beach and a Waved Umber was found on a window at the Observatory. A Red Admiral and a Comma were seen at the Long Pits.

19th Mar

A fresh SE wind which dropped away during the day resulted in another spectacular seawatch dominated in terms of numbers by 9290 Dark-bellied Brent Geese, (our second-best ever day total), 105 Pintails, 2093 Common Scoters, 656 Red-throated Diver, 110 Sandwich Terns, 56 Little Gulls and 554 Kittiwakes. Notable species included a Pale-bellied Brent Goose, eight Garganey, 28 Teal, three Eiders, two Velvet Scoters, a flock of four Black-necked Grebes, the first Arctic Skua of the year and two Black-throated Divers.

Very quiet on the land with just a Merlin, a Wood Lark over the Desert and three Black Redstarts of note.

Four Porpoises and a Grey Seal were feeding offshore.

18th Mar

The wind veered slightly into the east and prompted another good movement of birds offshore. Highlights were 163 Pintails, 33 Shovelers, 12 Pochards, a drake Scaup and 30 Avocets while numbers were provided by 836 Brent Geese, 56 Shelducks, 88 Teal, 341 Common Scoters, 374 Dunlins and 158 Red-throated Divers. Other bits and pieces included two Tufted Ducks, a Red-breasted Merganser, two Mediterranean Gulls and 11 Sandwich Terns. It remains quiet on the land although a Red Kite first seen on the RSPB reserve made it into the Observatory area, a Firecrest was seen in the trapping area, six Black Redstarts were spread around the Point and a Grey Wagtail was seen at the power station sewage works.

Four Porpoise and two each of Common Seal and Grey Seal were seen offshore.

17th Mar

A first-winter Caspian Gull and a second-winter Yellow-legged Gull were at the Point this morning along with 64 Dunlins and a Merlin while a Black Redstart and a Rock Pipit came in off the sea.

Eight Porpoises and a Grey Seal were seen offshore.

16th Mar

There was a little bit of migration overhead including 47 Stock Doves, 11 Jackdaws, a party of 14 Ravens and a Grey Wagtail while a Wood Lark was seen at the Long Pits. 

Four Porpoises were feeding offshore.

15th Mar

Still cold with a strong NE wind. The only birds of note were seven Grey Plovers and 22 Sandwich Terns passing east offshore.

Three Porpoises were also feeding offshore.

14th Mar

Very quiet with seawatching producing just 403 Gannets of any note while the best on the land were three Black Redstarts.

Two Porpoises and a Grey Seal were feeding offshore.

13th Mar

What was actually a very quiet day came to live in late morning when a White-tailed Eagle first seen on the Reserve flew over the recording area and eventually north over New Romney. It turns out that this was a bird originally released with a satellite tag (G542) on the Isle of Wight. The early seawatch produced just two Mediterranean Gulls of interest.

Three Porpoises were seen offshore.

12th Mar

Seawatching produced 1202 Brent Geese, two Egyptian Geese, five Wigeon, three Teal, two Goosanders, three Little Gulls and 384 Red-throated Divers of interest. A handful of migrants on the land included a Chiffchaff, a Firecrest, six Black Redstarts and a male White Wagtail. 

Five Porpoise and a Grey Seal were seen offshore.

11th Mar

Very quiet on the land with just a Firecrest and a male White Wagtail of interest. A 90 minute seawatch this morning produced seven Teal, a party of five Black-tailed Godwits, a Mediterranean Gull and 254 Gannets.

Five Porpoises and a Grey Seal were seen offshore.

10th Mar

A handful of birds on the land included two Woodcocks, a Buzzard, a Kingfisher, two Chiffchaffs, four Firecrests, 12 Siskins and 17 Reed Buntings.

9th Mar

The sea was much quieter this morning with a 2.25hr watch producing just four Shovelers, ten Pintail, four Velvet Scoters, three Sandwich Terns, a Little Gull, four Mediterranean Gulls and 359 Gannets of interest. The only notable birds on the land were a Firecrest, three Goldcrests, 50 Chaffinches and 15 Siskins.

One Porpoise was seen.

8th Mar

A decent seawatch again this morning with a fresh SE breeze bringing 778 Brent Geese, six Shelduck, 57 Shovelers, a Gadwall, 31 Wigeon, 98 Pintail, 179 Teal, 447 Common Scoter, four Avocets, two Sandwich Terns, ten Little Gulls, 11 Mediterranean Gulls, 59 Common Gulls, 193 Red-throated Divers and 1912 Gannets. A Merlin was also seen. Still very quiet on the land with just four Woodcocks, two Firecrests, 14 Redwings, a male White Wagtail and 35 Chaffinches of note. 

7th Mar

A fresh SSE wind brought a spectacular easterly movement of wildfowl dominated by flock after flock of Pintails and a final total of 3705 birds. This total smashed the previous record day count which in itself was created earlier this spring with 994 on 21st February. There were plenty of other wildfowl with a notable total of 474 Shovelers (our fourth best spring day total) along with 634 Brent Geese, a Gadwall, 97 Teal, 317 Common Scoters and a Red-breasted Merganser,  Also of note were seven Grey Plover, six Golden Plover, 27 Curlew, 12 Sandwich Terns, five Little Gulls, 58 Mediterranean Gulls, 149 Common Gulls, 320 Red-throated Divers, five Fulmars and 600 Gannets. It was very quiet on the land with just two Chiffchaffs and a Firecrest of interest.

Two Porpoises and a Grey Seal were seen offshore.

A Small Tortoiseshell was also seen.

6th Mar

With a light southerly wind and early mist the main interests were offshore where over eight hours of watching produced 3756 Brent Geese, 22 Wigeon, eight Shoveler, four Gadwall, 222 Pintails, 38 Teal, a Tufted Duck, four Eiders, 156 Common Scoters, 31 Mediterranean Gulls and 58 Little Gulls (in the afternoon). A first-winter Caspian Gull was also seen on the beach. A Firecrest, two Black Redstarts and a Rock Pipit were the best on offer on the land.

Two Porpoises and a Common Seal were feeding offshore.

5th Mar

A nice day but not much to report. Three Jack Snipe and two Common Snipe were flushed from the Long Pits where a Kingfisher was also seen. Two Firecrests were seen in the bushes, 18 Stonechats were scattered across the Point and a Rock Pipit flew over. The highlights from two hours of seawatching were just 237 Brent Geese, three Shovelers and a Mediterranean Gull.

Two Porpoise were seen offshore.

4th Mar

A Goosander flew east this morning and nine Sandwich Terns were seen offshore. Three Woodcocks were seen in the trapping area. Two Grey Wagtails, a Rock Pipit and three Siskins flew over.

Four Porpoise and a Grey Seal were feeding offshore.

A Peacock butterfly was seen in the ringing hut.

3rd Mar

Three Gadwall were seen on the Long Pits were a Jack Snipe and a Common Snipe were also seen. A Merlin, a Grey Wagtail and three Siskins flew over and a Firecrest was seen in trapping area. A Great Northern Diver flew east close inshore. 

2nd Mar

A Mediterranean Gull and six Sandwich Terns were seen offshore. A Merlin and six Siskins flew over. 

Three Porpoises and a Grey Seal were feeding offshore.

1st Mar

Two Mediterranean Gulls were seen offshore and a Buzzard and a Merlin were seen on the land. 

A Porpoise and a Grey Seal were feeding offshore.

Elsewhere, the Long-tailed Duck was still on New Diggings, the Smew was on ARC and a female Scaup and a Purple Sandpiper were seen at Scotney

28th Feb

A couple of Mediterranean Gulls offshore were the only birds of note.