12th Oct

The day began with clear skies and fresh SSE winds but cloud and rain arrived from midday. Most of the observations came from the sea with over 10.5 hours of watching producing a first-year Sabine's Gull, two Long-tailed Skuas, a Puffin, a Great Northern Diver, a Leach's Petrel, five Sooty Shearwaters and a Shag of note and 1250 Brent Geese, 99 Wigeon, two Pintail, six Teal, four Tufted Ducks, 168 Common Scoters, four Snipe, 33 Little Gulls, 835 Kittiwakes, four Mediterranean Gulls, a Caspian Gull, 19 Arctic Skuas, 2658 Razorbills and 1208 Gannets as back-up.

Very quiet on the land with just two Bramblings and two Siskins of note.

Four Porpoises and two Grey Seals were feeding offshore and a Common Pipistrelle was flying around the Observatory building in the evening.

The moth traps caught a Convolvulus Hawkmoth, two Small Mottled Willows and a Palpita vitrealis of note.

11th Oct

A bright, clear morning saw a decent movement of birds overhead including 158 Stock Doves, 30 Skylarks, five Tree Sparrows, three Grey Wagtails, 70 Meadow Pipits, three Rock Pipits, 20 Chaffinches, five Bramblings, two Redpolls, 120 Goldfinches, six Siskins and 30 Reed Buntings.

There were also a few migrants in the bushes with 70 Chiffchaffs, 11 Blackcaps, a Firecrest, 12 Song Thrushes, five Redwings, a Ring Ouzel and a Wheatear of note. A Long-eared Owl and a Dartford Warbler were also seen. 

Pete Burness

 

It was with great sadness that we learnt of the passing of Pete Burness. Pete was a long-time supporter of the Observatory, having first visited in 1957 with his father. He saw his first 'scarce' bird, a Barred Warbler, in 1959 and his first Bluethroat in 1962. He was among the early pioneers that tramped the shingle, walked the Heligoland traps and worked through the transition to Mistnets. He continued to visit and support the Observatory and was happy to share his knowledge with anyone, whether it be birds, books or music and there was never a negative word against him. His dry sense of humour and his fund of stories, often with a wry twist will be long remembered. Our thoughts are with his family and long time partner, Pam. He will be very much missed by everyone.

For anyone who wishes to make a donation in Pete’s name please go to one of the following:

Dungeness Bird Observatory Trust

The Salvation Army

The Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust

Contacting the Observatory

Please use the following email address to contact the Observatory from now on.

dbotwarden@gmail.com 

to contact the Observatory. Many thanks.

10th Oct

The wind backed into the west today and offshore was much reduced with just 108 Mediterranean Gulls, four Arctic Skuas and 50 Razorbills of note.

A Long-eared Owl at the Long Pits, 52 Chiffchaffs and a Dartford Warbler were the best on offer in the bushes. Overhead passage was also very light with just 27 Skylarks, four Tree Sparrows, 114 Meadow Pipits, a Tree Pipit, two Rock Pipits, three Redpolls, 22 Siskins and 16 Reed Buntings flying over.

A Common Seal was seen offshore.

9th Oct

More fresh to strong NW winds this morning meant most of the interest was offshore where the first sizable movement of Brent Geese occurred with 831 counted along with 135 Wigeon, four Pintail and a Teal. Also of note were seven Little Gulls, 335 Mediterranean Gulls and 27 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 11 Arctic Skuas, 311 Razorbills, eight Red-throated Divers and seven Balearic Shearwaters while waders included a Grey Plover, a Knot, 14 Sanderlings and 82 Dunlin. Three Caspian Gulls were seen on the beach during the day.   

There was very little passage overhead with just two Marsh Harriers, 79 Swallows and a Rock Pipit of note.

8th Oct

With fresh NW winds there was some interest offshore with a small movement of wildfowl and waders including 99 Brent Geese, 21 Wigeon, 11 Pintail and 21 Common Scoter, nine Grey Plover, a Knot and three Dunlin while 100 Mediterranean Gulls, a Caspian Gull, an Arctic Tern, a Black Tern and five Arctic Skuas were lingering. Three Snipe, a Long-eared Owl, two Merlins, a Hobby, 39 Chiffchaffs, seven Blackcaps, two Dartford Warblers, a Firecrest, 65 Song Thrushes, 66 Redwings and a Fieldfare were seen on the land. Overhead passage was fairly light but included 97 Stock Doves, 15 Skylarks, 36 Swallows, 170 Meadow Pipits, 42 Chaffinches, a Brambling and four Siskins.

Four Porpoise, a Common Seal and two Grey Seals were seen offshore and the Grey Squirrel was seen again.

7th Oct

A day of increasingly poor weather induced a considerable movement of migrants, particularly from mid-morning, with a huge passage of 5260 Chaffinches along with five Grey Plover, 16 Golden Plover, nine Snipe, a Little Egret, 220 Starlings, 61 Song Thrushes, a Mistle Thrush, 87 Redwings, a Tree Sparrow, three Grey Wagtails, 193 Meadow Pipits, an excellent total of 16 Rock Pipits, 12 Bramblings, two Redpolls, 21 Siskins and 16 Reed Buntings.

Migrants in the bushes included 72 Chiffchaffs, a Reed Warbler, six Blackcaps, two Firecrests and a Wheatear. A Barn Owl and two Dartford Warblers were also seen.

There was very little movement offshore other than ten Wigeon and five Teal but 40 Mediterranean Gulls, a Black Tern and two Arctic Skuas were lingering.

A Grey Seal was feeding offshore.

The moth traps continue to produce migrants with a Palpita vitrealis, a Vestal and 17 Small Mottled Willows of note.

6th Oct

A foggy start to the day becoming bright and sunny later. Grounded migrants included 45 Chiffchaffs, a Willow Warbler, a Reed Warbler and six Blackcaps and two Dartford Warblers were seen again. A few birds passed overhead including three Golden Plover, a Snipe, three Cattle Egrets, a Merlin, 11 Rooks, 37 Skylarks, 70 Swallows, a Yellow Wagtail, three Grey Wagtails, 95 Meadow Pipits, a Brambling, 20 Siskins and 12 Reed Buntings. Very quiet offshore with just a flock of 16 Pintails, five Mediterranean Gulls and two Arctic Skuas of interest. 

Two Porpoises and a Grey Seal were feeding offshore.

The moth traps produced five Palpita vitrealis, a Small Mottled Willow and a Scarce Bordered Straw.

5th Oct

Another reasonable arrival of migrants this morning with the highlight of a Yellow-browed Warbler caught in the trapping area along with 100 Chiffchaffs, 24 Blackcaps, two Firecrests, 53 Song Thrushes, three Redwings and a Wheatear. A Barn Owl and two Dartford Warblers were also seen.

Three Marsh Harriers, eight Buzzards, a Merlin, a Hobby, 26 Jackdaws, ten Rooks, 500 Swallows, 220 House Martins, two Tree Sparrows, nine Grey Wagtails, 130 Meadow Pipits, 44 Chaffinches, a Brambling, 20 Siskins and 18 Reed Buntings passed overhead.

Seawatching was fairly quiet but did include four Shelduck, a Teal, three Grey Plovers, 21 Ringed Plovers, 200 Razorbills passing through and 200 Mediterranean Gulls, a first-year Caspian Gull, a Black Tern and 11 Arctic Skuas lingering offshore. In addition, ten Grey Plovers, 18 Ringed Plovers, six Bar-tailed Godwits, eight Turnstones, 47 Knot, six Sanderling and 34 Dunlin were feeding on the beach.

Yellow-browed Warbler Phylloscopus inornatus   Dungeness   5th October 2026

Four Porpoises and two Grey Seals were feeding offshore.

More good moths were caught in the traps with the very scarce "micromoth" Dialectica scalariella, a Ni Moth, five Small Mottled Willows and a Scarce Bordered Straw.

Dialectica scalariella   Dungeness   5th October 2026

Ni Moth Trichoplusia ni   Dungeness   5th October 2026