Thursday 30th September 2010 Pegwell Bay
A nice day to be out as the weather was rather splendid today though the
birding was quite hard work. Craig and I watched between 07.00 and 14.00
though we spent most of the time standing around on the country park sky
watching as the early hours checking the farm, cliff top and Hover port wore
us out (mentally) so we had a lazy day and waited for the tide to come in or
waiting for stuff to come to us. We had a bit of raptor movement late
morning/early afternoon when 15+ Common Buzzards, 3 Marsh Harriers
and 4 Sparrowhawks passed through heading either west inland or north
into Thanet. Other bits and pieces included 2 Spoonbills and not much else!
I did take a few other notes which were: 15+ Little Egret, 31
Canada Geese, 1 Greylag, 12 Brent, 15 Wigeon, 4+
Hobby, 1 Peregrine, 1 Merlin, 60 Lapwing, 25
Golden Plover, 1 Curlew Sandpiper, 250 Dunlin, 1 Common
Redstart etc plus overhead movement included 1 Great Spotted
Woodpecker, 50 Meadow Pipit, 10 Skylark, 20 Song Thrush,
10 Redwing, 1 Redpoll, 77 Siskin, 1 Grey Wagtail
etc. Best sighting of the day was Jason Mitchell and family on a Pegwell day
out ... I know what your thinking out there in cyber land? He just can't
keep away can he? (Phil M)
Wednesday 29th September 2010 Pegwell Bay
I arrived at the north end of the area at 06.50 and went through the normal
routine of checking the farm, cliff top and hover pad before moving down to
the country park where I waited for the incoming tide. Although there were
fewer Thrush's on the move today overall it seemed like there was a slight
bit more passing over early on. A flurry of activity about 7.30 brought a
few Brambling, Siskin, a Fieldfare, 3 Redpoll
and all the usual Finches, Thrushes and Reed Bunting etc though all too soon
it was over. I had to rush to beat the rain which arrived at mid morning so
ended up spending between about 10.00 - 15.15 down the country park end
where I got held up by a steady trickle of Hirundines plus Meadow Pipits and
Chaffinch's which didn't really get going until the afternoon. I also had a
few flocks of Siskins, another Brambling, Tree Pipit etc whilst out over the
mud flat and sea Brent and Plovers were arriving. Although I didn't see
anything unusual I had a really good day out - the sky was full of birds all
afternoon and at times it was difficult to keep up with my note taking. The
best thing of the day was the steady trickle of Chaffinch's which were
flying low s/west across the country park. Between 14.00 and 15.00 I counted
over 900 birds which is a very good count for here, especially so early in
the autumn. The Spoonbill was present still but I saw no sign of the
White Rumped Sandpiper today. I had a good look at all of the small waders
today which was a problem initially as some bloke walked out across the mud
and started fishing in the river opposite the hide, spooking the small stuff
north further away from my vantage point. Luckily (after I sent a text to
Tony) he volunteered to leave after a chat with TS and eventually the small
waders came back but so sign of the White rump at all. Anyway - my counts
for the day were: 10 Little Egret, 13 Grey Heron, 62
Cormorant (some passage offshore), 1 juv Spoonbill, 181 Brent,
28 Shelduck, 94 Wigeon, 17 Teal, 3+ Sparrowhawk,
2 Peregrine, 3 Hobby, 170 Lapwing, 164 Golden Plover,
41 Ringed Plover, 6 Bar-tailed Godwit, 1 Greenshank, 1
Common Sandpiper, 12 Knot, 470 Dunlin, 5 Sanderling,
8 Snipe, 2 Sandwich Tern, 3 Wheatear, 3 Whinchat, 1
Redstart, 6 Skylark - n/west, 348 Meadow Pipit - s.west
plus 100+ present, 3+ Tree Pipit, 4 Alba Wagtail - west, 3850
40 Great Tit - west, Swallow - n/west plus c2000 more
lingering, 250 House Martin - n/west, 10 Sand Martin, 130
Blackcap, 6 Whitethroat, 5 Lesser Whitethroat, 30
Chiffchaff, 2 Reed Warbler, 117 Song Thrush - west plus
50+ present, 53 Redwing - west, 2 Mistle Thrush - west, 1
Fieldfare - west, 1000+ Starling, 1+ Goldcrest, 110
Goldfinch - west, 35 Greenfinch - west, 135 Siskin - north
and west, 3 Redpoll - west, 72 Linnet - west, 16 Reed
Bunting - north, 19 Brambling - 18 west 1 north, 960 Chaffinch
- 910 s/west and 50 west. (Phil M)
Wednesday 29th September 2010 Sandwich Bay
The Barred Warbler was still in the Cellars this
morning with Reed Bunting and Lapland Bunting along some of
the tracks in the area, other birds noted Chiffchaff, Blackcap,
Whitethroat, Goldcrest, Robin, Meadow Pipit, Song Thrush, Redwing
both Great and Green Woodpecker, bit flying over included
Brambling, Siskin, and a big movement of Hirundines , Greylag
Geese were on the Restharrow Scrape and Brent Geese put at sea
heading North. (Gadget)
Tuesday 28th September 2010 Chalk Hill
area Thanet
Just had time for a session after work 4:30 -
6pm in the gathering gloom. The wind was all over the place today but
probably not strong enough to make much of an impact either way? I only did
the Shell garage bushes and the back of the farm. A few Song Thrushes
and Blackbirds were in the bushes still - and flying about here and
there - with the odd Redwing thrown in. A few finches were still on
the move. Not sure if all this movement was active migration or just
pre-roost activity. A couple of Chaffinches, a single Brambling
and a handful of Siskin bounced over at separate times in different
directions. Chiffchaffs, Tits, single Goldcrest and female
Blackcap were flitting about in the trees and the fields were laden with
Meadow Pipits. (Scott)
Tuesday 28th September 2010 Pegwell Bay
I arrived at first light and started off at my normal early spot (the cliff
top) where I came across lots of birds immediately. I'd already heard Meadow
Pipits and Brambling - then seen another flying over the house with a
Grey Wagtail from the garden prior to leaving so it didn't come as too
much of a shock looking at the overhead conditions which looked almost
perfect. The bushes were full of Song Thrush's - some bush hopping west plus
every now and then a few would go overhead with the occasional Redwing as
were a few flocks of Finches, Wagtails and Pipits. On my initial walk along
the cliff I also flushed 2 Ring Ouzel and saw a Firecrest in
the cliff top scrub and before I'd left about 08.15 I had seen flyover
Yellowhammer, Lapland Bunting plus quite a few mixed Thrush's (1
Fieldfare) Hirundines, Finches and Reed Buntings. Also at 07.30 I
heard then saw a small Pipit which ended up flying right past me and
appeared to keep on going down towards the farm house. The call was most odd
and I thought immediately that it was probably a Red-throated Pipit.
It called continually as it went - a drawn out whispy Pipit call, in no way
reminiscent of the 3 common small Pipits. Later on joined by Craig (about
10.00am) we heard the call again flying away from the concealed horse
paddock on the n/east edge of the farm and I just caught sight of a small
passerine through a gap in the cypress trees flying south away from us which
perhaps veered off east as I lost it behind the distant trees. On arriving
home we both listened to the taped calls of Red Throated Pipit which was
spot on for our bird. I wasn't too surprised having seen the bird earlier
though my recollections of the call were vague as its a call I've only ever
heard recordings of prior to this. I had a wander around the hover port
before meeting back up with Craig up on the farm. The bushes were very poor
today with hardly anything other than the obvious showing. We did come
across 2 Common Redstarts and 3 Wheatears around the farm but
apart from Song Thrushes (which were everywhere) 350 odd Meadow Pipits
and 2 Brambling grounded passerines were hard to find at all. Next
stop was the Country Park where it was soon apparent that the bushes were
very quiet (we didn't even check Stone Lees) so we gave up and staked out
the tide and sky from the normal area to keep an eye on the vismig, which
was slow and the incoming tide. Overhead a few passerines were moving -
mainly hirundines but a few flocks of finches and Pipits were moving. The
tide turned up the juvenile Spoonbill and more surprisingly Sundays
White Rumped Sandpiper which we picked out amongst the Dunlin flock
as the tide pushed the birds closer to the sea wall. My other counts for the
day included: 10 Little Egret, 16 Brent, 1 Shoveler, 4
Pintail, 110 Wigeon, 4 Teal, 1 Peregrine, 1
Hobby, 7 Golden Plover, 2 Greenshank, 400+ Dunlin,
50 Ringed Plover, 1 Swift, 1000 Swallow, 50 House
Martin, 50+ Meadow Pipit - north (plus 350 present), 2 Rock
Pipit, 3 Tree Pipit, 12 Blackcap, 12 Chiffchaff, 1
Willow Warbler, 1 Kingfisher etc plus overhead movement: 470
Song Thrush - west plus 100+ present, 7 Mistle Thrush, 57
Redwing - west, 125 Goldfinch, 62 Siskin, 75 Linnet,
20+ Chaffinch, 19 Brambling, 3 Alba Wagtail, 2 Grey
Wagtail and 10+ Reed Buntings. (Phil M)
Monday 27th September 2010 Pegwell Bay
I made an early start (about 06.45) and decided to start off by having a
look along the cliff top and farm to see if there was any vismig going on as
the bushes would have still been very damp after the previous twenty four
hours of weather. The weather looked interesting with no wind and quite a
bit more cloud than I had anticipated. The first hour was very good with a
few bits of visible migration which included a Black Redstart, a few
Meadow Pipits, Siskin, 4 Brambling and best of all two
nice low flying Crossbills, one of which was a nice bright red one.
As I left the hover port on my first circuit of that end a Ring Ouzel
flew across the path into the northern most hover port bushes after chacking
it's way west along the cliff top. There were also many more Dunnock's,
Robins and Song Thrush's as well as quite a few common Warblers, 2
Goldcrest, a Redwing and a few Reed Buntings both overhead
and grounded. After this I headed off to the Country Park which was quite
disappointing after the good start - I had a mooch around all the paths
before deciding to stake out the 'knoll' where I was hoping to get a raptor
or two and see what was out on the mud or flying over on vismig. I'd not
seen much on the country park or Stone Lees - 2 more Redwing and
overhead a couple of Great Spotted Woodpeckers, 2 more Grey
Wagtails and the occasional group of Siskin. The sky watch turned
out to be a good move as by late morning the Siskin numbers improved and I
saw 2 Common Buzzards and a migrant Marsh Harrier though the
mud flat was quiet. The juvenile Spoonbill showed up eventually and
stayed until the tide washed it away and though the general number of small
waders was way down on yesterday I did pick out 3 Little Stint and a
Curlew Sandpiper. There was no sign of yesterdays Phalarope or
Sandpiper - though many of the Dunlin were very distant, so its possible the
Piper may still be there? Whilst having a short wander away from my
telescope to try and escape the 51 zillion assembled flight squadrons of
kamikazi mosquito's intent on a Milton blood meal, I noticed in the distance
a small raptor mobbing a large raptor inland of the country park over
towards Richborough and after a quick dash back to my scope it turned out
the small raptor was a Kestrel and the large one was a Raven! They
were about a quarter of a mile away in my defence - mind you Ravens look
nice even at a quarter mile range. The mosquito's are just about as bad as I
can ever remember them this year - it was near impossible to stand still
most of the time. I had two visitors today - my nephew Oliver popped down on
his new motorbike but left after about ten minutes because of them and even
Sid (whose weekly monday visit chats can last an age with both of us
frothing at the mouth as we're both immense chatterboxes) only stayed for
about two minutes on his way past and less than that on his way back home
after his walk around. I packed up at 13.30 after the tide came in - there
were still a few flocks of Siskins moving, I think you could have got a half
decent count today if you could be bothered to stand around all day counting
them? They were still moving at 15.30 as I had a flock of about ten birds
head north over my garden as I was checking my moth traps. There were also a
few more flocks of Thrush's moving south over the estate - mainly Song
Thrush's but I could hear the occasional Redwing in amongst them. My other
notes for the day were: 15 Little Egret, 5 Brent, 76
Mallard, 15 Teal, 13 Wigeon, 1 Marsh Harrier -
south, 2 Common Buzzards - 1 mooching about inland and 1 south
@12.15, 3 Sparrowhawk, 1 Peregrine, 1 Hobby, 480
Oystercatcher, 240 Lapwing - 70 present and 170+ north, 1
Greenshank, 90 Dunlin, 8 Bar-tailed Godwit, 6 Sandwich
Tern, c10 Great Spotted Woodpeckers - including 3 high north, 1
Wheatear, 85 Meadow Pipit - c20 west and c65 n/west, 1
Skylark - n/west, 40 Blackcap, 6 Lesser Whitethroat, 2
Reed Warbler, 25 Chiffchaff, 50+ Song Thrush, 88
Goldfinch - north, 209 Siskin - 18 west and 191 north, 21 Reed
Bunting - 15 present and 6 north and 1000+ Starlings. (Phil M)
Monday 27th September 2010 Northdown Park Margate
An early morning walk in the park was mainly for exercise but there were
a few late migrants including a Garden Warbler, 6 Blackcaps, 5
Chiffchaffs, 2 Firecrest. A few Swallows moving
overhead and several Thrushes in the bushes. (Rae Boulden)
Monday 27th September 2010 Pegwell and
nearby
On the strength of the weather forecast I
took today off work and started around 9:15 walking from the Shell garage to
the farm, along the clifftop, then the harbour tunnel bushes and back
along Chalk Hill. It was unexpectedly warm and sunny, with a light NW wind,
and very quiet. In fact more than one Chiffchaff was in song. I
seem to remember the forecast was dull and damp with a moderate ENE? It
clouded over around midday and a few Thrushes, Swallows, House
Martins etc. were moving so I decided to hang in there. I'd completed
my usual circuit by now, so it was off to Nethercourt park where it
was....quiet again. After that though I did find a Pied Flycatcher
in Courtstairs Park. Flushed by my success, I decided to go back and do the
Hoverpad around 2pm but the only remnant from yesterday was the Spotted
Flycatcher, still hawking about at the southern end. Back up to the
clifftop for the late afternoon where the only birds of interest were the
mixed feeding thrushes (Redwings, Song Thrushes and Blackbirds) in
the garden of the farm house. Getting home and looking on Birdguides made
me wonder what could have been, if only the wind been right ! (Scott)
Monday 27th
September 2010 Dumpton park Ramsgate
Brambling
by first shelter South of Dumpton park
entrance on upper seafront Ramsgate at 07-45 (Kevin Hall on holiday from
South West Scotland)
Sunday 26th Sept - Pegwell Clifftop and
Hoverpad
I had an enjoyable session today. I arrived
around 11:30 and flushed my first 2 Redwings of the autumn from the
Shell garage bushes. On the way to the farm I noticed Meadow Pipit
numbers on the fields seem to be increasing. To get some shelter from the
wind I went down to the hoverpad. More Redwings were arriving, plus
a few Song Thrushes and Blackbirds. On the Western side of
the pad, directly underneath the Viking Ship picnic area, there was
virtually no wind and lots of birds - many Chiffchaffs, 3
Blackcaps, Common Redstart, Pied Flycatcher, a ghostly pale Lesser
Whitethroat and a Spotted Flycatcher were all observed flitting
about in the bushes and overhanging branches as I walked the full length of
the cliff wall. After sheltering from the rain for ages, I then went back
up to the clifftop where there was 1 Wheatear in the field and a
solitary Golden Plover in the horse paddocks. On the way back, my
first Firecrests of the autumn were heard but not seen in the tall
conifer near the Shell garage. (Scott)
Sunday 26th September 2010 Pegwell Bay
A spur of the moment trip to Pegwell this afternoon saw cycling down to the
bay during an unfortunate heavy downpour. Lucky it was that I didn't turn
around and come back as it was quite good down there today. Due to the
weather conditions I headed straight for the hide - the mud was still
covered in water but the tide was dropping so I settled in. On setting up a
new Spoonbill was spotted first scan sitting amongst all the waders,
terns and gulls across on Shellness and it was soon evident that there were
quite a few new waders around including a flock of Knot which arrived in off
the sea after the sixty fourth shower of the afternoon. The tide took ages
to drop and as it did so I started to pick a few bits and pieces up. A
second Spoonbill - the long staying juvenile (19th day) arrived from
somewhere up river and amongst the large Dunlin flock on the opposite side
of the river I picked out a group of 4 juvenile Curlew Sandpipers. At
some point - probably around 4.00pm I picked up a group of 3 small waders
flying across from Shellness and one of them looked interesting (the other
two were Dunlin) as it not only had a small but noticeable white rump but it
wasn't a Curlew Sandpiper. The birds landed on the mud out in front of the
hide for about 20 or 30 seconds before flying back towards the river and
landing out of sight behind some deep salt marsh but this gave me well
enough time to confirm that the bird was a White Rumped Sandpiper. I
thought I'd wait a minute or two to send out a few texts as the bird was
still out of view when another three birds flew across my view and landed on
the mud - another two Dunlin and a Grey Phalarope! The bird started
feeding out on the mud - picking around like a demented clockwork Calidris,
hanging around for about ten to fifteen minutes feeding and preening quite
close to the bird hide when we lost sight of it. I've never seen one out on
the mud flat before so it was quite nice - especially so as I'd been looking
at a yanky rarity only 2 - 3 minutes prior. During this time I'd taken my
eye off where the Sandpiper had been and can only presume that it flew off
whilst I was taking a video of the Phalarope/chatting on the phone etc and
we stayed until about 6.30 and didn't get another sighting. We even popped
into the hover port on the way home to grill the 300+ Dunlin that were by
that time on the northern end of the mud flat but didn't see the darn
creature. The only other bits of interest were 5+ juvenile Curlew
Sandpiper, 2 Little Stint, a Merlin, 15 Brent etc.
(Phil M)
Sunday 26th September 2010 Foreness Point Thanet
A short seawatch ( 8.15am to 9.30am)at Foreness on a strong N/NW wind
produced a few birds of interest including the following, 2 Sooty
Shearwaters, 1 Black Throated Diver, 5 Bonxies, 1
Arctic Skua, 56 Gannets , 52 Wigeon, 1 Teal, 6
Scoter, 2 Brent, 3 Sandwich Tern. On the cliff top a
Black Redstart. (Rae Boulden)
Saturday 25th September 2010 Minnis Bay
A rather strange turn of events saw me arriving at the Minnis shelter at
about 6.55am - it wasn't light enough for viewing until 6.15 but I mistimed
how long the bike ride took - well it was my first proper seawatch there for
nearly two years. My old ageing four foot long legs had me on site in a
little over 35 minutes. The watch was a little disappointing as it was far
too clear for anything other than Skua's and Gannets and most of the skua's
were a bit too far away which was a bit annoying. I did have a bit of
company - Bo, Chris Solly (who can't pronounce Sanderling and is so old
these days that he forgot my name) and unusually one Francis 'Rossi' Solly -
lead bass player with the retro funk metal outfit 'Suppression'. A few
others showed up during the morning too - even a cameo appearance from Chris
Hindle but all were soon shooed off by my relentless idiotic waffle. Franny
hung around until about 11.30 or thereabouts after which I did another hour
and a half in which time the Gannets started to build in numbers but
everything else died off - I hardly saw any more skuas when stuck on my own
(a handful of Bonxies) though I did see an adult Little Gull and two
probable Grey Phalaropes which flew west together past the close
green buoy just after midday. Fed up with watching waves and Gannets I left
at one o'clock. We did get a close juvenile Long-tailed Skua flying
west at 10.10 but that was the only out of the ordinary thing we saw and
even they are to be expected in these sorts of conditions. My notes for the
session included: 1 Little Egret, 1 Brent - east, a few
Teal, Wigeon and Pintail - west, c60 Common Scoter
- mainly east, 1 Black-throated Diver - west, 2 Red-throated Diver
- east, 300+ Gannet - mostly juveniles mainly west, c20 Arctic
Skua - west, c75 Great Skua - mainly west, 1 Auk species -
west and 1 Peregrine. (Phil M)
Saturday 25th September 2010 Foreness Point
I spent the morning sea-watching from the shelter of the pumping station
at Foreness Point. Obviously, with a brisk northerly blowing, it was never
likely to be as productive as the traditional sites at Minnis Bay & Reculver
Towers, it was still good fun. The large scale movement of juvenile Gannets
was very impressive; Common Scoter, Mediterranean Gull, a summer plumage
adult Black-throated Diver and a lone Bonxie adding to the variety, although
the petrels & shearwaters were conspicuous by their absence? A few Sandwich
Terns paraded the shoreline, with Turnstone, Dunlin, Ringed & Grey Plover,
Redshank, Oystercatcher and Curlew feeding on the foreshore below the
pumping station. (Dylan)
Saturday 25th September 2010 Backsand Scrape
Another look down at Backsand Scrape today, the only thing one could say
is it was rubbish with a hand full of birds on show, the only new birds were
2 Shelduck's one adult and one Juvenile, out on the fields in front
of the Scrape were cc300 Great Black-backed Gulls a very
disappointing trip to the Scrape. (Gadget)
Friday 24th September 2010 Newington Ramsgate
Quite a few Chiffchaffs have been seen and heard calling around the gardens
this past week or so and today whilst pishing a couple out of the cherry
tree at the end of my garden I saw a Spotted Flycatcher in an
adjacent garden which eventually flew north across the rooftops. (Phil M)
Thursday 23rd September 2010 Backsand Scrape
I spent a two hours down at Backsand Scrape one hour
before high-tide and one after high- tied, 2 Little Stints were the
best of the day, staying on one of the little bits of mud just out of good
photographic range, so only record shots obtained, also 5 Little Egrets
were also showing around the Scrape, other bits noted on or around the
Scrape: 44 Redshank, 23 Greenshank, 4 Dunlin, 6
Lapwing 3 Green Sandpipers, 2 Snipe, 2 Little Grebes,
3 Moorhen, 4 Coot, 4 Black-headed Gull, there was also
birds going over 34 Swallows, 11 Goldfinch, 1 Hobby and
along the way back 6 Stock Doves, 150cc Starlings and 3
Meadow Pipits, (Gadget)
Saturday 18th September 2010 Pegwell Bay
I arrived at 18.00 hours in pleasant conditions and had half an hours chat
to Pete (Forrest) as we scanned back and forth through the birds on view. It
was a tad dull by comparison with yesterday but we did see the juvenile
Spoonbill which was on the tide-line across at Sandwich on the opposite
side of Shellness but little else other than the usual. Just after Pete left
Gigeon Beale arrived and we chatted away into the darkness - I'm not used to
chatting with two different people on the same day ... I had to have an
extensive lay down when I got home! I did take a few counts which were 10
Little Egret, 1 juvenile Marsh Harrier, 3 Grey Plover, 7
Ringed Plover, 120 Dunlin, 3 Knot, 4 Greenshank,
1 Snipe, 1 Peregrine, 15 Common Tern and 10 Sandwich
Tern. Pete also saw the White Stork which apparently spent 20 -
30 minutes in the car park! He also saw an Avocet and Spotted
Redshank during the week. (Phil M)
Saturday 18th September 2010 Chalk Hill
area Thanet
I must have seen 40 Chiffchaffs today
on my walk this afternoon, 2-5 pm. Also my first Goldcrest's and
Stonechat of the autumn. Hobby, Sparrowhawk and Kestrel
were the only raptors I saw. (Scott)
Friday 17th September 2010 Ramsgate and Pegwell Bay
The days birding got off to strange start when I happened to notice a group
of ten Geese flying over the estate about 08.30. I dashed upstairs to get my
binoculars and just got down in time to identify 10 Pink Footed Geese
flying north/northeast from my back garden. I have seen a couple of Pink
Foot's flying over towards the estate many years ago but these were the
first one's I've seen from the garden for whatever it's worth? I haven't
been in the mood to face Pegwell these past few days and even when I was
going I could tell that it was getting to me a bit and was proving a bit of
a drag. Anyway - this afternoon I decided to pop down for the evening tide
in the hope that a few waders may have arrived. I watched from 18.00 -
19.15, the wind had dropped off and apart from two people walking around on
the mud, ten zillion mosquito's and the various dog shouters that pepper our
entire coast morning, noon and night it was actually quiet pleasant down
there on the whole. The bay was stuffed with birds with more waders than of
late, lots of Gulls with many still arriving, a small arrival of Terns as
the evening wore on plus best of all a group of 31 Canada Geese (plus
a single Greylag) which arrived at dusk from somewhere downriver. The
juvenile Spoonbill arrived out of the blue just as I was packing up
and started to feed over on the Shellness side of the river. This bird has
now been kicking about for ten days on and off and is the second longest
ever staying bird. My counts for the evening were: 3 Wigeon, 2
Teal, 370 Curlew, 3 Whimbrel, 22 Bar-tailed Godwit,
7 Knot, 140 Dunlin, 1 Sanderling, 4 Grey Plover,
16 Ringed Plover, 1 Curlew Sandpiper, 3 Common Sandpiper,
1 Snipe, 3 Greenshank, 65 Redshank, 1 Spotted
Redshank, 1 Ruff, 320 Oystercatcher, 3000+ Black-headed
Gull, 440 Common Gull, 460 Herring Gull, 130 Common
Tern and 45 Sandwich Tern. The sky to the south of me was full of
hirundines when I arrived too. (Phil M)
Friday 17th September 2010 Clifftop
Paddocks at Pegwell
A pleasant afternoon that started a bit
breezy with a cool NW wind but ended calm and sunny. Bird wise nothing
unusual but enjoyable. There were 2 Whinchat's and a Wheatear
in the clifftop paddocks at Pegwell and a Spotted Flycatcher in the
Chilton Lane allotments (observed through the fence). Loads more
Chiffchaffs and a female Blackcap in the Shell garage bushes.
Nearby Nethercourt and Courtstairs parks were quiet apart from more
Chiffchaffs squeaking away. (Scott)
Wednesday 15th September 2010 Pegwell Bay
A brief lunchtime (12.15 - 12.45) visit to Pegwell Bay, completely
mis-timing the tide, but the one-legged sleeping bundle of off-white
feathers, eventually revealed itself as the juvenile Spoonbill,
accompanied by 6 juvenile Curlew Sandpipers. 10+ Whimbrel
also noted. (Andrew Lipczynski)
Tuesday 14th September 2010 Pegwell Bay
I didn't go down until 08.30 and only stayed for three hours as there wasn't
much going on aside a bit of hirundine tomfoolery. I walked most of the area
and only properly checked the areas that were sheltered from the stiff
s/westly that made birding most of the are hard work. The long staying
juvenile Spoonbill was there again (for the seventh day) and there
were quite a few more new small waders. Overhead movement it was very quiet
except for 850+ House Martins heading mainly n/west plus a few
Swallows and a two Swifts. My notes for the morning included 12+
Little Egret, 60 Dunlin, 35 Ringed Plover, 3 Golden
Plover, 5 Grey Plover, 1 Greenshank, 3 Sanderling,
6 Bar-tailed Godwit, 2 Whimbrel, 5 Sandwich Tern, 2
Sedge Warbler, 25 Chiffchaff and 12 Blackcap. (Phil M)
Monday 13th September
2010 Backsand Scrape SBBOT
A look at the Backsand Scrape at
14-00hrs to High Tide around 15-30hrs today, birds noted were 1 Spotted
Redshank, 4 Dunlin, 2 Green Sandpiper, 1 Common
Sandpiper, 45 Redshank, 17 Greenshank, 10 Lapwing,
1 Curlew, 4 Little Egret, 1 Pintail, 2 Mallard,
10 Moorhen, 8 Coot, out on the fields heading back were 164
Greylag Geese, 109 Great Black-backed Gulls and 9 Pheasants,
3 Whinchat's with House Martins & Swallows moving
though heading south, (Gadget)
Monday 13th September 2010 Pegwell Bay
I checked the hover port, cliff top, country park and Stone Lees until 13.30
but it was quite hard work finding anything today. I messed up the only new
sub rarity today when after hearing a strange call whilst in a day dream as
I walked through Stone Lees I eventually picked up what was obviously a
Lapland Bunting flying n/west away from me towards the Country Park. There
was a bit of vismig today going over in dribs and drabs plus lots of
hirundines but grounded migrants were hard to find especially so when the
wind started to pick up. I did come across two each of Whinchat and
Wheatear plus 20 or so Chiffchaff and Blackcaps and the
singing Reed Warbler was still at it in Stone lees. Overhead I also
saw a few Meadow Pipits, 6 Grey Wagtails, 1 Yellow Wagtail,
1 alba Wagtail, 1 Swift, 1 Hobby, 2 Marsh
Harriers, 1 Common Buzzard and 23 Golden Plover. I didn't
wait for the tide to come all the way in but the juvenile Spoonbill
was still there as were 2 Whimbrel, 26 Dunlin, 2 Knot,
1 Grey Plover, 7 Ringed Plover, 1 Greenshank, 2
Sandwich Tern, 21 Wigeon and 14+ Little Egret. (Phil M)
Monday 13th September 2010 Chalk Hill area Thanet
Very quiet yesterday evening, Sunday 12th Sept. Only birds of note where
1 Wheatear on the fields and 3 Spotted Flycatchers in the
garden of the farmhouse (Scott)
Sunday 12th September 2010 Backsand Scrape
Had a brief visit to Backsand Scrape, although the tide
wasn't at its best. Birds of note were 2 Greenshank, 1 Green
Sandpiper, 1 Pintail female, 1 Gadwall and best of all a
Wryneck found on the main island. (Andy Keen)
Saturday 11th September 2010 Ramsgate Cemetery
A Hobby circled over Ramsgate Cemetery At 4:50 pm today a
for several minutes. (Marianne & Steve Harper)
Saturday 11th September 2010 Pegwell Bay
I went down early to see if anything was going on ... it wasn't! Between
06.45 and about 09.00 I had to make do with 8 migrant Meadow Pipits
plus a handful of common Warblers. I then headed down towards the Country
Park and Stone Lees where it was a bit better but not all that much. In the
end I did count around 35 Chiffchaff, 25 Whitethroat, 25
Blackcap, 6 Lesser Whitethroat, 12 Reed Warblers (inc one
in full song!), a Goldcrest, a Redstart plus singles of
Mute Swan, Yellow Wagtail and Grey Wagtail overhead. I had
intended to stay down for the incoming tide but it was so slow around the
bushes that I ended up leaving just after 11.00 way before the tide had
pushed in any waders. It looked dead out there anyway? The juvenile
Spoonbill was still in situ otherwise the only notes I took from that
area were singles of Greenshank, Bar-tailed Godwit and Grey
Plover, 10 Ringed Plover, 6 Dunlin, 2 Whimbrel plus
14 Sandwich Terns. There were lots of hirundines about from mid
morning with well over 1000 House Martins present before gradually
dispersing to the south as did a few more House Martins which were
approaching from the north. There were also a few hundred Swallows
and 20+ Sand Martins. (Phil M)
Friday 10th September 2010 Pegwell Bay
As it was till raining when I awoke at 5.00am I decided to roll over and go
back to sleep. By the time I'd woken up the weather looked pretty good -
surprisingly good given the weather forecast, so I had a quick breakfast
then hurriedly got my gear together and had a waddle around the clifftop and
then the Hover pad where I booted out an extremely flighty Wryneck at
09.20. I almost trod on it initially as it was on the ground just around the
corner from the path I was sneaking along. It's in the s/west corner if
anyone's interested - mainly around the scrub near to the southernmost large
clump of Sea Buckthorn. Craig eventually saw it mid morning in the same
area. There was very little else around - a few Meadow Pipits and Hirundines
overhead plus the occasional common warbler. Down onto the Country Park and
Stone Lees after I left Craig where it was very hard work finding anything
other than the obvious. A slight increase in Blackcaps (35+) and
Chiffchaffs (40+) apart it seemed like there had been quiet a clearout
since yesterday. I did come across singles of Wheatear and
Whinchat on the Country Park and a Spotted Flycatcher in Stone
Lees but that was about it. Overhead about 20 more Meadow Pipits and
4 Grey Wagtails passed over and a few Swallows were milling
about in the overcast conditions. The tide was disappointing given all the
rain, my combined counts revealing: 26 Little Egret, 1 juvenile
Spoonbill (third day), 270 Curlew, 1 Whimbrel, 2
Greenshank, 2 Knot, 24 Dunlin, 1 Snipe, 2 Ringed
Plover, 1 Lapwing, 5 Grey Plover, 620 Oystercatcher,
13 Bar-tailed Godwit and a first winter plumaged Mediterranean
Gull. There were also at least 3 Peregrines about today. (Phil M)
Thursday 9th September 2010 Sandwich Bay Area &
Grove Ferry
The Elms at Sandwich bay held Wood Warbler which
showed to within 3ft at times, also Spotted Flycatcher, Pied Flycatcher,
Firecrest, Goldcrest, Chiffchaff, the Restharrow Scrape held 2 Little Ringed
Plover, Common Sandpiper, Green Sandpiper, Garganey, Yellow wagtails, the
news came out in the afternoon that a Wilson's Phalarope had
dropped in at Grove Ferry, I picked up Craig and off we went, from
the ramp at Grove Ferry the Wilson's Phalarope showed well though a
scope, Record Photographs were obtained, (Gadget)
Thursday 9th September 2010 Pegwell Bay
Craig and I spent a rather long and gruelling day out wandering much of the
area between the farm and cliff top where we started at 06.45 and Stone Lees
taking in the rather large incoming tide and 'doing' a raptor watch for a
couple of hours around late morning until early afternoon. The farm and the
cliff top were quiet though it was soon evident that there was a bit of
vismig going on around the coast with a few finches, Hirundines, Meadow
Pipits, 2 Tree Pipits and a few Yellow and Grey Wagtails on the move.
We came across a couple of scarcities down on the hover pad one of which (a
Hippolais Warbler) showed briefly on three occasions but
proved so skulking that after about ten minutes of what turned into looking
at a bush we gave up on it and moved on. It was an Icky or a Melodious so
not a major rarity - a bit frustrating mind you. The other bird was a
Cetti's Warbler which are like hens teeth to see down on the pad. This
one was hanging around near the aluminium steps. Our next port of call was
the country park where there were lots of common warblers on show plus a
male Redstart, quite a few Whinchat, a flock of 12 Tree
Sparrows and at 10.15 'ears' Sammel's (he can hear things that others
can't let say - quite a trick over the top of my incessant waffle) heard a
Fan-tailed Warbler calling from the scrub on the country park. We
gave it about one minute in which time it called a further four times and a
Lapland Bunting flew over for good measure - then gave up having not
seen the bird. We were not too bothered of course having had fourteen
zillion sightings in the area this past year. After a quick zip around the
bits of the park we hadn't yet looked at we set up to watch the tide and
watch the sky for raptors. The tide was poor for waders (1 Curlew
Sandpiper, 3 Whimbrel, 12 Dunlin, 1 Green Sandpiper,
115 Sandwich, 1 Common and 1 Little Tern) but the
raptor watch was quite good with many Common Buzzard sightings (up to
four up at once - probably 7 or 8 birds in total) plus singles of Marsh
Harrier, a Honey Buzzard s/west at 11.30 after approaching the
country park from the n/west, at least 3 Hobby's feeding on the
myriads of dragonfly's that were filling the skies and quite a few
Sparrowhawks. We also saw overhead about 300 Swallow, 40 House
Martin and 6 Swifts flying in the main southwards. Yesterdays
juvenile Spoonbill was ever present too amongst 25+ Little Egrets.
After the tide had come in we decided to pack up the telescopes and have a
look around the bushes once again. The sun was really up and I didn't fancy
my chances of seeing anything given the time of day? We decided to go to the
relative shade of Stone Lees hoping that the mosquito's from hell that have
been a real pain every morning since my comeback were either scorched to
death or hiding from the sun. My hope was for 'scorched to death' after the
hellish time I've been having in there lately. Just after we went through
the n/east gate at 13.05 I spotted a Buzzard soaring to the west of us. I
pointed it out to Craig who whilst looking for the raptor picked up a group
of 5 dark birds flying in a strange formation inland. They were quite high
up and moving away from us - so I asked him to have another look as they
appeared quite interesting? As his telescope was still attached to his
tripod on his back and my scope was packed away in my rucksack - I asked him
to 'quickly' try and get on to them. At first he couldn't find them but
eventually he did and the birds were Glossy Ibis's which really put
the cherry on the cake of a day which was quiet an interesting one to say
the least. The Ibis's moved quite high unerringly inland, heading as far as
we could make out from our vantage point towards the Stour valley. We stayed
until 15.00 having a half-hearted look around some of the scrub and the
point area as the tide was starting to drop by then but saw nothing much
else. (Phil M)
Thursday 9th September 2010 Cliff's End Area
Black Kite
over Cliff View Road and East Kent access road 09.11 Thursday, being mobbed
Gulls and Carrion Crows.
(Keith
Nicholls)
Wednesday 8th September 2010 Pegwell Bay
I sent a huge chunk of the day down at Pegwell today. The weather must have
been a bit off-putting for the daily punters as I almost had the entire
place to myself today. I arrived early on and left mid afternoon and covered
pretty much the entire area between the farm and Stone Lees. I got a Pegwell
tick today ... Bill Martin. Well a non-cyber tick anyway. He had the
misfortune to get trapped in the hide with me for over an hour in which time
I must have bored the pants off him poor bloke. If your ears were burning at
midday today Johnny Websper then that was down to me as I put him straight
about a few things regarding you and the rest of the wrinkelies. Anyway -
the birding started off really slowly. I did most of the farm and cliff top
first thing and saw virtually naff all - not even a Wheatear or a Whinchat.
I had to make do with singles of Willow Warbler and Chiffchaff. There were a
few more things down on the hover pad which included 3 very early
Firecrests. The rest of the day until 14.15 when I eventually left
turned up pretty much what you'd expect as well as a juvenile Spoonbill
that arrived around 09.45 and was still there when I left, plus a
Grasshopper Warbler in Stone Lees and 5 Little Terns. The wader
numbers were poor once again though there were singles of Little Stint
and Ruff today. The bulk of the activity was made up with a few
flurries of hirundines which went on for pretty much the whole time I was
present. I counted 1600 Swallows and around 50 Sand Martin
plus a few House Martins moving n/west during the morning and there was a
mixed flock of about 500 mixed hirundines loitering around the salt marsh at
high tide feeding on whatever was out there. I also saw around another 100
Sand Martin heading n/west too. The only other noteworthy bits were singles
of Marsh Harrier, Common Sandpiper, Wheatear and
Stonechat plus 5 Whinchat, a Rock Pipit, 3 Tree Pipits
and 2 Goldcrest. (Phil M)
Wednesday 8th September 2010 Restharrow Scrape
Went to Restharrow Scrape this afternoon and this juv Little Gull
dropped in for 10mins.before being chased off by the Black Head Gulls.
Saw big Dave who suggested I pop into SBBOT and let Ian know. It turned out
to be the first sighting this year. Also my first Little Gull. It stayed
well up the splash but I managed a few shots, of which I've sent two of the
best. Not great but recognisable. (Roly W.C)
Tuesday 7th September 2010 Chalk Hill &
Nethercourt Thanet
A very enjoyable evening session delivered a Common
Redstart in the bushes by the harbour tunnel entrance. Also my first
visit to nearby Nethercourt Park this autumn was just a quick dash around at
about 7 pm, but it yielded a Pied Flycatcher. (Scott)
Tuesday 7th September 2010 Pegwell Bay
I started off early (too early if truth be told) and was enthused if indeed
the word 'enthused' should really be used seeing as the mood I'm in with my
birding these days - to see a flyover Grey Wagtail then find 4 very
noisy Green Sandpipers around the hover port apron as soon as I
arrived. It was downhill from then on - well for the next two hours or so
anyway. I've just noticed how this entry has started off in true Ronnie
Corbett monologue style ... bear with me. Anyway - I waddled around the
country park and Stone Lees seeing very little. As I say I'd arrived far too
early - there was a thick mist over much of the area first thing and
everything was far too damp both for my soaking wet legs as I walked through
the damp undergrowth and the insectivorous birds which just were not active
at the same time as I was! The sun soon burnt off much of the mist and the
morning was glorious (if indeed the word 'glorious' is to be used in tandem
with the area?) with strong sunshine ... which of course I didn't really
want and not a breathe of wind. It was a nice day to be out anyway though
the mosi's were in ultra attack mode in Stone Lees which made things a tad
irritating. I had seen a few bits - 1 Wheatear, 2 Whinchat, a
Hobby, a Turtle Dove, a Marsh Harrier plus I'd heard a
burst of Cetti's Warbler song emanating from the usual spot when
Craig rang as I was heading back for a look at the incoming tide. I told him
that it was dead then after hanging up started noticing things arriving - 2
Spotted Flycatchers and quite a lot of Whinchat's on the
country park - plus a few Sand Martins that were mingling amongst
some large flocks of Swallows which were moving n/west at one point. It
didn't last long but at least there were some new birds about. The tide was
decidedly average but I did see 1 adult Curlew Sandpiper, 26
Dunlin, 5 Greenshank, 1 Black-tailed Godwit, 31
Bar-tailed Godwit, 10 Whimbrel, 18+ Little Egret, 8
Grey Herons (7 south), 43 Sandwich Tern, c40 Mallard, 9
Teal and a Pintail. Pete arrived at some point and he'd seen a
Pied Flycatcher near Stone Lees and another flyover Grey Wagtail
on his walk up to the hide. After the tide had covered the mud I had another
look around the farm and hover pad on my way home for din dins (At
Gleneagles?) and just as I'd got as far as the start of the clifftop path
Craig phoned to say that there was a Honey Buzzard heading my way.
He'd seen it flying over the car park outside his flat in Ramsgate so I left
the confines of the tree lined path and headed up past the farmhouse. After
about a minute a few Gulls went up as did the corvid flock - but not
aggressively, in fact they were rather quiet? Then as I looked north across
the field I could see the Honey Buzzard heading straight for me -
Craig said it was really low and it was - it only went about 20 - 30 feet
overhead with no exaggeration. I didn't even have to lift my bins. It flew
down and banked over the hover pad before flying low over the country park
eventually making its way south between Richborough Power Station and
Pfizers around 10.10am. It was very dark bird and very probably a juvenile?
The farm was very slow though I did come across a Pied Flycatcher in
the farmhouse garden just before I left. There were a few Wheatear and a
couple of Whinchat up there but very little else. The other totals for the
day included 13+ Whinchat, 7 Wheatear, 20+ Sand Martin
n/west and there must have been in excess of 500 Swallows either
n/west and/or mooching about during the morning. (Phil M)
Tuesday 7th September 2010 Sandwich Bay Area
A little time spent over the SBBOT area today the Elms & Restharrow
areas also Scrape, birds noted: Willow Warbler, Spotted Flycatcher,
Firecrest, Goldcrest, with Whinchat, Wheatear, looking out
on Restharrow Scrape which held Little Ringed Plover, Common Sandpiper,
Dunlin, Yellow Wagtail, Meadow Pipit, Teal, Wigeon, Mallard, Coot, Moorhen,
with Sand Martin, House Martin, Swallow, going over the estate
throughout the day, (Gadget)
Monday 6th September 2010 Pegwell Bay area
I had intended to go down for the morning tide but when push came to shove I
just couldn't face it today. As the day wore on boredom got the better of me
after lunch so I made the great effort to pop down - the weather looked
quite good but I wasn't too bothered about what I was going or not going to
see to be perfectly honest. I ended up thoroughly checking the farm and
cliff top areas where there were few more Wheatears than yesterday. I also
had a few scans of the tide-line and mud both from the cliff top and the
hover pad. There were hardly any small waders at all though the mud was
strewn with Gulls as the tide fell. There must have been a bit of Lesser
Black-backed Gull movement as there were reasonable numbers present today
though the bulk of the Gulls were Herrings as you might expect. I was
heading for the Country Park and Stone Lees but after a quick chat with
Francis who I bumped into on the hover pad who said that there was very
little at Foreness I took the easy option and made my way home via the east
cliff and Courtstairs park where I found a few more Wheatears, 1+ Chiffchaff
(calling) and a Spotted Flycatcher in the tall trees in the new house
gardens in the park. My notes for the day were: c15 Little Egret, 2
Grey Partridge, 21 Dunlin, 160 Lesser Black-backed Gulls,
80+ Great Black-backed Gulls, 1800+ Herring Gulls, 80
Sandwich Tern, 4 Common Tern, 65 Collared Dove, 1
Whinchat, 1 Redstart (Shell garage), 21 Wheatear, 3
Willow Warbler. The most unusual thing that I saw today was a Brimstone
butterfly flying about in light rain in the garden of Westcliffe Terraces. I
haven't seen this species in the area for many years. (Phil M)
Sunday 5th September 2010 Pegwell Bay
Craig phoned about mid afternoon so we arranged to meet down on the clifftop
for a quick look. The bushes on the cliff top were quite blown out in the
strengthening easterly wind though we did come across 12 Wheatears
and a Whinchat mainly around the horse paddocks which was better than
a poke in the eye with a sharp stick. As the evening wore on we popped down
for a bit of a look at the mud which although covered in Gulls didn't turn
up much more than about 20 Sandwich Terns, 6 Common Terns and
2 juvenile Mediterranean Gulls. We did however bump into Tony (he
tried to run away before we spotted him but didn't quite manage it) who
reported a few bits that had been seen during the day such as 13 Curlew
Sandpiper, 1 Ruff, 1 Green Sandpiper, 6 Whinchat
plus singles of Pied and Spotted Flycatcher. He also
saw another Common Redstart yesterday. (Phil M and little Craig S)
Sunday 5th September 2010 Cliffsend
fields / Pegwell clifftop area
I've been off work all week and managed to
fit in a couple of hours birding nearly every day around family commitments.
Great timing in theory, but despite the easterly airflow and a host of
good birds popping up in north Thanet and in Sandwich bay, I haven't seen
much of note. Main migrants dropping in have been Chiffchaffs,
Whinchat's and Wheatears. Raptor-wise only a flyover Marsh
Harrier. Also the odd Whitethroat and singles of Blackcap
and Reed Warbler. Today there were 9 Wheatears in the
clifftop fields and I flushed a Grasshopper Warbler from the coastal
path. It flew up into a nearby tree and showed well before working its way
into denser cover. Still plenty of time though for something more
interesting to turn up though ! (Scott)
Sunday 5th September 2010 Sandwich Bay
A trip over to Sandwich Bay this morning to the
Photographic Club, turned out to be rewarding with a Wryneck showing
over the road by the oases, with other bit noted in the area conspiring of
Wheatears,
Whinchat's, Common Redstarts, Meadow
Pipits, Green Woodpecker, and a Kestrel hunting the
fields. (Gadget)
Saturday 4th September 2010 Northdown Park &
Kingsgate Area
News came out regarding a few bits around the coast
this morning, Barred Warbler, on Bird Guides, at mid morning Dylan
and Myself heading over to Kingsgate area were we located Icterine
Warbler, Wryneck, Pied Flycatchers, Willow Warblers, Chiffchaffs, Common
Redstarts, Great Tits, Blue Tits, and Long-tailed Tits
with Jay's being in good numbers, the Barred Warbler was not
relocated sadly but tomorrow is a another day. (Gadget)
Friday 3rd September 2010 Pegwell Bay and
Ramsgate
Another early shift this morning taking in the incoming tide just after
first light plus a wander around the whole area between Stone Lees and the
West Cliff. The only 'near' goodies were a Pied Flycatcher in Stone
Lees (the first one I've seen there in what seems like years?) and even
better for the area - 8 Canada Geese feeding on the mud until about
06.30 when they flew off just as I was about to phone Francis Solly who
hasn't got them on his Pegwell list this year. He loves being woken up at
half past six in the morning with news about this sort of thing ... I think?
Anyway - I did also come across 3 Redstarts (2 on the hover pad and 1
in Courtstairs park) plus 4 Whinchat, 4 Wheatear and a flyover
Tree Pipit. I did take a few counts which were: 1 Little Grebe,
1 Great Crested Grebe, 13 Little Egret, 2 Grey Heron,
53 Teal, 2 Wigeon, 2 Peregrine, 2 Grey Plover, 4
Bar-tailed Godwit, 19 Dunlin, 9 Sanderling, 5 Knot, 3
Whimbrel, 370 Curlew, 1 Greenshank, 75 Sandwich Tern,
1 Common Tern, 2 Yellow Wagtail, 50+ Whitethroat, 8
Lesser Whitethroat, 1 Garden Warbler, 15 Blackcap, 1
Sedge Warbler, 6 Reed Warbler, 2 Willow Warbler, 15
Chiffchaff, 100 Linnet and 3 Bullfinch. Another Tree
Pipit flew south over the back garden as I was looking into my moth
traps this afternoon. (Phil M)
Thursday 2nd September 2010 Pegwell Bay
Up with the lark to block up the moth traps - then after a cuppa and an
early breakfast I headed off for Foreness ... oh er um? Well I 'headed' off
with the intention of going to Foreness but bottled it and ended up going to
Pegwell of all places. Only yesterday I was telling Steve Tomlinson who I
met at Margate Cemetery how I couldn't face the thought of going back to
Pegwell for a variety of head mangling reasons and lo and behold less than
24 hours later here I was. Of course I am completely out of control and who
knows what I will do next? Not me for sure. I wandered around the
clifftop/farm area initially but it was dead as dodo until I walked back to
my bike where I came across singles Wheatear and Whinchat
loitering around the horse paddocks. There was a bit of Blue Tit
visible migration too - I saw 30 - 40 birds bush hopping westwards some of
which went quite high into the sky and they jumped between the end of the
cliff and the hover port bushes. Other than a couple of Sylvia
and Phylloscopus Warblers that was it. I didn't have my
telescope (I was meant to go to Foreness where I wouldn't have needed one of
course) but I could make out 20 Sandwich Terns, 6 Little Egrets etc plus a
few Knot plus lots of Black-headed Gulls (1 - 2000+) and I heard a Common
Sandpiper calling from somewhere below the cliff near the hover port. The
Country Park held a scattering of Blackcap, Whitethroat, Sedge and Reed
Warblers and there were a dozen plus Chiffchaffs in the general area between
Stone Lees and the car park. I also heard the contact call of a Cetti's
Warbler as I left Stone Lees. Top thing of the day went to a Short
Haired Lesser Spotted - Brazillian migrant who goes by the name of Pete
Forrest. You could have knocked me down with a feather as he was the last
person I was expecting to meet especially so as its the first time I've been
to Pegwell since early May so it was an enormous fluke to see him. I thought
I'd really lost it and my brain had reverted to pretending it was ten years
ago? But no it was Pete and it turned out that he's actually working at the
Bay from hell for the next four months so no doubt there's a chance that I
will bump into him again? (Phil M)
Thursday 2nd September 2010 Newlands Farm Fields
This morning (Thursday 2 September) there was a Wheatear on the
ploughed field at Newlands Farm, Ramsgate. (Marianne & Steve Harper)
Wednesday 1st September 2010 Sandwich Bay Area & Backsand Scrape
The morning was spent trying to photograph Pied Flycatchers with
not much success, they were seen along with other birds noted: Spot
Flycatcher, Gold Crest, Willow Warbler, Blackcap, all around the Elms
area, Whinchat's and Wheatear's, Meadow Pipits and Linnets were
along the Restharrow fields and yacht club area, on the Restharrow Scrape
Common Sandpiper, Green Sandpiper, Little Ringed Plover, Common Snipe and
Garganey were noted, Backsand in the afternoon was disappointing only a
few waders were noted: 2 Spotted Redshanks, Greenshank, Redshank, Common
Sandpiper, Little Grebe, were the best of the trip. (Gadget)
Wednesday 1st September 2010 Broadstairs and Margate Cemetery
I popped out for a couple of hours today and decided to take my bins with
me. Somehow I ended up along the public footpath behind Saint Georges School
where I came across a nice group of Whinchat's which were
fly-catching in the early afternoon sun from the bushes between the farm
fields. There were at least six birds, two of which were extremely
approachable. Other 'bits' included a Grey Wagtail flying north, a
Willow Warbler and a couple of Whitethroats. I did also have a
look in Margate Cemetery but it was quiet there. The only things that I
could find were 2+ Wheatears in the horse paddocks plus 3 Swifts
wheeling about overhead in amongst many Swallow and a few House
Martin. (Phil M)
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