More NNE winds and the steady stream of birds passing upchannel continued with 211 Brent Geese, nine Shelduck, six Bar-tailed Godwits, 234 Sandwich Terns and four Arctic Skuas of note. Still quiet on the land with just a Willow Warbler, eight Chiffchaffs and three Song Thrushes of interest.
Four Porpoise and a Grey Seal were feeding offshore and a Brown Hare was seen on the land.
Fresh ENE winds again produced some decent seawatching but it remains hard-going on the land. Nearly ten hours of seawatching resulted in 535 Brent Geese, five Shoveler, a Gadwall, 689 Common Scoters, 11 Red-breasted Mergansers, 66 Little Gulls, 24 Mediterranean Gulls, 504 Sandwich Terns, four Arctic Skuas, a Black-throated Diver, a Cattle Egret roosting on the Bouy, a Little Egret and also a male Hen Harrier. It was quiet on the land with a Red Kite, just two Sand Martins, 17 Swallows, 102 Skylarks, 14 Chiffchaffs, a Redpoll and two Siskins passing through.
At least 15 Porpoises and a Grey Seal were seen offshore while two Brown Hares and a Weasel were seen on the land.
Over ten hours of seawatching in the continuing fresh NE winds produced 311 Brent Geese, four Garganey, 24 Shovelers, 11 Teal, ten Velvet Scoters, 559 Common Scoters, seven Eiders, 13 Red-breasted Mergansers, five Grey Plover, 24 Curlews, 21 Dunlin, 27 Little Gulls, 13 Mediterranean Gulls, 490 Sandwich Terns, three Little Terns, 27 Arctic Terns, two Arctic Skuas, 82 Red-throated Divers, a Black-throated Diver, a Great Northern Diver and a Little Egret. A male Hen Harrier was also seen.
A trickle of birds on the land included a Red Kite, 17 Swallows, 14 Chiffchaffs, two Blackcaps, four Yellow Wagtails, two White Wagtails and a Brambling,
Six Porpoises and a Grey Seal were feeding offshore.
The strong north-east wind continues and resulted in another six hours of seawatching producing 136 Brent Geese, 11 Shovelers, four Gadwall, six Pintail, 36 Teal, ten Red-breasted Mergansers, three Grey Plovers, two Whimbrels, nine Bar-tailed Godwits, 26 Dunlin, three Little Terns, 180 Sandwich Terns, seven Little Gulls, four Mediterranean Gulls, six Arctic Skuas, two Black-throated Divers and 17 Fulmars of note.
A Merlin, 17 Swallows, a House Martin, a Willow Warbler, 13 Chiffchaffs, a Whitethroat, three White Wagtails and 226 Chaffinches were seen on the land.
Eight Porpoises and a Grey Seal were feeding offshore and a Weasel was seen on the land.
Five hours of fairly quiet seawatching produced a Pintail. a Tufted Duck, 14 Grey Plover, ten Little Gulls, eight Mediterranean Gulls, an Arctic Tern, an Arctic Skua and a Great Skua of note. Two first-winter Caspian Gulls came to bread in front of the seawatch hide in the evening. Very little on the land with just 172 Wood Pigeon, a Greenshank and 28 Goldfinches of note.
Seven Porpoises and a Grey Seal were feeding offshore and a Brown Hare was seen in the Desert.
Very few birds on the land but they did include an unringed White Stork which flew in from the west and eventually headed north. A Merlin, ten Chiffchaffs, three Black Redstarts, six Wheatears, a Blue-headed Wagtail, a Yellow Wagtail, a Grey Wagtail, 74 Chaffinches and a Siskin were also seen.
Nearly five hours of seawatching was fairly productive with 226 Brent Geese, nine Shoveler, 11 Pintail, 196 Common Scoters, four Red-breasted Mergansers, two Whimbrel, 405 Sandwich Terns, five Little Gulls, six Mediterranean Gulls, an Arctic Skua, a Black-throated Diver and three Little Egrets.
Fifteen Porpoise and a Grey Seal were feeding offshore.
Seawatching again dominated proceedings with a good variety (rather than numbers) passing throughout the day. The highlights were a Garganey, 189 Shovelers, two Gadwall, eight Pintail, 12 Teal, a Pochard, three Eider, a Velvet Scoter, 761 Common Scoters, five Red-breasted Mergansers, five Avocets, five Common Terns, 142 Sandwich Terns, 11 Little Gulls, a Great Skua, two Black-throated Divers and a Great Northern Diver. It was quiet on the land with a Sand Martin, 11 Chiffchaffs, three Blackcaps and a Rock Pipit being the only migrants of note.
Twelve Porpoises and two Grey Seals were feeding offshore.
A strong, biting NW wind brought a surprisingly good seawatch with dabbling ducks including our fourth best-ever spring total of 619 Shovelers. Other ducks included four Gadwall, four Wigeon, 14 Pintail, 41 Teal, a Velvet Scoter, 418 Common Scoters and three Red-breasted Mergansers. A Shag was the best of the rest along with four Grey Plovers, the first Common Tern of the spring, 90 Sandwich Terns, two Mediterranean Gulls, an Arctic Skua and a Black-throated Diver. Two Swallows and four Chiffchaffs were seen on the land.
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| Black-throated Diver Gavia arctica Dungeness 2nd April 2025 (Jacob Spinks) |
Five Porpoise and two Grey Seals were feeding offshore.
The highlight of the days seawatching was a surprisingly high total of 28 Garganeys along with 69 Shovelers, nine Pintail, 43 Teal, an Eider, three Velvet Scoters west, 481 Common Scoters and 23 Red-breasted Mergansers, 12 Avocets, ten Little Gulls and 30 Sandwich Terns.
Eleven Porpoise were feeding offshore.
A very quiet morning on the produced just one Willow Warbler, five Chiffchaffs and a Fieldfare while the sea brought just 55 Common Scoters, two Red-breasted Mergansers and 12 Sandwich Terns of interest.
Six Porpoises and two Grey Seals were feeding offshore.
A Red Chestnut and two Small Quakers were trapped overnight.