Friday 30th September 2011 Pegwell Bay
A nice morning but still very few birds about. I
watched between 06.45 and 10.15 - there was a little bit of vismig first
thing and Siskins were passing over in droves over the Country Park by the
sounds of it at times but were impossible to see. The grounded birds were
hard work too - I counted 15 Chiffchaffs, singles of Sedge Warbler
and Blackcap, 7 Goldcrest and a male Common Redstart
and 3 Whinchats but nothing else. The only other notes that I took
were mainly of flyovers, they being - 19 Pied Wagtails, 2 Grey
Wagtails, 19 Skylarks, 1 Redpoll and 10 Reed Buntings.
Apart from a few Egrets the only things I noted from the mud flat were 4
Lapwing, 2 Golden Plover and 1 Greenshank. (Phil M)
Friday 30th September 2011 North Foreland
This morning a steady movement of Siskins heading West. Among them 4
Redpolls and 4 Crossbills. On the clifftop a Skylark and a
few Goldcrests and Chiffchaffs. Also 30+ Magpies flying
around pretending they were migrants. On the sea a Great Skua heading
South and the usual 2 Eider offshore - the male now attaining good
plumage. (Simon Mount)
Thursday 29th September 2011 Pegwell Bay
A lovely day weather-wise and there were a few
more birds about as well. I watched between 06.30 and 12.00 seeing: 20
Little Egrets, 9 Brent, 145 Mallard, 27 Wigeon, 8
Bar-tailed Godwit, 1 Greenshank, 2 Knot, 2 Dunlin,
2 Curlew Sandpiper, 8 Lapwing, 4 Grey Plover, 1
Golden Plover, 2 Whinchat, 2 Common Redstart, 20
Chiffchaffs, 10 Blackcap, 1 Whitethroat, 6+ Goldcrest,
1 Firecrest etc whilst overhead passage included 35 Meadow Pipit,
13 Grey Wagtail, 16 Pied Wagtail, 20 Chaffinch, 30
Linnet, 100+ Siskin, 3 Crossbill and 12 Reed Buntings.
(Phil M)
Wednesday 28th September 2011 Dumpton garden
A juvenile Whinchat provided a nice surprise, as it perched in
the garden Elder. A few Chiffchaffs, 2 Blackcap and a single
Swallow were the only other reminders of summer, whilst a trickle of
Meadow Pipits and a couple of Skylarks were indicative of
autumn migration. A juvenile Sparrowhawk was garden hedge-hopping
early morning, with a couple of Jays collecting acorns from Newland’s
Farm being the only other sighting of note (Dylan)
Wednesday 28th September 2011 Pegwell Bay
It's awful out there looking for birds at the
moment. The weather is glorious but it's ruined the birding and I gave up
after only an hour an a half of looking at nothing this morning and came
home. I couldn't be bothered to wait for the tide or any raptor watching
which is probably the only thing even trying in these ridiculous heat wave
conditions that have arrived this week. The only unusual thing I came across
on my wander was a Budgie sat in the trees near the rear end of the wooded
paddock. I did take note of 15 Chiffchaffs, 2 Goldcrest, c15
Meadow Pipits - west, 5 Pied Wagtails - west, 1 Yellow
Wagtail - west and there were 8 Little Egrets in the hover port
pools. (Phil M)
Tuesday 27th September 2011 Foreness to Ramsgate
I cycled from Foreness to Ramsgate this morning. Not
much about but I did note 3 Wheatear, 4 Swallow, 20 Siskin,
30+ Chiffchaff, 5 Sandwich Tern and a Grey Wagtail.
(Nick Lever)
Tuesday 27th September 2011 Pegwell Bay and
Ramsgate
The 06.30 arrival time was put off by a complete
pea-souper so I eventually went for it arriving at 7.30 even though the fog
didn't dissipate until around 9.30 - well not properly anyway. It was till
very quiet ... the only things of any note were 6 migrant Sparrowhawks,
a flock of 12 flyover Tree Sparrows and nothing else! Oops - nearly
forgot a pair of Ravens flying high north at 09.40 and a Swallowtail
(butterfly) north along the shoreline at 09.50 which conscience doesn't
allow me to count due to me seeing it through my telescope at long range. I
might even 'count' it if Sandwich get one today or the day after even as it
was heading strongly that way? A few other notes from the day included 9
Brent, 179 Mallard, 13 Wigeon, 1 Teal, 140
Lapwing, 12 Golden Plover, 4 Grey Plover, 2 Knot, 1
Black-tailed Godwit, 5 Bar-tailed Godwit, 36 Dunlin, 22
Sandwich Tern, 4 Common Tern, 1 Hobby, 1 Peregrine,
35 Chiffchaffs, 18 Blackcaps, 2 Sedge Warbler, 3
Wheatear, 5 Goldcrest etc whilst vismig turned up flyovers
comprising of 1 Yellow Wagtail, 2 Grey Wagtail, 143 Meadow
Pipit, 50 Linnets and 23 Siskin. Whilst pottering around
the garden this afternoon I also had a flock of 15 Siskin and a
Grey Wagtail head south over the house. (Phil M)
Monday 26th September 2011 Pegwell Bay
A lovely morning to be out being flat calm and
clear at first light with cloud gradually rolling in by mid morning but I
cannot ever remember the area being so barren of general common migrants,
either present or overhead, given the time of year? The day was 'saved'
initially by the spotting of a group of 12 juvenile Grey Partridges
which being the first of the autumn had us wondering whether they'd become
extinct in the area and then between 09.45 and 10.05 when at least 11,500
House Martins poured in from the east and s/east before heading off west
inland, which was rather fantastic for the 20 minutes that it lasted.
Otherwise it was almost hard to find a migrant bird at all. We watched from
06.40 until 11.30 when the third wave of boredom has us packing up for home
and the only other 'bits' of any note seen were 33 Canada Geese, 7
Greylag, 3 Brent, 7 Wigeon, 1 Shoveler, 1 Hobby,
1 Greenshank, 32 Sandwich Tern, 3 Common Tern, 30
Sand Martins - south, 300 Swallows - south, 2 Grey Wagtails
- north, 8 Pied Wagtails - south, 1 Cetti's Warbler, 2
Whitethroat, 8 Blackcap, 1 Sedge Warbler, 20
Chiffchaffs and 22 flyover Siskins. (Phil M)
Monday 26th September 2011 Newington, Ramsgate
A Chiffchaff was heard singing in Stirling Way at 09.45 (Philip
Solly)
Sunday 25th September 2011Grove Ferry
A very foggy start to the
birding this with not a great deal to see and not much heard until the
shotgun wielding thugs started blasting just yards from the edge of the
reserve scattering all Geese, Ducks and Waders to all points leaving little
for us to look at, once the sun burnt the fog off. Mark Chidwick and I did
our best to find migrants but the bushes and pools were empty. Adam Faiers
joined us late morning on his way to work and bird making the note book
were, 3 Marsh Harriers, 4 Water Rails, 6 Cetti’s Warblers,
6 Grey Herons and 3 Little Egrets. There was a single
Greenshank first heard but seen in flight later on, 3 Ruff all
juveniles, 1 Hobby, 1 Black-tailed Godwit and a Ring-necked
Parakeet that flew over us on the ramp calling loudly as it went. A
Golden Plover came in with 20 or so Lapwings and there were 9
Snipe, 1 Pochard, 300 Starlings, 1 Kingfisher 20+
Chiffchaffs and 46 Bearded Tits mostly along Harrison’s Drove.
(Martyn Wilson)
Saturday 24th September 2011 Pegwell Bay
A nice day to be out but not much cop for birding
weather-wise even though there were good numbers of common migrants were to
be seen. We watched between 06.30 and 12.30 seeing: 20 Little Egrets,
4 Brent, 75 Mallard, 26 Wigeon, 2 Teal, 2
Shoveler, 5 Common Buzzards - south, c6 Sparrowhawks, 1
Hobby, 2 Peregrine, 960 Oystercatcher, 7 Bar-tailed
Godwits, 2 Greenshank, 120 Redshank, 80 Lapwing, 20
Golden Plover, 1 Grey Plover, 2 Knot, 1 Turnstone,
40 Dunlin, 3 Curlew Sandpiper, 1 Snipe, 2 Great
Spotted Woodpecker - north, 120 Swallows, 116 Meadow Pipits,
2 Yellow Wagtails, 2 Grey Wagtails, 5 Pied Wagtails, 7
Whinchats, 1 Wheatear, 75 Sandwich Terns, 6 Little
Terns, 3 Sedge Warblers, 1 Reed Warblers, 20 Blackcaps,
50 Chiffchaffs, 100+ Linnets, 74 Siskins, 6 Redpolls
and 15+ Reed Warblers. (Phil M)
Friday 23rd September 2011 Pegwell Clifftop
Generally quiet but still 20+ Chiffchaffs and the first handful of
Goldcrests for this autumn. A few Meadow Pipits and
Skylarks are appearing on the fields now, plus 3 Wheatears.
(Scott)
Thursday 22nd September 2011 Pegwell Clifftop
Did the circuit today 10-12. I bumped in to
Craig Sammels on the way round. I'm glad I did because he found 2
Firecrest - one of them showed well. Shortly afterwards he picked out a
Common Buzzard overhead. Continuing onwards, all I managed to add
were 5 Wheatears seen in one of the fields that backs on to the
paddocks. (Scott)
Sunday 18th September 2011 Minster Marshes
Thanet
A walk to and along the river from Minster
towards Richborough on Sunday produced the following. Linnet 60,
Heron 1, Marsh Harrier 3, Goldfinch 20, Reed Bunting 3,
Meadow Pipit 25, Wheatear 1, Chiffchaff 55, House
Martin 400, Swallow 300, Cetti's Warbler 3, Kestrel
3, and best of all a full ten minutes watching 9 Common Buzzards
soaring and drifting at various heights southwards..... Lovely. (Amanda
Parker)
Sunday 18th September 2011 Pegwell Bay
200 + Starling, 6 Chiffchaffs, 2 Reed Warbler, 19
Little Egrets, 2 Shelduck, 2 Grey Heron, 130 +
Sandwich Tern , 3
Bar-tailed Godwit, 14
Cormorant's, 15 Lapwing, 3 Ringed Plover, 2 Knot,
38 Wigeon, 2 Shoveler, 1 Teal, 125 Dunlin, 1
Curlew Sandpiper, 3 Sanderling,
1 Common Sandpiper, 14 Common Tern , 400 + Swallows
Counted twice ! And a shed load of Oystercatchers on the far side !!!
(Richard Kinzler)
Sunday 18th September Grove Ferry/Stodmarsh
Another morning spent at
the best nature reserve in Kent on a chilly Sunday. Two Tawny Owls
were dueting as I climbed out of the car at 5.45 and one bird was so close
it must have been just a few yards away. I was joined on the ramp by Pete
Solly and we birded the whole circuit together until Pete left at 10.30 and
I stayed on the ramp until 1.00pm. Seven Marsh Harriers left the
reserve this morning and another 2 were around the Marsh hide area. Making
the note book were 9 Water Rail, 5 Grey Herons, 9 Cetti’s
Warblers, 1 Kestrel, 5 Little Egrets, 4 Black-tailed
Godwits and 1 Pintail. There were only 97 Greylag Geese at
Grove this morning but the fact there were some ‘big’ men with their shiny
shooting tubes just of the reserve is probably the reason, there were
however 432 Greylags on the lake at Stodmarsh when we arrived there. There
were 10 Corn Buntings out of roost by the ramp, 6 Snipe, 1
Greenshank, 1 Peregrine (seen several times), 9 Ruff, the
juvenile Black Tern still, 1 Little Grebe, 2 Whinchats
and 1 Stonechat. Steve Ashton & Bill Gawler had 4+ Stonechats
late morning along Harrison’s Drove near the ‘White House’ where they also
had 1 Sedge Warbler. There were a lot less Swallows and Martins today
with no House Martins seen, a constant trickle of Swallows, no more
than 700 birds and a flock of 60 Sand Martins at Stodmarsh lake.
There were three groups of 12-18 Bearded Tits around the reserve and
the only warblers of note today were 60+ Chiffchaffs along the river
side trees and bushes. There were 129 Pochards, 4 Tufted Ducks,
6 Great-crested Grebes, 2+ Ring-necked Parakeets, 2 Green
Woodpeckers, 1 Great-spotted Woodpecker, 1 Common
Sandpiper, 1 Sparrowhawk and 4 Ringed Plovers. The morning
finished with a bit of a raptor fest when from the ramp between 10.30am &
1.00pm I noted 3 Common Buzzards, 2 more Sparrowhawks, 1
Hobby, 1 Harris Hawk (complete with jesses) at 11.05-11.15 and 1
Osprey high south west at 11.35. (Martyn Wilson)
Saturday 17th September 2011 Pegwell Bay
I popped down early afternoon for a look at the
tide and then when the tide came in I tried an hours sea-watch whilst
keeping one eye on a steady trickle of Hirundine's (mainly Swallows) which
were heading south both overland and out at sea. There were many more
smaller waders today and although there were plenty of Terns offshore the
sea watch was almost a waste of time though I did see half a dozen
Gannets, 2 Skua species and 15 Common Scoters passing by.
Other things that made it as far as the notepad included 20 Little Egrets,
42 Wigeon, 2 Shoveler, 1 Teal, 5 Bar-tailed Godwit,
3 Lapwing, 1 Grey Plover, 5 Ringed Plover, 140
Dunlin, 3 Curlew Sandpiper, 1 Little Stint, 1 Common
Sandpiper, c150 Sandwich Terns and c20 Common Terns. (Phil
M)
Saturday 17th September 2011 Fowlmead
Had a mooch around for an hour this afternoon. Loads of
Chiffchaffs, well over 100. Also masses of Long-tailed Tits
but not much else. (Nick Lever)
Saturday 17th September 2011 Grove Ferry & Restharrow
A grey slow morning at
Grove with one or two Cetti’s Warbler and a Water Rail struggling to make
the calls heard over the noise of the wind. Staying at the Grove end today
but making a visit to the Water Meadows undertaken. Birds noted today were,
120 Greylag Geese, 5 Cetti’s Warblers, 4 Water Rails, 1
Bittern, 7 Marsh Harriers and 11 Black-tailed Godwits.
There were five from the ramp and a further six on the Water Meadows. Teal
numbers were down when I counted them, 782, but seemed higher when I looked
again late morning. There were 362 Lapwings, 8 Bearded Tits, 3
Pintail, 3 Green Sandpipers, 14 Snipe, 2 Greenshank,
2 Little Grebes and 2 Ruff. Later in the morning the five
Black-tailed Godwits and the two Ruff took flight and were joined by another
wader, what was possibly a Pectoral Sandpiper, I’m sure it had a cut
off breast and a split white rump, flew high with the Ruff out towards
Seaton and disappeared out of sight, wouldn’t like to claim on those views
though. Later one Ruff was back but no sign of the other two! There were
several warblers about the bushes with a dozen Chiffchaffs and 15+
Blackcaps noted plus there were, 8 Long-tailed Tits, 3
Greenfinch, 1 Little Egret, 1 Kestrel and 1 Jay.
From the ramp late morning there were 31 Canada Geese and a
juvenile Black Tern was over the back pool. There was a large
hirundine movement today with Swallows moving west all morning and in
between heavy rain showers there must have been 3000+ House Martins
and 6000+ Swallows passing through, only 30 odd Sand Martins
though. On the way home I made my usual stop at Restharrow Scrape at
Sandwich where I noted, 3 Dunlin, 1 Green Sandpiper, 1
Little-ringed Plover and 1 Common Sandpiper. There were 22
Teal, 2 Moorhen, 1 Oystercatcher, 4 Sandwich Terns,
8 Grey Partridge, 6 Pheasants, 18 Black-headed Gulls,
12 Herring Gulls and 2 Lapwings.
(Martyn Wilson)
Friday 16th September 2011 Manston Area
Driving home through Manston today about
17-30hrs, I noticed a large movement of Swallows north, 3000+ in
about 15 minutes. A few Sand and House Martins mixed in and 1
Swift. Autumn is upon us. (Amanda Parker)
Friday 16th September 2011 North Foreland
This evening a Southerly movement of over 2000 Swallows along the
clifftop. In among them a few Sand Martins and House Martins.
(Simon Mount)
Friday 16th September 2011 North Foreland
This morning I managed a 40 minute seawatch in excellent looking
conditions. However the sea mist soon lifted and birds started passing
further out. Perhaps the movement would later cease. Totals as follows of
birds heading South:- 1 Manx Shearwater, 30 Gannets, 14
Common Scoters, 9 Great Skuas, 20 Sandwich Terns and an
adult male Peregrine. One Grey Heron drifted North, calling
loudly. In the bushes were still large numbers of the Chiffchaffs
from yesterday. (Simon Mount)
Friday 16th September 2011 Cliffsend
Farm Area
A slightly better day today. Still 50+
Chiffchaffs scattered liberally about (though probably less than
yesterday) with 4 Blackcaps and 1 Whitethroat thrown in. A
total of 5 Whinchats were seen around the fields, back of the farm
and paddocks. Also 3 Wheatears. (Scott)
Friday 16th September 2011 Pegwell Bay
A bit of a let down was today - the wind went
around to the east at long last but very little happened. I watched between
06.40 and 13.00 today, mainly concentrating on the bushes but came across
nothing unusual. I watched the tide 'almost' all the way in too
seeing: 20+ Little Egrets, 3 Brent, 22 Wigeon, 1
Marsh Harrier, 1 Hobby, 1 Peregrine, 2 Whimbrel, 1
Greenshank, 4 Bar-tailed Godwit, 2 Lapwing, 5 Ringed
Plover, 11 Sanderling, 30 Dunlin, 3 Knot, 20
Sandwich Tern, 3 Yellow Wagtail, 2 Grey Wagtail, 8
Whinchat, 2 Wheatear, 90 Chiffchaff, 20 Blackcap
etc. (Phil M)
Thursday 15th September 2011 Grove Ferry & Sandwich Bay
I arrived at Grove Ferry just after 06-15hrs this morning hoping to see
the 2 Common Cranes which were seen yesterday, at 0705 the 2 Common
Cranes took flight and headed towards the marsh-hide area, I relocated
them out on a field between Harrison's Drove and Marsh-hide, at 07-30hrs and
at 07-45hrs they took flight and head back to Grove Ferry and beyond heading
towards Pegwell, other bits of note: seen this morning at Grove Ferry were
cc35 Bearded Tits, 18 Reed Buntings, 4 Water Rails, 3
Grey Heron, 2 Little Egrets, 4 Bittens, 5 Green
Sandpipers, 2 Hobby's, 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Kestrel,
Teal, Mallard, Gadwall, Greylag Geese, at 11-30hrs I headed over to
Sandwich Bay and Backsand Scrape looking for the
Pectoral Sandpiper that (Phil M) had
reported at Pegwell Bay which flew out towards Sandwich, sad to say I didn't
relocate the
Pectoral Sandpiper, The Scrape hell 2
Little Grebes, 2 Tufted Ducks, 1 Common Sandpiper, 4
Green Sandpiper, 7 Greenshanks, 14 Redshanks, 1
Kingfisher, also a Common Buzzard drifted around the old Power
Station Tower, driving back from the Scrape a few Wheatears were seen
along with Skylarks and back at the observatory Chiffchaffs
were moving around the car-park, (Gadget)
Thursday 15th September 2011 Foreness Area
Lots of Chiffchaffs today well over 100 birds and they seemed to
emanate from every bush, 2 juv Hobbies, 5 Wheatear, 2 Grey
Wagtails and a single Crossbill flew over. (Barry Matlock)
Thursday 15th September 2011 Pegwell
Cliff Top Area
Today was one of those September
days where Chiffchaffs are everywhere but there's not a whole lot
else to look at. I am not sure how many I saw but I certainly passed the 50
mark. (Scott)
Thursday 15th September 2011 Pegwell Bay
A nice day today as the wind had died down to
almost nothing and with the old current bun out, a proper Indian summers
day. The bushes/vismig passerines were hard work aside from Chiffchaffs
which were everywhere this morning - probably in their hundreds? The whole
area was full of their 'hwee' calls and every now and then a bunch would be
seen jumping about amongst the low bushes and scrub. There were also quite a
few Blue Tits and Great Tits (especially Blue Tits) which had arrived
from some-place away from Pegwell ... I watched about 50 Blue Tits alone
head east along the cliff top in the 90 minutes or so that I was up there.
Most of the other vismig was heading s/west - not that there was all that
much but I did make note of 117 Meadow Pipit, 1 Yellow Wagtail,
3 Pied Wagtail, 1 Grey Wagtail, 14 Siskin and the first
Redpoll of autumn too, I'm not sure how many as I only heard it/them.
The tide was spent watching the bird flying around away from the noise of
Jetski's but unlike the last few tide there were at least a few new arrivals
to sift through - 1 Avocet, 1 Whimbrel, 9 Bar-tailed Godwit,
9 Knot, 3 Spotted Redshank, 32 Dunlin, 1 Little
Stint, 1 Turnstone, 1 Golden Plover, 2 Ringed Plovers
showed while at around 11.30 whilst raptor watching from the knoll I heard a
strange call coming from the salt marsh to my right ... my immediate thought
was Dotterel ...then I thought ... no hang on it's a Curlew Sand but the
call lacked that pure trilly tone and after a bit when I didn't know what I
was hearing/looking at the sun caught it as it banked in flight and I
thought Pectoral Sandpiper which as it turned out it was. It spent
about one minute on the mud before disappearing unseen as I played around
with my camera whilst trying to do a quick video of it. This is only the
sixth record of Pec Sand in the past 35 years at Pegwell ... well the sixth
confirmed sighting anyway after birds seen in 1976, 1978, 1991, 1999 and
2008. I also missed a Swallowtail which Francis picked up flying
north over the salt marsh at high tide which was a bit of a bummer as I've
still to see one in the Bay and I also missed something else around 10.50
when the Gulls inland were going properly nuts for about 15 minutes but I
saw nothing except for a Buzzard (which they ignored) and I presumed/hoped
at the time that it might have been the Grove Cranes but as it turned out
Gadget text me to say they flew off from there after this so I don't what
was going on? The raptor watch up until 13.00 when I packed up, turned up 1
Sparrowhawk, 1 Common Buzzard - south, 1 Common Buzzard
hovering inland plus 1 Hobby and the only other stuff I took note of
were 20+ Little Egret, 9 Wigeon, 1 Garden Warbler, 50
Blackcap, 20 Whitethroat and 10 Lesser Whitethroat.
(Phil M)
Wednesday 14th September 2011 Fisherman's
Car park Coldharbour Area
A few bits noted along the track heading towards
Coldharbour in the way of 2 Chiffchaffs, 1 Robin, 2
Yellow Wagtails, 1 Kestrel hovering over one of the fields, a
small flock of 8 Meadow Pipits just as I reached the seawall, in the
time I spent looking around Coldharbour area and along the shingle, birds
noted were 9 Wheatears, 2 Whinchats, cc35 Linnets, cc24
Meadow Pipits, 3 Yellow Wagtails, 1 Redshank, 1
Whimbrel, 2 Sandwich Terns, cc65 Black-headed Gulls, cc35
Herring Gulls, 4 Gannets (all juv) 6 Cormorants, on
the way back to the car 2 Pheasants, and a few Swallows were the only new bits noted,
(Gadget)
Wednesday 14th September 2011 Pegwell Bay
It was very hard work finding anything today but
eventually I did see a few bits and pieces. Although there were good numbers
of Chiffchaffs around (mainly around the Country Park/Stone Lees) the bushes
are almost a complete waste of time at the moment. I checked the farm and
the cliff top this morning and saw absolutely nothing either decked or
overhead and then just as I wandered back along the cliff top to get my
bike, I stumbled across a real surprise in the shape of a Pied Flycatcher
which was seen in the farm house garden over the top of the mud mound.
Considering the only other thing I'd seen was a single Pied Wagtail a Pied
Fly is a high value migrant in a westerly wind down in these parts in this
rather poor autumn for eastern drift migrants. I had already checked the
Hover Port (where there was nothing bar a few Chiffchaffs & Blackcaps)
and spent the rest of the day watching the incoming tide and raptor watching
inspired by spotting a group of 3 Common Buzzards flying north
(migrants?) at 11.25 during one brief scan from my sheltered spot on the
wrong side of the hide. This rather fortunate sighting proved a good thing
as at about 11.45 I spotted what I thought was an Osprey flying south but
unfortunately missed it whilst trying to get the telescope on the darn
thing. The reaction from the local Gulls was enormous and I can only presume
that it had flown right past me unseen as it was flying strongly south so
all I had was long range rear end views though my binoculars which wasn't
sufficient unfortunately. Oh well ... at 12.05 a Raven got up to the
south of me (I'd set up on the grassy knoll by then) and gave nice but long
range views as it gained height eventually flying south from the pine
plantation across at Sandwich, before soaring around somewhere many hundreds
or even thousands of feet over Shellness area where I watched it until I got
fed up with watching it. The funny thing was that a bit of vismig picked up
around midday and I ended up in the next hour seeing 68 Meadow Pipits
and 14 Siskins in two groups (a 6 and an 8) flying s/west past the
Knoll (Edmonds) which raised my spirits a bit after the awful morning I'd
had seeing nothing at all. Two of my favourite birds are Siskins and Meadow
Pipits in my later life and especially so on vismig. I did also see 3
migrant Sparrowhawks (I think they were moving anyway?) plus a single
Hobby and then at 12.55 picked up another large raptor inland of me
which I assumed initially to be a Common Buzzard but turned out to be a
Honey Buzzard. It soared around for a few minutes west of the Country
Park before gradually making it's way off north. The tide was dire with not
one single small wader at all showing ... how often would you expect that on
a day in mid September? Anyway - I took a few other notes which were: 35
Little Egrets, 6 Wigeon, 1 Black-tailed Godwit, 2
Bar-tailed Godwit and there was a Wheatear across on Shellness
and 30 odd Sandwich Terns mulling around at high tide. (Phil M)
Wednesday 14th September 2011 Grove Ferry
I
received a text from Mark Chidwick this afternoon to say that there is 2
Common Cranes were just off the ramp showing well, he also sent two
photos for the website, (Mark Chidwick)
Tuesday 13th September 2011 Pegwell Bay
I watched between 09.40 and 13.15 today in
blustery conditions taking in the incoming tide, a bit of bush watching and
a bit of vismig including an hours raptor watching around midday onwards
when conditions looked okay for that sort of thing. It was fairly quiet on
the whole and migrant wader numbers were once again dreadful on the tide. I
did see: 40 Little Egrets, 80 Mallard, 5 Wigeon, 1
Teal, 7 Lapwing, 15 Ringed Plover, 1 Dunlin, 1
Greenshank, 1 Whimbrel, 2 migrant Sparrowhawk, 3 migrant
Hobby's, 2 Wheatear, 4 Whinchat and 20 Chiffchaff.
Vismig turned up 50 Meadow Pipits, 2 Yellow Wagtails, 1
Grey Wagtail and the first four Siskins of the autumn. (Phil M)
Tuesday 13th September 2011
Sandwich Beach & Restharrow Scrape
A quick
look along the beach at Sandwich today 7 Wheatear, 3 Whinchat
were noted and 1 Common Gull, I call into Restharrow Scrape which
sill held 1 Little Stint, 3 Green Sandpipers, 3 Ruff,
1 Little Ringed Plover, 5 Dunlin, and a few Teal.
there was still a few Swallows, Sand Martins, moving though. there
were a few Meadow Pipits and Chiffchaffs moving this morning
back on Thanet, but little over at Sandwich Bay, (Gadget)
Monday 12th September 2011 Pegwell Bay
I watched between 10.00 and 12.30 in very windy
conditions watching the tide and trying a bit of sea-watching after the tide
came in. A few 'bits' showed but nothing too unusual. My notes included: 40
Cormorant, 20 Little Egrets, 3 Wigeon, 72 Mallard,
1 Whimbrel, 1 Bar-tailed Godwit, 8 Knot, 21 Dunlin,
1 Little Stint, 1 Lapwing, 2 Ringed Plover, 1 Ruff,
2 - 3 Arctic Skua's, 120 Sandwich Tern, 220 Common Tern,
3 Black Tern and 1 Whinchat. (Phil M)
Sunday 11th
September 2011 Backsand Scrape & Restharrow Scrape
A trip down to Backsand
Scrape this morning was rewarded with,1 Little Egret, 5 Dunlin,
3 Greenshank, 1 Common Sandpiper, 1 Green Sandpiper,1
Little Grebe, cc36 Greylag Geese, cc60 Linnets, On to
Restharrow Scrape bits noted: 3 Greenshank, 3 Ruff , 1
Green Sandpiper, 5 Dunlin 2 Little Stint, 4 Curlews,
1 Little Ringed Plover, 1 Oystercatcher, 5 Black-headed
Gulls, there were 2 Hobby's, hunting over the Scrape and Worth
Mashes cc1000 Swallows, cc200 Sand Martins, cc80
House Martins, were moving over the worth Marshes, (Gadget)
Sunday 11th
September 2011 Grove Ferry & Restharrow
Despite it blowing a hoollie this morning,
Mark Chidwick & I made our weekend pilgrimage to the hallowed grounds of
Grove Ferry. Dodging heavy rain showers we only did the eastern end of the
reserve missing out the Water Meadows and the lake end of this fabulous
Stodmarsh National Nature Reserve. No Owls were heard today but a couple of
Cetti’s Warblers did try out do the howling wind. A Greenshank
was heard as we approached the Viewing Ramp and later there were two on the
pool plus also noted were, 374 Lapwings, 11 Marsh Harriers,
297 Greylag Geese, 1 Ruff, 4 Green Sandpipers, 3
Water Rail and 2 Little Egrets. While counting the Teal,
of which there were 1041, we spotted 2 Pintail (eclipse pair) plus
the usual Mallard, Gadwall and Shoveler oh, and there
were a further 22 Teal from Feast hide. Two Foxes were also at Feast
hide so very little in the way of birds were seen. There were 3 Grey
Herons, 7 Snipe, 1 Kestrel, 1 Whinchat and 1
Spotted Redshank. The wind and rain seemed to bringing Gulls in with
many hundreds of Gull of four Species passing over, Black-headed,
Herring, Great Black-backed and Lesser Black-backed all
noted with 277 Black-headed Gulls dropping onto the ramp pool plus
111 more from Feast hide as well as 15 Herring Gulls on the ramp pool
all of which were 1st or 2nd year birds except 1 4th
year individual. Apart from several Swallows passing through west and
a Little Grebe at Feast hide that was about it. Mark and I decided to
have a look at the Restharrow Scrape at Sandwich as Mark needed Little Stint
to top up his year list. We spent two hours in the hide at Restharrow
noting, 3 Ruff, 3 Dunlin, 2 Little Stints, 2 Green
Sandpipers,1Little-ringed Plover,1 Greenshank, 1
Curlew and 1 Oystercatcher. More waders than the whole Stour
Valley on a tiny little scrape! The Oystercatcher was bearing an ankle
bracelet so was perhaps one of the youngsters rung at the scrape in the
spring. Also on the scrape today were 2 Linnets, 3 Meadow Pipits,
7 Herring Gulls, 16 Black-headed Gulls,1 juvenile
Mediterranean Gull and the 3 Moorhens and at Dickson’s Corner as
I left there were 2 Whinchats and 3 Wheatears. (Martyn Wilson)
Saturday 10th September 2011 Pegwell Bay
I watched between 06.30 and 10.30 today but
nothing much was happening other than 'lots' of Yellow Wagtails
on/over the cliff top/farm first thing, a migrant Hen Harrier flying
west and 3 Little Stints amongst a depleted cast of waders out on the
mud flat. My other notes included: 30+ Little Egrets, 4 Whimbrel,
2 Bar-tailed Godwit, 36 Lapwing, 1 Grey Plover, 17
Ringed Plover, 21 Knot, 38 Dunlin, 1 Peregrine, 53
Yellow Wagtail - 15 present and 38 west, 64 Meadow Pipit -
generally west, 1 Wheatear, 3 Swifts - south, 40 Blackcap
and 25 Chiffchaff. (Phil M)
Saturday 10th September 2011 Grove
Ferry / Stodmarsh & Restharrow
Mark Chidwick and I arrived at the entrance
to Grove Ferry at just after 5.00 this morning where we were to meet Marc
Heath for a mornings birding. Marc, sadly, despite arranging a meet, kept
his rarity status up and failed to show. Alan Ashdown did arrive however,
and we were soon joined by Adam Faiers and Sue Morton. The birding started
with both Tawny & Little Owl calling in the dark by the
entrance whilst Cetti’s Warbler, Water Rail and Greylag
Goose could also be heard, as light improved we saw 2 Hobbies feeding
over Feast pool and possibly a third bird later over Stodmarsh lake. There
were 840+ Teal on the main pool, 9 Marsh Harriers seen with 7
leaving early, 3 Little Egrets, 3 Greenshank, 6 Green
Sandpipers, 1 Kingfisher and 320 Greylag Geese all making
the note book and there was a Whinchat on the entrance fields with a
further 3 along Middle Drove along with a single Stonechat. A
Bittern was seen from Feast hide as were 4 Bearded Tits and we
also noted, 2 Sparrowhawks, 12 Yellow Wagtails, 16 Snipe,
1 Spotted Redshank, 1 Black-tailed Godwit and a Kestrel.
Along with Mallard, Shoveler and Gadwall there were 173 Pochards on
Stodmarsh lake but only 6 Tufted Ducks, also 3 Great-crested
Grebes. Swallows and Martins were passing through all morning and
although we gave the Marsh hide a miss (full of Bittern snappers) we
understand, from Dylan, there were 2 juveniles and 1 adult Bittern seen
there today, we also saw a Bittern twice more from the ramp late morning. A
single Ruff was noted, 5 Stock Doves and a single Swift
near the Oxbow. That was about the best of it today but on the way home I
stopped at Restharrow in Sandwich where there were, 2 Little Stints,
3 Dunlin, 3 Ruff, 1 Greenshank, 1 Little-ringed
Plover, 1 Green Sandpiper and 6 Teal plus, 3 Meadow
Pipits, 6 Linnets, 1 female Marsh Harrier, 3 Moorhens,
2 Stock Doves, 1 Common Gull and 3
Black-headed Gulls. (Martyn Wilson)
Friday 9th September 2011 Joss Bay and Foreland
A pleasant stroll with the mutt - 19 Wheatear
around the pitch'&'putt area, a Hobby over the golf course and a
Whinchat along the path beneath the lighthouse. It was also nice to see
plenty of Swallows feeding their young sitting on he wires of the
electric fence. (John Carnell)
Friday 9th September 2011 Pegwell Bay
I watched the bay between 06.45 and 13.00 today
in cloudy conditions with a bit of light rain first thing which gradually
petered out as the morning wore on. It was good today ... very good, far
better than expected with a trickle of visible migration (mainly after
09.00am) plus a few goodies in the shape of a Mediterranean Shearwater
which loitered offshore for a while, a Temminck's Stint and nice
views of a Raven. The Shearwater was good as initially I couldn't
identify it as it appeared offshore during the ten minutes of the day when
the sun broke through. It was only just the other side of Shellness and
heading slowly south down the beach at Sandwich, flying round in a circle at
one point and even landing before eventually heading out to sea where it was
lost to view behind Shellness Point. This was around 09.20 but fifteen
minutes later I spotted it flying north in far better viewing conditions
(though it was quite distant by then) but the identification was pretty
straightforward. The Temminck's arrived amongst a group of Dunlin and 2
Ringed Plovers and only landed briefly before flying off (on it's own)
upriver. The Raven came in from the west then flew north across the Country
Park. My other notes for the day were: 25 Little Egrets, 4 Greylag,
5 Wigeon, 5 Common Scoter - south, 820 Oystercatcher,
540 Curlew, 3 Whimbrel, 1 Bar-tailed Godwit, 1
Black-tailed Godwit, 1 Greenshank, 100 Redshank, 7 Knot,
4 Curlew Sandpiper, 61 Dunlin, 150+ Lapwing, 1
Golden Plover, 5 Ringed Plover, 3 Common Sandpiper, 1
Peregrine, 2 Hobby, 2 Common Buzzard, 17 Swifts,
287 Meadow Pipit, 4 Tree Pipit, 10 Yellow Wagtail, 2
Grey Wagtail, 2 Pied Wagtail, 7 Wheatear, 40 Chiffchaff
and 1 Corn Bunting. (Phil M)
Thursday 8th September 2011 Pegwell Bay
I watched between 06.30 and 10.00 this morning
doing a circuit between the cliff top and the Country Park then enduing up
with another look around the Farm on my way home. The wind had dropped a
fair bit but was still blustery in the more exposed spots and although
conditions were far from perfect there were quite a lot of common Warblers
present, mainly around the Country Park as you might expect. The morning was
memorable for the first rarity of autumn proper when after hearing an odd
call coming from the sky somewhere to my left I spotted a Dotterel
flying noisily inland. It was gaining height when I first spotted it and had
either arrived in off the sea or may even been sitting unseen somewhere in
the marsh? Seeing as there were so few waders about today this along with
singles of Little Stint, Curlew Sandpiper and Common
Sandpiper made things better than it might have appeared to be initially
as the mud looked barren for most of the time I was standing around. The
only other small waders seen today were 6 each of Knot and Dunlin.
Other bits included singles of Whimbrel, Greenshank, Hobby,
Peregrine, Rock Pipit and Yellow Wagtail. (Phil M)
Wednesday 7th August 2011 Pegwell Bay
I did a two hour plus session (mainly looking for
plants) starting just before dinner time and then later on after tea went
down for the evening tide. Both were hard work with very little other than 2
Wheatears showing on the hover port earlier on then this evening 420
Common Terns, 80 Sandwich Terns in the bay and an Arctic
Skua offshore. (Phil M)
Wednesday 7th September
2011 Marsh hide Stodmarsh NNR
With the weather being much
better than yesterday I decided to take another look at the Bitterns,
all four were on show this morning and gave some good views at times, other
birds noted different from yesterday were 1 Water Rail, 3
Tree Creepers, 4 Cetti's Warblers, a mixed flock of
Long-tailed Tits, Blue Tits, Great Tits, and most of yesterdays birds
all over again, (Gadget)
Tuesday 6th September 2011
Marsh hide Stodmarsh NNR
A windy and wet day sitting in the
Marsh hide at Stodmarsh NNR was a very pleasant change for me as I've been
a little restricted of late getting out of the house, The news of three
juvenile Bitterns showing well outside the marsh hide was the pull, the wind
and driving rain persisted for most of the morning, but I was rewarded with
2 juvenile Bitterns, 5 Little Egrets, 3 Grey Herons, 2
Ruff, 5 Black-tailed Godwits, 9 Gadwall, 34 Mallard,
5 Snipe, 2 Green Sandpipers, 80cc Starlings, 16
Swallows moving over the reed beds, 18 Greylag Geese, 5
Cormorants' and 4 Marsh Harriers, three of which were Males,
walking back to the Car 2 Reed Warblers and a Great Spotted
Woodpecker were noted, (Gadget)
Monday
5th September 2011
Pegwell Clifftop area
Not totally devoid of birds on my circuit
this morning despite the strong SW blast. In sheltered spots I saw 3
Blackcaps, 6 Chiffchaffs, 2 Wheatears and 5 Yellow
Wagtails, (Scott)
Monday 5th September 2011 Pegwell Bay
I watched between 06.30 and 10.00 checking out
the entire area between the hover port Stone Lees whilst watching the
dropping tide too. It was generally quiet which isn't surprising given the
weather but the first signs of some passerine vismig showed which included
the first Rock Pipit and a few Chaffinches of autumn and I messed up
what was obviously a Raven flying east along the beach/cliff top by trying
to get some photos but by the time I'd got my camera set up the Raven was
long gone. There were also lots of Terns offshore after the huge weather
front passed through between 08.00 and 09.00. My notes for the day included:
15+ Little Egrets, 1 Wigeon, 3 Teal, 4 Whimbrel,
1 Black-tailed Godwit, 12 Bar-tailed Godwit, 1 Greenshank,
9 Knot, 13 Dunlin, 2 Grey Plover, 3 Ringed Plover,
1 Curlew Sandpiper, 1 Mediterranean Gull, 200+ Sandwich
Tern, 100+ Common Terns, 4 Arctic Terns and 1 Whinchat.
Overhead visible migration turned up: 400 Swallows, 2 Swifts,
6 Yellow Wagtail, 1 Tree Pipit, 16 Meadow Pipit and 15
Chaffinches. (Phil M)
Sunday 4th September 2011 Pegwell
Clifftop area
I went over out after the rain this evening
to do my circuit. The day ended with some lovely sunshine but it was a bit
breezy and noticeably cooler. On arrival I found a Spotted Flycatcher
in one of the Shell garage trees (my first of the Autumn). I also saw a
Grasshopper Warbler skulking in the undergrowth of the bushes around the
farm reservoir (my first, and probably only, one of the year) (Scott)
Sunday 4th September 2011 Stodmarsh / Grove Ferry NNR
The 4 Bitterns were seen again this morning from the Marsh hide
on the Stodmarsh / Grove Ferry reserve. Also seen were 3 Ruff, 4
Green Sandpipers, 1 Black-tailed Godwit, numerous Common Snipe,
2 Marsh Harriers and a Green Woodpecker was heard in the trees
behind the hide. A Water Rail was seen in the dyke and 5 Bearded
Tits were seen in the reed bed. A few Swallows and Martins
flew through west and a Whinchat was seen sitting on a fence post on
the way to the hide. (Steve Ashton)
Sunday 4th September 2011 Grove Ferry / Stodmarsh NNR
Mark Chidwick arrived as
I pulled up today and we spent the morning doing the circuit on a less
fruitful day than yesterday. All the bushes seemed to be blown out and very
few passerines could be found. Today we managed 6 Marsh Harriers (no
tagged birds), 7 Water Rails, 5 Grey Herons, 3 Little
Egrets, 2 Ruff and 10 Green Sandpipers. Seven Bearded
Tits flew up high out of the reeds in front of the ramp and we saw 5
more later. A Spotted Redshank was on the main pool soon to be joined
by a Greenshank, later we saw 2 more Greenshank over the lake at
Stodmarsh. There were a few bits in the paddock first thing but they went
quiet as the sun diminished, there were several Whitethroats a couple
of Blackcaps and Lesser Whitethroat and several Tits. Half a
dozen or so Sedge Warblers were seen but no Reed Warblers
today. The Marsh hide once again had the 3 juvenile and 1 adult Bitterns
showing well with the other 5 Bearded Tits inches from one Bitterns
beak for a time while other birds noted from here were, 1 Turtle Dove,
3 Snipe, 1 Canada Goose and 1 Black-tailed Godwit.
Other than 300ish Greylag Geese, a similar amount of Lapwings
and a pair of Kestrels there was little else to report. (Martyn
Wilson)
Sunday 4th September 2011 Pegwell Bay
An overcast and still quite humid morning today -
I arrived at 06.30 and after a quick look around the hover port (where I
flushed a Redstart) I had a few looks at the tide whilst having a
more concerted early morning look though the Warblers on the Country Park.
It was quite poor down there though numbers of Blackcaps and Sedge Warblers
had increased and the first Stonechat of the autumn (as far as I am
aware?) was perched atop a bush along the main path. The dropping tide was
dire. My notes included: 35+ Little Egrets (20 in the large pool near
the hover port sea wall alone), 1 Pintail, 18 Teal, 1
Peregrine, 1 Sparrowhawk, 100+ Redshank, 2 Greenshank,
3 Whimbrel, 8 Bar-tailed Godwits, 2 Grey Plover, 23
Ringed Plover, 5 Dunlin, 1 Common Sandpiper, 50+ Sand
Martins - south and 8 Yellow Wagtails - north. (Phil M)
Sunday 4th September 2011 Whitfield Dover
Contemplating a trip out birding I decided, having heard the weather
forecast, to leave it to another day. So a quick scan around my garden and
the vicinity of my house I noted the following:- 20 House Sparrow (on
and around the garden bird feeder), 1 Blackcap, 2 Robin, 2
Dunnock, 3 Blue Tit, 2 Blackbird, 3 Magpie, 1
Jackdaw, 4 Rook, 2 Wood Pigeon,1 Collared Dove, 1
Sparrowhawk, 4 Herring Gull, 20 Starling and 4
Swallow. (Barry Woolhouse)
Saturday 3rd September 2011
Pegwell cliff top fields
After Phil and I parted company this
afternoon, I flushed 3 more Wheatears off the fields on my way home.
Nothing else of note. (Scott)
Saturday 3rd September 2011 Ramsgate
East Cliffs
Whilst walking along the sands at low water
today from Dumpton Gap to Ramsgate Harbour, I could locate only a single
Fulmar and this bird was not obviously on a nest. Considering the
numbers of these birds present in this area in the Spring, it is
disappointing to find no successful breeding has taken place this season.
(Ron Dubbins)
Saturday 3rd September 2011 Pegwell Bay
A ninety minute mooch around the Farm this
afternoon turned up 2 Wheatears and 7 Yellow Wagtails. (Phil
M)
Saturday 3rd September Grove Ferry / Stodmarsh NNR
Arriving at the entrance
gate to Grove Ferry at 5.30am I found a rarity almost straight away when
Marc Heath stepped out of the shadows. Exchanging pleasantries we made our
way to the viewing ramp hearing a pair of Tawny Owls dueting as we
walked and being joined by Phil Parker soon after. A single Greenshank
was noted and a total of 12 Green Sandpipers. The first two of 6
Yellow Wagtails left roost and 9 Marsh Harriers were seen
leaving the reserve before 7.00am. There were 4 Little Egrets, 2
Ruff, 5 Cetti’s Warblers, 3 Turtle Doves, 12 Water
Rails, 5 Grey Herons and a Common Buzzard that landed
briefly on the tall bush at the base of the ramp before carrying on west. As
we walked towards Feast hide a Whimbrel came towards us calling
loudly and a juvenile Spotted Redshank and 4 Bearded Tits were
seen from the hide. A Wheatear and a Stonechat were along
middle Drove and as well as 8 or so Whitethroats Marc picked out a
Common Redstart that we just about got views of before it disappeared
behind the bushes along the track to Marsh hide. While we were in Marsh hide
a couple of Snipe were noted as were 4 Bitterns (3 juveniles), 1
Wood Sandpiper, 1 Golden Plover (heard not seen) and a juvenile
Marsh Harrier bearing white tag left wing and yellow tag right wing,
an Isle of Sheppey bird. On leaving the hide we encountered a flock of 90+
Goldfinches near Newbons Farm. The lake at Stodmarsh had 54
Pochards, 23 Tufted Ducks, 3 Great-crested Grebes, 1
Canada Goose, 280+ Greylag Geese and 2 Black-headed Gulls.
Several Chiffchaffs were noted as we walked as were a single
Willow Warbler a couple each of Reed & Sedge Warblers, 2
Sparrowhawks, 2 Bullfinch and on the Water Meadows there were
7 Black-tailed Godwits. Back at the ramp, Marc had left for
home, Phil and I added 1 Whinchat, 1 Curlew Sandpiper and 1
Hobby while 80+ Swallows wheeled overhead. Final bird of note was
a Single Swift over Fordwich Lakes on my way home at 12.30pm, (Martyn
Wilson)
Friday 2nd September 2011 Pegwell
Clifftop area
Another first for the year for me with a
Whinchat in the paddocks (finally). Also 2 Wheatears there.
Warbler wise only a light sprinkling of Chiffchaffs and a couple of
very fresh looking juvenile Whitethroats. (Scott)
Friday 2nd September 2011 Dumpton
Thanet
Late afternoon as the farmer was ploughing
the field behind my house, and the Gulls were having a feeding frenzy behind
the tractor, then every gull took flight making a hell of a racket, Fist I
noticed 2 Sparrowhawks drifting North and then much higher in the sky
were 2 other raptors drifting South I thought Common Buzzards, but to be
honest after getting my scope on them I'm convinced they were 2 Honey
Buzzards just as I was packing up a Hobby flew over the
field heading towards the Cemetery, (Gadget)
Thursday 1st September 2011 Pegwell
Clifftop and Farm
August ended quietly but today I saw my first
Pied Flycatcher of the year in bushes near that collection of rubble
opposite the cottage with the "for sale" sign. (Scott)
