I was out at 7am this morning where I had a look at the sea for an hour or so before having a look at Bishopstone. As seems to be the case most days recently, it was cloudy with rain moving in towards the end of the session. Birds noted included 2 Red breasted Merganser (82) sitting on the sea first thing before flying east, c300 Brent Geese, 1 Mute Swan (83) flew east, 1 Shelduck, 1 Mallard (84) flew west close inshore, a scarce bird here despite good numbers being seen at Reculver and Swalecliffe. There were c60 Feral Pigeon, 31 Woodpigeon, 3 Collared Dove, 25 Oystercatcher, 2 Curlew, 8 Redshank, 12 Turnstone, c60 Black headed Gull, 2 Common Gull, 2 Great Black backed Gull, 7 Great crested Grebe, 38 Red throated Diver, 7 Cormorant, 1 Great spotted Woodpecker, 1 Jay, 14 Carrion Crow, 2 Raven (85) flew low west over Bishopstone, 5 Skylark, 2 Song Thrush, 3 Dunnock, 20 House Sparrow, 4 Chaffinch, 41 Linnet and 4 Goldfinch. 

Nocmig recording Wednesday night produced 1 Coot (81) calling as it flew over in the darkness. Like the Moorhen, a bird I will probably never see on the patch, although I have heard them calling at dawn in the dark last year. Four Ringed Plover were also recorded flying over. 

Coot

With a hospital appointment late morning, I was able to grab an hour beforehand watching the sea which was flat calm. Birds noted included 13 Brent Geese, 2 Shelduck, c50 Feral Pigeon, 1 Collared Dove, 10 Oystercatcher, 29 Redshank, 8 Turnstone, 1 Sanderling, c30 Herring Gull, 1 Great Black backed Gull, 11 Great crested Grebe, 160 Red throated Diver, 1 Great Northern Diver, 46 Cormorant, 1 Pied Wagtail, 1 Peregrine, 2 Jackdaw and 4 Starling. It was pleasing to see the Black Redstart again. Nocmig recording Tuesday night produced 2 Moorhen (80) calling over the area, a bird I will hopefully hear at some point but will probably never see on the patch. 

Moorhen

I was out early Saturday morning listening for owls again where as the light picked up, I then had a seawatch for an hour or so in a light wind. Birds noted included 149 Brent Geese, 4 Grey Partridge, 1 Pheasant, 25 Feral Pigeon, 12 Woodpigeon, 5 Collared Dove, 23 Oystercatcher, 4 Golden Plover, 4 Curlew, 19 Redshank, 1 Kittiwake (73) flew east, 140 Black headed Gull, 2 Common Gull, 70 Herring Gull, 3 Great Black backed Gull, 9 Great crested Grebe and 31 Red throated Diver. There were 4 Cormorant, 1 Great Northern Diver (74) flew west, 1 Little Egret (75), 1 Tawny Owl heard in the dark, 2 Great spotted Woodpecker, 1 Green Woodpecker, 2 Peregrine, 5 Blue Tit, 3 Great Tit, 2 Skylark, 1 Song Thrush, 14 House Sparrow, 2 Pied Wagtail, 3 Chaffinch and 41 Linnet. 

I was out again early this morning in the dark where I spent some time in Bishopstone Glen hoping to get a Redwing but did not see or hear any. Other birds noted before a look at the sea from here included 2 Golden Plover, 1 Snipe and 2 singing Song Thrush. A look at the sea produced 270 Brent Geese, 1 Common Scoter, 2 Oystercatcher, 7 Kittiwake flying east, 136 Black headed Gull, 5 Common Gull, 101 Herring Gull, 1 Great Black backed Gull, 6 Great crested Grebe, 4 Red throated Diver, 1 Fulmar (76) flying east, 3 Cormorant, 1 Little Egret, 1 Green Woodpecker, 5 Jackdaw. c30 Rook (77), 1 Firecrest, 1 Grey Wagtail and 1 Meadow Pipit. After dropping my wife off for an appointment, I spent some time watching the sea again where I noted 9 Brent Geese, 5 Teal, 6 Velvet Scoter (78) flew east giving nice scope views, 32 Feral Pigeon, 2 Collared Dove, 13 Oystercatcher, 3 Curlew, 16 Redshank, 18 Turnstone, 3 Little Gull (79) flew east, 1 Kittiwake east, 104 Black headed Gull, 2 Great Black backed Gull, 7 Great crested Grebe, 57 Red throated Diver, 2 Gannet, 21 Cormorant and 4 Carrion Crow. An excellent weekend on the patch with 7 year ticks but still no Redwing or Fieldfare. They can be tricky here early in the year as I remember from last year. 

I was out at the very early time of 5am where I spent some time trying to listen for Long eared Owls at a few areas on the patch. To cut a long story short... I didn't hear any. I did manage to hear 5 Grey Partridge and 4 Golden Plover as the light picked up. I then spent some time watching the sea from the cliffs at Bishopstone for an hour before walking along the seafront and back checking the bushes. Birds noted included 2 Egyptian Geese (66) flying east, 1 Shelduck, 49 Woodpigeon, 6 Collared Dove, 3 Grey Plover (67), 1 Curlew, 1 Turnstone, 6 Sanderling, 110 Black headed Gull, 2 Common Gull, 90 Herring Gull, 2 Great Black backed Gull, 2 Great crested Grebe and 21 Red throated Diver. There were 8 Cormorant, 2 Green Woodpecker, 3 Jackdaw (68), 7 Blue Tit, 3 Great Tit, 2 Skylark, 1 Cetti's Warbler (69), 2 Long tailed Tit, 1 Goldcrest, 1 Firecrest, 1 Song Thrush, 1 Stonechat, 5 Dunnock, 2 Meadow Pipit (70), 1 Chaffinch, 76 Linnet, 6 Goldfinch (71) and 3 Siskin (72). Nocmig recording Saturday night produced 1 White fronted Goose and a few Brent Geese and Ringed Plover calls. 

With a light wind forecast for this morning, I was out at 6am in the hope of catching and owl calling in the area. Around 06:30, I could hear a Tawny Owl which called distantly for c20 minutes. Also in the dark, I managed to hear 3 Golden Plover, 1 Lapwing, 2 Song Thrush singing, 1 Woodcock flew over in silhouette as the light slowly picked up and 7 Grey Partridge were seen and heard calling at dawn. I then had a look at the sea for an hour which was pretty quiet but I did note 125 Brent Geese, 6 Shelduck, c80 Feral Pigeon, 1 Oystercatcher, 17 Redshank, 21 Turnstone, c80 Black headed Gull, 2 Common Gull, 64 Herring Gull, 3 Great Black backed Gull, 50 Great crested Grebe offshore, 12 Red throated Diver, 12 Cormorant, 2 Peregrine Falcon with one seeing carrying prey back to the pier, 2 Pied Wagtail and 1 Grey Wagtail (61) flew over calling. With the sea quiet, I then returned back to the Bishopstone area where I had 2 Stock Dove (62), 11 Woodpigeon, 2 Collared Dove, 2 Green Woodpecker, 2 Jay (63), 8 Blue Tit, 6 Great Tit, 8 Skylark, 5 Long tailed Tit, 2 Goldcrest (64), 2 Wren, 19 Starling, 2 Blackbird, 5 Robin, 4 Dunnock, 22 House Sparrow, 4 Chaffinch and 24 Linnet. Nocmig recording Friday night produced a flock of White fronted Geese (65) over calling early evening and 4 Ringed Plover.

White fronted Geese

A 40 minute look at Bishopstone from 4:20pm until dusk produced 1 Robin, 2 Blackbird, 9 Golden Plover, 10 Grey Partridge, c300 Brent Geese over Reculver and 2 Woodcock at dusk.