2nd May

Flat calm, cloudy and misty all day and seemingly perfect for a few birds to arrive on the land and pass through on the sea. Sadly, it wasn't to be with the bushes virtually devoid of any new migrants and barely anything moving offshore. 

1st May

Very few grounded migrants but a few birds passed overhead including five Lapwings, an Osprey, five Buzzards and the first Tree Pipit of the spring. It was also slow offshore with just 25 Whimbrel, four Little Gulls, 20 Little Terns, 75 Arctic Terns, a Black Tern, a flock of four Pomarine Skuas at 1740hrs and seven Arctic Skuas.

The first warm weather for some time resulted in an emergence of dragonflies with three Downy Emeralds and 40 Variable Damselflies of note.

30th Apr

A slow day with 5.5hrs of seawatching eventually producing  405 Common Scoters, 128 Oystercatchers, 19 Whimbrel, four Mediterranean Gulls, 191 Sandwich Terns, two Little Terns, three Great Skuas, four Pomarine Skuas and nine Arctic Skuas. A male Hen Harrier also flew out to sea. Virtually birdless on the land.

29th Apr

Over six hours of seawatching produced 323 Common Scoters, 34 Whimbrel, 25 Sanderling, 93 Kittiwakes, two Mediterranean Gulls, 260 Sandwich Terns, three Little Terns, 85 Arctic Terns, three Great Skuas, a Pomarine Skua, 22 Arctic Skuas and two Black-throated Divers of note. There was a small arrival of birds on the land with 13 Willow Warblers, 18 Lesser Whitethroats, a Whinchat, 30 Wheatears and ten Yellow Wagtails.

Eight Porpoises and two Grey Seals were feeding offshore.

An improvement in the weather saw a few butterflies on the wing including the first Grizzled Skippers of the spring.

A search for shieldbugs produced three Rhomboid Shieldbugs and a Pied Shieldbug in front of the Observatory.

Elsewhere, a Hooded Crow made a brief appearance at Cook's Poll on the RSPB Reserve.

28th Apr

Hopes were high for a continuation of yesterdays massive movement of birds offshore but it wasn't to be. Despite seemingly ideal conditions nearly seven hours of watching produced just two Pintails, seven Knot, three Little Gulls, two Mediterranean Gulls, 201 Sandwich Terns, eight Little Terns (west), 35 Arctic Terns, six Great Skuas, three Pomarine Skuas, 11 Arctic Skuas, 106 Fulmars, two Manx Shearwaters (west) and 558 Gannets. It was also very quiet on the land with just two Ring Ouzels and 20 Wheatears of interest.

27th Apr

The flood gates finally opened offshore with a monster movement of mainly terns. An 11hr seawatch produced 397 Brent Geese, six Shelduck, two Pintails, a Velvet Scoter, 816 Common Scoters, four Red-breasted Mergansers, two Avocets, three Grey Plover,12 Knot, 11 Sanderling, nine Dunlin, 97 Whimbrel, 297 Bar-tailed Godwits, 45 Little Gulls, 389 Sandwich Terns, an excellent total of 154 Little Terns, a huge 16,330 Common/commic Terns, 3137 Arctic Terns, 48 Back Terns, two Great Skuas, 51 Arctic Skuas, seven Pomarine Skuas, a Black-throated Diver, 12 Fulmars, four Manx Shearwaters and 856 Gannets. On a much smaller scale there was also an arrival on the land with a Swift, a Cuckoo, two Sand Martins, 26 Swallows, 30 Willow Warblers, two Sedge Warblers, a Garden Warbler, 20 Lesser Whitethroats, a Firecrest, three Song Thrushes, a Pied Flycatcher, a Whinchat, 13 Yellow Wagtails, two Redpolls and two Yellowhammers. 

Pied Flycatcher Ficedula hypoleuca   Dungeness   27th April 2024

Ten Porpoises and a Grey Seal were seen offshore.

26th Apr

A small but varied drop of migrants on the land today resulted in the first Garden Warbler, Grasshopper Warbler and Whinchat of the year along with a Snipe, 20 Swallows, 30 Willow Warblers, a Ring Ouzel, a Redstart and seven Yellow Wagtails. Seawatching was fairly quiet in the morning but improved considerably in the afternoon with final totals of 142 Brent Geese, four Shovelers, three Eider, 523 Common Scoters, 26 Whimbrel, a Purple Sandpiper, 209 Sandwich Terns, 47 Little Terns, 210 Common Terns, 43 Arctic Terns, 1057 "Commic" Terns, the first Black Tern of the year and 11 Arctic Skuas. 

Four Porpoise and two Grey Seals were feeding offshore.

Spiders do not feature that often on this page but this impressive Segestria florentina was found on the back door frame of the Observatory and appears to be a new species for the area.

Segestria florentina   Dungeness   26th April 2024

On the flora front a small patch of Rue-leaved Saxifrage was found at the Lifeboat Station. It is a previously known location but as far as I can tell has not been seen here since 2000. Close-by the patch of Rock Soapwort was looking superb.

Rock Soapwort Saponaria ocymoides   Dungeness   26th April 2024

Rue-leaved Saxifrage Saxifraga tridactylites   Dungeness   26th April 2024

25th Apr

Nearly all the interest today was offshore where 7.5 hrs of watching producing 275 Brent Geese, a flock of seven Velvet Scoters, 353 Common Scoters, 169 Bar-tailed Godwits, two Mediterranean Gulls, 152 Sandwich Terns, an excellent 32 Little Terns, 11 Arctic Terns, a Great Skua, an Arctic Skua, three Black-throated Divers and 424 Gannets. A Hobby also arrived.

A Grey Seal was seen offshore.

24th Apr

Still pretty slow going with seven hours of seawatching producing 165 Common Scoters, a drake Long-tailed Duck, 162 Sandwich Terns, six Arctic Skuas and 252 Gannets. A Buzzard, three Sand Martins, 27 Swallows and a female Common Redstart were the best that could be found on the land.

Five Porpoises were feeding offshore.

23rd Apr

The highlight of the day was a Cattle Egret which arrived from the south along with 933 Bar-tailed Godwits, a Mediterranean Gull, two Arctic Skuas and 345 Gannets. It was very quiet on the land with a Yellowhammer being about the only notable bird.

Six Porpoises were feeding offshore.