With a brisk NNW wind this morning, I had a couple of hours before I had to leave. It was again pretty quiet with not that much seen and a number of birds passed by too distant to be identified. Birds noted included 84 Brent Geese, 23 Wigeon, 4 Teal, 35 Oystercatcher, 3 Curlew, 4 Turnstone, 1 Arctic Skua west, 1 Kittiwake, c250 Black headed Gull, 2 Mediterranean Gull, c50 Common Gull, 30 Herring Gull, 1 Great Black backed Gull, 4 Sandwich Tern, 2 Great crested Grebe, 1 Red throated Diver, 2 Gannet, 8 Cormorant, 2 Kestrel, 10 Skylark west at sea, 1 Meadow Pipit and 1 Rock Pipit.  

A bit of a catch up where last Saturday (10th), I had a brief seawatch before taking a walk along the Downs. Birds noted included 26 Brent Geese, 4 Oystercatcher, c50 Black headed Gull, 1 Common Gull, c90 Herring Gull, 2 Great Black backed Gull, 1 Arctic Tern (143) flew west, 2 Sandwich Tern, 2 Great crested Grebe, 1 Red throated Diver, 11 Cormorant, 1 Little Egret and 2 Grey Heron. There were 10 Woodpigeon, 2 Collared Dove, 1 Common Buzzard, 2 Great spotted Woodpecker, 1 Jay, 3 Raven flew west along the cliff top, 5 Blue Tit, 7 Great Tit, 25 Skylark, 1 Chiffchaff, 2 Cetti's Warbler, 4 Long tailed Tit, 4 Robin, 1 Stonechat, 3 Dunnock, 33 House Sparrow, 1 Grey Wagtail, 3 Pied Wagtail, 24 Meadow Pipit, 3 Rock Pipit, 279 Chaffinch west, 6 Linnet, 2 Goldfinch, 4 Siskin and 2 Corn Bunting. 

Raven

With some fog forecast for this morning, I didn't go out until 06:30 but on arrival at Bishopstone, there was no fog! It did slowly appear a little later but was soon burnt off with the warming sun. With only a few hours out this morning, I spent an hour or so seawatching before a walk around the Glen. Despite searching before and after work on a few days and at weekends, I still can't find a Yellow browed Warbler. Either just bad luck or they are not there. Hopefully one will appear in the next week. Birds noted this morning in still mild conditions were 13 Wigeon west, 29 Teal west, 1 Tufted Duck (141) west with some Teal, 1 Common Scoter, 4 Oystercatcher, 1 Whimbrel, 3 Curlew, 2 Turnstone, 1 Arctic Skua west, c250 Black headed Gull, 9 Mediterranean Gull, 1 Common Gull, c40 Herring Gull, 1 Great Black backed Gull and 1 Lesser Black backed Gull. There were 3 'commic' Tern, 14 Sandwich Tern, 13 Cormorant, 3 Little Egret, 8 Skylark west, 1 Stock Dove, c40 Woodpigeon, 4 Collared Dove, 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Green Woodpecker, 1 Great spotted Woodpecker, 10 Magpie, 26 Rook west, 2 Blue Tit, 1 Great Tit, 2 Chiffchaff, 4 Blackcap, 1 Firecrest, 2 Wren, 59 Starling, 2 Song Thrush, 1 Blackbird, 3 Robin, 3 Dunnock, 2 House Sparrow, 12 Meadow Pipit west, 7 Chaffinch and 3 Linnet. Nocmig recording Saturday night produced 1 Barn Owl, regular Ringed Plover calls and 1 Green Sandpiper (142) over calling at 21:30, a good bird to get here. 

Green Sandpiper

I was out just after 5am this morning where I spent an hour listening into the darkness for any thing calling. In lovely still conditions, I did see 1 Barn Owl, heard 2 Golden Plover, 1 Mallard, 1 Grey Heron, a few Ringed Plover, 1 Red legged Partridge (139) heard calling twice, a scarce bird here and 2 Skylark. After picking up the recorder as it was getting light, I spent an hour or so seawatching on a calm sea before having a look around the bushes at Bishopstone. Birds noted included 13 Brent Geese, 36 Wigeon west, 8 Teal, 9 Common Scoter, 74 Woodpigeon, 2 Collared Dove, 51 Oystercatcher, 3 Curlew, 4 Turnstone, 35 Black headed Gull, 2 Mediterranean Gull, 30 Herring Gull, 3 Great Black backed Gull, 18 Sandwich Tern, 2 Red throated Diver, 1 Gannet, 14 Cormorant and 3 Little Egret. There was 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Great spotted Woodpecker, 1 Green Woodpecker, 1 Peregrine, 4 Swallow, 8 Chiffchaff, 2 Blackcap, 1 Long tailed Tit, 1 Firecrest, 34 Starling, 2 Dunnock, 9 House Sparrow, 2 Pied Wagtail, 16 Meadow Pipit, 31 Chaffinch west, 33 Linnet west and 2 Reed Bunting (140) were in bushes at Bishopstone. The only birds of note on the 'Nocmig' recorder last night were 1 Moorhen, 1 Grey Heron and a few Ringed Plover calls.  

A seawatch Sunday morning and then a walk around the bushes at Bishopstone produced 2 Shelduck, 16 Woodpigeon, 1 Curlew, 4 Turnstone, 2 Arctic Skua, 18 Black headed Gull, 6 Mediterranean Gull, 1 Great Black backed Gull, 4 Common Tern, 32 Sandwich Tern, 11 Cormorant and 1 Marsh Harrier high west over the sea. A look around Bishopstone failed to find any Yellow browed Warblers but I did see 1 Great spotted Woodpecker, 1 Green Woodpecker, 3 Blue Tit, 2 Great Tit, 2 Chiffchaff, 27 Starling, 11 House Sparrow, 3 Pied Wagtail, 7 Meadow Pipit, 2 Chaffinch and 22 Linnet. A brief look at the sea Tuesday night (29th) produced 3 Turnstone, 71 Black headed Gull, 2 Mediterranean Gull, 41 Herring Gull, 2 Great Black backed Gull, 26 Sandwich Tern west, 2 Great crested Grebe, 3 Cormorant, 1 Robin and a surprise male Common Redstart flycatching on the rocks below Herne Bay sailing club. Nocmig recording Tuesday night produced some Gadwall calls and plenty of Ringed Plover heard. 

Ringed Plover

With the wind due to go round to a WNW direction this morning, I opted for a seawatch in the hope a few birds would be on the move. Although quiet for periods of time, it ended up being a nice session with a few good birds seen including two patch ticks. The first was a Purple Sandpiper (135) which flew west quite close in with 1 Turnstone at 07:13 and a few minutes later at 07:16, 2 Ruff (136) flew west. Other birds seen included 1 Teal, 6 Common Scoter, 27 Oystercatcher, 4 Turnstone, 7 Arctic Skua west, 1 Pomarine Skua (137) west, 1 Razorbill (138) west, 29 Black headed Gull, 10 Mediterranean Gull, 1 Common Gull, c250 Herring Gull, 4 Great Black backed Gull, 14 Sandwich Tern, 1 Red throated Diver east, then back west, 10 Gannet, 15 Cormorant, 6 Little Egret, 2 Peregrine, 1 Raven mobbed by Crows over the cliffs at Bishopstone, c40 Starling, 1 Blackbird, 1 Robin, 1 Dunnock and 33 House Sparrow. Hopefully I will get the recorder out during the week in the area to see what's flying over during the night. 

I was out at 6am this morning where I had an hour or so having a seawatch in drizzly conditions before a walk along the Downs and back along the seawall. Birds noted this morning included 1 Mallard, c25 Woodpigeon, 5 Collared Dove, 45 Oystercatcher east, 1 Whimbrel, 2 Curlew, 4 Bar tailed Godwit east, 3 Turnstone, 3 Arctic Skua flew west distantly, 1 Auk species, 52 Black headed Gull, 2 Mediterranean Gull, c40 Herring Gull, 1 Great Black backed Gull, 12 Sandwich Tern, 16 Cormorant, 1 Little Egret, 1 Marsh Harrier with wing tags flew high west over the houses, 1 Peregrine, 1 Jay, 5 Carrion Crow, 3 Blue Tit, 2 Great Tit, 1 Sand Martin west, 107 Swallow west, 639 House Martin west, 27 House Sparrow, 2 Grey Wagtail and 18 Meadow Pipit west. 

Sandwich Tern

Turnstone