Wednesday 30th August 2006 Ramsgate Harbour
Today at Ramsgate Harbour a Kingfisher feeding
in the slipway area. 1st sighting of the Autumn and 2 weeks earlier than
average date. (Simon
Mount)
Wednesday 30th August 2006 Pegwell Bay
The dropping tide turned up: 47+ Little Egret, 120 Sandwich Tern,
c40 Common Tern, 1 1st w Mediterranean Gull, 1 Sparrowhawk,
3 Teal, 1 Spotted Redshank, 3 Curlew Sandpiper,
5 Greenshank, 3 Whimbrel etc. (Phil M)
Wednesday 30th August 2006 Ramsgate Cemetery
I had a short session around the cemetery this morning, the constant run
of W - NW winds is doing nothing to encourage drift migrants. I recorded 2
Swift, 5 Swallow, 1 Chiffchaff and a juvenile Sparrowhawk
amongst the usual mix of Magpies, Carrion Crows, Jays, Herring Gulls,
Green Woodpeckers and Parakeets! (Dylan)
Tuesday 29th August 2006 Newington Thanet
Whilst
having a barbeque in the back garden (during the rain - a mis-times
adventure if ever there was one) 2 Greenshanks flew south over the
garden. I've not seen Greenshank during the day from the garden,
though
I have heard the odd individual flying over the garden during the night
over the years. (Phil M)
Tuesday 29th August 2006 Pegwell Bay to
Kingsdown
Highlights of a quiet weekend around Deal: At Restharrow, two Wood
and two Green Sandpipers being chased by two Greenshanks
visits from a Turtle Dove, a family of Grey Partridges and
another of Pheasants a Little Ring Plover putting on a
spectacular aerobatic display 6 Whinchats and a pair of Stonechats
on the posts outside. At Pegwell, 23 Little Egrets huddled together
at high tide (I missed the incoming, dammit) From the Kingsdown cliffs Gannets
and a party of Little Terns dive-fishing close in, A noise from
deep in a bush, which was apparently a Barred Warbler Wheatears in
the stubble fields and many, many Whitethroats Hundreds of Swallows
and House Martins flying south in the mornings, but few Swifts
and many Swifts and House Martins flying south in the
evenings, but few Swallows Immense cloud formations and sunshine
after the rain Mick’s photos of a marsh harrier and my first Small
Tortoiseshell of the year, very late. (Steve Coates)
Monday 28th August 2006 Grove Ferry
The hoped for NW gales failed to arrive so, after turning off the moth
trap, instead of the seawatch I had planned I drove over to Grove for yet
another bash at the Spotted Crake. Martyn, Alan & Steve were
also present and we spent around 3 hours sheltering from the early morning
rain and scanning the Baillon's Pool engaged in very good
humoured banter. I can't ever remember when a Spotted Crake has
been so secretive, this was my third attempt since Friday and I finally
managed to connect with this highly elusive individual. I was able to
get just two token images; they are slightly better than nothing
at all! Other birds around the reserve included 1 Wood Sandpiper, 6
Ruff, 2 Marsh Harrier, 1 Hobby, 16 Bar-headed
Geese, 1 Barnacle Goose and a Garganey. We noted a small
movement of Swallows headed north and there were good numbers of Yellow
Wagtails leaving their reedbed roost site, however due to the
prevailing downpour, no-one was prepared to get soaked attempting to count
them. (Dylan)
Sunday
27th August 2006 Grove Ferry & Stodmarsh NNR
After the tedious weather we have been having lately,
decided to days break just couldn't be wasted so headed to Stodmarsh,
parked at Grove Ferry with the intention of sitting in the Turf fields
hide and trying for a picture of Green and Common Sandpipers in the
same frame, arrived at the hide and it was chock a block with
photographers so gave that a
miss and headed for the Marsh hide which I found empty and was rewarded
with the best views of a Marsh Harrier I have ever had, it just sat
there surrounded by Wood Pigeons. (Mick S)
Sunday
27th August 2006 North Foreland
At North Foreland today: - Common Buzzard 1
heading West at 10:30. Also 5 Wheatears, 3 Whinchats and 15
Mistle Thrushes. (Simon
Mount)
Sunday
27th August 2006 Newington Thanet
After numerous flurries from the local Gulls this past few days I
eventually caught up with the culprit - a Honey Buzzard. No doubt
it's been hanging around Ramsgate for a few days judging by the numerous
Gull reactions? I watched the bird over the estate for nearly 10 minutes
from 17.15 this afternoon as it wheeled around avoiding the odd Gull
attack - then a
Sparrowhawk chased it off east - n/east about 17.25.The bird looked
quite small for a Honey Buzzard and was a darkish individual. A
male bird perhaps? (Phil M)
Sunday 27th August 2006 Dumpton Thanet
Honey Buzzard over the house at 08-15hrs
heading west. (Gadget)
Saturday
August 26th 2006 Sandwich River Boat Trip
Setting off from the quay in Sandwich we went down river passing Mute
Swans, Mallards, 100 plus Common Sandpiper. Also as we went
round the many turns in the river we had Green Shank, Green Sandpiper,
Redshank and a couple of Little Grebe also a passing Kingfisher.
Once past Pfizer on the open fields were 200 plus Oystercatchers
and a couple of Whimbrel along with several Curlews. Little
Egret totalled 47 with a couple of Grey Heron. Nearing the
point there were 28 Great Black-backed Gulls, 7 Lesser
Black-backed Gulls, 150 plus Sandwich Terns plus a few Common
Terns mixed in. Also there were Dunlin on the beach with Black
Headed Gulls, Redshank and a couple of Oystercatchers. (Graham Crick)
Saturday 26th August 2006 Duncan Road Ramsgate
A
low flying juvenile Cuckoo was an unexpected garden tick in Duncan
Rd at 6.30am. A little later 5 Swifts and 4 Swallows
flew over heading South. (Nick Lever)
Friday 25th August 2006 Grove Ferry (17.30 - 20.00hrs)
A nice evening session at Grove. Water levels have risen significantly
following the deluge of Thursday; I know we needed the rain but did we
really want it all in one go? From the ramp there is once again a pool to
the right, where 2 Bar-headed Geese were in company with several Greylags
and a large flock of Lapwings. The main pool held 1 Ruff, 1 Little
Egret and a selection of common ducks. Overhead there were good
numbers of hirundines, with all three common species present as well as a
group of 11 Swifts slowly drifting westwards. A couple of Turtle
Doves flew over the reedbed and a flock of 7 Green Sandpipers
noisily moved between hidden feeding areas. The Green Hide has now lost
all the muddy fringes to the pool, although the water remains very low, I
managed to relocate the strangely coloured Lapwing amidst a group
of birds standing in the water to the left of the tern raft. A walk around
to Harrison's Drove hide was a revelation - the parched landscape
transformed into a series of shallow pools and loads of Canada &
Greylag Geese. Conditions look really good for a Pec Sand or
better! I found 2 Whinchat along the fence line between Harrison's
Drove and the Marsh Hide and the juvenile Wood Sandpiper is still
favouring the Baillon's Pool. I did spent a time scanning the base of the
reeds for Spotted Crake, but had to make do with Moorhens
and an adult Water Rail. Still it was great to be out of the
factory and birding again! I must thank Steve Ashton for his excellent
company this evening. (Dylan)
Friday 25th August 2006 Reculver evening wander
Derek Smith and I had an evening wander looking for the 6 Dotterel
seen at Reculver yesterday evening. Didn’t see them, but did see a
ringtail Montagu’s Harrier (thought to be different from last
weeks bird), 1 Spotted Redshank, 1 Green Sandpiper, 2 Sparrowhawks,
a couple of Wheatears plus a few other bits and bobs. (Derek Smith
& Tim Hodge)
Friday 25th August 2006 Reculver
Following a phone call, I was able to twitch a Quail that was
present in the fields between Reculver and Bishopstone this morning. There
was also an adult Shag sitting on the rocks just east of the
Towers. (Tim Hodge)
Friday 25th August 2006 Late
News Below Just arrived
Monday
21st August 2006 Margate Cemetery Thanet
After spending a few hours overnight working on my final Master's Degree
project, another trip to my local patch was certainly in order. The
overcast conditions early on looked promising and at 7.20am, I headed
towards the allotments, where I was greeted by a juvenile Redstart
showing well in a small sycamore tree. The day started off brightly
and it wasn't too long before other birds were added to the list including
1 Garden Warbler, 2 Lesser Whitethroats, 3 Wheatears,
3 Yellow Wagtails and 17 Whitethroats, but it was at 7.22am
in the garden of rest when things became even more interesting. A
disturbance of some kind was causing much stress between Magpies,
Blackbirds and Dunnocks which went on for a good 5 minutes, slowly I
made my way towards the concerned area as from the allotments this was
clearly out of sight, as I did the racket surprisingly stopped thinking
maybe that the resident fox was once again up to no good. Scanning around
hoping for a Red Backed Shrike, nothing came of it, even so I
decided to continue when once again at 8.05am it started all over again.
A very slow walk into the garden of rest was required, when I arrived I
focused on the area and will not repeat the first few words that I said
but sitting on a low Elderberry tree by the ground was a GREAT SPOTTED
CUCKOO still getting harassed by Magpies, viewing the bird well
it looked as if it wanted to hang around for a while but was getting
rather unsettled, as I was reaching for the camera it eventually got
pushed off by 3 angry Magpies flying straight over my head at a
rather fast rate showing its typical long and narrow tail, dark grey wings
and white spots, with a bright yellow throat and whitish breast. It
headed towards the direction of Margate Hospital where it eventually
landed in some trees by the hospice; again they did not give up the chase
and after about 10 seconds flew off east/southeast in the direction of
Star Lane (between Margate and Broadstairs). After a long search
around some nearby woodland then back in the cemetery just in case, it was
not again relocated. (Steve Tomlinson)
Wednesday 23rdAugust
2006 Broomfield Herne Bay
Sparrowhawk
landed on the fence in my garden at Broomfield Herne Bay, this afternoon
and luckily it hung around for me to scramble upstairs and set up to get a
few images. (Marc Heath)
Tuesday 22nd August 2006 Late News Grove Ferry
After many hours and many hundreds of shots of Kingfishers I was
able to get my first decent flying shots. The attached pictures were
taken at Grove ferry from the public hide on Sunday 20th August 2006.
Equipment used: Nikon D2X Nikon, 300mm f2.8 + Nikon 1.7X TC.
RAW files. (Tony Flashman)
Monday 21st August 2006 Pegwell Bay
I made two trips today - the first just after 07.00 starting off on the
Farm/Hoverpad where there were a few Sylvia Warblers (Blackcaps
Whitethroat and Lesser Whitethroats) kicking about 2 Willow
Warblers plus a Kingfisher and a Common Sandpiper down
on the hoverpad. Down into the bay for the tide where there lots of birds
on the incoming tide. The counts turned up: 160 Ringed Plover, 15 Grey
Plover, 11 Golden Plover, 410 Oystercatcher, 4 Whimbrel,
c250 Curlew, 310 Dunlin, 4 Curlew Sandpiper, 27 Sanderling,
9 Knot, 7 Turnstone, 250 Redshank, 11 Greenshank,
24 Little Egret, c150 Sandwich Tern and c30 Common Tern.
The Country Park had lots of Sylvia's and a few Willow Warblers
but nothing more exciting than that. Overhead 150 Swallows, 70 House
Martin, 30 Swift, 7 Meadow Pipit and 2 Yellow Wagtail
flew south then a few flurries of Swallows started heading north
with a further 350 heading in that direction between the end of session 1
and the whole of session 2 later on in the day. Confused...tough! Bird of
the day was a Ring-tail Montagu's Harrier which flew west inland at
09.25.Later on I saw a Marsh harrier fly west plus there was
another bird seen numerous times across the river Stour on the Sandwich
side. Other raptors included 1 Peregrine and 4 Sparrow hawks.
(Phil M)
Sunday 20th August 2006 Pegwell Bay
A short evening session turned up: 7 Grey Plover, 260 Ringed
Plover, 340 Dunlin, 7 Knot, 22 Sanderling, 6 Bar-tailed
Godwit, 2 Black-tailed Godwit, 12 Whimbrel, 3 Greenshank,
2 Common Sandpiper, 92 Mallard, c600 Sandwich Tern,
720 Common Tern, 2 Arctic Tern, a juv Mediterranean Gull
plus lots of other waders and Gulls. (Phil M)
Sunday 20th August 2006 Grove Ferry (18.10 -
20.00hrs)
Just a quick evening session around the ever-drying reedbeds and pools.
Nothing much to get excited about. The usual mix of Lapwing, Mallard
& Teal from the ramp whilst the pool in front of the "Green
Hide" held an impressive 21 Green Sandpipers, 5 Ruff, 7
Common Snipe and a lone Common Sandpiper. An adult female Marsh
Harrier had 2 juveniles in accompaniment and their high-pitched
begging/contact calls were audible from some distance. Yellow Wagtail
numbers were in excess of 65 birds as they gathered on the muddy fringes
prior to going to roost. A superb juvenile Wood Sandpiper was
quietly feeding on the Baillon's Pool with an adult & juvenile Water
Rail skulking around the edge of the reeds trying their best to look
like Spotted Crakes. I also caught up with the strangely coloured Lapwing,
which Martyn Wilson had encountered on the 12th August. I'm not sure if it
is leucistic or not? (Dylan)
Saturday 19thAugust 2006 Pegwell Bay
Late evening tide up at Pegwell produced lots of Terns but little else,
although the small waders were mostly in the gullies. 740 Common Tern,
6 Arctic Tern, 250 Sandwich Tern, 2 Black Tern, 10
juv/1st winter (one colour ringed) plus 3 adult Mediterranean
Gulls. (F Solly)
Saturday
19th August 2006 Pegwell Bay
I went down twice today - the first time in the afternoon I think I would
have preferred to be in Beirut - it was so full of hassle (Kite
boards/people
in the salt marsh etc) but there were 20+ Egrets seen plus 150 Sandwich
Terns, 10 Whimbrel etc and a trickle of Hirundines
heading south. In the evening it was a bit quieter - Gadget and I could
actually relax a bit!! Lots of birds out there - 120 Ringed Plover,
1 juv Little-ringed Plover, 150+ Dunlin, 1 adult Curlew
Sandpiper, 2 juv Mediterranean Gull, 330 Common
Tern, c250 Sandwich Tern, 1 Peregrine, 1 Wigeon
etc. (Phil M & Gadget)
Saturday 19th August 2006 Monkton roundabout
I was driving past the Monkton roundabout this afternoon, and the Montagu’s
Harrier was still hunting round the fields there, showing well. (Tim
Hodge)
Saturday 19th August 2006 Sandwich Bay Estate (05.20 - 08.30hrs)
A dawn start saw me parking the car and walking along the Toll Road
towards Royal St. George's GC and the estate beyond. The reeds along the
North Stream and adjoining dykes were alive with Reed Warblers,
whilst the bushes along the roadside held good numbers of Willow
Warblers. A young Sparrowhawk received some unwelcome attention
from the Rooks over by the clubhouse and there was a large flock of
Lapwings gathered on the meadows to the north of the road between
the toll booth and the obs. I carried on past the maize field and was
confronted by a large gathering of House Martins over the Middle
Field and Restharrow Dunes. A few Swallows were feeding lower down
and a careful scan through the swirling throng revealed several Sand
Martins and 2 Swifts. The Restharrow Scrape held 2 each of
Wood & Green Sandpiper, 1 Greenshank (with 3 more
overhead a little later), 1 Common Snipe, 2 Little Egret and
a large mixed flock of Meadow Pipits and Yellow Wagtails. I
carried on along the road to the Royal Cinque Ports GC where I found an
adult & 3 juvenile Stonechats, 2 Whinchats and numerous Common
Whitethroats. A walk back along the seafront proved to be a little
disappointing, with nothing much to report other than a lone Whimbrel, a
few Ringed Plover and a migrant Great Spotted Woodpecker
arriving in/off. I returned to the car via the footpath across the golf
course and was pleasantly surprised to encounter a Spotted Flycatcher
on the wires near the North Stream bridge. Very pleasant! (Dylan)
Friday 18th August 2006 Pegwell Bay
I
had a quick look at Pegwell on There were 1000's of Gulls (c10,000 Black
Headed and a couple of hundred Herring) plus c300 Common and
200 Sandwich Terns - some of which were flying inland both before
and after dark. I heard Whimbrel and saw a few Little Egrets
etc but best of all there were 4 Hobby's hunting through a mixed
flock of Hirundines and Swifts - absolutely fantastic seeing them
trying to take out a Common Swift over Cliffsend. It was nearly
dark by the time I got to Weatherless but there were 2 Peregrines
around the towers plus good numbers of Green Sandpipers calling at
dusk up near the water. I could also hear quite a few Marsh Frogs
(or a very similar call) along the track I'm not sure whether I’ve ever
heard them there before? (Phil M and Oliver)
Friday 18th August 2006 Newington
(Ramsgate) Thanet
Whilst waiting for the moths to calm down in the traps this morning I
counted 224 Ring-necked Parakeets heading west and n/west over the
back garden. I stood out there (with a cup of tea) between 05.45 and
06.30.Other bits included 27 Sandwich and a couple of Common
Terns, flying straight north over the garden at 05.30 plus a large
female Sparrowhawk soon after. I also heard a Green Woodpecker
calling in the distance during this spell. I know its sad counting Parakeets
but there you go. Perhaps it's my age?? I did a similar thing yesterday
morning (only 177 Parakeets) what's going on? (Phil M)
Friday 18th August 2006 Pegwell Bay
A
male Common Scoter was dabbling around the margins at high tide
yesterday afternoon, looking out of place. Also 20+ Little Egrets and
many Curlews, flying across to the far bank of the Stour as the
tide rose, and around 10 Whimbrel sorry to be imprecise, but I
don’t do counting when not at work. (Steve Coats)
Thursday 17th August 2006 Lydden NR
Whilst wandering around the Kent Trust nature reserve at Lydden a nice
pair of Common Buzzards were spotted soaring around overhead.
Presumably a local pair at this time of year of course. (Phil M)
Thursday 17th August 2006 Dumpton garden
Work commitments meant that I was restricted to garden watching for a
second day. Just a lone Willow Warbler today, but noteworthy in as
much as it was an adult. 3 Swifts and 2 Swallows headed
south whilst there was a flurry of House Martins overhead just
after daybreak - I didn't count them! Bird of the day came in the form of
a juvenile Sedge Warbler, only my 2nd garden record, which spent a
short while skulking around the tangle of Greater Willowherb, Honeysuckle
& Buddleia that constitutes a flowerbed in my garden. (Dylan)
Wednesday 16th August 2006 Shuart Thanet
The Montagu's Harrier
was still present tonight between 18.40 - 19.00hrs along Shuart Lane??
When it drifted off towards the St Nicholas at Wade roundabout.
(Marc Heath)
Wednesday 16th August 2006 Dumpton garden
A weird one this morning! I was late turning off the moth-trap and was
surprised to find Willow Warblers in the garden. I watched
continually from 06.45 - 09.15hrs recording no fewer than 51 Willow
Warblers in, or over, the garden. They were all juvenile birds; bright
yellow with a distinct pale/cream supercillium. Other bits included 7 Swifts
& 2 House Martins south, whilst the resident species were
represented by 1 Kestrel, 1 Green Woodpecker - calling from
the mature trees at Newland's Farm, 4 Magpie, 70+ House Sparrow,
20+ Starling, 2 Robin, 1 Wren, 5 Great Tit, 3 Blue
Tit, 3 Blackbird and 4 Dunnock. Nothing special,
unless it's your back garden! (Dylan)
Tuesday 15th August 2006
Stodmarsh
& Grove Ferry
After
a lengthy spell away from Stodmarsh managed a very enjoyable visit from
6:25 - noon. 15 - 21ºC. Cloudy with occasional sunny breaks. Slight
breeze. Starting from the Stodmarsh end, things were pretty quiet
through the wood & past the Lake on the 'Wall' - 3 juvenile Marsh
Harriers were sat in a tree in Grove direction but too far to get
anything other than a camera record shot. A silver/grey backed Harrier
gave me nothing more than a glimpse as it headed for Westbere gut feeling
being Hen rather than Monty's Listening to the various squeaks, clicks,
& croaks of the young birds as I made my way along the river, I
spotted a m Kingfisher sitting on a low branch across the river. It
was soon rudely displaced by a juv Cuckoo that proceeded to fly up
& down a short stretch, calling urgently to be fed! It looked like it
was trying to snatch dragonflies in its beak at one stage! A few Swifts,
perhaps a dozen in all, flew over the fields & a RN Parakeet
called from near the turning to the Ramp. Didn't linger there for long
& just before calling in at the Turf Hide, a mini eruption of Lapwings
signaled the arrival of a somewhat disinterested Peregrine, which
did a small circuit before carrying on toward Stodmarsh. Turf Hide had a
few of the 'usuals' including the obliging m Kingfisher that has
been well photographed in the last few days. A walk along Harrisons Drove
with Marc Heath produced 3 Whinchat & a juvenile Green
Woodpecker. (Ben Ring)
Tuesday 15th August 2006 Foreness to Whiteness
An early start ensured that I missed the bulk of the dog-walkers. An
adult Mediterranean Gull on the green in front of Palm Bay School
proved to be Green 3EVO returning for its' 4th winter. At the bottom of
the slipway a group of 31 Turnstones were feeding on the masses of
seaweed washed ashore during the recent spate of northerlies. I checked
them thoroughly, but no sign of the Canadian female. A couple of Fulmars
cruised along the cliffs, but there was no visible movement out at sea. I
returned to scan the "pitch & putt" area. 3 juvenile Wheatears
were flitting about on the muddy strip where the pipeline has been laid. A
walk along the clifftop to Whiteness revealed a further 2 Wheatear,
2 Yellow Wagtail, 1 Common Whitethroat and a lonely Swallow
flying south. House Sparrow numbers appear to be particularly good
and I counted 17 Meadow Pipits in the rough grassland between the
pumping station and the Fayreness Hotel. A party of 5 Goldfinches
was made up of 2 ads & 3 newly fledged juveniles and provided a
welcome splash of colour on this drab morning. This early autumn
period is proving to be frustratingly poor - thank God for the
migrant moths! Oh yeah, just as I was emptying the moth trap
(08.50hrs) an Oystercatcher flew over my garden calling loudly as
it attempted to navigate its' way back to the coast. A less than annual
garden tick. (Dylan)
Sunday 13th August 2006 Shuart
An adult female Montagu’s Harrier was showing well as it hunted
the fields around Shuart Farm and the St. Nicholas roundabout this
evening. (Tim Hodge)
Saturday 12 August 2006 Minnis Bay
Tim Hodge and I watched the sea off Minnis from just
after 6.00am eventually packing up at 11.00 - by which time very little
was going on other than a trickle of Terns. Birds seen moving offshore
included: 66 Arctic Skua, 12 Kittiwake, 60 - 80 Common
Tern, c25 Sandwich Tern, 10 Gannet, 24 Common Scoter,
1 Mallard, 9 Teal, 4 Tufted Duck, 7 Whimbrel,
37 Grey Plover, 1 Golden Plover and 1 Bar-tailed Godwit.
A single Long-tailed Skua passed by a few miles further wests but
other than that nothing else noteworthy happened this morning along that
stretch of coast. A longhaired Poof was reported kicking about off
Reculver towers this morning. (Phil M & Tim Hodge)
Saturday
12th August 2006 Grove Ferry
There was a
flagged Ruff at Grove Ferry today. I know Dylan has not heard back on
last year’s bird yet but thought he might like to know. I have attached
a couple of pic's one is a Ruff with a BTO style metal ring (looks
reddish) above it's right knee. The other two are of an individual with a
BTO style ring (yellowish) above the right knee and a red flag and two
rings on the same leg, looks like white over yellow, plus two red rings on
the left leg. Also there's a Spotted Crake at Grove today plus 5 Garganey,
12 Green Sandpipers, 3 Kingfishers, 8 Ruff and 18 Common
Sandpipers at Stodmarsh and 6 Marsh Harriers (4 juveniles) in
the area. (Martyn Wilson)
Friday 11th August 2006 River Dover
A party of Jay's have been arriving for breakfast
for the past week or so in my garden so this morning I took a couple of
photograph. (Graham Crick)
Tuesday 8th August 2006 Kingfisher Photos
Today I have received two Stunning Photos of the Kingfisher
that sits outside the green hide posing for the Birder or Photographer,
Taken by Marc Heath down at Grove Ferry this morning, I have posted them
alongside the Photograph taken by Dylan on the 5th August 2006. (Gadget)
Sunday 6th August 2006 Minnis Bay
I had a pleasant early morning wander around
Minnis
Bay
, although it was all rather quiet. For the record numbers noted were 13 Canada
Geese, 9 Gadwall, 1 Teal, 35 Mallard, 6 Tufted
Ducks, 1 Eider, 12 Redshank, 3 Common Sandpipers,
231 Turnstones, 76 Ringed Plovers, 54 Oystercatchers,
8 Dunlin, 45 Sanderling, 48 Golden Plover, 20 Lapwings,
60 Swallows W, 40 Yellow Wagtails, 175 Starlings W,
180 House Sparrows and 1 Corn Bunting (Tim Hodge)
Saturday
5th August 2006 Pegwell Bay
This evenings tide was once again on the poorish side. There were:8 Teal,4
Shoveler,c30 Shelduck, 1 Golden Plover, 4 Grey
Plover, 10 Ringed Plover, 4 Whimbrel, c40 Dunlin,
1 Sanderling, 9 Greenshank, 2 Avocet, 1 Green
Sandpiper, 4 Common Sandpiper, c10 Little Egrets, 1 Peregrine,
1 adult Mediterranean Gull etc. There were quite a few Warblers on
the Country
Park Willow Warblers, Whitethroats plus a single Garden Warbler
near the car park. (Phil M)
Saturday 5th August 2006 Cormorants Part II
Cormorants
Part II 
Saturday 5th August 2006 Grove Ferry (06.00 -
09.30hrs)
It was a glorious morning, so I decided to drive across to Grove Ferry in
an attempt to relocate the mystery warbler I had seen earlier in the week.
On that count I failed dismally, however, the reserve was well worth the
visit. 8 juvenile Marsh Harriers were watched mobbing a fox at the
back of the main lagoon and a family of Common Whitethroats were
feeding on blackberries at the bottom of the ramp. The pool in front of
the green hide held an eclipse male Garganey, 1 Wood, 2 Common &
9 Green Sandpipers plus a juvenile Dunlin. The Baillon's
Pool had at least 3 juvenile and one adult Water Rail skulking
around the margins, whilst Bearded Tits, Reed & Sedge Warblers were
actively feeding in the adjacent reedbeds and a lone Curlew flew
overhead. The pool at the north end of Harrison's Drove held 12 Little
Egrets, but still no sign of the Cattle Egret for me. As the
sun rose higher, I went back to the green hide where I managed to get some
excellent pictures of the birds using the pool. The Kingfisher
performed superbly and was the icing on the cake! (Dylan)
Friday 4th August 2006 Pegwell Bay
The evening tide turned up: 340 Sandwich Tern, 50+ Common Tern,
1 Arctic Tern, 1 juv Mediterranean Gull, 1 juv Little
Gull, 1 Arctic Skua (sth), 30 Shelduck, 3 Mallard,
1 Teal, 1 Peregrine, c12 Little Egret, 300+
Oystercatcher, c40 Dunlin, 1 Ringed Plover, 25 Golden
Plover, 4 Grey Plover, 1 Greenshank, 1 Green
Sandpiper and 1 Common Sandpiper. (Phil M, Dave B 'n' The Hair)
Thursday 3rd August 2006 North Foreland & Pegwell Bay
2 1/2 hour seawatch off North Foreland from midday produced a steady
trickle of seabird movement - south unless stated. 172 Gannet,
4 Manx Shearwaters, 30 Scoter, 5 Great Skua, 38 Arctic
Skua, 1 adult Long-tailed Skua, 10 Kittiwake, 6 Guillemot,
100 Sandwich Tern and 6 Black Terns flying north. A
steady trickle of waders moving north - mostly too far out to id, included Grey
and Golden Plover, Knot and a flock of 4 Curlew Sandpipers.
Late afternoon tide up visit to Pegwell. The first reasonable wader
arrival of the autumn but none of the more interesting species. 280 Dunlin,
56 Ringed Plover, 85 Sanderling, 10 Bar-tailed Godwit,
1 Black-tailed Godwit, 20 Grey Plover, 5 Golden Plover,
5 Knot, 2 Snipe, 10 Greenshank, 8 Turnstone
and 3 Common Sandpipers.
Other things included 18 Little Egrets, 500 Sandwich Tern,
70 Common Tern, 3 Little Tern, 1 Black Tern and 1 Arctic
Skua harassing Terns offshore. (F Solly)
Thursday 3rd August 2006 Minnis Bay
I did two seawatches today, the first from 0615-0815, and the second from
1215 to 1415. The most surprising sighting was a Storm Petrel which
flew east at 0740, an unusual date for this species. Other bits during the
first seawatch included 1 Arctic Skua E, 1 juvenile Little Gull W,
2 Kittiwakes E, 35 Gannets W and 48 E, 25 Sandwich Terns
E, 22 Common Terns W, 80 Common Scoter milling around, 4 Fulmar
E, 1 Cuckoo W offshore, 1 Hobby, 3 Little Terns W, 2 Grey
Plovers W, 1 Golden Plover W, 4 Whimbrel W and 1 Curlew
W. An arrival of waders on the beach at Minnis included 91 Sanderling
and 8 Dunlin. Arctic Skuas had started moving during the
second seawatch, with 17 E close inshore plus 8 W further out, 110 Gannets
E, 1 juvenile Yellow-legged Gull W, 11 Knot E, 2 Bar-tailed
Godwits W, 25 Common Scoter offshore and a few Common and
Sandwich Terns &1 Bonxie fly west. (Tim Hodge)
Thursday 3rd August 2006 Grove Ferry (05.30 -
07.30hrs)
Rain laden clouds were pushed across the sky by a stiff northerly breeze
as I drove across to Grove this morning. Parking at the gateway, my walk
to the ramp was accompanied by the song of a Blackcap. Two juvenile
Marsh Harriers were gliding over the reed bed towards the river and
the view from the ramp revealed just 2 Green Sandpiper, 7 Cormorant,
2 Little Egret and a few Lapwing. Walking on to the Green
Hide 3 more Little Egrets flew overhead, landing out of sight on
the pool at the northern end of Harrison's Drove. From the hide I recorded
9 Green Sandpiper, 1 Black - tailed Godwit, 1 Ruff, 1
Wood & 1 Common Sandpiper and 14 Common Snipe.
Onwards to check to Harrison's Drove pool, I still haven't seen the Cattle
Egret around the reserve, and so it remains. 10 Little Egrets
were feeding in the shrinking pool, whilst a small number of Reed &
Sedge Warblers were noted in the reeds either side of the path. Back
to the Baillon's Pool, no sign of any Spotted Crakes, although the
conditions look perfect for this species, I did have nice views of a
juvenile Water Rail skulking at the base of the reeds. I also had
frustratingly brief views of a vivid yellow/buff warbler, that perched for
a few seconds on the opposite side of the pool. I thought I could see a median
crown stripe before I raised my bins, but as the bird was head on I didn't
see the mantle pattern. It flew towards me and was lost in the reeds
between me and the Green Hide, my only view through binoculars being
a fleeting glimpse of the bird in flight. An Aquatic Warbler?
I'm not sure, but it could be worth a look if you are visiting
the area. (Dylan)
Tuesday 1st August 2006 Foreness & North Foreland
I was out and about before dawn, my first stop being the "pitch
& putt" at Foreness. Plenty of gulls to entertain me, although
the vast majority were Herring & Black-headed, there were also a
few Common, Lesser Black-backed and 5 Mediterranean Gulls (4
adults & 1 juvenile - all un-ringed!). The darkening skies delivered
the promised rain and I got soaked as I walked back to the car. A drive
across to North Foreland allowed me to grill the roosting gulls in amongst
the cabbages below the lighthouse, but I failed to locate anything out of
the ordinary. Still at least I was able to do it whilst sitting inside the
car! Once the rain had stopped I returned to Foreness, hoping to get a few
pics of the juvenile Med Gull. It had departed. A walk along the
cliff top then down onto the seawall allowed me good views of Fulmar,
Pied Wagtail, 7 Turnstone (some still in full summer
plumage) and a couple of Curlew. Out at sea the calls of Sandwich
Terns could be heard and I noted several small groups diving into the
waves as the sun began to break through. (Dylan)
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