8th Sep

A decent little arrival of migrants this morning with a Cuckoo, 15 Chiffchaffs, two Sedge Warblers, 16 Blackcaps, a Redstart and eight Wheatears with an additional four Grey Wagtails and 65 Siskins passed overhead. 
The days highlight though came late in proceedings with a Nightjar flying around the Trapping Area at dusk.

Quiet offshore yet again with just 60 Dunlin and 364 Sandwich Tern flying west.

The now regular nocturnal visit to the trapping area produced 11 Large Coneheads (including an ovipositing female) and 12 Sickle-bearing Bush-crickets. Three Southern Oak Bush-crickets were found in the Observatory garden and the Mediterranean Stick-insect population increased to four.

Sickle-bearing Bush-cricket Phaneroptera falcata   Dungeness   8th September 2020
An ovipositing female.- the first time i have seen occur.

7th Sep

Another morning with plenty of birds around although with nothing particularly unusual. The best of the grounded migrants were a Redstart, three Whinchats and a Pied Flycatcher in the moat along with a few commoner warblers, 30 Blackcaps, 575 Swallows, 100 House Martins, 120 Yellow Wagtails and a Tree Pipit.

Redstart Phoenicurus phoenicurus   first-winter female   Dungeness   7th September 2020

An evening search for orthoptera produced 12 Large Coneheads and two Sickle-bearing Bush-crickets.

Today was notable for the chance to meet up with Jim Flegg for a meal at the Britannia. Until his recent retirement Jim Flegg was the Observatory's longest serving Trustee at 68 years and a small  presentation was made to acknowledge his involvement with the Observatory from when it was in its infancy until the present day. 

Jim Flegg Presentation   (Images by Caroline Flegg and David Walker)

6th Sep

More of the same today with grounded migrants including 18 Chiffchaffs, 40 Blackcaps, four Lesser Whitethroats, 26 Whitethroats, the first two Song Thrushes of the autumn, two Spotted Flycatchers, 11 Wheatears, six Yellow Wagtails and also a Crossbill of note. There was some overhead passage with 200 Swallows, 25 House Martins, two Tree Pipits and 11 Siskins.

The sea was very quiet although another 806 Sandwich Tern flew west during the morning. 

There was more interest in the "rare" orthoptera today. During the course of the afternoon and evening at least ten Large Coneheads were noted with eight males heard and one of the two females seen ovipositing. It is becoming clear that the Sickle-bearing Bush-cricket population is doing much better than in the last couple of years with at least 14 individuals seen this evening and including a mating pair. It was a warmer night than of late and there was much better chorus from the Tree Crickets. In addition, two Southern Oak Bush-crickets were found in the front garden of the Observatory. 

Sickle-bearing Bush-crickets Phaneroptera falcata   Dungeness   6th September 2020
This is the first time I have actually seen any individuals engaged in mating behaviour. 

Whilst out at night a Badger was seen in the Moat and the Bat Detectors picked up calls from both Common and Soprano Pipistrelles.

5th Sep

There was a nice arrival of migrants on the land today with the highlight of a Wood Warbler seen at the top of the Long Pits in the afternoon. Other less common migrants included a juvenile Cuckoo in the moat, three Swifts, seven Sedge Warblers, three Garden Warblers, a Spotted Flycatcher, three Redstarts, five Whinchats, a Tree Sparrow, 25 Yellow Wagtails, a Tree Pipit and the first Rock Pipit of the autumn. Numbers were provided by 150 Swallows, 20 Willow Warblers, ten Chiffchaffs, 15 Lesser Whitethroats, 20 Whitethroats, 21 Wheatears and 15 Siskins.

The sea was quiet except for a large flurry of Sandwich Terns in the the 45 minutes of daylight with 524 heading west.

Five Large Coneheads including one male were seen as well as ten Sickle-bearing Bush-crickets but it was quite cold in the evening and very few Tree Crickets were singing..

Two Clouded Yellows (including one of the white form helice) were noted. It has been a very poor year so far for this species. The best the moth traps could offer was a single Red Underwing. A European Hornet was also a very unusual sighting for the Point.

4th Sep

 A decent spread of commoner migrants on the land but nothing out of the ordinary except for three Garden Warblers, seven Whinchats and a Redstart. A few birds also passed overhead including nine Grey Wagtails, four Tree Pipits and 40 Siskin.

Three Great Skuas and two Arctic Skuas flew west during the early morning seawatch.

A Grey Seal and a Porpoise were feeding offshore and there were several passes over the Observatory of a Common Pipistrelle bat in the evening..

The clear highlight of a small catch of moths overnight was a Convolvulus Hawk-moth.

Eight male Large Coneheads were singing this evening with seven in the trapping area and one found in the Observatory Car Park. One Sickle-bearing Bush-cricket was also seen.

 

3rd Sep

A day of strong SW winds and cold, murky conditions. It was very quiet on the land except for large numbers of Swallows and Sand Martins heading south. Seawatching was also fairly slow going but over five hours of watching eventually produced a Balearic Shearwater, four Arctic Skuas, two Great Skuas, a Mediterranean Gull and large numbers of Sandwich Terns. The highlight though was a first-winter Caspian Gull on the beach at the fishing boats this afternoon.

Caspian Gull Larus cachinnans   juvenile/first winter   Dungeness   3rd September 2020

Three Porpoises were feeding offshore.

2nd Sep

A nice little spread of migrants arrived this morning with 30 Blackcaps, a Spotted Flycatcher and two Pied Flycatchers of note. Overhead passage also improved with the highlight of an Osprey along with five Buzzards, a late Swift, 175 Swallows, a Tree Sparrow, five Grey Wagtails and 20 Siskins.

It remains very quiet offshore.

A Grey Seal and at least four Porpoises were feeding offshore.

1st Sep

A juvenile Cuckoo was feeding in the moat, 14 Blackcaps were ringed and three Whinchats were also seen while a Green Sandpiper, two Greenshanks, three Grey Wagtails and two Tree Pipits flew overhead 

Another quiet day offshore but with two Balearic Shearwaters and four Arctic Skuas of note and a juvenile Caspian Gull was seen at the fishing boats in the evening.

A lone Porpoise was feeding offshore and a Brown Hare was also seen near the fishing boats. 

Another evening visit to the trapping area proved successful with six Large Coneheads and five Sickle-bearing Bush-crickets and a decent chorus from the Tree Crickets.

31st Aug

The first calm morning for a few days produced a small arrival of commoner migrants and the clear highlight of a Wryneck which was caught in the moat. Other bits and pieces on the land included a Merlin, 24 Willow Warblers, five Chiffchaffs, 20 Blackcaps, a Garden Warbler, three Whinchats, 90 Yellow Wagtails, 15 Grey Wagtails and four Tree Pipits.

Wryneck Jynx torquilla   Dungeness  31st August 2020.
The first to be ringed since 2007.

It was extremely quiet offshore.

A short visit to the trapping area around mid-day was notable for finding two Large Coneheads whilst the now regular nocturnal visit produced four individuals and six Sickle-bearing Bush-crickets.

Large Conehead Ruspolia nitidula   Dungeness   31st August 2020

30th Aug

Another cold, windy day with very little on the land and several hours looking at a fairly empty sea.

The best the sea could offer were four Pintail, eight Teal, 15 Turnstones, a party of five Snipe in off, 24 Mediterranean Gulls east, four Great Skuas and 17 Arctic Skuas in over 5.5 hours of watching.

A Grey Seal and a Porpoise were seen offshore and a Common Pipistrelle in the trapping area was picked up on the Bat Detector.

The wind finally dropped just in time for another foray after dark into the trapping area for rare orthoptera and proved to be an excellent night with eight Large Coneheads (seven females) and 12 Sickle-bearing Bush-crickets including two nymphs. Earlier in the day a female Southern Oak Bush-cricket was found in the front garden of the observatory.

Large Conehead Ruspolia nitidula and Southern Oak Bush-cricket Meconema meridionale 
Dungeness   30th August 2020