February 2015

1st		A Firecrest was seen in the trapping area.
2nd		Two Firecrests and a Chiffchaff were seen in the trapping area.
3rd		A Woodcock and a Little Owl were seen in the bushes but the sea was quiet.
4th		Very quiet.
5th		Three Firecrests were seen in the bushes and three Greylag Geese and three Pintailsflew east.
6th		A bitterly cold and windy day with the only interest being amongst the gulls. Thousands were feeding at the Patch with a second-winter Caspian Gull and an adultMediterranean Gull of note there whilst a first-winter Caspian Gull and a second-winter Yellow-legged Gull were in the roost at the fishing boats. An Estonian-ringedCommon Gull was also noteworthy.
7th		Limited coverage and nothing reported.
8th		Three Firecrests were seen in the trapping area.
9th		An adult Mediterranean Gull was feeding at the fishing boats but very little else was seen despite the distinct improvement in the weather.
10th		A Dartford Warbler seen in one of the gardens was unexpected and was the first Observatory record since October 2012. Very little else was seen other than two first-winter Yellow-legged Gulls at the Patch.
11th		Three Teal, three Woodcocks and four Firecrests were seen around the trapping area and Long Pits and a Mistle Thrush was new for the year.
12th		What was another very quiet day was enlivened in the afternoon by the finding of a flock of about 35 Pink-footed Geese floating east offshore. A Firecrest and a Black Redstart were also seen.
13th		A sudden change in the weather with strong southerly winds during the morning resulted in a reasonable easterly passage with 2.5hrs of watching producing 218 Brent Geese, five Wigeon, 129 Red-throated Divers, six Fulmars, 450 Gannets and 102Kittiwakes. Three Mediterranean Gulls were amongst large numbers of gulls feeding at the Patch.
14th		A few birds passing offshore included 43 Brent Geese, five Pintail, a Velvet Scoter, 150 Red-throated Divers and 131 Kittiwakes whilst two Mediterranean Gulls and a first-winter Yellow-legged Gull were feeding at the Patch. Also at the Patch was a colour-ringed Great Black-backed Gull which was ringed as nestling in Norway in 2003 and has been seen here previously in 2004-5 and 2012.Two Black Redstarts were feeding inside the power station complex. Of note from elsewhere was the egret roost at ARC which produced five Cattle Egrets, nine Great White Egrets and 23 Little Egrets this evening. It is worth noting that in the last issue of Dutch Birding which arrived a couple of days ago it is stated that a total of 6320 Great White Egrets were counted at roosts in Holland in October 2014 and it has been annual there since 1976.
15th		A Siskin and six Chaffinches were new birds in the trapping area where singles ofMarsh Harrier, Kingfisher, Firecrest and Chiffchaff were also seen.A 2.5hrs seawatch this morning produced two Shovelers, 300 Red-throated Diver and 138 Gannets.
16th		A calm day with thick fog at first and remaining quite murky all day saw a small passage offshore which included three Pink-footed Geese, 128 Brent Geese and twoPintail. Four Skylarks flew south, three Fieldfares were feeding in the moat this afternoon and two Black Redstarts were on the power station wall again.
17th		A bright and sunny day but very quiet for birds with the merest trickle of birds east offshore and a Firecrest and a Chiffchaff seen in the trapping area.
18th		Another fine day but which one which failed to produce very much. A couple ofFirecrests were seen.
19th		A windy morning encouraged some easterly offshore passage with a 2.25hr seawatch producing 470 Red-throated Divers of note along with three Red-breasted Mergansers, four Fulmars, 145 Gannets, two Curlews and a few Kittiwakes. In the afternoon a second-winter Mediterranean Gull was seen at the Patch.Quiet on the land again although a Grey Wagtail was new for the year and a Chiffchaffwas seen in the bushes.
20th		A thoroughly miserable day with heavy rain overnight and throughout the day. Little coverage but a check of the gull roost in the early afternoon produced second-winter and third-winter Caspian Gulls.
21st		Rain continued through much of the night and early morning and even turned to heavy snow for a short time.Seawatching produced a few Red-throated Divers and Gannets but very little else whilst the third-winter Caspian Gull first seen yesterday was in the high tide roost at the fishing boats again. Caspian Gull Larus cachinnans   third-winter   Dungeness   21st February 2015
22nd		A first-winter Caspian Gull was seen at the fishing boats and two Firecrests were seen in the trapping area.
23rd		Very little to be seen on a cold and windy day with occasional hail showers.
24th		Still very quiet with just two adult Mediterranean Gulls feeding at the Patch and sixChaffinches passing overhead of any interest.
25th		There was a notable increase in Brent Goose passage with 588 Dark-bellieds and aPale-bellied Brent passing through during the morning. There was little evidence of anything else moving although there were nearly 300 Red-throated Divers and 1432Great Crested Grebes feeding offshore. An adult Mediterranean Gull was the only gull of interest among the large numbers feeding at the Patch.A party of four Ravens also flew over.
26th		A thoroughly hopeless day with thick fog at first turning to heavy rain in the afternoon making any serious observations virtually impossible and paperwork the favoured option.
27th		A clear and sunny morning produced a very small movement of Skylarks andChaffinches but not a great deal else.However, in the afternoon a first-winter Pomarine Skua flew in over the Point and landed near the Sanctuary. Sadly it was clearly in poor condition and was easily caught and died a couple of hours later. The following images may be of interest and instructive.  Relatively uniform upperparts except for fine white scaling Large heavy bill with dark tip and no sign of a pale collar Four white primary shafts in the upperwing and lacking obvious pale tips Note that although it shows a very large white patch at the base of primaries it does not show an obvious second patch at the base of the primary coverts which might have been expected. Strongly barred undertailcoverts and central tail feathers only projecting only slightly from the rest of the tail. In fact when the tail was spread there was no projection at all. Arctic Skua would show less distinct barring and more elongated and pointed central feathers.
28th		A miserable morning with heavy drizzle and strong winds turning to heavy rain in the afternoon and overnight.The highlight was a juvenile/first-winter Glaucous Gull which was found on the beach at the Patch and then headed off east and was then seen as it passed the Point. There was also a decent bit of passage in the first couple of hours with 415 Brent Geese, 20Pintails, two Red-breasted Mergansers, 600 Red-throated Divers, 22 Fulmars and 163 Gannets. Glaucous Gull Larus hyperboreus   Dungeness   28th February 2015

January 2015

1st		The year began with good numbers of Gannets, Kittiwakes and Guillemots offshore today and several sightings of at least one Great Skua.Elsewhere, the two Cattle Egrets were still at Lydd, there were four Tundra Bean Geese with Bewick's Swans and a Whooper Swan at Horsebones Farm on Walland Marsh, several Great White Egrets were around the RSPB Reserve along with a fewSmews and Goosanders and a Black-necked Grebe and two more Black-necked Grebes and a drake Scaup were at Scotney.
2nd		A Snipe, three Firecrests and a Chiffchaff were of note in the trapping area. Seawatching produced two Velvet Scoters, a Goldeneye, 316 Red-throated Divers, two Great Skuas, 213 Kittiwakes and 650 auks flying west in 2.5hrs of recording.
3rd		A thoroughly miserable day made observation difficult but checking the gulls loafing on the point produced a first-winter Caspian Gull and then a brief sighting of a first-winterGlaucous Gull before it continued west. An adult Yellow-legged Gull was also seen. Glaucous Gull Larus hyperboreus   first winter   Dungeness   3rd January 2015
4th		A new first-winter Caspian Gull spent over an hour in the gull roost at the Point this morning but there was no sign of yesterdays Glaucous Gull. A few Brent Geese flew east. Caspian Gull Larus cachinnans    first-winter   Dungeness   4th January 2015 The highlight on the land was a Barn Owl which spent a few minutes in a local garden before being flushed by gulls and Carrion Crows and could not be relocated. AFirecrest and two Chiffchaffs were also seen.
5th		Another miserable day with only coverage of the sea and Patch which produced fourRed-breasted Mergansers, a Pomarine Skua, two Great Skuas and threeMediterranean Gulls of note.
6th		Very quiet offshore with small numbers of Red-throated Divers, Kittiwakes and aukspassing in both directions and a Firecrest and a Chiffchaff in the trapping area.
7th		The easterly passage of Brent Geese continues with at least 250 through today. AMarsh Harrier, two Firecrests and a Chiffchaff were seen in the trapping area and aBlack Redstart was at the Patch hide.
8th		An awful morning of strong winds and heavy rain eventually giving way to brighter and dry conditions. The sea was more or less the only coverage but even here there was not a great deal to be seen other than another 100 Brent Geese moving east and the usual Red-throated Divers, Gannets, Kittiwakes and auks moving around. A Black Redstart was seen at the fishing boats.Some time this evening was spent being fairly underwhelmed by the sight of Comet Lovejoy.
9th		More of the same offshore but with the addition of a Great Skua passing west at the fishing boats and stopping briefly at the Patch. A first-winter Caspian Gull was in the roost on the Point in the afternoon.
10th		A morning of really awful weather with howling winds and heavy rain making even seawatching difficult. However, three hours of observations produced 29 Fulmars and 78 Kittiwakes heading west and a first-winter Caspian Gull feeding offshore.
11th		Not a great deal to report in the continuing strong winds. A Great Skua flew west and a first-winter Yellow-legged Gull was amongst the gulls on the beach and a Firecrestwas seen in the trapping area.
12th		Yet another in the succession of very wet and windy days. Seawatching continues to be the only sensible option but even here it is pretty hard work with several hours of observation producing just 29 Wigeon, 148 Brent Geese and two Great Skuas of note offshore and a first-winter Caspian Gull in the roost.   Caspian Gull Larus cachinnans   first-winter   Dungeness   12th January 2015
13th		The first-winter Caspian Gull was in the gull roost again, a flock of 45 Brent Geeseflew east and a Marsh Harrier was hunting over the Long Pits but little else was seen on another pretty miserable day. Caspian Gull Larus cachinnans   first-winter   Dungeness   13th January 2015
14th		Limited coverage in more windy conditions. A check of the Patch revealed plenty of gulls but nothing of real note except for this pale individual. Is it a pale argentatusHerring Gull or a Herring Gull x Glaucous Gull (ie Viking Gull) hybrid. Birds looking like this are not that rare and show up in most winters at Dungeness. Herring Gull or Herring Gull x Glaucous Gull (aka Viking Gull) hybrid   first-winter   Dungeness   14th January 2014 Whilst on the subject of "funny" gulls this individual has also been seen around the Point over the last couple of days. It is clearly a large bird and not sure whether it is just an aberrant/pale Great Black-backed Gull or perhaps it has some Glaucous Gull or argentatus Herring Gull in there. Try as I might I cannot turn it into anything more exciting though.
15th		Following another torrid night of wind and rain the day did not fare much better. The only birding option was more seawatching but this continues to disappoint with just sixFulmars, 120 Kittiwakes and 220 auks species west in 2.5hrs of watching.
16th		Two Velvet Scoters and three Mediterranean Gulls and a few Kittiwakes and auksflew west this morning.
17th		Large numbers of gulls feeding offshore included a first-winter Caspian Gull, a first-winter Yellow-legged Gull and four Mediterranean Gulls whilst a Great Skua flew west.The bushes held three Firecrests and two Chiffchaffs.
18th		A strange seawatch this morning in constant rain with a steady westerly passage of around 500 Kittiwakes and auks in 90 minutes along with a loitering Great Skua and three Mediterranean Gulls. A new first-winter Caspian Gull was seen in the gull roost. Caspian Gull Larus cachinnans   first-winter   Dungeness   18th January 2015
19th		A first-winter Caspian Gull and a Mediterranean Gull were seen on the Point and aFirecrest was seen in the bushes.
20th		Nothing of note.
21st		A Mediterranean Gull was seen offshore and 80 Brent Geese flew east.
22nd		Nothing of note.
23rd		A Merlin was of note.
25th		A Firecrest and eight Goldcrests were seen in the bushes.
27th		Two Mediterranean Gulls were feeding offshore and a Peregrine Falcon and aMerlin were also seen.
28th		Nothing of note.
29th		A Pomarine Skua flew west, as did a drake Eider and a Black Redstart was seen at the Lifeboat Station.
30th		A Pomarine Skua was seen offshore again.
31st		A Pomarine Skua and a Great Skua were seen offshore along with 90 Wigeon and aMediterranean Gull.