10th February

Not a great deal to report other than the usual first-winter Caspian and Glaucous Gulls still present.

9th February

A very wet and much calmer morning but a bit disappointing for seabirds with hardly anything moving offshore other than 357 Kittiwakes and five Mediterranean Gulls in 2.25 hours. The first-winter Caspian Gull and Glaucous Gull were showing well at times.
A Grey Seal was seen and a few more clusters of Goose Barnacles were found on the beach.

8th February

A day of violent winds which restricted observations to the sea where even here it was very difficult - at one stage the large boat we were sheltering behind began to slide over the shingle. The seawatch itself was notable for 153 Fulmars and 218 Kittiwakes moving west during the morning but these were about the only birds moving.
The regular Caspian and Glaucous Gulls were joined by a first-winter Yellow-legged Gull.

With such persistent strong westerly winds it was probably only a matter of time before Goose Barnacles started to wash up on the beach and a couple of large clusters have now been found attached to polystyrene floats.

Goose Barnacles Lepus anatifera   Dungeness   8th February 2016

Also on the beach this afternoon was this fish which I think is a Shad sp., probably a Twaite Shad, - now a rare fish in British waters and classified as Vulnerable.

Twaite Shad Alosa fallax   Dungeness   8th February 2016

7th February

Very little reported today except the usual Caspian and Glaucous Gull still present.

6th February

Large numbers of gulls were feeding offshore again including eight Mediterranean Gulls and a Little Gull along with the regular first-winter Caspian and Glaucous Gulls. A Great Skua was also marauding offshore. 

5th February

Less coverage today but an early morning seawatch produced 160 auks west and the Caspian and Glaucous Gulls were still present. 

Two Firecrests were seen at the Long Pits.

The moth trap was run for the first time this year and produced a Chestnut and a Beautiful Plume and more interestingly one of  the rarer diving beetles, Dytiscus dimidiatus.

Dytiscus dimidiatutus  Dungeness   5th February 2016

Note the lack of a bright orange/yellow border to the wing cases and thorax and the uniform orange-brown underside. 

4th February

The first-winter Caspian and Glaucous Gulls were showing well at the fishing boats as usual. A Velvet Scoter, a few Kittiwakes and around 600 auks flew west in the early morning and a count at low water this afternoon gave a total of 2330 Great Crested Grebes feeding offshore.
Yet more images of the Caspian Gull.

Caspian Gull Larus cachinnans   first-winter   Dungeness   4th February 2016

3rd February

A bright and less windy morning allowed a decent check of the land which produced a Jack Snipe and five Snipe in the flooded area to the east of the Long Pits and a couple of Firecrests in the bushes. There was very little passage at sea but there were at least three Mediterranean Gulls at the Patch and the first-winter Caspian and Glaucous Gulls on the beach at the fishing boats whilst 840 Great Crested Grebes were feeding offshore.

2nd February

Not much movement offshore today. The Caspian and Glaucous Gulls were at the fishing boats and two second-winter Mediterranean Gulls were amongst the hoards of gulls feeding at the Patch.

1st February

Not much change really from recent days both in birds and weather. A two-hour seawatch this morning saw more heavy westerly movement of gulls and auks including a Mediterranean Gull, 492 Kittiwakes, 1500 Common Gulls, 1310 Guillemots and 2613 Razorbills and the first-winter Caspian and Glaucous Gulls still present.

A Brown Hare was also seen.