30th Mar

Strong westerly winds resulted in a few birds moving east with the obvious highlight of a second cal.yr Glaucous Gull as well as 199 Common Scoters, eight Mediterranean Gulls, 35 Sandwich Terns, an Arctic Skua and a Manx Shearwater. A Polish-ringed second cal.yr Caspian Gull spent a few hours roosting at the Point. There was a clearout of yesterdays migrants on the land with just three Chiffchaffs, four Firecrests and a few Meadow Pipits to be seen.

Caspian Gull Larus cachinnans   2cy   Polish colour-ringed P:62H   Dungeness   30th March 2023

Eight Porpoises were feeding offshore.

29th Mar

Thick fog through the morning prevented any serious seawatching but grounded a decent number of migrants. The highlights on the land were two Willow Warblers, 35 Chiffchaffs, 18 Firecrests, two Goldcrests and three Song Thrushes. A short seawatch in clearer weather in the afternoon produced 216 Brent Geese and a Black-throated Diver.

28th Mar

The morning dawned with a fresh southerly wind and produced a decent seawatch. Numbers were provided by 370 Brent Geese, 1033 Common Scoters, 108 Sandwich Terns, 205 Red-throated Divers and 200 Gannets along with 11 Shovelers, 15 Pintail, six Velvet Scoters, eight Red-breasted Mergansers, a Black-necked Grebe, three Grey Plovers, 12 Little Gulls, 29 Mediterranean Gulls, the first Common Tern of the year, a Great Skua and 13 Fulmars.

Five Porpoises were feeding offshore.

27th Mar

There was a small arrival of migrants on the land this morning but seawatching was very slow. Of note on the land were the first Willow Warbler of the spring, 20 Chiffchaffs, four Firecrests, two Black Redstarts, three Wheatears, a Grey Wagtail, a Siskin and a minor scarcity these days in the form of a Bullfinch. The best the sea could offer were just two Red-breasted Mergansers and three Sandwich Terns. 

Six Porpoises and a Grey Seal were feeding offshore.

26th Mar

Another very quiet day. Seawatching produced just ten Shovelers and five Sandwich Terns of note. Two Caspian Gulls (2cy and 3cy) were feeding along the shoreline this afternoon.

Two Porpoises and a Grey Seal were feeding offshore.

The clear highlight of the day from elsewhere was a 3cy White-tailed Eagle which spent most of the morning in fields on Dengemarsh before heading off in SW direction.

25th Mar

Another windy day and with very little in the way of passage. A Pheasant, a Merlin, ten Chiffchaffs and two Firecrests were seen on the land. The early morning seawatch produced 14 Mediterranean Gulls and 13 Sandwich Terns of note.

Two Porpoises were feeding offshore.

24th Mar

Very quiet in strong WSW winds. Six Mediterranean Gulls and five Sandwich Terns flew east during the morning.

Two Porpoises and a Grey Seal were feeding offshore.

23rd Mar

An arrival of migrants, mainly around the Long Pits, included 14 Chiffchaffs and nine Firecrests. A Merlin and four Siskins were also seen. Seawatching was very slow with just 53 Common Scoters, three Mediterranean Gulls, seven Sandwich Terns and two Arctic Skuas of note.

The highlights of the day were two White-backed Dolphins along with two Porpoises.

A Small White and a Peacock were the first of the year and a Hummingbird Hawk-moth was seen in the Trapping Area.

22nd Mar

Another wet and windy day with very few birds to be seen. A Wheatear was seen at the fishing boats and 14 Sandwich Terns were of note offshore.

Two Porpoises were feeding offshore.

Elsewhere, an Alpine Swift was reported from the ARC this morning but could not be found later.

21st Mar

More miserable weather and very few migrants to be seen. A 4hr seawatch during the morning included 230 Brent Geese, 145 Common Scoters, a Red-breasted Merganser, 16 Sandwich Terns and 133 Gannets.  A first-winter Caspian Gull and a first-winter Yellow-legged Gull were in the roost at the Point. A Wheatear was seen at the fishing boats.

The highlight of the day though was a pod of four White-headed Dolphins along with three Porpoise.