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| The 2008 Annual Report is now available and costs £6.75 (inc. p&p) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1st | The Common Tern was still at the Patch. Two Black Redstarts were seen at the Power Station. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2nd | Very
quiet in the Observatory area. A Black Redstart
was singing at the Power Station.
A Great White Egret was seen on the Reserve. |
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| 3rd | A
few duck flew east including four Pintail
and nine Shoveler but very little else was
to be seen.
The Great White Egret was relocated at Lade this afternoon. |
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| 4th | Two
Caspian Gulls (a first-winter and a
third-winter) were seen at the Patch in the
morning along with a third-winter Yellow-legged
Gull and an adult Mediterranean Gull
was also seen there in the afternoon. A Marsh
Harrier flew out to sea and 17 Shovelers,
three Teal and 20 Sanderling flew
east.
Two Woodcock were seen in the trapping area. |
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| 5th | A fine, but cold, spring day but still very little to be seen. A Woodcock was seen in the trapping area and two Pintail flew east offshore. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 6th | Another cold and windy day with very little to be seen. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 7th | A
bright and sunny day but with a bitterly cold wind
which failed to produce very much.
Despite the cold weather breeding activities have already commenced with a Collared Dove sitting on eggs at the Long Pits.
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| 8th | The
Patch was the place to be during the morning where
a first-winter Iceland Gull appeared at
1120hrs and then spent an hour or so feeding
before heading off eastwards. Also among the gulls
was a short-staying first-winter Caspian Gull and
an adult Mediterranean Gull.
A Woodcock was seen in the trapping area. |
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| 9th | A first-winter Glaucous Gull flew east past the Point during the afternoon but very little else of interest was seen. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 10th | Yet another day with a very cold north-easterly wind and very little to be seen. Two adult Mediterranean Gulls at the Patch were the only birds of any interest. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 11th | An adult Mediterranean Gull was seen at the Patch, a Woodcock and two Goldcrests were seen in the trapping area and a male Black Redstart was feeding at West Beach. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 12th | A
slight improvement in the birds today with a Woodcock,
two Mistle Thrushes, a Firecrest,
two Goldcrests and two Long-tailed Tits
of note in the bushes whilst overhead, an
excellent total of 723 Chaffinches and also
11 Siskins passed through. A Black
Redstart was also seen on the power station
wall and a Marsh Harrier was hunting in the
area.
Two adult Mediterranean Gulls were feeding offshore and a trickle of birds moving east included 17 Shovelers and two Velvet Scoters. |
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| 13th | Spring
slowly seems to be arriving with three Woodcocks,
four Mistle Thrushes, three Firecrests, two
Goldcrests, three Long-tailed Tits
and 15 Reed Buntings in the area and a few Chaffinches
and ten Siskins passing overhead. A Marsh
Harrier was also hunting over the area.
There was also a small increase in the passage offshore with 250 Brent Geese, ten Red-breasted Mergansers and 95 Red-throated Divers going east and an adult Mediterranean Gull feeding offshore. |
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| 14th | The
highlight of the day was a Red Kite which
flew over the area in the afternoon along with two
Marsh Harriers. There was also a reasonable
movement of wildfowl during the morning including
518 Brent Geese, 47 Wigeon, 200 Common
Scoters, two Goldeneyes and ten Red-breasted
Mergansers. An adult Mediterranean Gull
and 55 Red-throated Divers also flew east.
It remains very quiet on the land with a Snipe and a handful of thrushes appearing and two Long-tailed Tits in the trapping area but still no sign of any real summer migrants. |
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| 15th | A Merlin, three Snipe, a Woodcock, 27 Redwings, a Chiffchaff, two Firecrests, three Long-tailed Tits and two Siskins were of note in the area and two Mediterranean Gulls were seen at the Patch. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 16th | A
calm and sunny morning resulted in a small
easterly movement of birds offshore with a party
of three Garganey and a Great Northern
Diver of note along with 190 Brent Geese,
four Shoveler, six Teal, 110 Red-throated
Divers and six Sandwich Terns. An adult
Mediterranean Gull was also feeding
offshore.
There was also some interest on the land (although still no Wheatears) with a Merlin, a Wood Lark, 28 Stock Doves, 370 Wood Pigeons, a Grey Wagtail, a rubicola Stonechat and three Firecrests. |
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| 17th | A
fresh southerly wind during the morning brought
some more easterly passage offshore with 600 Brent
Geese, 22 Teal, three Shovelers,
57 Eiders, 195 Common Scoters, 45 Kittiwakes
and 21 Sandwich Terns of note. A
first-winter Mediterranean Gull was feeding
at the Patch.
Still very quiet on the land though with just two Firecrests of note. |
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| 18th | Fresh
southerly winds brought another significant
easterly movement of birds offshore and also
grounded a few migrants including our first eight Wheatears
of the spring. Other birds of note on the land
included four Black Redstarts, a Chiffchaff,
ten Firecrests and a Redpoll.
Seawatching totals included 1890 Brent Geese, 166 Pintail, 104 Shovelers, 104 Teal, 19 Gadwall, 283 Gannets, five Mediterranean Gulls and 32 Sandwich Terns and also a Red-necked Grebe of note. |
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| 19th | A
dank, miserable day with fog and rain produced a
reasonable arrival of migrants on the land with
two Snipe, 14 Wheatears, five Black
Redstarts, 12 Fieldfares, 22 Redwings,
a male Blackcap, nine Chiffchaffs
and 11 Firecrests of note.
A second-winter Mediterranean Gull was seen offshore and 240 Brent Geese flew east in the short periods where the sea was visible. |
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| 20th | Migrants
continue to arrive with two White Wagtails,
14 Wheatears, four Black
Redstarts, 14 Redwings,
and ten Firecrests of note on the land.
It was fairly quiet at sea except for Brent Geese of which about 875 birds flew east. Two Mediterranean Gulls and a Sandwich Tern were also seen. |
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| 21st | Another
miserable morning of drizzle and mist resulted in
another significant arrival of migrants. The most
remarkable feature was a very high overhead
passage of Chaffinches with at least 9000
passing through. Wheatears also increased
considerably with 49 being seen, mostly on the
beach between the New Lighthouse and the Lifeboat
Station. Other migrants included on the land
included a Woodcock, two Rock Pipits,
three Grey Wagtails, five Black
Redstarts, 63 Redwings, 21 Chiffchaffs,
seven Firecrests and 2500 Starlings.
It was generally quiet offshore but 280 Brent Geese, four Red-breasted Mergansers, a Mediterranean Gull and 32 Sandwich Terns were seen. |
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| 22nd | A
brighter day with reduced migration but still with
plenty to see. The highlight was a first-winter Caspian
Gull at the Patch in the morning whilst
offshore passage included 520 Brent Geese,
seven Pintail, nine Eider and five Red-breasted
Mergansers.
On the land 140 Wood Pigeons and a Corn Bunting flew over whilst eight Black Redstarts, 17 Wheatears, eight Chiffchaffs and nine Firecrests were seen on the land. |
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| 23rd | A damp, foggy morning made observations offshore impractical but there was another small arrival of migrants on the land including a Golden Plover, a Woodcock, six Black Redstarts, 15 Wheatears, 19 Chiffchaffs, ten Firecrests and 25 Chaffinches. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 24th | Light
south-south-easterly winds brought a small
movement of birds offshore and a few more grounded
migrants. The best of the seawatching was a Great
Northern Diver, 463 Brent Geese and 58 Sandwich
Terns whilst two Swallows, six Black Redstarts,
an early Common Redstart, seven Wheatears,
six Firecrests and five Siskins
were of note on the land.
There was also considerable interest on the RSPB Reserve where a Great White Egret was seen at Dengemarsh and a party of three Penduline Tits were seen on several occasions at ARC. |
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| 25th | Frequent
heavy rain and light southerly winds for most of
the day. During the clearer spells of weather
seawatching produced 844 Brent Geese, two Gadwall,
11 Teal, seven Shoveler, 961 Common
Scoters and 18 Red-breasted Mergansers,
five Black-throated Divers, two Arctic
Skuas, two Little Gulls and 124 Sandwich
Terns.
It was very quiet on the land with just three Wheatears, a Blackcap and five Firecrests of note. The Great White Egret was still at Dengemarsh. |
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| 26th | A
few birds moved east offshore including 129 Gannets,
a Little Egret, five Eiders, four Velvet
Scoters, two Arctic Skuas, four Mediterranean
Gulls and over 200 Sandwich Terns.
It remains pretty quiet in our section of Dungeness with just three Wheatears, three Black Redstarts, a male Blackcap, ten Chiffchaffs and three Firecrests of interest. The Great White Egret was seen on the RSPB Reserve again.
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| 27th | A
Merlin, 11 Swallows, three Black
Redstarts, six Wheatears, eight Chiffchaffs
and four Firecrests were seen on the land.
The party of three Penduline Tits reappeared at the Willow Trail at ARC and the Great White Egret was showing well at Dengemarsh.
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| 28th | Three
Wheatears, three Black Redstarts, a Willow
Warbler and three Firecrests were seen.
A Serin was reported to the pagers.
The three Penduline Tits were showing well at the Willow Trail at ARC. |
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| 29th | A
summer-plumaged Water Pipit was the
highlight of an otherwise pretty quiet day in the
Observatory area. Other birds of interest included
two Swallows, five Wheatears, nine Chiffchaffs,
a Willow Warbler and four Firecrests.
Two Little Gulls flew east offshore.
On the Reserve, a swift sp was seen during the afternoon and was considered likely to be a Pallid but views were not sufficient to clinch the identification. The three Penduline Tits were also showing well near the Hanson Hide at ARC. |
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| 30th | A
fairly miserable day with rain at first and again
from mid-afternoon and an increasingly strong
wind. There was a small increase in the numbers of
Chiffchaffs and two Willow Warblers
but otherwise there was little sign of any real
migration. Other birds of note on the land
included a Merlin, a Swallow, two Black
Redstarts, just one Wheatear and a Firecrest.
The main interest was on the RSPB Reserve again where what was presumably yesterdays swift showed well for a time in the afternoon and its identity was confirmed as a Pallid Swift. |
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| 31st | What
was a thoroughly miserable day of gale force winds
with sleet and heavy rain throughout suddenly came
to life just before dark with the finding of an Alpine
Swift which flew down the coast and ended up
flying around Dungeness 'A' power station and
where it may well have gone to roost.
Other birds of interest were few and far between with just a Blackcap and two Firecrests on the land and a Manx Shearwater and a Common Tern offshore. Two Penduline Tits were seen again near the Hanson Hide and the Great White Egret reappeared at Dengemarsh.. |
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