We were out for a couple of hours and only did half the area but we had over fifty warblers which were 2 Reed Warblers, 2 Garden Warblers, 5 Blackcaps, 10 Lesser Whitethroats, 11 Whitethroats, 8 Chiffchaffs and 19 Willow Warblers. Other birds included a family party of 4 Coal Tits and flyovers of Grey and Yellow Wagtails.
Phil, Jack.
Fewer birds today with 2 Reed Warblers, 1 Blackcap, 2 Lesser Whitethroats, 10 Whitethroats, 4 Willow Warblers, 2 Bullfinches and a flyover Grey Heron.
Butterflies included 75 Peacocks, 12 Red Admirals and a Painted Lady.
Brendan, Phil, Simon, Jack.
Migrants today included 3 Reed Warblers, 2 Blackcaps, 3 Lesser Whitethroats, 10 Whitethroats, 8 Willow Warblers and a Chiffchaff. Other birds in the area were 657 Carrion Crows, a Raven, 3 Green and 3 Great Spotted Woodpeckers and feeding over the fields 2 Sand Martins and 60 Swifts.
Butterflies included hundreds of Gatekeepers and 10 Painted Ladies.
Phil, Jack.
An hour sea watching in the Bay, with birds moving SW, produced 37 Gannets, 38 Common Scoter, 3 Teal, a Bar-tailed Godwit, a Dunlin,9 Sand Martins and 158 Swifts. As we left a Red kite flew along the cliff top.
We went for a coffee in Kingsdown Golf Club and there had another 250 Swifts and a juvenile Yellow-legged Gull.
Phil, Jack.
The first Autumn migrants have started moving through and today we had 3 Willow Warblers, 2 Reed Warblers, a Sedge Warbler and a flyover Yellow Wagtail.
Phil, Jack.
We tried watching the sea from the clifftop near the Golf Clubhouse without a deal of success, however we were fortunate to see the Bee-eater that was seen some few minutes before at Langdon. This was the 81st species of bird we had seen in the last 9 days.
Pnil, Jack.
A poor day with only a Tawny Owl of note and some 250 Gannets moving down Channel.
Phil, Jack.
The wind being from the NW there was a movement of birds coming in off the sea and we had 103 Swifts, 100 House Martins, 55 Swallows, a Hobby and a Red Kite. Also in the area there was, the bird of the day, a Willow Warbler singing in the Farm Wood.
Phil, Jack.
Before the rain came another day of overhead movement. We had singles of Grey and Yellow Wagtails, 44 Swifts and 23 Swallows all flying west.
Phil, Jack.
A better day with a little more overhead movement, Phil who had started early this morning had a male Red-footed Falcon that flew from Hope Point inland, north over the golf course and 2 Hawfinches west. Later we were joined by a visitor, Franco, at the cliff-top where we had at least 60 Swifts west before the rain forced us to leave.
Franco, Phil, Nige, Jack.
Around the area there were very few birds so we decided to stand in the Paddock and do some viz mig. This proved to be a success with quite a few Red Kites, Common Buzzards and a Red-rumped Swallow that flew over the Farm Wood.
Phil, Nige, Jack.
Poor day, only notable birds were 4 Ravens, 3 were juveniles, and a Great Skua upchannel.
Phil, Nigel, Jack.
After 30 years watching the site we still haven't worked out the best viz mig strategy for the site. Today we may have got it right. After some early Red Kites moving through, it seemed sensible plan to spend the rest of the morning looking for passing raptors with Honey Buzzard being the most obvious target. Our traditional viz mig spot on the clifftop denied us a view over the village and South Foreland valley, as did our back up spot by the Monument. In the end we plumped for a spot in the middle of the paddock, which lacked a view down towards Hope Point but turned out to be ok.
Red Kites continued to move north throughout the morning with a final total of 33 being recorded along with 21 Common Buzzards, two Hobbys, three Kestrels, and two Sparrowhawks. Finally at just after 11 we picked up an interesting raptor over the sea but lost it before we could clinch its identity. We relocated it inland and confirmed our suspicions of Honey Buzzard. Sadly it was never close enough to photograph and we struggled to confirm its sex although we suspect it was a male. After gaining height with a Common Buzzard it then rapidly set off inland.
Other birds of note this morning included three Yellow Wagtails, 19 House Martins, 72 Swallows, one Sand Martin and 41 Common Swifts, four Siskins plus single Tree Pipit, Reed Warbler and Cuckoo
Phil, Jack, Simon and Brendan
