A very disappointing day on both land and sea despite what seemed like favourable conditions for a few migrants to appear. A Little Gull, nine Arctic Skuas and a Black-throated Diver were the only birds of note offshore while a Garden Warbler and a Tree Pipit were noteworthy on the land.
Three Porpoises and a Grey Seal were feeding offshore and two Brown Hares were seen on the land.
Light winds failed to produce much on the land and the sea was fairly quiet. Over eight hours of seawatching produced three Pomarine Skuas and seven Arctic Skuas along with a Velvet Scoter, 16 Ringed Plovers, 157 Whimbrel, two Little Gulls and two Mediterranean Gulls while four Little Egrets flew out. A Fieldfare, a Whinchat, five Yellow Wagtails and 40 Corn Buntings were of note on the land.
Ten Porpoises and three Grey Seals were seen offshore and six Brown Hares were seen in and around the Desert.
Another day of excellent seawatching with 12 hours of coverage producing highlights of an adult Long-tailed Skua, 26 Pomarine Skuas, a Puffin, nine Black-throated Divers and a Great Northern Diver along with 253 Brent Geese, 13 Velvet Scoters, 72 Whimbrel, 102 Bar-tailed Godwits, 67 Knot, 52 Sanderlings, 41 Dunlin, 38 Little Terns, ten Black Terns, 43 Little Gulls, seven Mediterranean Gulls, 25 Arctic Skuas, two Great Skuas and two Manx Shearwaters. It remains very quiet on the land although the first Whinchat of the year and two Redstarts were seen.
Four Porpoises and a Grey Seal were feeding offshore, five Brown Hares were seen in the Desert and a Badger was seen in the grounds of the power station.
Another example of the rare beetle Hister quadrimaculata was found near the Observatory and the first Small Heath butterfly and Four-spotted Chaser of the year were seen.
Unfortunately our emails are not working at the moment. Please use dungenessobs@gmail for now if you need to get in touch. Thank you
An all-day seawatch with more strong easterly winds produced an excellent movement of birds with a total of 33 Pomarine Skuas being the obvious highlight while variety and numbers were provided by 17 Shovelers, two Tufted Ducks, 98 Grey Plovers, 267 Whimbrels, 319 Bar-tailed Godwits, a Greenshank, 65 Knot, 78 Sanderlings, five Little Terns, ten Little Gulls, six Mediterranean Gulls, five Arctic Skuas, two Black-throated Divers and 475 Gannets. A Redstart and 20 Wheatears were of note on the land and 180 Swallows passed overhead.
Four Porpoises and two Grey Seals were feeding offshore.
A Holly Blue butterfly was seen in the Lighthouse Garden and some Grey-backed Mining Bees Andrena vaga were found around the Observatory garden.
Strong ENE winds yet again restricted much of the observation to the sea but even here it was fairly quiet. Over seven hours of watching produced 30 Oystercatchers, eight Grey Plovers, 39 Whimbrel, 236 Bar-tailed Godwits, a Little Gull, a Mediterranean Gull, 638 Sandwich Terns, 478 "commic" Terns, a Manx Shearwater and the days highlight of two Pomarine Skuas.
Three Porpoises and two Grey Seals were feeding offshore.
A much quieter day on the sea than yesterday but still produced four Pintail, nine Grey Plovers, 223 Whimbrels, 78 Bar-tailed Godwits, two Black Terns, 33 Little Gulls, 11 Mediterranean Gulls, six Great Skuas, four Pomarine Skuas, 20 Arctic Skuas, singles of Black-throated and Great Northern Divers and four Manx Shearwaters of note. Birds passing overhead included 125 Swallows.
Six Porpoises and two Grey Seals were feeding offshore.
A Wall butterfly was an unusual record.