The cold weather continues and migration is now almost at a standstill. Over three hours of seawatching produced just 70 Common Scoters, two Red-breasted Mergansers, a Black-throated Diver, 410 Gannets, five Whimbrel and only 29 Sandwich Terns. The Iceland Gull remains at the Patch.
Barely any new migrants to be seen on the land.
At least 15 Porpoises were feeding offshore.
The cold weather continues. Over 4.5hrs of seawatching produced two Teal, six Eiders, two Red-breasted Mergansers, a Grey Heron in, 563 Gannets, six Whimbrel, two Mediterranean Gulls, 86 Sandwich Terns and two Great Skuas. The Iceland Gull was also feeding at the Patch again but the highlight was a male Hen Harrier which came in from the east.
There was also a small arrival of migrants on the land with a Little Ringed Plover flying over, a Green Sandpiper and two Redstarts of note along with six Willow Warblers, six Blackcaps, three Whitethroats, a Yellow Wagtail and a Rock Pipit.
A Common Seal and 12 Porpoises were seen offshore and a Brown Hare was seen on the land.
A calm but cold, frosty and foggy morning and remaining fairly quiet. Two sessions of seawatching totaling 5.5 hours produced 332 Brent Geese, a Gadwall, a Pintail, 448 Common Scoters, two Red-breasted Mergansers, a Great Northern Diver, 380 Gannets, two Grey Plovers, 64 Bar-tailed Godwits and 232 Sandwich Terns. The Iceland Gull was feeding at the Patch again.
Migrants on the land remain scarce with just two Willow Warblers, seven Blackcaps and three Yellow Wagtails of note.
The Audiomoth recorder was out again last night and was generally quiet but four flocks of Common Scoter were of note.
Twelve Porpoises were feeding offshore.
A bitterly cold morning with occasional sleety flurries. Seawatching produced 199 Brent Geese, four Pintail, 849 Gannets, four Mediterranean Gulls, 91 Sandwich Terns, two Arctic Skuas and 525 auks. The regular Iceland Gull was feeding at the Patch and inside the power station complex behind the Patch hide.
Fairly quiet on the land with what few migrants there were seemingly concentrated at the northern end the Long Pits and including eight Chiffchaffs, six Willow Warblers and nine Blackcaps.
Three Porpoises and a Grey Seal were feeding offshore.
Another cold, breezy day and generally quiet for birds. Over five hours of seawatching produced just 186 Common Scoters, 791 Gannets, 170 Sandwich Terns, four Common Terns and two Arctic Skuas. Barely any migrants on the land with just a Merlin, a Willow Warbler and three Blackcaps of note.
Eight Porpoises were feeding offshore and a Brown Hare was seen on the land.
There was a small arrival of migrants today with the highlights being a fine male Common Redstart at the Long Pits and the first Reed Warbler and Whitethroats of the year along with 15 Willow Warblers, 12 Chiffchaffs, 12 Wheatears and three Siskins.
The sea was not as busy as yesterday but still produced some good totals with 174 Brent Geese, three Canada Geese, six Eider, four Velvet Scoters, 666 Common Scoters, four Red-breasted Mergansers, 1278 Gannets, a Whimbrel, 48 Kittiwakes, 367 Sandwich Terns, a Common Tern, five Great Skuas and two Arctic Skuas.
Four Porpoises were seen offshore and the boat fisherman reported a pod of White-beaked Dolphins again and feeding about two miles out but not seen from the land.
Virtually all of the days interest was offshore with a considerable easterly movement of birds although fairly limited in species range. Around 8.5hrs of observations produced a Garganey, three Velvet Scoters, six Red-breasted Mergansers, a Shag, a Mediterranean Gull, nine Great Skuas and an Arctic Skua while numbers were provided by 541 Brent Geese, 1984 Common Scoters, 144 Red-throated Divers, 2015 Gannets, 165 Kittiwakes and 613 Sandwich Terns. The regular Iceland Gull was still present at the Patch.
Mammals were also well represented with the most significant being a party of thee White-beaked Dolphins which headed east at 1000hrs. One of the individuals was very distinctive in that it had lost most of its dorsal fin leaving an uneven stump where it should be and might prove to be a trackable individual. Also seen were at least six Porpoises and a Grey Seal.
Insects of interest included the first two Comma butterflies and two Light Orange Underwing moths of the year.
Seven Blackcaps were the best on offer on the land while over five hours of seawatching produced 92 Common Scoters, 630 Gannets, a Whimbrel, two Mediterranean Gull, 237 Sandwich Terns and an Arctic Skua.
Four Porpoises were feeding offshore and five Brown Hares were seen on the land.
A day for large birds (not that I managed to see any of them) with a White Stork and a yellow wing-tagged Red Kite being seen but these were eclipsed by the passing of a White-tailed Eagle though unfortunately unseen by all and sundry. It was a satellite-tagged bird, G463, from the Isle of Wight project and was tracked from Bockhill this morning. From there it flew south along the coast and then inland over New Romney and Lydd before turning SE, heading over the recording area at a height of 1078metres and then out to sea at 1305hrs. Forty minutes and 47kms later it arrived in France at Boulogne and continued onwards in a SE direction.
The morning seawatch was very slow going with just two Gadwall, three Mediterranean Gulls and 86 Sandwich Terns of note. Migrants in the bushes were equally scarce with a Firecrest and three Blackcaps of interest.
Four Porpoise were feeding offshore.