28th Aug

With an increasingly strong north-easterly wind blowing most of the interest was offshore today with two juvenile Caspian Gulls of particular note along with 16 Teal, a Balearic Shearwater, 19 Mediterranean Gulls, four Yellow-legged Gulls, two Little Terns, six Black Terns and five Arctic Skuas. Singles of Tree Pipit and Siskin were the only birds of note on the land.

Three Porpoises and singles of Grey and Common Seal were feeding offshore.

A Mediterranean Stick-insect was seen on the garden again.

27th Aug

Migrant numbers were reduced today but there was still plenty to be seen with 40 Willow Warblers, 15 Blackcaps, three Garden Warblers, singles of Spotted and Pied Flycatchers and Redstart and four Whinchat on the ground and a Hobby, 45 Sand Martins, 150 Swallows, 55 Yellow Wagtails, two Grey Wagtails and a Tree Pipit overhead. It remains quiet offshore with just 12 Mediterranean Gulls, a Yellow-legged Gull and an Arctic Skua of interest.

Eight Porpoises and two Grey Seals were seen offshore and a Brown Hare was seen at the Point.

The highlights from a small catch of moths were a Rosy Wave and a Cypress Pug.

Rosy Wave Scopula emutaria   Dungeness   27th August 2022

Cypress Pug Eupithecia phoeniceata   Dungeness   27th August 2022

The evening search for orthoptera produced eight singing Large Cone-heads and six Sickle-bearing Bush-crickets. The chorus from the Tree Crickets continues to amaze. The regular Mediterranean Stick-insect was seen in the garden again.

26th Aug

Commoner migrants arrived in excellent numbers again today with a juvenile Cuckoo, 200 Willow Warblers, two Grasshopper Warblers, 15 Reed Warblers, 11 Blackcaps, three Garden Warblers, 26 Lesser Whitethroats, another early Goldcrest, 11 Spotted Flycatchers, two Pied Flycatchers, eight Redstarts and three Whinchats on the land and five Buzzards, 77 Yellow Wagtails, three Grey Wagtails and 11 Tree Pipits passing overhead. The sea was very slow-going with just a Balearic Shearwater, 15 Mediterranean Gulls and a first-winter Caspian Gull of note.  

The moth traps produced a Convolvulus Hawkmoth and a Delicate whilst the regular evening search for crickets found three Large Coneheads and eight Sickle-bearing Bush-crickets. A Mediterranean Stick-insect was seen again.

A Firebug was found in the Old Lighthouse garden.

Fire Bug Pyrrhocorus apterus   Dungeness   26th August 2022

25th Aug

The threatened thunderstorms never really materialized except for a few minutes of rain in mid-morning. A handful of migrants were grounded and included 40 Willow Warblers, a Pied Flycatcher and four Whinchats and 125 Swallows, 78 Yellow Wagtails and four Tree Pipits flew over. The sea was generally quiet but it did produce the bird of the day in the form of a Dotterel which came in and landed briefly on the beach as well as 11 Teal, four Pochard, five Sanderling, a juvenile Caspian Gull, an Arctic Skua and a Balearic Shearwater. An anting flock of gulls this evening held at least 50 Mediterranean Gulls.

Seven Porpoises and two Grey Seals were feeding offshore and a Brown Hare and a Stoat were seen on dry land. 

Three singing Large Cone-heads and six Sickle-bearing Bush-crickets were found in a short search this evening.

24th Aug

There were a good number of migrants around again this morning although numbers were dominated by Willow Warblers with at least 100 seen. Other migrants included 25 Reed Warblers, nine Blackcaps, a very early Goldcrest, a Pied Flycatcher and a Whinchat while a Honey Buzzard, two Common Buzzards, 120 Swallows, 40 Yellow Wagtails and two Tree Pipits passed overhead.

The nocmig recorder has been out most nights and has been picking up a few waders passing over but it was very quiet last night apart from a burst of seven calls which sounds like a Dotterel.

23rd Aug

There was a large arrival of migrants concentrated around the Trapping Area and Long Pits but weather conditions inhibited any serious ringing activities. Of note were 130 Willow Warblers, ten Blackcaps, 45 Lesser Whitethroats, 100 Common Whitethroats and a Pied Flycatcher. A Hen Harrier flew out to sea and 170 Sand Martins also passed overhead. Seawatching was slow-going with just a Grey Plover, four Whimbrel and a Black Tern passing through and two Mediterranean Gulls and five Yellow-legged Gulls at the fishing boats.

Four Grey Seals and ten Porpoises were feeding offshore.

The highlight from the moth traps was a Beautiful Marbled and a Clouded Yellow was seen at the Railway Car Park.

Beautiful Marbled Eublemna purpurina   Dungeness   23rd August 2022

22nd Aug

There was another good arrival of migrants this morning. with 70 Willow Warblers, two Sedge Warblers, 12 Reed Warblers and two Pied Flycatchers and Sand Martins trickled through during the day. Four Buzzards and a Snipe also flew over and three Mediterranean Gulls and six Yellow-legged Gulls were seen at the boats where a flock of 17 Arctic Skuas were a surprise. The gulls at the fishing boats included colour-ringed Herring Gulls from Felixstowe and Portland and an interesting small, dark adult Lesser Black-backed Gull.

Herring Gulls Larus argentatus   Dungeness   22nd August 2022
Colour-ringed birds from Felixstowe, Essex and Portland Harbour, Dorset

Lesser Black-backed Gull Larus fuscus   Adult   Dungeness   22nd August 2022
Small, dark and long-winged and appears to be showing an arrested moult pattern with P1-2 moulted. Unfortunately it is not colour-ringed.

At least 15 Porpoises were feeding offshore and included a white (albino?) youngster.

A Bordered Straw was of note from the moth traps.

21st Aug

An early morning arrival of migrants on the land included 40 Willow Warblers, two Pied Flycatchers, 45 Yellow Wagtails and four Tree Pipits.

An afternoon check of gulls along the beach produced two juvenile Caspian Gulls, along with four Little Gulls, a Mediterranean Gull and six Yellow-legged Gulls and also a single Balearic Shearwater flying west. An Osprey also flew over and out to sea in the afternoon.

Caspian Gull Larus cachinnans   juvenile/first-winter   Dungeness   21st August 2022

 Twelve Porpoises and three Grey Seals were feeding offshore.

Two Pearly Underwings were the highlight from the moth-traps.

20th Aug

This morning saw an excellent arrival of commoner migrants on the land with numbers dominated by 120 Willow Warblers and a sprinkle of scarcer birds in the form of a Wood Warbler, two Garden Warblers, a Spotted Flycatcher, two Pied Flycatchers, a Whinchat, five Tree Pipits, two Tree Sparrows and a Crossbill. A White Stork seen at ARC the previous evening turns out to be a different individual (colour-ring GB1Z) to the one seen a couple of days ago and flew around the Point this morning before remarkably joining up with a flock of 17 birds which all then gained height and eventually flew out to sea in the direction of France. The sea was very quiet other than a westward trickle of Sandwich and Common Terns.

Wood Warbler Phylloscopus sibilatrix   Dungeness   21st August 2022

Seven Porpoises and a Grey Seal were seen offshore and a Brown Hare was seen at the Point.

The moth traps produced singles of Bordered Straw and Scarce Bordered Straw and a Jersey Tiger was seen by during the day. A Mediterranean Stick-insect was found in the garden again.

Scarce Bordered Straw Helicoverpa armigera   Dungeness   21st August 2022

19th Aug

A breezier morning restricted ringing operations but allowed for some seawatching but it was fairly slow going with seven hours of observation eventually producing three Balearic Shearwaters, a Black-tailed Godwit, two Mediterranean Gulls, 290 Sandwich Terns, 294 Common Terns, three Little Terns, 13 Black Terns and two Arctic Skuas. A juvenile Yellow-legged Gull was on the beach. On the land 60 Sand Martins, 35 Willow Warblers, a Whinchat and 35 Yellow Wagtails were of note.

Five Porpoises and a two Grey Seals were seen offshore and a Common Pipistrelle bat was feeding around the Observatory in the evening.