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| The 2007 Annual Report is now available and costs £6.50 (inc. p&p) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1st | The
month began where March ended with the merest
trickle of grounded migrants including eight Chiffchaffs and
two Willow Warblers along
with four Black Redstarts. The two Ravens made another appearance
over the Observatory recording area and large
numbers of Sandwich Terns were seen
offshore.
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| 2nd | Very
quiet with hardly a migrant to be seen other than
a few Chaffinches passing through.
The Iceland Gull was seen at the Patch in the afternoon. |
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| 3rd | Fog,
mist and generally unpleasant weather conditions
resulted in a small arrival of migrants. The
highlight was a Stone-curlew seen by the
fisherman on the Point in the early afternoon
whilst other notable migrants included our first Redstart
of the spring and three Blackcaps along
with 15 Chiffchaffs and eight Willow
Warblers. A Brambling also flew over.
Two Common Terns at the Patch were also new for the year and the Iceland Gull and two Mediterranean Gulls were in the area. |
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| 4th | In
similar weather conditions (a light westerly wind
and a heavy overcast with mist) to yesterday there
was a further arrival of new birds with two Yellow
Wagtails, 25 Wheatears, a Ring Ouzel,
six Redstarts, 15 Blackcaps, 35 Willow
Warblers, 55 Chiffchaffs, five Goldcrests
and a Firecrest of note. Overhead, four Sand
Martins, 50 Chaffinches and five Siskins
were seen.
There was also a good movement offshore (mainly in the first two hours of daylight) with 1076 Brent Geese, 286 Common Scoters, four Velvet Scoters, five Red-breasted Mergansers, the first three Arctic Skuas of the spring and four Common Terns. The Iceland Gull was also still present. |
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| 5th | Clear
conditions with a heavy frost resulted in a
quieter day but still with good numbers of
migrants in the area including a Redstart,
three Ring Ouzels, ten Blackcaps, 25
Willow Warblers, 15 Chiffchaffs, a Firecrest
and two Coal Tits whilst visible migrants
included 300 Wood Pigeons, a few corvids
and four Siskins.
Seawatching was fairly quiet but four hours of observation produced 142 Brent Geese, a Black-throated Diver, 17 Red-breasted Merganser, a Great Skua and a Common Tern. The Iceland Gull was still present (having been here for just over ten weeks now). |
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| 6th | A
light south-easterly wind and cold, murky
conditions encouraged the best up-channel movement
of the spring so far. Of note were three Black-throated
Divers, 48 Shelducks, 19 Pintails,
six Gadwall, 14 Shovelers, a Long-tailed
Duck, 11 Velvet Scoters and 122 Red-breasted
Mergansers, 16 Bar-tailed Godwits, 15 Arctic
Skuas, two Great Skuas, three Little
Gulls, 31 Common Terns and three early Little
Terns. Numbers were provided by 222 Gannets,
1300 Common Scoters and 350 Sandwich
Terns whilst two Mediterranean Gulls
and the Iceland Gull were also seen.
Fairly quiet on the land with two "Continental" Coal Tits of note along with three Swallows, a Yellow Wagtail, four Blackcaps, 14 Chiffchaffs, seven Willow Warblers and two Bramblings.
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| 7th | With
the wind veering into the west again and clear
skies there was very little to be seen on the land
and offshore passage was much reduced.
Three hours of seawatching produced 331 Brent Geese, 628 Common Scoters, 47 Eiders, 24 Red-breasted Mergansers, two Great Skuas and six Common Terns of note. The Iceland Gull was still on the beach. A Blackcap and a handful of Chiffchaffs were all that could be found on the land. |
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| 8th | Very little to be seen in strong westerly winds and with rain during the morning. Several hours seawatching produced just four Great Skuas and two Mediterranean Gulls whilst land migrants were restricted to a Swallow, three Blackcaps, six Chiffchaffs and four Willow Warblers. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 9th | Despite what looked like favourable conditions this morning there was hardly a migrant to be seen on the land or offshore. The best the sea could offer was a Black-throated Diver and two Mediterranean Gull flying east. The best of the birds on the land were two Whitethroats (new for the year), eight Swallows, 12 Chiffchaffs and 11 Willow Warblers. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 10th | Another
good looking day for birds on the sea and land
which failed to live up to its promise.
A small number of migrants were seen on the land with the first three Tree Pipits of the year, two Yellow Wagtails, four Whitethroats, 18 Chiffchaffs and 10 Willow Warblers whilst six Swallows, 40 Chaffinches, three Siskins and a Redpoll passed overhead. At least one Raven was heard calling this morning. Six hours seawatching produced 629 Common Scoters, a Black-throated Diver, six Arctic Skuas, singles of Great Skua, Little Gull and Little Tern and 900 Sandwich Terns and the first Arctic Tern of the year. |
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| 11th | The
trickle of common migrants continues with small
numbers of Willow Warblers and Chiffchaffs
arriving along with our first Sedge Warbler,
a small increase in the local breeding Whitethroats
and two Firecrests. Most of the days
interest however was overhead were raptor passage
included a party of three Buzzards, two Marsh
Harriers and 20 Sparrowhawks and other
notable birds included a Hawfinch, the
first House Martin of the year, 130 Wood
Pigeons, three Collared Doves, 35 Goldfinches,
a Siskin and two Redpolls.
The sea was very quiet with just one Great Skua of interest. |
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| 12th | A day with another trickle of common migrants and some more notable birds in the form of a Buzzard, a Golden Oriole, a Nightingale and a Bullfinch. Also noted were just one Tree Pipit, a Yellow Wagtail, a Fieldfare, eight Chiffchaffs and three Redpolls. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 13th | At
last the promising-looking weather conditions are
beginning to bring some birds. There was a
significant fall of migrants this morning with two
Redstarts, seven Song Thrushes,
three Redwings, a Grasshopper Warbler
and five Lesser Whitethroats (both new for
the year), 14 Blackcaps, 20 Chiffchaffs
and 100 Willow Warblers and at least seven
migrant Sparrowhawks, nine Swallows,
two Yellow Wagtails, two Coal Tits,
two Siskins and five Redpolls passed
overhead.
The Nightingale was singing at the Long Pits and at least two Ravens were seen again. Seawatching was poor in the very limited visibility but an Arctic Skua and a Mediterranean Gull flew east in the morning and when the mist cleared in the afternoon 350 Bar-tailed Godwits and 450 Curlews also flew east. |
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| 14th | A
clear and sunny morning resulted in a much quieter
day. The best the bushes had to offer was the Nightingale,
two Lesser Whitethroat, four Blackcaps
and nine Willow Warblers whilst birds
passing overhead included two Yellow Wagtails,
a Tree Pipit, a Brambling and three Redpolls.
The sea was also quiet but an Arctic Tern and 15 Common Terns were feeding at the Patch. |
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| 15th | A
handful of migrants in the area included a Tree
Pipit, male Redstart and Ring Ouzels,
a Lesser Whitethroat, a Blackcap and
eight Willow Warblers. The Nightingale
was still singing at the Long Pits.
Two Arctic Skuas flew east and there were four Little Gulls and 80 Common Terns feeding at the Patch. |
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| 16th | There
was steady trickle of birds flying east offshore
during the day with five hours watching producing
four Manx Shearwaters, six Shovelers,
a Garganey, 13 Eiders, 25 Whimbrel,
50 Curlew, four Great Skuas, two Arctic
Skuas, 15 Little Gulls, two Mediterranean
Gulls, a Little Tern and over 300 Sandwich
Terns. Two Velvet Scoters also flew
west.
Very quiet on the land with just a handful of migrants including just ten Chiffchaffs and two Redpolls. |
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| 17th | Rain throughout the night (and for most of the day) produced a decent arrival of migrants at first light. Numbers were dominated by 85 Song Thrushes and 21 Willow Warblers whilst quality was provided by four Ring Ouzels, a Firecrest, a Pied Flycatcher and a Hawfinch along with three Fieldfares and three Blackcaps. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 18th | A
highly mobile Hoopoe was the highlight of
the morning although overall migrant numbers were
low with other interest being provided by single Marsh
and Hen Harriers and Common Buzzard
and a Little Ringed Plover.
There was a steady easterly movement at sea during the morning where 13 Teal, three Pochard, three Knot, 51 Whimbrel, seven Arctic Skuas, one Great Skua, four Mediterranean Gulls, a Little Gull, 637 Sandwich Terns, 386 Common Terns and two Little Terns were seen as well as the most surprising sighting of an Egyptian Goose flying along the beach. |
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| 19th | A
disappointing day in strong NE winds. Seawatching
was very slow with just a trickle of Bar-tailed
Godwits and Whimbrels and an Arctic
Skua passing through during the day and a
first-summer Mediterranean Gull and 300 Common
Terns at the Patch.
Very quiet on the land with just a few Swallows and a Tree Pipit arriving and a Lesser Whitethroat singing in the trapping area. |
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| 20th | Whitethroats
are now arriving in good numbers but other
migrants were generally scarce with just a Cuckoo,
25 Swallows, a Tree Pipit, four Lesser
Whitethroats, 10 Chiffchaffs, seven Willow
Warblers and 35 Goldfinches of
interest. The two "local" Ravens
made a foray into the area during the morning.
There was barely any movement offshore but the Patch held five Arctic Terns along with 200 Common Terns and a first-summer Yellow-legged Gull. |
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| 21st | Very few migrants in very clear conditions but a Hawfinch was found in the trapping area and the two Ravens flew over along with 70 Swallows. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 22nd | Still
very few migrants on the land with the best being
a Jay and the first Reed Warbler of
the year along with 20 Swallows and nine Willow
Warblers. Two Ravens were seen again.
Seawatching was also quiet but four hours of observation eventually produced four Black-throated Divers, 159 Common Scoters, five Whimbrels, 176 Bar-tailed Godwits and an Arctic Skua. There were large numbers of birds at the Patch which included a first-summer Mediterranean Gull and a third-summer Yellow-legged Gull. |
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| 23rd | Clear skies and few birds on the land again. The highlight was the first Whinchat of the year whilst at sea a trickle of birds in the first three hours of daylight flying east included 12 Fulmars, 181 Gannets, five Gadwall, six Shoveler, five Whimbrel, 27 Bar-tailed Godwits, six Arctic Skuas, two Great Skuas and 11 Little Terns. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 24th | With
a fresh south-easterly wind for the first few
hours of the day there was a steady easterly
movement of birds offshore. Numbers were provided
by 47 Shelduck, 32 Shoveler, 1082 Common
Scoters, 98 Fulmars, 408 Gannet,
ten Bar-tailed Godwits, 12 Whimbrel,
whilst less usual species included four Tufted
Ducks, two Velvet Scoters, four Black-throated
Divers, two Manx Shearwaters, one Arctic
Skua, 12 Great Skuas, 22 Little
Gulls and 52 Little Terns.
Very quiet on the land. A male Redstart was seen in the trapping area and five Lesser Whitethroats were also noted. The Nightingale continues to sing at the Long Pits. |
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| 25th | Nearly all the days interest occurred at sea and in the first three hours as the wind veered from north-east through to south-west by mid-morning. The highlights were an adult Long-tailed Skua at 0600hrs and two Pomarine Skuas with further interest provided by 14 Manx Shearwaters, 657 Common Scoters, 26 Arctic Skuas, ten Great Skuas, four Mediterranean Gulls, 17 Little Gulls and two Black Terns. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 26th | Very
quiet on the land again with just a trickle of Swallows
throughout the day, a Redstart in the
trapping area and five Sparrowhawks and a
few Wood Pigeons and Chaffinches
overhead. Two Snow Geese also flew south
over the area.
The sea provided most of the interest but even here it was fairly thin fare with eight hours of watching producing four Pomarine Skuas, 15 Arctic Skuas, 13 Great Skuas and a Black Tern of note. |
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| 27th | Rain and southerly winds for most of the day failed to produce anything of real note. A Pomarine Skua, nine Arctic Skuas and three Little Terns flew east in the morning. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 28th | Heavy
rain during the early morning again failed to
produce lots of birds with the best of the days
observations being a male Blue-headed Wagtail,
three "continental" Coal Tits and
a Jay.
The sea was very quiet with just two Arctic Skuas seen during the morning. |
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| 29th | A
quiet day suddenly came to life in the late
afternoon when a Crested Lark was found
around Southview Cottage. It was very difficult to
get views of the bird on the ground but by the end
of the day about 60 people had seen it. This is
the second Dungeness record (the first being seen
in 1975) and 21st British record.
Other birds of interest seen during the day included an Egyptian Goose which flew over the Observatory, a Black-throated Diver flying east, our first Common Sandpiper of the year and a Pomarine Skua flying west. |
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| 30th | The
Crested Lark was seen throughout the day
but remained very elusive and mobile. By the end
of the day probably well in excess of 1000 people
had seen the bird although many observers had to
be content with flight views.
Other than the lark, it was extremely quiet on the land with a Hobby and a few Swallows being virtually the only migrants. Coverage of the sea for most of the day eventually produced some decent totals with three Great Northern and five Black-throated Divers, 553 Bar-tailed Godwits, 34 Arctic Skuas, 24 Great Skuas, 82 Little Terns, 89 Arctic Terns and eight Black Terns of note. |
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