RXwildlife Sightings

In the fading greylight, and nearly falling off the edge of RXworld, we went for a brief walk on Glyne Gap beach to look for Purple Sandpipers.

Years ago, you could see them quite easily at Rock-a-Nore and, with more exertion, on Lee Ness Ledge beneath Fire Hills, but it’s a long time since I saw them in either of those places. They have declined at Glyne Gap, are scarce along the rest of the Sussex coast and don’t, I think, occur in Kent till you get to Thanet (I just checked the KOS site & found there are 5 at Hythe right now). So this, along with Tree Sparrow is becoming a speciality species for our area.

If you park at Ravenside Retail Nightmare, go through the tunnel to the (sadly closed) Cafe on the Beach and turn left then follow the Turnstones along to the rocks, the Purple Sandpipers are quite easy to see - there were two today. They are really quite characterful, if not unduly purple!

Good numbers of waders can still be found feeding and roosting along the shore, 62 Grey Plover and 49 Turnstone being the most notable today. In the fields at the northern end of Castle Water, 5 White-fronted Geese were amongst the grazing Canada’s. Also 6 Smew (2 drakes) could be found out from the hide. A Short-eared Owl and Marsh Harrier were seen  late afternoon along Narrow Pit yesterday.

With the pressure, I’m informed, at 1042, the level is cocooned in still and shadowless grey, the solstitial season having ground to a halt.

Thousands of Lapwings and Starlings, hundreds of Curlews, dot the pastures. East of the shearing shed, snakes of rain retained in ancient creekbeds attract Dunlin, Redshank, Turnstone, Grey and Golden Plover, which can all be seen at close range from the roadside. It’s worth looking carefully through them to pick out the occasional Ruff or Bar-tailed Godwit. As they whirled up into the blank sky in one of their routine panics, I scanned the level for some source of menace but found no more than crows posed on posts until one of these chased a chunky young Peregrine into the dismal distance.

By the pools, about 50 each of Greylag and Canada Geese are grazing, along with 30 Moorhens, 140 Coot and 100 Wigeon. Up to 200 further Wigeon are often settled on the sea, where they can be mistaken for Common Scoters by the unwary. Genuine Scoters, grebes and divers though are rather hard to see but a few Gannets drift north, high in the gloom. Also moving north are constant small grunting groups of Greater Black-backed Gulls, totalling hundreds during the course of the morning, but I can’t tell whether this movement is local or longer.

Throughout the autumn it was common to see up to 100 Pied Wagtails along the seawall. They roosted in the reeds, to spend busy days on shingle and shoreline. They had been such a fixture that I had ceased to take notice and today I realised that they had gone. Weeks ago, I suppose. But where? Perhaps, as the temperature drops, they remove to some more hospitable location, one of the urban institutional rooftops, well-known for its winter warmth?

As I was discussing this yet-another-common-bird-mystery with Pete Rouse, a strikingly white gull sailed past us. At first glance it resembled a seasonal Med Gull, but as it landed, we could see it was an albinistic Black-headed Gull, with size/structure/posture/soft parts consistent but all grey eliminated – just a black trailing edge to the primaries and a tiny smudge behind the eye.

Smew numbers are increasing slowly with three males and six red heads showing well from Scott Hide, amongst them are four female goosanders. 

Today’s highlight was a common scoter visible from Firth hide. 

As many as five marsh harriers were seen, whilst a peregrine was spotted at Denge Marsh. 

A corn bunting was heard near Boulderwall farm and a white-fronted goose was in the field opposite Christmas Dell hide, with a group of Canada geese. 

On Harbour Farm adjacent to Lime Kiln Cottage this morning one Merlin and a flock of 25+ Corn Bunting shuttling between the farm and the golf course on the other side of the Rother. At Castle Water, a female Marsh Harrier was present, giving excellent views as it hunted in front of the hide. Also visible from here 500+ Lapwing, 163 Wigeon, 50 Tufted Duck, 27 Shoveler and small numbers of Teal, Pochard and Gadwall.

0900-1230: 54 sp

An overdue addition to the Doleham Bird List this morning was a Cetti’s Warbler, which rattled at me from a scrubby ditch alongside the railway line. This once-rare bird has very much consolidated its position on recent years and has begun to spread away from long-held strongholds but, as far as I know, all sites have hitherto remained within 2km of the coast.

Duck numbers continue to rise and although the nature of the site makes accurate counts difficult it also minimises the effects of disturbance, since flocks can quickly drop down out of sight. Counts of birds all in the air at once were: Mallard 150, Teal 150, Wigeon 100, Shoveler 100, Gadwall 6. In addition, hundreds of Lapwings, Black-headed & Common Gulls and Starlings were commuting between open lagoons by the Brede, nearby waterlogged pasture and the muddy acres of keep at Doleham Farm, where they were menaced by a circling Peregrine.
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Once again, smew (five red heads and two males) and goosander (four females) were showing well from Scott hide, a kingfisher was also reported there.  A yellow-legged gull and a ruff were seen at the ARC pits and a white-fronted goose was seen amongst a group of canada geese from Denge Marsh Hide. Two marsh harriers were reported.

A few Wood Blewit (Lepista nuda) can still be found popping up amongst the leaf litter in sheltered places, the one pictured was near the hide.

Highlights this morning, 82 Corn Bunting and 50+ Linnet inflight over Lime Kiln Cottage heading for nearby fields, 5 Pintail, 10 Brent Geese and 18 Golden Plover were on Flat Beach Level. A Merlin continues to frequent Ternery Pool and Flat Beach Ridges, often giving good views perched on fence posts.

Smew, goosander and a male marsh harrier are still showing well on Burrowes pit.