Sunday 30th
September 2007 King George 6th Park RamsgateNice afternoon
yesterday so went for a stroll round King George 6th Park between 1:30 and
3pm. Straight away I found a Spotted Flycatcher in the 1st
plantation followed by 2-3 Pied Flycatchers dotted around the park.
There were quite a few Brambling around too (5-10) and showing well.
Several small groups of Redwings and Hirundines flew over, as did a
Sparrowhawk. A very mobile Tit flock had 2 Chiffchaffs and a
Goldcrest. (Scott)
Sunday 30th September 2007 Ash Levels & Chamber’s
Wall
I was out doing some survey work on the Ash Levels west
of the Water Treatment Works today when a splendid Great Grey Shrike
appeared on top of bushes near me, giving excellent views. Later on in the
day one was found by Anne Hindle at Chamber’s Wall so I popped over to see
that one as well. Two in one day can’t be bad. A record shot of the
Chamber’s Wall bird is attached. (Tim H)
Sunday 30th September 2007 Margate Cemetery
Certainly a big clear out from the previous day but
still included 50 Redwings, 7 Siskin’s, 1 Peregrine, 18
Chiffchaffs, 7 Chaffinches and a few Pied Wagtails.
(Steve Tomlinson)
Sunday 30th September
2007 Pegwell Bay
I popped down for the
dropping tide in the afternoon taking a few counts as I went. Numbers
included: 8 Brent, 68 Shelduck, 5 Wigeon, 1 Merlin,
1 Kingfisher, 6 Little Egret, 170 Lapwing, 80 Golden
Plover, 70 Grey Plover, 50 Knot, 150+ Dunlin, 5700
Black-headed Gull, 4 Mediterranean Gull (1 juv/3 adults), 1
adult Little Gull, 200 Herring Gull, 150 Common Gull,
15 Lesser BB Gull, 140 Great BB Gull, 27 Sandwich Tern
and 2 Common Terns. As I cycled home at 17.45 I heard a bird calling
as I passed the Garage pools. I stopped my bike - then heard the call again
from across the road where I could see a Hawfinch flying
north-n/west. Only the third record of Hawfinch at Pegwell I think though
there may be an old record? (Phil M)
Sunday 30th September
2007 North Foreland
North Foreland today
Siskin, Chaffinches were moving first thing. Also 8
Chiffchaffs, 2 Blackcaps. Also over the sea just 2 Mute Swans
and 2 Shags. (Simon Mount)
Saturday 29th September 2007 Margate Cemetery
Apart from good numbers of common species it has
unusually been a fairly quiet autumn with no other decent birds of note
(until today that is). Interestingly I have had some nice phone calls from
various birders who are missing the bird news from the place which is nice
to hear. I do apologise for this the cemetery is still being covered well,
but I have just had a new member to the family a lovely girl born on Friday
13th July (spooky), and along with my 3 year old son could
hopefully take over birding the place from dad one day. Anyway now on to the
bird news. After some light/heavy showers the previous night and a slight
northerly wind it looked promising for some grounded migrants. At a later
time than normal 11:15am, I wandered into the allotments adjacent to the
garden of rest which I must say was buzzing with activity, with many
Redwings, Meadow Pipits, Chaffinches, Chiffchaffs,
and Wheatears present. Also many House Martins and Swallows
were passing through. At 11:25am, the star bird was noted a Great Grey
Shrike which was originally heard calling in some bramble by the garden
of rest. Unfortunately after showing well all too briefly it did not hang
around after being chased of when a Sparrowhawk came over chasing a
desperate pigeon. The bird flew of strongly south/west and after a long
search was not seen again. This is the 3rd record for the
cemetery and the fist since 1993. (Steve Tomlinson)
Saturday 29th September 2007 North Foreland
North Foreland this
morning an obvious arrival of Song Thrushes, Robins, and Meadow
Pipits. Also I saw 20 Goldcrests, 1 Firecrest, 2
Chiffchaffs, 1 Fieldfare, 6 Redwings, 4 Swallows,
and 3 Skylarks. Singles seen of Grey Wagtail, Yellow Wagtail, Reed
Bunting and Brambling. The most interesting sight was 4 Little
Gulls (3 adults and a 1st winter) feeding over the rolled ploughed field
on the farm, about 400 yards inland. They were among 100+ Black-headed
Gulls and a 2nd winter Mediterranean Gull. They were fluttering
over the field dropping to pick up insects or worms. They often also settled
on the bare earth. This is something I have never seen before. (Simon Mount)
Saturday 29th September
2007 Minster Marshes Thanet
I popped down to the area
around Minster Marshes Water Treatment Works today. The river was very high
(a combination of high tides and northerly winds), with water flooding back
from the river into some of the dykes along the river. I had nice views of a
Jack Snipe, a bird I hardly ever see well (in fact a bird I hardly
ever see!), plus a Short-eared Owl, Grey Wagtail, Kingfisher,
14 Siskin, 3 Cetti’s Warblers, 80 Goldfinches, 2
Marsh Harriers, 1 Stonechat, 5 Chiffchaffs, 1 Wheatear
and a Blackcap. (Tim H)
Saturday 29th
September 2007 King George VI Park
A very wet walk round King
George VI park up to 8am produced 1 Pied Flycatcher, 8 Brambling,
5 Chaffinch, 5 Redwing, 2 Chiffchaff and 3 or 4
Goldcrest. (Nick Lever)
Friday 28th September
2007 Palm Bay & Foreness
I arrived in Thanet at
10am only to find that it was wetter and windier than forecast; certainly
not conducive to finding passerines in the clifftop scrub! I therefore
headed to the shelter at Palm Bay and sea-watched from 10.20am to 12 noon
and noted the following (all east unless stated): 1 juv Sabine's Gull
close in at 11.30am, 25 Little Gull, 3 juv Bonxies, 3 juv
Arctic Skuas, 12 Kittiwake, juv Arctic Tern, 2 ad 1 juv
Common Tern, 16 Sandwich Tern, 2 Dunlin (west), 3 Knot
(west), 4 Shelduck (west), 19 Brent Geese (west), 29 Common
Scoter, 2 Wigeon, 350 Gannet, 1 imm Shag and
Guillemot on the sea and 2 Redwing in-off. After a fish and chip
lunch I decided to kick the scrub around Foreness as the rain had stopped
and the wind was dying down. 3 Reed Bunting, 35 Meadow pipits,
2 Wheatear, 2 Blackcap, 3 Goldcrest, 2 continental
Song Thrushes, 3 Blackbirds, 1 Golden Plover were noted.
(Andy Lawson)
Friday 28th September
2007 Broadstairs
A definite highlight of my
birding year today (I don't get out much!). A Redstart was seen for a
while in my garden today. It stayed and posed for a while before vanishing
as I grabbed my camera from upstairs. My only previous sighting of one of
these was in Cornwall. There were two Green Woodpeckers feeding on
the lawns of Payton Heights in Northdown Hill in the afternoon. (Simon
Piggott)
Friday 28th September
2007 Ellington Park Ramsgate
Distinctly October feel in
Ellington Park about 4pm today with about 20 Redwing buzzing around
and a Brambling with a few Chaffinches near the
bandstand.(Nick Lever)
Thursday 27th September
2007 Minnis Bay
I went back to Minnis
today to have a look at the sea - and saw it straight away. No sign of 'Man
in Shorts' today but Chris Solly kept me amused with his recollections of
Greater Coucal sitting behind the Biera Mar hotel in Goa. He almost had
steam coming out of his ears at one point as he babbled on about the
creature, such was his animated excitement. Reminded me of when Simon Mount
discovered Rooks nesting near Foreness in the late 90's - he almost blew a
gasket too. Happy days. Anyway - back in the 21st century: The birding was
slow today but not altogether a waste of time. Between us we watched from
first light until 12.45 (A man called Tony Swanfinch or summit was down at
06.00am) and saw the following: 100+ Gannet,3 Red-throated Diver,1
Leach's Petrel,1 Sooty Shearwater, 35 Great Skua, 20
Arctic Skua, 50+ Kittiwake, 39 Little Gull, 3 Sabine's
Gull, 20+ Sandwich Tern, 50+ Commic Tern, 6+ juv Arctic
Tern, 91 Brent, 205 Common Scoter, c50 Teal, 50+
Wigeon, 1 Pintail, 38 Shelduck, 1 Avocet, 1
probable Grey Phalarope, 100ish Dunlin, 10 Grey Plover,
1 Bar-tailed Godwit, 1 Little Egret and 2 Grey Wagtail.
One of the Sabine's was an adult and showed quite well as it whizzed through
at 11.00am. The other 2 were juveniles one of which landed on the sea at
about 11.45 and didn't fly off all the time we were there, which was another
hour or so. Might I add at this point I still have yet to see Dylan’s trip
report from Greece? I'm starting to wonder if he did in fact go at all or
used this time off as an excuse for 2 weeks in the Racing Greyhound. ? Time
will tell no doubt? (Phil M)
Wednesday 26th September 2007 Ramsgate Harbour
The Black-headed Gull I saw in Ramsgate Harbour
on 21st September was ringed as an adult on 16th April 1998 at Gdynia-Lezya,
Pomorskie, Poland. It is amazing to get a reply within 1 week when it takes
the BTO several months. Today in Ramsgate Harbour there has been a sudden
increase in the number of Great Black-backed Gulls, mainly adults and
1st winters. (Simon Mount)
Wednesday 26th
September 2007 Minnis Bay
We (Gadget and I) spent
the morning seawatching from the shelter at Minnis Bay. We arrived just
after first light but gave up at 12.30 as things were very slow going after
about 11.00am. The conditions looked good and I kept expecting it to get
better but it just didn't for whatever reason? We did see a few little bits:
5+ Red-throated Diver,11 Manx Shearwater,3 Sooty Shearwater,38
Common Scoter,3 Wigeon,27 Arctic Skua,1 juvenile
Long-tailed Skua,66 Great Skua,50+ Kittiwake,160+
Little Gull,1 Mediterranean Gull,1 Grey Phalarope and 1
Wheatear. I arrived at the watch point wearing enough clothes to
resemble the Michelin Man and still got back home feeling extremely cold. A
bloke sat alongside us wearing a pair of shorts and seemed to cope better
with the low temperature somewhat better than I did. Perhaps I'm just a cold
weather tart? Answers on a postcard please? (Phil M and Gadget)
Wednesday 26th
September 2007 Grove Ferry & Stodmarsh NNR
A brisk walk around the
reserve between 7:30 & 11am, in a strengthening wind but sunny for the large
part. Three R-Necked Parakeets flew noisily past the Ramp on my
arrival & a survey of the assembled masses of BH Gulls, common ducks &
Lapwings assembled in front of it produced only a Common Snipe, 2
Black-Tailed Godwits & a Little Egret that were different!
Whilst the birding did not set the pulse racing, there was still plenty to
look at, with 5 Green Sandpipers & 2 Water Rail in the pool
just after the Turf Hide (a Little Grebe & a Spotted Redshank
there). Drew a blank at Harrisons & the Marsh Hide (really, no birds at
Harrisons!) but things picked up at the main lake by the Lampen wall, with
some 100 or so Greylag, 50 Sand Martins acrobatically
performing low to the water, and my first Redwing (yep, just the one) of the
autumn. There were also several GC Grebes to be seen as well as more
common ducks & Cormorants. A distant fem Marsh Harrier seemed
to be struggling in the strong wind. Jays could be located at several
points along my route, seemingly all spoiling for a scrap, such was the
noise! Of particular interest, I would imagine, to those birders that are
concerned with the management of the reserve, were signs in several of the
hides offering the opportunity to join a 'Practical Volunteer Task Force'.
This is in the throes of being set up & anyone interested should contact
Emma Griffiths at Natural England on 01233 811205. The proposed Task Days
will be a Monday between 10am & 4pm. (Ben Ring)
Tuesday 25th September
2007 Pegwell Bay
I couldn't be bothered to
go to North Foreland as it's too far to cycle there for an old man like me
(weather was wrong if I'm honest) so I took the easy option and went down
for the dropping tide at Pegwell. A nice Clouded Yellow flew past the garage
as I arrived. I stayed for over two hours seeing 11 Cormorant, 6
Grey Heron, 31+ Little Egret, 17 Shelduck, 73 Mallard,
4 Wigeon, 9 Teal, 360 Curlew, 1 Whimbrel, 12
Bar-tailed Godwit, 30 Grey Plover, 35 Golden Plover, 50
Lapwing, 200 Redshank, 2 Snipe, 40 Dunlin, 4
Sanderling, 1 juv Curlew Sandpiper, 1 Turnstone, 2
Hobby,3+ Sparrowhawk, 290 Sandwich Tern, 7 Common Tern,
1 Little Tern, 1 juv Mediterranean Gull,1 Kingfisher
and 20 Meadow Pipit south etc. (Phil M)
Monday 24th September
2007 Hoverport - Pegwell Bay
Due to going near stir
crazy due to a cricket induced/old age injury (bad back and knee) I actually
managed half an hour out of the house after 2 weeks stuck kicking my boots
around the house. I decided to go down to the hoverport which I assumed
would be sheltered from the forecast westerly wind to find a strong
southerly - s/west wind blowing the hoverport bushes out completely. I
wasn't actually birding just testing my knee out so it didn't matter. On
arriving I met a hairy bloke on his bike with a terrible attitude, down for
a dinner time session away from his job as a local civil servant. I tried to
give him the push but couldn't think of a good excuse. We had a very quick
walk around the hoverpad - there were 3 Wheatear on the sea wall and
a few groups of Terns out on the mud where there were quite a lot of Gulls
but not much else by the looks of it? We only had binoculars so pretty much
ignored the mudflat. (Phil M)
Sunday 23rd September 2007 North Foreland
North Foreland today 3 Grey Wagtails, 1
Yellow Wagtail, 2 Redpolls, and 1 Wheatear. Offshore in
the afternoon 100+ Sandwich Terns and Common Terns feeding on
a fish shoal attracted 3 Arctic Skuas and 12 Gannets. A
Peregrine went west along the clifftop at 17:45. All afternoon there was
a steady stream of Swallows heading south, probably 1000+ in total,
with a few House Martins among them. (Simon Mount)
Sunday
23rd September 2007 Grove Ferry
I was out just before 08.30hrs and drove across to
Grove Ferry. It was great to be back birding in Kent after a fortnight away
in Corfu (Trip Report to follow shortly). I only had a couple of hours to
spare, so spent the entire session on the ramp. I was in excellent company,
Martyn, Norman, Steve, John C & Ned Muller also enjoying the autumn
sunshine. Birding was quite relaxed but still included 3
Sparrowhawk, 1 Peregrine, 1 Marsh Harrier,
2 Ringed Plover, 1 Little Stint
(juv), 1 Spotted Redshank, 1 Curlew Sandpiper,
1 Green Sandpiper, 1 Greenshank, 5+
Ruff, 20+ Golden Plover plus the usual
array of ducks and Lapwing. I had noted 4
Red-legged Partridge in the field
opposite the Manna Hut Garage, at Cliffsend, on my way to Grove. Arriving
back home it was nice to see a few Swallows moving south
accompanied by a couple of Meadow Pipit. (Dylan)
Friday 20th September
2007 Ramsgate Harbour
At Ramsgate today, a Grey Wagtail has returned
for the winter, feeding on the rooftops. At Ramsgate Harbour an adult
Black-headed Gull with a Polish metal ring where I obtained the number
ok. (Simon Mount)
Friday 20th September
2007 Deal sea Front
An afternoon walk along the
sea front a small groups of Herring Gulls in various stages of
plumage, 1 Lesser Black Back Gull, 4 Common Terns, a few
Black-headed Gulls and a Gannet diving by the pier. That made my
day. (Mike D)
Wednesday 19th
September 2007 Grove Ferry & Stodmarsh NNR
A five hour stint from
7:30am failed to produce any great excitement on a distinctly cooler day.
Three Water Rails were seen in the pools near the Turf Hide but
Harrison's only produced 2 Green Sands & 2 Ringed Plover on my
visit there. A single male Kestrel made up my raptor sightings & a
couple of Bearded Tits were glimpsed diving for cover in the reeds in
the fresh breeze that accompanied most of my visit. The most productive
area seemed to be the tree lined path near Undertrees Farm leading from the
Marsh Hide towards Stodmarsh where Great, Blue & L-Tailed Tits were
very actively present. They were accompanied by at least 4 Chiffchaffs
& indeed this species could be heard calling (& on a couple of occasions,
singing) at many points on my circuit walk. I returned to the Turf Hide
near mid-day when a couple of Kingfishers appeared, one alighting on
the post in front of the hide very briefly. A Greenshank, Snipe, & a
single Black-Tailed Godwit were also present amongst the many
Mallards & Teal there (Ben Ring)
Monday 17th September 2007 Reculver
The wind was rather lighter today than we anticipated,
so there wasn’t as much moving offshore as we had hoped, but Barry, Derek
and I sea watched from 0700-0900 and from 1200-1600, and ended up with some
reasonable birds. Totals included 1 adult Pomarine Skua W, 12
Arctic Skuas, 1 Bonxie, 1-2 Manx Shearwaters (1W, 1E), a
Black-throated Diver offshore, 13 Black Terns offshore and W,
42 Arctic Terns offshore and W, 90+ Common Terns, 1 Little
Tern, 30 Sandwich Terns, 16 Bar-tailed Godwits W, 55
Gannets, 7 Teal W, 1 Pintail W, 1 Shoveler, 1
Wigeon, 3 Little Egrets, 2 large auks, 3 Brent Geese,
1 Hobby, 2 Sand Martins and 1 Fulmar.( Barry, Derek
&Tim H)
Saturday 15th September 2007
King George VI Park & Ramsgate Cemetery
Prior to 8am a quick jaunt
produced 2 Willow Warblers in King George VI Park plus 10 House
Martins overhead and 2 Firecrest in Ramsgate Cemetery one of
which was singing. (Nick Lever)
Friday 14th September 2007 Foreness & Palm Bay
There were hundreds of
gulls sitting on the sea at high tide today. Of only a handful on the
sands, two were Mediterranean Gulls, a green-ringed adult (our old
friend?) and a metal-ringed 2nd winter. (Steve Coates)
Wednesday 12th September
2007 Fowlmead Country Park
I had another walk around
Fowlmead with dog walkers, joggers & cyclist! 4 Blue tit ,1 Great
tit,10 Long tailed Tit, 2 Jay, 1 Wren, 1 Dunnock,
2 Common Whitethroat 1 Kestrel, 1 Sparrowhawk, 3
Chiffchaff, 2 Sedge Warbler, 1 Blackbird, 5 Magpie,
3 Moorhen 10+Wood Pigeon, 2 Cormorant,1 lone Lapwing,
a few Hirundinidae, and heard a Green Woodpecker, 6 Greenfinch.
(Mike D)
Wednesday 12th September 2007 Minnis Bay
Late New
Here are my totals for y'days seawatch off Minnis from
06:30 until 11:30 when the call of a nice cup of tea became too strong! 17
Arctic Skua, 31 Little Gull, 17 Wigeon, 8 Teal,
8 Shelduck, 1 Manx Shearwater, 10 Auk sp, 1 Merlin,
7 Bonxie, 1 Peregrine juv female, 5 Little Egret, 2
Kittiwake, 1 Black Tern ad winter which initially went west then
flew east out of the bay as we were sat outside the "Windshack" cafe.
(Marcus Lawson)
Tuesday 11th September
2007 Fisherman's Carpark to Coldharbour
From the fisherman carpark
heading down the track to the railway crossing I encountered 2 Turtle
Doves amongst Woodpigeons on the Shuart side of the track
and a female Marsh Harrier hunting over the Reculver side,
following the track that leads from Chambers wall Coldharbour, birds of note
were 8 Meadow pipits, 2 Reed Buntings, and 7 Swallows.
(Gadget)
Monday 10th September 2007 Minnis Bay
A seawatch at Minnis Bay this afternoon included 7
Sooty Shearwaters (6W, 1E), 40 Arctic Skuas W, 4 Bonxies
W, 60 Kittiwakes, 8 Little Gulls, 10 large auks and 3
Arctic Terns. Frustratingly, a large shearwater was seen a long way out
which was dark above and white below, and to add insult to injury I
understand that a Great Shearwater was seen at Shellness a bit before
my sighting. Over 120 Arctic Skuas were seen off Reculver/Herne Bay
in the afternoon, as well as two Sabine’s Gulls off Herne Bay, seen
by Barry. (Tim H)
Monday 10th September
2007 North Foreland area
An early morning 'jaunt'
through the area in a rather annoying stiff breeze turned up the following
exciting assortment of birds. 20+ Pied Wagtail, 2 Grey Wagtail
north, 20+ Meadow Pipit, 2 Wheatear, 2 Sparrowhawks
plus about 100 Swallows, 50 Sand Martin and the odd House
Martin over. Vastly impressive eh - I must be top man in the area these
days? I still haven't bumped into the yellow plastic coated camouflage
birding man yet - where is he?? I see his reports on Planetthanet on the odd
occasion but he keeps a low profile these days. I had 2 Swifts over the
house yesterday afternoon. (Phil M)
Sunday 9th September 2007 Seaton Pits
I managed a couple of hours at Seaton this morning, my
first visit for some time. Duck numbers were surprising; nearly 70
Tufted Ducks and almost 60 Pochard, this latter total being
significant. Next weekend is the first WeBS count and I usually only find
about a dozen or so Pochard. Apart from these only Mallard and about
500 Greylags splish-splashed about, but there were good numbers of
Sylvia warblers, including several Lesser Whitethroats, Common
Whitethroat, Blackcap and a single Garden Warbler.
Evidence of a good breeding season included two family parties of juvenile
Green Woodpeckers (a group of three with a fixation on telegraph
poles, and a two together along the river-bank). Also I counted 8 well-grown
juvenile Great Crested Grebes on two of the lakes; these are birds of
second broods so this is quite encouraging as I counted at least six of this
size a month or more ago. Juvenile Kingfisher also appeared to be
prominent, although i think my multiple sightings were only two individuals.
Other passerines were a bit sparse, but a good flock of 20 Goldfinches
was noteworthy, while raptors included Hobby, Kestrel and a fleeting
glimpse of a distant Peregrine. (Norman M)
Friday 7th September 2007
Fowlmead Country Park
I had a walk around Fowlmead
country park (Bettshanger coal tip) 2 Common Whitethroat, feeding on
elder berries 1Kingfisher, 2 Common Buzzard, 4 Kestrel,
small flock Lapwing, 1 Long tailed Tit, 1Heron, 1Curlew,
2 Moorhen, & 2 juveniles a large flock of Linnets 1
Cormorant a few House Martins, 6 Magpies 20+ Wood Pigeon.
(Mike D)
Friday 7th September
2007 Newland's Farm
My dawn walk across to
Sericol was accompanied by my first Redwing of the autumn.
Two birds flew north, calling regularly as they went. (Dylan)
Thursday 6th September
2007 North Foreland and Foreness
A quick 'mooch' along the
coast between North Foreland and Foreness this morning between 07.00 and
08.00 turned up 11 Wheatear,1 Whinchat, 5 Yellow Wagtail,
20 Pied Wagtail, c50 Meadow Pipit,1 Hobby and 3
Mediterranean Gulls. (Phil M)
Wednesday 5th September
2007 Sutton Gault-Cambridge
I spent between 15.20 and
17.15 at Sutton Gault this afternoon seeing a juvenile Pectoral Sandpiper,
1 Spotted Redshank, 1 Green Sandpiper, 2 Black-tailed
Godwit, 9 Greenshank, 8 Ruff, 3 Dunlin, 4 Ringed
Plover, 2 Little-ringed Plover, 6 Yellow Wagtail, 1
Marsh Harrier and 2 Little Egret. (Craig Sammels)
Wednesday 5th September
2007 Foreness area
I had a couple of hour
walk around the area this morning. A flyover Tree Pipit raised the
spirits as I neared the area on my pushbike but this turned out to be the
best bird I saw as it happened. The only decked migrants I could find
walking the area between Elmwood Avenue and Northdown Park were a handful of
Meadow Pipits and 2 Wheatears. Very quiet overhead too with
only a dozen each of Swallows and House Martin, 2 Yellow
Wagtail and 2 Siskin plus a Grey Heron n/west and a group
of 4 Whimbrel flying south over North Foreland. An adult
Mediterranean Gull was spotted on the pitch and putt (going along nicely
at 3 under par on the 7th hole) and a few Sandwich Terns and 3
Gannets were seen during the occasional scan over the sea during my
early morning jaunt around the coast. (Phil M)
Sunday 2nd September 2007 Broadstairs Thanet
There was a single Purple Sandpiper with the
Turnstone flock near Viking Bay, Broadstairs yesterday and again today.
It could be seen from the promenade leading from the car park, in front of
the boat standing area. (Julie)
Sunday 2nd
September 2007 Oare Marshes KWT
A cracking day's birding. I arrived around 09.00hrs and
left some six hours later! This reserve must be one of the finest places in
the UK to get "up close & personal" with many migrant wader species. Having
a completely free day, I knew that I would have plenty of opportunities for
digi-scoping and ring reading, as my stay coincided with the incoming tide.
I took 218 pics and located 6 C-R birds (3 Black-tailed Godwit,
2 Ruff & a 1st yr sinensis Cormorant)
today. The bare bones of my session included 7 Curlew Sandpiper
(4 ad & 3 juv), 5 Greenshank, 2 Whimbrel,
26 Golden Plover, 9 Curlew, 3
Ringed Plover, 5 Dunlin, 300+ Black-tailed
Godwit, 130+ Redshank, 40+ Ruff,
2 Grey Plover and 5 Oystercatcher. A
Common Buzzard was circling over Harty Hill, being joined
by an imm Marsh Harrier for a short period. A couple of
Kestrels and a Sparrowhawk were the only
raptors on the south side of the Swale. Other bits included 2 Common
Whitethroat, 2 Whinchat, 17 Yellow Wagtail and
a juvenile Wheatear. (Dylan)
Saturday 1st September 2007 North Foreland
At North Foreland this morning a Marsh Harrier
drifted in from the South at 08:30 and then went back SW gaining in
height. The only other things seen were 2 Whinchats, 1 Hobby
and trickle of Swallows heading SW. (Simon Mount)
Saturday 1st September 2007 Shuart to Minnis
I parked the car at 06.30hrs and within 45 minutes
had seen 7 species of raptor! 3 Marsh Harrier, 2 Common
Buzzard, 1 Peregrine, 1 Hobby,
1 Kestrel, 2 (or the same one twice?) Sparrowhawk
and the Red Kite. After such a sparkling start the rest
of the morning could only be an anti-climax and so it was to prove. Swallows
and House Martins were moving westwards in small
numbers whilst the hedgerows held a few warblers. I noted 6 Blackcap,
1 Chiffchaff - singing! 4 Willow Warbler,
3 Common Whitethroat and a lone Sedge Warbler,
mostly along the main track, although I got a couple of nice pics of a Willow
Warbler in a small patch of bramble by the sea wall. A couple of Yellow
Wagtail, 1 Spotted Flycatcher and a rather
dapper looking Mediterranean Gull - moulting from
juvenile to 1st winter plumage about completes my list. I met up with
Chris & Anne Hindle and walked across to the sea, their company and conversation
more than making up for the lack of birds. (Dylan)
Sunday 1st September 2007 Sutton Gault -
Cambridgeshire
I received this news off ex Thaneteer Craig Sammels
who has recently moved to Cambridgeshire: Sutton Gault - Cambridgeshire 10
- 11.30am. 1 Wood Sandpiper, 1 Green Sandpiper, 10 Greenshank,
1 Black-tailed Godwit, 8 Ruff, 2 Dunlin, 2 Little-ringed
Plover, 1 Marsh Harrier and 1 Common Buzzard. (Craig
S)
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