RXwildlife Sightings

At Dungeness yesterday there were gulls from several parts of the globe “The Patch was the place to be during the morning where a first-winter Iceland Gull appeared at 1120hrs and then spent an hour or so feeding before heading off eastwards. Also among the gulls was a short-staying first-winter Caspian Gull and an adult Mediterranean Gull. ” from DBO website.

An excellent days birding with plenty of interest. The highlight was a first-winter Red-breasted Flycatcher trapped at first light but it was not seen again after its release. Most of the remaining interest was provided by birds flying overhead with a party of three Cranes heading out to sea, a Buzzard, two Woodlarks, 11 Grey Wagtails, eight Rock Pipits, two Ravens and two Lapland Buntings. Good numbers of grounded migrants also included two Ring Ouzels, 115 Blackbirds, 95 Song Thrushes, 80 Redwings, three Blackcaps, 15 Chiffchaffs, 20 Bramblings, 47 Siskins and 32 Redpolls. The Cattle Egret was showing well at Dengemarsh in the sheep field to the south of Springfield Bridge and two Glossy Ibis were seen at ARC.

from David Walker, DBO website

An excellent days birding with plenty of interest. The highlight was a first-winter Red-breasted Flycatcher trapped at first light but it was not seen again after its release. Most of the remaining interest was provided by birds flying overhead with a party of three Cranes heading out to sea, a Buzzard, two Woodlarks, 11 Grey Wagtails, eight Rock Pipits, two Ravens and two Lapland Buntings. Good numbers of grounded migrants also included two Ring Ouzels, 115 Blackbirds, 95 Song Thrushes, 80 Redwings, three Blackcaps, 15 Chiffchaffs, 20 Bramblings, 47 Siskins and 32 Redpolls. The Cattle Egret was showing well at Dengemarsh in the sheep field to the south of Springfield Bridge and two Glossy Ibis were seen at ARC.
From David Walker DBO website

Among the birds logged on a 2-hour seawatch at Dungeness in Friday morning’s strong easterly were five skuas including an adult Pomarine and 2 Arctic, 60 Gannets, 17 Common Scoter, 180 Sandwich Terns and 4 Little Gulls. A Black Redstart was on the power station wall and a Common Redstart by the Observatory, with a Pied Flycatcher also reported.

Another windy day with showers through the morning produced an unexpectedly good seawatch with 24 Balearic Shearwaters and 13 Sooty Shearwaters passing through along with 405 Gannets, 15 Arctic Skuas, two Great Skuas, 103 Sandwich Terns and 146 Common Terns. There were also four Yellow-legged Gulls at the fishing boats and a Little Gull and two Black Terns at the Patch.
David Walker from DBO website

With the wind falling light overnight and with heavy, overcast conditions for most of the day there was a remarkable arrival of migrants on the land and a large movement of birds offshore.

Land migrants were actually pretty scarce but this was more than made up for by the quality. The obvious highlights were a male Subalpine Warbler which spent most of the day feeding in low broom and gorse near the Old Lighthouse, a male Melodious Warbler initially found in front of the power station before finally ending up in the Old Lighthouse Garden (where it frequently sang), a male Icterine Warbler which turned up in the afternoon in the garden of Southview Cottage and a Nightjar which spent a few minutes sat on the road in front of the power station in the morning. Other notable grounded migrants included a Hobby, a Turtle Dove, a male Redstart, a Grasshopper Warbler, four Reed Warblers, a Garden Warbler and our first three Spotted Flycatchers of the spring. 

Seawatching was also very productive with seven Pomarine Skuas and ten Arctic Skuas of note along with a large movement of terns including 2500 Common Terns, 55 Little Terns and 81 Black Terns. A Common Sandpiper, a Great Skua and five Mediterranean Gulls were also seen.

David Walker from DBO website

The Dungeness Bird Observatory website has reported 2-3 Sandwich Terns on 18th and 20th February. Plus a regular Iceland Gull.

The highlight of the day was a first-winter Red-breasted Flycatcher which spent most of the day around the Old Lighthouse or railway station (having been reported by the pagers the previous night) and frequently giving excellent views.

Click for larger image

There was a handful of other grounded migrants including a Woodcock, 22 Blackbirds, two Dartford Warblers, two Blackcaps, four Chiffchaffs, a Firecrest and 20 Goldcrests. There was also a steady trickle of birds overhead during the morning which included a Marsh Harrier, two Rock Pipits, five Tree Sparrows, 95 Chaffinches, eight Bramblings, 30 Siskins and 65 Redpolls.

David Walker from DBO website

The bird of the day was a first-winter Red-necked Phalarope which spent an hour or so in the early afternoon flying between various patches of floating weed just offshore. This, perhaps surprisingly, appears to be the first Observatory record although there have been at least 12 records for the greater Dungeness recording area. The sea also produced a steady, if slow, trickle of birds including 176 Common Scoters, a Black-throated Diver, a Balearic Shearwater, a Manx Shearwater, a Shag, 19 Ringed Plovers, 14 Arctic Skuas, three Great Skuas and 70 Sandwich Terns. Two Mediterranean Gulls and seven Little Gulls were also feeding offshore.There was also a steady movement of birds overhead during the morning with 870 Swallows, 125 House Martins, three Rock Pipits and 300 Goldfinches but it was very quiet in the bushes. From DBO website

The highlight of the day was a very tame Lapland Bunting which spent the morning on the beach between the fishing boats and the New Lighthouse. Finches were passing through in large numbers with 330 Siskins, 570 Goldfinches and 80 Redpolls and a single Brambling. A Marsh Harrier, five Rock Pipits and two Grey Wagtails and 31 Reed Buntings were also of note. The bushes were fairly quiet but two Coal Tits were noteworthy along with nine Redwings, three Blackcaps, 15 Chiffchaffs and 20 Goldcrests. A few birds were also feeding offshore including 12 Arctic Skuas, two Mediterranean Gulls, seven Little Gulls, an adult Yellow-legged Gull and three first-winter Arctic Terns whilst a small southerly movement of wildfowl included 131 Brent Geese, nine Wigeon, 99 Common Scoters, two Red-breasted Mergansers and also six Great Skuas.  From DBO website