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| The 2006 Annual Report is now available and costs £7.50 (inc. p&p) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1st | Most
of the day was spent looking at the sea or the
Patch where there was clearly a movement of
displaced birds from yesterdays storm. The
highlights were eight Pomarine Skuas and a Long-tailed
Duck and numbers were provided by 373 Red-throated
Divers, 217 Gannets, 770 Kittiwakes
(with another 200 lingering), 480 Razorbills
and 5000 Guillemots. Five Pintails,
ten Velvet Scoters, an adult Mediterranean
Gull and the regular adult Little Gull
were also seen.
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| 2nd | Limited coverage but a one-hour seawatch from first light produced 92 Red-throated Divers, two Black-throated Divers and 2900 auks species east. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3rd | The
good numbers of seabirds continues in very strong
southerly winds. The highlight was another Pomarine
Skua but other interest was provided by 257 Fulmars,
100 Gannets, two Mediterranean Gulls,
a Little Gull and 1800 Guillemots.
Surprisingly, there was also early signs of
easterly upchannel movement with 170 Brent
Geese passing through.
A Chiffchaff was seen at the Long Pits. |
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| 4th | Red-throated
Divers moved west in good numbers this morning
with 391 (including a flock of 267 birds) in 90
minutes this morning along with a Velvet
Scoter and 500 Guillemots. Later in the
day there was another 1000 Guillemots
feeding offshore and also a loose flock of 900 Great
Crested Grebes. Adult Mediterranean and
Little Gulls were also seen.
Three Chiffchaffs were seen at the Long Pits. |
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| 5th | Very little to report other than the continuing passage of Guillemots with 3250 west in just two hours during the morning and the regular adult Little Gull at the fishing boats. An adult Yellow-legged Gull was also seen. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 6th | A
dry and calmer day for a change. There was very
little evidence of passage offshore although Red-throated
Divers and Great Crested Grebes were
feeding in large numbers and two Mediterranean
Gulls were seen at the Patch. The adult Little
Gull was also seen again.
A Stonechat, two Cetti's Warblers and four Chiffchaffs were of note on the land. |
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| 7th | Passage
offshore was limited to a few Red-throated
Divers and Guillemots but the masses of
gulls included the regular Little Gull at
the fishing boats and an adult Mediterranean
Gull and a first-winter Yellow-legged Gull at
the Patch.
There was a suggestion of a few early migrants about on the land with a party of four Great Tits and a Blue Tit landing briefly on the power station wall before heading west along the beach and a couple of Chaffinches being seen. Three Chiffchaffs were also seen. |
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| 8th | Another 200 Brent Geese passed east along with a steady flow of Guillemots during the morning and an adult Mediterranean Gull spent a few minutes feeding at the fishing boats but very little else of note was seen. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 9th | A real spring-like day with light southerly winds prompted the first big movement of Brent Geese of the year with at least 2600 passing east up until early afternoon. Also of note was a flock of 24 Greylag Geese which came into view well to the south of Dungeness (unlike the Brents which follow the coastline) and passed through on an almost northerly heading giving all the appearance of genuine migrants from warmer climes rather than just local wanderers. Three Shovelers and four Eiders also flew east. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 10th | The
spring-like conditions continued and another 1750 Brent
Geese moved through along with two more flocks
of Greylag Geese totaling 36 birds. A
trickle of Red-throated Divers, a couple of
Pintails and three Red-breasted
Mergansers also passed through. A
second-winter Mediterranean Gull was
feeding offshore.
On the land, a Dartford Warbler was seen near the Old Lighthouse and three Chiffchaffs were seen at the Long Pits. |
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| 11th | A much quieter day with just a trickle of Brent Geese passing through and a Chiffchaff at the Long Pits. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 12th | Very quiet. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 13th | A Dartford Warbler along with two Cetti's Warblers and three Chiffchaffs were seen on the land whilst nine Pintail flew east offshore. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 14th | A
dull, dreary day with a stiff and cold
easterly wind resulted in a small arrival of
interesting gulls to the area with
first-winter and fourth-winter Caspian
Gulls at the Patch in the morning and a
juvenile (=first-winter) Glaucous Gull and
two second-winter Yellow-legged Gulls at
the fishing boats in the afternoon.
There was also a small easterly movement of birds at sea during the morning with a 19 Barnacle Geese of interest along with 126 Red-throated Divers, 129 Brent Geese, six Shovelers, 20 Teal, 14 Wigeon, four Gadwall and seven Pochard. |
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| 15th | Another
day of strong, cold easterly winds brought more
gull interest with another juvenile Glaucous
Gull, at the Patch in the morning and then
roosting at the fishing boats in the afternoon. An
adult Yellow-legged Gull was also at the
Patch and an adult Mediterranean Gull
was feeding at the fishing boats.
There was very little in the way of actual movement offshore other than a few Red-throated Divers and Gannets flying east and the land was not really checked. |
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| 16th | Limited coverage and nothing to report. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 17th | Apart from an early morning surge of Red-throated Divers and a Mediterranean Gull and three Yellow-legged Gull there was little to report. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 18th | A reasonable early morning movement with 205 Red-throated Divers, 13 Pintail and 920 auks sp. A flock of 570 Great Crested Grebes were feeding offshore. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 19th | An early morning seawatching produced 34 Red-breasted Divers, 58 Gannets, seven Gadwalls and 900 auks sp. A Peregrine Falcon was also seen. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 20th | Very quiet. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 21st | Another early morning seawatch produced 56 Red-throated Divers, 240 Gannets and three Eiders. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 22nd | An adult Mediterranean Gull was the only bird of note. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 23rd | Another day of limited coverage but 150 Brent Geese and two Velvet Scoters flew east during the late morning. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 24th | About 600 Brent Geese and a Velvet Scoter flew east. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 25th | Seawatching
produced 50 Red-throated Divers, 140 Brent
Geese, ten Eiders and 650 auks
sp.
At least 166 Pied Wagtails roosted on 'A' Station in the evening. |
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| 26th | Very quiet in fairly strong winds with just a few Red-throated Divers, Gannets and Guillemots feeding offshore. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 27th | The
Patch proved the place to be this morning with
good numbers of gulls including both
juvenile/first-winter Iceland and Glaucous
Gulls along with a second-winter Mediterranean
Gull.
There were also signs of a small arrival of migrants on the land with a Rock Pipit, the first Black Redstart since November 2007 and a party of five Stonechats on the Point. There was also a Cetti's Warbler and two Chiffchaffs at the Long Pits. |
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| 28th | The Glaucous Gull and two Mediterranean Gulls were at the Patch during the morning. A Merlin was also seen. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 29th | There was just an adult Mediterranean Gull at the Patch this morning and 700 auks sp flew east. Four Chaffinches flew north over the Observatory. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
