Monday 31st August 2009
Sandwich Bay Beach
After receiving a text saying that a
Dotterel was showing very well on the
beach at Sandwich bay, I decided to
drive over to the bay on arrival the
Dotterel (juvenile) was indeed showing well
with a few birders & photographers
within 20ft after a few phone calls to
others that I new would be interested, I
sat on the beach and took some photos
for the website, other bit noted were
Small flock of Swallows with a
few House Martins following the
coast line heading south and a
Wheatear on the fence along side the
golf course. (Gadget)
Monday 31st August 2009 Backsand
Scrape
A Bank
Holiday, so I was on my way to Backsand
Scrape just after 05.15hrs arriving at
06.10hrs, right on sunrise! High tide
was forecast at 08.37hrs but, being a
pathetic 4.0m, nowhere near high enough
to cover the mud out in Pegwell Bay. As
it turned out, however, it was rather
good. 2 adult Mediterranean Gulls
flew over, as I walked the track to the
scrape, with another, 2nd
winter, seen later. My totals for the
morning were 11 Little Egret, 9
Greenshank – including my first
juveniles of the autumn, 1 Spotted
& 13 Common Redshank, 2 Green,
4 Common & 5 Curlew Sandpiper
(all juvs), 35+ Lapwing, 1
Common Snipe and a Black Swan!
A Sparrowhawk made three
appearances during the session with a
flyover juvenile Peregrine
causing quite a commotion amongst the
assembled waders. Still a good number of
hirundines around the area, yet very few
warblers noted. (Dylan)
Sunday 30th August 2009 Sandwich
Bay
I spent a very enjoyable couple of
hours (06.30 - 08.30hrs) wandering
around the estate, completely oblivious
to news of Great White Egret & Dotterel
that were in the area at the same time.
One of the benefits of not owning a
mobile phone, I guess? Starting at
Restharrow Scrape, the lack of water was
a little disappointing although a
Little Ringed Plover did give a
cameo appearance with a circuit of the
scrape before heading off to the south.
I had a stroll across to Mary Bax's
Stone and the yacht club field, seeing 7
Whinchat, 1 Stonechat, 40+
Meadow Pipit, 1 Wheatear
and 2 Green Woodpecker. I then
decided to check out the "Cellars", the
"Gullies" and the "Elms", places that I
used to explore when Paul A. Brown, Andy
Johnson and Wesley Attridge were staff
at the Observatory - Happy Daze (not
mis-spelt!) Today my efforts resulted in
7 Willow Warbler, 3 Common
Whitethroat, 1 Goldcrest and
a Spotted Flycatcher. Swallows
and Sand Martins moved along the
coastal fringe, with House Martins
still present around the nest sites of
the Sandwich Bay Estate. A couple of
Yellow Wagtails and a juvenile
Sparrowhawk filled a few more lines
in my notes, back home by 09.00hrs
(Dylan)
Saturday 29th August 2009 Pegwell
Bay Country Park
A chance for an early morning visit was
gratefully accepted, the overnight rain
had the potential to ground a few
migrants, or so I hoped. Parking by the
garage, I walked the cycle path to the
start of the park before following the
seawall around to Stone Lees. Due to the
angle of the rising sun I didn't spent
any time scanning the mud, as the tide
started to drop, instead I concentrated
my efforts around the various clumps of
bushes. My totals for the morning were
175+ Common Whitethroat, 60+
Lesser Whitethroat, 20-ish
Blackcap, 3 Sedge & 3
Willow Warbler and a Chiffchaff.
Swallows, House & Sand
Martins were passing overhead in
dribs and drabs, whilst Whimbrel
and Greenshank could be heard
calling away over the salt marsh. A male
Sparrowhawk caused panic amongst
the hoards of Starlings that were
feasting on the abundant berry crop and
several Yellow Wagtails passed
over the site calling loudly in the
clear blue sky. (Dylan)
Friday 28th August 2009 Foreness Area
The autumn migrants are starting to
gather at the Foreness pitch & putt
course. In addition to the usual
Linnets and Pied Wagtail
families, I saw (in very blustery
conditions) at least half a dozen
Wheatears, one Whinchat
(photo attached), and one mystery bird
which popped up in the background while
I was lining up another shot (see
attached). Annoyingly, it flew off to
another part of the course before I
could get a better photo, and I wasn't
able to relocate it. I'm guessing it
might be a Yellow Wagtail
(juvenile) (Mark K)
Thursday 27th August 2009 Pegwell
Bay
My first attempt at some birding today
had me arriving for the dropping tide at
just after 6.00am. There was very little
on the mud other than the obvious and
rather incredibly there wasn't a single
small wader on Thanet side of the bay
whatsoever. From the hover port however
I could see quite a few small
unidentified waders across on the
Sandwich side. After a long kick around
the bushes on the country park and stone
lees where I came across very little
other than the common sylvia warblers in
reasonable numbers and a Grasshopper
Warbler once again in the short
scrub behind the bird hide - I was
pleasantly surprised to see there were
two half decent flocks of small stuff
out on the mud one of which contained a
female/juvenile Kentish Plover
and 2 juvenile Curlew Sandpiper. Otherwise
it was hard going - singles of Marsh
Harrier, Mediterranean Gull
and Whinchat plus 8 Swifts
s/west and an Arctic Skua
offshore the only non-daily things seen.
Other counts from the morning were 6
Gannet - south, 170 Dunlin, 4
Grey Plover, 215 Ringed Plover,
5 Knot, 220 Redshank, 1
Bar-tailed Godwit, 12 Sand Martin,
1 Tree Pipit, 60 Whitethroat,
25+ Lesser Whitethroat, 12
Blackcap, 6 Willow Warbler
and 84 Ring Necked Parakeets flew
south during the morning which is quite
a high amount. I went back in the
afternoon for a couple of hours to watch
the incoming tide but other than a
single juvenile Curlew Sandpiper,
3 Greenshank, 5 Whimbrel,
11 Knot and 2 Marsh Harriers
there wasn't a lot going on. There had
been a lot of disturbance out on the mud
apparently so presumably the morning
arrivals had either hopped it our got
flushed round the back of Shellness?
(Phil M)
Wednesday 26th August 2009 Pegwell
Bay
Yet another dreadful tide was endured
(just about) and apart from a couple of
Wheatears and a few Yellow
Wagtails there wasn't hardly any new
arrivals whatsoever. I took a few counts
which were c20 Little Egret, 1
Sparrowhawk, 1 Hobby, 6
Whimbrel, 2 Bar-tailed Godwit,
6 Grey Plover, 6 Ringed
Plover, 5 Dunlin, 90
Sandwich Tern and 25 Common Tern.
(Phil M)
Wednesday 26th August 2009 Backsand
Scrape SBBOT
A trip down to Backsand Scrape around
mid-day, birds recorded included 4
Curlew Sandpipers (all juveniles') 3
Common Sandpipers, 4 Green
Sandpipers,12 Greenshank, 15
Redshank, 3 Moorhens, 1
Little Grebe, 1 Little Egret,
35 Lapwings, 8 Shoveler
and 2 Tufted, on the way down to
the Scrape and back, small numbers of
Swallows, House Martins
and Sand Martins were seen over
the fields. (Gadget)
Tuesday 25th August 2009 Pegwell
Bay
Diabolical!! Only 20+ Little
Egret, 13 Teal,
3 Sanderling, 1
Dunlin, 18 Knot,
5 Grey Plover, 14
Whimbrel, 1
Common Sandpiper on the
incoming tide plus a steady trickle of
mainly Swallows flying south included 12
Sand Martins and a few
more House Martins plus
a high flying flock of 10 Swifts
were drifting about over the Country
Park. (Phil M)
Tuesday 25th August 2009 Worth
Marshes
Birds noted: out across the field were 4
Skylarks, 15 Linnets, 7
Meadow Pipits and 18 Lapwings
with a flock of 63 Goldfinches
along the railway embankment feeding on
the thistle heads, Raptor count
consisted of 2 Kestrel, 1
Marsh Harrier, while in the dikes 2
Moor Hens, 2 Tufted Ducks
and 2 Mute Swans, pleasant but
quiet. (Gadget)
Monday 24th August 2009 Pegwell
Bay
I watched the area between 11.30 and
3.00pm today. Once again it was very
quiet and the only things I took any
note of were 41 Little Egret, 12
Shoveler, 4 Teal, 2
Sparrowhawk, 2 Peregrine, 12
Whimbrel, 2 Bar-tailed Godwit,
14 Grey Plover, 7 Ringed
Plover, 1 Little Stint, 3
Dunlin, 2 Knot, 2 Common
Sandpiper, 2 Mediterranean Gull,
1 1st winter Yellow Legged Gull,
120 Sandwich Tern, 22 Common
Tern, 3 Swift and 390
Swallow. There were also c12
Yellow Wagtails and Dave Coppen
flushed a Wheatear off the main
path during the afternoon. (Phil M)
Friday 21st August 2009
Pegwell Bay
Very slow today. I watched the incoming
tide after a fruitless mooch around the
bushes earlier on. My counts for the day
were a mere c20 Little Egret,
1 Peregrine, 7
Whimbrel, 1 Golden
Plover, 3 Grey Plover,
7 Ringed Plover, 1
Knot, 6 Dunlin,
80 Sandwich Tern and 7
Common Tern. (Phil M)
Thursday 20th August 2009 Pegwell
Bay
After a quick look around the farm and
cliff top where I came across naff all,
I popped down into the bay to watch the
incoming tide. Given the extended period
of settled weather were having I wasn't
too surprised to find that once again
there wasn't much about on the wader
front. There were 47 Little
Egrets which is a summer high -
otherwise it was very poor. My counts
were 6 Teal, 2
Peregrine, 2 Whimbrel,
1 Bar-tailed Godwit, 3
Greenshank, 4
Grey Plover, 3 Knot,
2 Dunlin, 1
Turnstone, 1 Curlew
Sandpiper, 2 Common
Sandpiper, 84 Sandwich
Tern and 9 Common Tern.
There were also at least 3
Spotted Flycatchers in Stone
Lees and 200+ Swallow
and 250 House Martins
flew south. (Phil M)
Wednesday 19th August 2009 Pegwell
Bay
After a very long and very early wander
around all the bushes I settled in for
the incoming tide not expecting much. I
was right not to expect much as it
turned out! I did come across a
Pied Flycatcher in Stone Lees
otherwise I had to make do with all the
normal hordes of very common August
warblers that were scattered here there
and everywhere. The mud flat was dull in
the extreme and got even duller when
herr Hairy-pants turned up to keep me
company. My counts for the morning were
36 Little Egret, 21
Teal, 3
Sparrowhawk, 2 Hobby,
2+ Peregrine, 4
Whimbrel, 3 Bar-tailed
Godwit, 2 Black-tailed
Godwit, 200+ Redshank,
19 Greenshank, 5
Golden Plover, 2
Grey Plover, 10
Ringed Plover, 1 Green
Sandpiper, 5 Common
Sandpiper, 1 Knot,
25 Dunlin, 9
Sanderling, 1 Ruff,
1 juvenile Mediterranean Gull,
30 Sandwich Tern, 4
Common Tern, 7
Swift - south, 1 Grey
Wagtail - south and 1+
Tree Pipit - south. (Phil M)
Tuesday 18th August 2009 Cliffsend
Area
3 Hobbies performing aerobatics
between Cliffsend and Minster this
afternoon. Apologies to the drivers
behind me! (David Parker)
Tuesday 18th August 2009 Minster Marshes Area Thanet
Today late afternoon just a quick look around with not much to see there
was a family of Mute Swans along
one of the dikes a pair of Kestrels
hunting over the corn stubble Collard
Doves & Woodpigeons in
abundance in the corn stubble, there was
a small flock of Goldfinches
mostly juveniles along one of the tracks
and two Grey Partridge, the only
other bird of note was 7 House
Sparrows on the side of the road,
(Gadget)
Monday 17th August 2009 Pegwell
Bay
I watched the incoming tide between 6.00
and 8.30 this evening. The Tern arrival
was disappointing and migrant waders
were near non existent. Counts for the
evening were: 16 Little Egret, 9
Teal, 2 Bar-tailed Godwit,
1 Common Sandpiper, 1 Ringed
Plover, 1 Knot, 2 Ruff,
4 Whimbrel, 1 Hobby, 1
Peregrine, 4 Mediterranean Gull,
100 Sandwich Tern, 240 Common
Tern, 7 Black Tern and 4
Yellow Wagtail. No sign of the
Montagu's Harrier this evening. (Phil M)
Monday 17th August 2009 Pegwell
Bay
A rare visit for me down to the Bay
today and there seemed to be very little
bird life around at first which I wasn't
surprised at seeing as I arrived about
11am. However, a closer look found at
least 300 Curlew and 6
Whimbrel as well as a flock of terns
recumbent on the mudflats - mostly
(around 80) Sandwich Tern but
there were also 3 Black Terns and
8 Common Tern. There were also 15
Little Egret on the tide line.
After a young Sparrowhawk nearly
collided with the hide, being pursued in
a most unlikely fashion by a Swallow,
I took off for Stonelees. The bushes
near to the entrance were alive with
Swallows, House martins and
Sand martins as well as many
young Whitethroat and a solitary
pair of Lesser Whitethroat. There
were also large roving flocks of
Goldfinch and Linnet in the
same area. In Stonelees itself, I found
the area to be as dead as a dodo but
along the river I found 8 Common
Sandpiper, 1 Green Sandpiper,
5 Redshank and 3 Greenshank. (Richard
Jermy)
Sunday 16th August 2009
Pegwell Bay
I watched the evening tide with a man
called Solly and a kid named Oli. There
must be a song in there somewhere? It
was very slow for an awfully long time
but as the evening wore on many Terns,
'bits', 'things' and 'thingy bits' did
eventually show. The Tern numbers were
170 Sandwich Tern, 650+
Common Tern and 26
Black Terns. Other bits
included 3 Teal, 15+
Little Egret, 2
Bar-tailed Godwit, 3
Black-tailed Godwit, 10
Golden Plover, 1 Grey
Plover, 17 Ringed
Plover, 12 Dunlin,
1 Ruff, 4500
Black-headed Gull, 170
Common Gull and 3
Peregrine. Yesterdays ringtail Montagu's
Harrier made a brief visit to
Shellness at 8.00pm before driven off by
a particularly aggressive Kestrel. It
would appear to be a female bird as some
of the pale feathers near the primary
coverts were pale brown and not greyish
as I wrongly thought yesterday. Chris
Solly thought them to be brown on
yesterdays viewing and it would seem he
was right! dammit!! As to the birds age
I couldn't be sure? Perhaps it's a
second year female as the difference in
colour between the old and new feathers
is quite noticeable? The distance and
lack of birding ability on my behalf
made proper aging impossible. (Phil M)
Sunday 16th August 2009 Pegwell
Village to the Hover-pad
A Willow Warbler, feeding in the
back garden hedgerow, was catalyst to my
visit to the coast. Sadly, my optimism
was not founded and I struggled to find
any migrant passerines. A Hobby
whizzed overhead as I found 3
Wheatear (my first of the autumn) in
the horse paddocks. The hover-pad was
very disappointing, odd Blackcap
and several pulses of Swallow
were about the best I could manage. Out
on the mud, I saw several Whimbrel
amidst the Curlew, whilst a
Sandwich Tern above the gull flock,
following the plough, was a moment of
excitement - until it called!
(Gull-billed ruled out in an instant) At
least 3 migrant Sparrowhawk
passed overhead and a Common
Whitethroat was my only new
sighting, as I returned to the car.
(Dylan)
Saturday 15th August 2009 Pegwell
Bay
I arrived to find many hopeful birders
in position for a long awaited evening
tide - some from as far away as a place
outside of Thanet that I can't remember
the name of. It's okay as we welcome
foreigners here in sunny Thanet. As the
evening wore on may of the 'hopeful'
birders left in ones and twos until only
Chris Solly, Mick Shrimpfarmer and my
good self were left - me and Mick stayed
right on until the death which was
around 8.45 as there were lots of Common
Terns arriving in off the sea. Bird of
the day came at around 6.45 when Chris
spotted a ringtail Montagu's Harrier
flying around the shellness area with a
couple of Marsh Harriers in tow.
It showed for about five minutes before
leaving the area probably to the south.
The most spectacular thing however was
the Tern arrival as birds arrived
constantly right up until dusk. At
around 8.30 I counted 1420 Common
Terns, c250 Sandwich Terns
and 8 Black Terns though I
suspect the Common Tern count was even
higher but the light conditions made a
more accurate count near impossible.
Other 'stuff' included 13 Teal, 2
Sparrowhawk, 8 Whimbrel, 2
Greenshank, 4 Golden Plover,
40 Dunlin, 2 Common Sandpiper,
5 Mediterranean Gull etc. (Phil
M)
Saturday 15th August 2009 Sandwich
Bay
It's a long story, so I won't bore you
with it! I went across to the wilds of
Sandwich Bay just because it was great
to be out & about again. Parking at the
"polly tunnels", it was a 30 minute
stroll cross to Backsand Scrape. The
strong S-SW breeze ensured that birds
would be at a premium, just a few
Sedge Warbler & Common
Whitethroat in the bean field. A
couple of Kestrels were hunting
the track, whilst I could hear Common
& Green Sandpiper and
Greenshank calling from the River
Stour, behind Pfizer. Backsand held a
few nice bits, 6 Little Egret,
30+ Greenshank, 3 Avocet
(1 ad & 2 juv) 2 Black-tailed Godwit,
4 Green & 1 Common Sandpiper
plus a few Lapwing and Gadwall.
So much more seen, just too tired to
write about it! (Dylan)
Friday 14th August 2009 Pegwell
Bay
I watched Pegwell between 05.30 and
08.40 taking in the wonders of
the dropping tide and all the paths
around the country park. A slight bit of
new migrant activity out on the mud
included 2 Teal, 2 Shoveler, 1
Tufted Duck (Oooh!! a Tuftie!!) - 5
Green Sandpiper, 8
Black-tailed Godwit, 21
Turnstone, 3 Curlew Sandpiper,
2 Little Stint, 150+ Dunlin,
5 Knot, 36 Ringed Plover,
1 Grey Plover, 6 Whimbrel,15
Snipe, 2 Greenshank, 60
Sandwich Tern, 16 Common Tern
and 23 Little Tern. Offshore a
flock of 18 Common Scoter flew
south and overhead there were a handful
of Yellow Wagtails, 1 Grey
Wagtail and 2 Tree Pipit.
Other extra added bits included 1
Hobby, 2 Peregrine, 4
Greylag, 2 juvenile Mediterranean
Gull, 30+ Sedge Warbler, c 20
Reed Warbler and 2+ Garden
Warbler. Numbers of the other
Sylvia warblers were seen though
not as many as there have been this past
couple of days. (well chuffed with the
Tufted Duck)(Phil M)
Thursday 13th August 2009 Area east
of Canterbury
9:40 - 3pm. I walked a circular route
after the rain stopped today, starting
at Bekesbourne & took in Littlebourne,
Wickhambreaux, Ickham & Patrixbourne -
mainly fields but with a bit of
woodland. A pair of Buzzard over
Pine Wood (Littlebourne) & a Wheatear
on a stubble field near Ickham church
were the only things of note which shows
how sad it all was!! Lovely walk though
& a good pint at The Rose
(Wickhambreaux) ! (Ben Ring)
Thursday 13th August 2009 Pegwell
Bay
I was hoping that the rain might wash a
few waders out of the sky but
unfortunately it only started to chuck
it down well after first light. I still
ended up watching the outgoing tide from
05.45 and stayed till 11.30 due to
having to keep out of the house as we
had workmen in during the morning!!
Levels of boredom reached crisis point
after nearly six hours out in the field.
As I had time to burn I ended up
checking every blade of grass in the
entire area. There were not as many
Whitethroats as there
have been but there were really good
numbers of Lesser Whitethroats
plus a few handfulls of Reed
Warblers, Sedge
Warblers, Willow
Warblers plus the occasional
Blackcap and
Garden Warbler. Out of the
ordinary stuff included a
Nightingale in Stone Lees plus
I could hear a Redstart
calling it's head off sporadically on
the country park all morning but not
once did I lay bins on it. I would
presume it was yesterdays bird as it was
in the same general area? My
counts/notes for the morning from hell
included c20 Little Egret,
3 Teal, 2+
Peregrine, 2
Sparrowhawk, 285 Dunlin,
10 Whimbrel, 3
Greenshank, 200
Redshank, 4
Black-tailed Godwit, 18
Common Sandpiper, 13
Ringed Plover, 1 Grey
Plover, 6 Golden Plover,
1 Green Sandpiper, 3200
Black Headed Gull, 2
Mediterranean Gull, 60
Sandwich Tern, 5
Common Tern, 200
House Martin, 50
Swallow, 10
Swift, 32 Pied Wagtail
(Pfizer's), 13 Yellow Wagtail
(over), 12 Reed Warbler,
15 Sedge Warbler, 70
Whitethroat, 45
Lesser Whitethroat, 6
Garden Warbler, 4
Blackcap, 30 Willow
Warbler and 2 Bullfinch.
(Phil M)
Wednesday 12th August 2009
Pegwell Bay
I watched between 12.30 and 4.30 today
watching the incoming tide plus having a
gander into most of the bushes between
the hover port and Stonelees. The tide
turned up 41 Little Egret,
12 Ringed Plover, 4
Golden Plover, 2
Greenshank, 8
Sanderling, 230 Dunlin,
2 Bar-tailed Godwit, 6
Black-tailed Godwit, 9
Whimbrel, 1
Common Sandpiper, 160
Sandwich Tern, 36
Common Tern plus a flock of 40+
Common Scoter flew
north distantly out over the sea.
Overhead 16 Yellow Wagtail
flew over as did 80 Sand Martin
and c150 Swallow. 100+
House Martin were still
lingering inland of the country park
too.The bushes turned up a few bits a
very showy Grasshopper Warbler
was found on the country park as was
another Common Redstart.
Good numbers of Whitethroats
were here there and everywhere with
scattering of the odd Blackcap,
Garden Warbler,
Lesser Whitethroat,
Sedge Warbler and
Willow Warblers. At least 30
Willow Warblers moved
west through Stone Lees during the short
time I was in there. Other 'bits'
included 2 Peregrine, 1
Hobby and 2
Sparrowhawk. (Phil M)
Tuesday 11th August 2009 Monkton
Thanet
Last night (Monday, August 10) there
were at least three Tawny Owls in
Monkton churchyard. Two young birds were
in a tree overhead, one or both (it was
difficult to be sure) giving good, if
lamp lit, views, while an adult called
unseen not far away. These birds, I am
given to understand, comprise the first
record for Planet Thanet and they richly
deserve their place in these annals. So
much so young They should also please Mr
Hodge, another one for annals. (Dave M)
Tuesday 11th August 2009
Pegwell Bay
I popped down just after dinner time -
conditions were poor for birding or so I
thought but there was a surprising
amount of 'bits', 'things' and 'wotsits'
around today taking into consideration
it was red hot flat calm and the middle
of the day. I even saw a garden gnome in
the car park which is a rarity these
days. The incoming tide turned up c.30
Little Egret,
14 Whimbrel, 4
Bar-tailed Godwit, 25
Black-tailed Godwit, 150
Redshank, 1
Greenshank, 6 Grey
Plover, 6 Ringed Plover,
1 Little Ringed Plover,
60 Dunlin, 20
Common Sandpiper, 330
Sandwich Tern, 50
Common Tern and 2 Black
Tern. There were also about 400
House Martin lingering
around the country park/salt marsh area
- something's up the shoot as they
shouldn't be here in such numbers in
August. Other bits seen included singles
of Sparrowhawk,
Hobby and Peregrine.
I had a mooch around the country park as
I could hear quite a few Willow
Warblers calling from the
scrub. Amongst them were quite a few
Whitethroats and
Lesser Whitethroat but
I was quite surprised to pish out a
juvenile/female Redstart
from one of the cow enclosures.
I had another quick look later on (with
Mick Shrimpfarmer) and there were 2
Redstarts plus 2 - 3
more Lesser Whitethroats.
(Phil M)
Monday 10th August 2009 Margate
Thanet
A Common Buzzard moved south over
Dane Valley at 10.30 mobbed by the usual
bully-boys (Raphael Boulden)
Monday 10th August 2009 Pegwell
Bay
I watched between 11.00 and 3.00 on the
incoming tide. I even had a quick look
around the farm (ha ha - hilarious eh!)
but of course saw naff all up there
other than a horse, a tree and three
insects. There was a fair bit of
hounding activity in the bay this
afternoon which included 500+ extremely
early House Martins which are not
seen in such numbers until at least
September these days. I saw more House
Martins today than in the all the rest
of the year put together. Many of the
birds were heading s/west - a few
lingered amongst a flock of Swallows
over the salt marsh every now and then.
I also saw an enormous flock of Sand
Martins pass through heading west at
one point - there were well over a
thousand birds. My counts for the day
were 30+ Little Egret, 2 Grey
Heron, 11 Teal, 42 juvenile
Shelduck, 2 Marsh Harrier,
1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Hobby,
510 Oystercatcher, 1 Ringed
Plover, 1 Grey Plover, 3
Bar-tailed Godwit, 1 Black-tailed
Godwit, 475 Curlew, 10
Whimbrel, 2 Common Sandpiper,
14 Dunlin, 3 Greenshank,
460 Sandwich Tern, 72 Common
Tern, 2 juvenile Mediterranean
Gull etc. The day totals of the
hirundines were 500+ House Martin,
1340 Sand Martin and 450+
Swallow mainly west and s/west.
There were a few Swifts and at
least 6 Yellow Wagtails flew
south over the country park.
(Phil M)
Saturday 8th August 2009 Pegwell Bay
Not good conditions today - hot sunny
and a midday high tide. I watched the
incoming tide from mid morning but
didn't see much other than 6 nice adult
Curlew Sandpipers. Otherwise I
had to make do with seeing 'the hippy'
in his four foot long blue noddy mobile
for the first time in the flesh. This
went a long way to cheering me up as I
cycled home - he's always kept
me entertained has our Dylan. Anyway the
other bits and pieces I made note of
were 23 Little Egret, 290
Curlew, 10 Whimbrel, 1
Bar-tailed Godwit, 6 Knot, 27
Dunlin, 450 Oystercatcher,
6 Turnstone, 2 Golden Plover,
60 Redshank, 290 Sandwich Tern,
16 Common Tern and 3 Yellow
Wagtails flew over during my stay.
(Phil M)
Friday 7th August 2009 Pegwell
Bay
The hoped for wader bonanza didn't
arrive due to the appalling weather
forecast which predicted heavy overnight
rain and storms - perfect for a large
drop of wadery things. Anyway after
getting up just after 4.00am I found the
ground was bone dry - drier than a glass
of cold Stella that's been in the
capable hands of Dylan for 30 seconds
during a period of 'throat drought'
whilst on holiday on an island in a far
flung corner of the Mediterranean sea!!
And we all know that it's darn near
impossible to get drier that that eh?
Anyway - the normal routine came and
went ... peddled down the bay (where I
met daisy the wonder cyclist)- chatted
for a few hours, saw very few birds and
came home unfulfilled with nice boot
festooned with what the lovely dog's
leave behind for the unsuspecting
pedestrian. We did see a few birds -
Craig rather expertly picked out a
couple of Wood Sandpipers
which were flying around the bay at high
water plus there were 4
Mediterranean Gulls, 33
Little Egrets etc I did
take a few counts which were 14
Teal, 4 Greenshank,
9 Dunlin, 1
Grey Plover, 4 Ringed
Plover, 1 Bar-tailed
Godwit, 315 Sandwich
Tern, 21 Common Tern
and 1 Little Tern. A
few Yellow Wagtails
moved overhead plus we could hear the
occasional Willow Warbler
calling from the country park scrub
during the morning. (Phil M)
Thursday 6th August 2009 Pegwell
Bay
I had a quick look this morning on the
incoming tide but there wasn't much
going on out in the heat haze of the
rather frazzled mud flat - I did take
note of about 15 Little Egret, 23
Teal, 9 Dunlin, 3 Knot,
6 Whimbrel, 2 Ringed Plover
and about 100 Sandwich Terns.
(Phil M)
Wednesday 5th August 2009 Restharrow
Scrape SBBOT
A little time spent yesterday and today at the Restharrow Scrape SBBOT
showed a few bits 3 Little Ringed
Plovers, 2 Green Sandpipers,
1 Garganey 3 Sedge Warblers,
7 Linnets, 5 Meadow
Pipits, and Little Grebes,
Moorhens and Coots which are
residents, back outside the Observatory
building Swallows and House
Martins were feeding juv's on the
fences, (Gadget)
Wednesday 5th August 2009 Pegwell
Bay
I watched the incoming tide for a couple
of hours from mid to late morning. A
light s/easterly breeze was blowing in
off the sea and lots of Dragonfly's were
moving inland - the first decent amount
I've seen this summer. The birding was
pretty quiet - there was a Curlew
Sandpiper, 5+ Mediterranean Gulls,
a juvenile Little Gull plus a few
Yellow Wagtails (7) moving south
but otherwise it was much (or worse) as
you'd expect. The daily counts were 22
Little Egret, 5 Shoveler,
370 Oystercatcher, 9 Dunlin,
13 Ringed Plover, 1 Golden
Plover, 1 Knot, 1
Bar-tailed Godwit, 3 Whimbrel,
1 Common Sandpiper, 12 Common
Tern, 250 Sandwich Tern, 1+
Hobby and 2 Peregrine. A
flock of 200+ Swifts flew n/west
around 11.00. (Phil M)
Wednesday 5th August 2009 Blean
Woods, Rough Common
As it was an extremely hot day I thought
I would go bird-watching in the shade of
the woods at Blean, even walking around
there it was still 27c, felt like I was
abroad. It started off very slow
indeed, but a Green Woodpecker called
and showed itself on the path up front,
there was another one calling in the
distance. This was then followed by
many juvenile Blue and Great Tits
working their way through the
branches. As I started to come round the
top part of the woods (north) I hit the
jackpot, the trees were alive with birds
calling and working their way through,
two families of Spotted Flycatchers,
Marsh, Long-tailed, Coal, Blue and Great
tits, most being Juveniles. Also
behind me was a Nuthatch calling which
didn't take long to locate, in the same
area was a Treecreeper making its
way up a branch. Other birds seen were
Kestrel, Chaffinch, Robin, Wren,
Blackbird, Jay, Wood Pigeon and
Great Spotted Woodpecker, no sign of
a Lesser. On leaving the woods there
were 63 Black Headed Gulls on the
playing fields to the left. (Graham
Crick)
Tuesday 4th August 2009 Pegwell
Bay
I watched the incoming tide this morning
seeing 17 Little Egret, 3
Peregrine, 2 Hobby, 220
Oystercatcher, 460 Curlew, 6
Whimbrel, 1 Bar-tailed Godwit,
8 Ringed Plover, 2 Little
Ringed Plover, 1 Grey Plover,
1 Green Sandpiper, 2 Curlew
Sandpiper, 40 Dunlin, 5
Knot, 8 Turnstone, 2
Common Sandpiper, 120 Redshank,
4 Greenshank, 5 Mediterranean
Gull, 470 Sandwich Tern, 30
Common Tern, 11 Yellow
Wagtails over plus there were a
light scattering of Willow Warblers
here and there amongst the many
Sylvia Warblers. I also saw a
very distant large raptor flying west
inland at around 10.00am - I don't think
it was a Common Buzzard or a Marsh
Harrier as it was soaring on flat wings.
Unfortunately being about a mile and a
half away meant it escaped
identification. I also forgot to mention
on yesterdays entry that I heard
Crossbills calling over the country
park yesterday evening. I didn't lay a
'bin' on them all I can say is that
there were more than one and they
appeared to be flying north? My eye got
caught up with Starlings and hirundines
flying overhead and I missed them
altogether. (Phil M)
Monday 3rd August 2009 Pegwell Bay
I watched the mud flat from 7.00 until
08.45 this evening. It was in the normal
spot between the sea and the salt marsh,
was brown in colour and as normal had a
few birds scattered around upon it. Some
of them were identified/counted as
follows: 17 Little Egret, 1
Peregrine, 9 Whimbrel, 3
Bar-tailed Godwit, 2 Greenshank,
3 Golden Plover, 2 Grey Plover,
1 Ringed Plover, 2 Knot,
25 Dunlin, 3 Turnstone, 2+
Common Sandpiper, 15+
Mediterranean Gull, 150 Sandwich
Tern and 50 Common Tern. I
did pop down for a second look yesterday
evening - I watched roughly between the
same hours as I did this evening seeing
12 Whimbrel, 2 Golden Plover,
1 Ruff, 20+ Mediterranean Gull,
560 Sandwich Tern, 420 Common
Tern, 2 Little Tern and 2
Black Tern. (Phil M)
Sunday 2nd August 2009 Pegwell Bay
I watched Pegwell between 6.00 and 10.00
am this morning. Other than a rather
very extremely interesting looking small
Sandpiper I saw 3 Gannets -
south, 12 Little Egret, 4
Whimbrel, 4 Bar-tailed Godwit,
3 Greenshank, 1 Knot, 15
Dunlin, 1 Golden Plover, 2
Grey Plover, 4 Ringed Plover,
1 Turnstone, 1 Wood Sandpiper
- west, 3+ Green Sandpiper, 100
Sandwich Tern, 2 Mediterranean
Gull, 2 Peregrine, 1
Shoveler and 2 Barn Owls one
of which showed well up until 8.15am. I
did a quick circuit of the Country Park
first thing seeing 50+ Whitethroat
and 3 Willow Warblers. Overhead
about 30 Meadow Pipits, 1 Grey
Wagtail, 1 Yellow Wagtail and
90 Linnets flew through the
area. (Phil M)
Saturday 1st August 2009 Pegwell
Bay
I watched the mud flat between 5.00 and
8.45pm. It was slow going at first but
after about 8.00 o'clock lots of Gulls
and Terns started to arrive which
included a half reasonable arrival of
Black Terns which turned up about half
an hour before I left. One of the
Barn Owls was hunting as early as
5.15 too. The counts for the evening
were: 20+ Little Egrets, 1
Teal, 1 Shoveler, 6
Gadwall, 310 Oystercatcher,
300 Curlew, 8+ Whimbrel,
54 Dunlin, 2 Knot, 3
Little Stint, 15 Ringed Plover,
2 Grey Plover, 3 Greenshank,
80+ Redshank, 4 Bar-tailed
Godwit, 60 Turnstone, 1
Peregrine, 330 Sandwich Tern,
335 Common Tern, 3 Arctic Tern,
57 Black Tern, 5500 Black
Headed Gull, 32+ Mediterranean
Gull, 460 Herring Gull and
about 50 Common Gull. The two
Linnet flocks on the country park
are up to 110 birds whilst the bushes
are full of Whitethroats, odd
lesser Whitethroat, a few
Sedge Warblers and a handful of
Reed Warblers. I bumped into Francis
this evening who had seen 2 Curlew
Sandpipers, 2 Golden Plovers
and 15 Whimbrel in the bay this
morning. (Phil M)
Saturday 1st August 2009 Reculver
I met up
with Derek Smith and Barry Hunt at the
Towers this evening in cloudy, wet
conditions and a light southerly wind in
the anticipation of some tern movements.
We weren’t disappointed, with a flock of
40 Black Terns east and westerly
movements of 211 Common Terns, 10
Little Terns and 65 Sandwich
Terns. A few other bits included a
juvenile Mediterranean Gull, a
Whimbrel and 2 Golden Plovers
flying west, plus two Harbour Porpoises
hanging around offshore and seen
breaching several times. (Tim H)
Saturday 1st August 2009 Dumpton Thanet
Goldfinches, Green Finches
with Great Tits and House Sparrows
with a second brood on the
feeders this morning, Dunnock and Wren
are in and out of the Ivy around the
back wall most day's I noticed something
else today a little movement of
Chiffchaffs & Willow Warblers
in and out of the threes and
bushes heading along the hedgerow
towards the railway cutting Gadget)
