30 July 2018

From 08:00 - 10:00 a seawatch in the Bay produced 194 Gannets down channel, two Whimbrel, four Mediterranean Gulls and 15 Swifts. After being joined by Phil we walked around the area but had no migrants apart from one Reed Warbler.

29th July 2018

Nigel and I did a seawatch from 09:45 - 11:00 this morning and had 134 Gannets and a Balearic Shearwater moving down channel, other than that there were very few birds apart from four Mediterranean Gulls on the rocks and a Shag fishing close into the beach.

28th July 2018

Early morning conditions were very different to most days in the last few weeks. Much breezier from the SW and significantly cooler. Five Willow Warblers, four Lesser Whitethroats and eight Whitethroats across the golf course. Little else was across the area and the wind was increasing so Phil, Jack and I descended to St. Margaret’s Bay.

Two of the first birds we saw at 09.50 were Balearic Shearwaters which moved extremely rapidly up channel. Over the next three hours we had seven Common Scoters and a Whimbrel down channel, 19 Mediterranean Gulls, including a colour ringed individual, two Gadwall and two Shags. Overhead and out to sea Swifts were moving. We were up to 1 404 by the time we left. As I sit and write this now at 1500, they are still going in small numbers. A Common Seal and a Grey Seal were also present in The Bay.

This colour ringed juvenile Mediterranean Gull is from a Belgian ringing scheme. The bird was ringed in Antwerp on 9th June and seen at Thames Barrier Park on 16th July (Richard Heading)

25th July 2018

Willow Warblers are starting to come through in small numbers now. 15 were at the bottom of Queensdown Road throughout the afternoon and a Garden Warbler was also present. On the Golf Course a Turtle Dove was singing early in the morning and a Hobby flew over.

19th July 2018

The early morning mist was hanging in the dip between Kingsdown and St Margaret’s this morning. This week has seen the first signs of autumn migration. A pair of Turtle Doves were near The Rough for a couple of days but appear to have departed now. A Cuckoo was on the golf course along Granville Road and a few Willow Warblers have been in the area. Hopefully we will have another post in less than a month’s time!

20th June 2018

Jack, Jay and I took the 'Gary Ann' out of Deal along the coast to Dover Harbour to survey breeding seabirds on the cliffs today. It provided a very different view of the area and was probably most notable for the alarming lack of breeding birds! The paucity of species appears to follow a nationwide declining trend. What was quite apparent though was the scarcity of potential nest sites with much of the cliff face being sheer with hardly any suitable ledges. The amount of cliff falls that have occurred being very noticeable.

That apart, I though my experience of working in The English Channel for many years would stand me in good stead for the rather bumpy ride, but studying the cliffs whilst bobbing up and down quickly became a rather unpleasant experience for both Jack and I. Thank goodness Jay was least affected and continued to keep watching for us!

Anyway the numbers were derisory with only Fulmar and Herring Gull noted as breeding. We did have two Shags, a handful of Gannets and a Grey Seal along the way.

14th June 2018

A Honey-buzzard flew over the top of the High Street in Kingsdown this afternoon, mobbed by Jackdaws.

25th May 2018

John Cantelo and Brendan started at Oldstairs where there was no sign of last night's Red-rumped Swallows and walked to Bockhill Farm Wood and back. It was predictably quiet with the highlights being, three Grey Partridge, two Swifts, 9 House Martins and 11 Swallows.

24th May 2018

A Hobby flew past the house around 16.00, then about half an hour later a flock of hirundines started feedingover the area between Northcote Road and Oldstairs Road. Given the paucity of House Martins this Spring it was remarkable enough that they comprised of approximately 40 of this species, but then a Red-rumped Swallow came into view. As other birders arrived to enjoy it, one became two and they stayed in the area until 20.45 when the flock headed off towards Deal. I know it's not a really rare bird, but we don't often have things that stick around and are twitchable!

In the evening, Nigel and Gerald managed to see an adult Long-tailed Skua which was tracked off the Kent coast from Dungeness eastwards.

Red-rumped Swallow (Gerald Segelbacher)

21st May 2018

Not only is this an exceptionally poor Spring, but it is getting late for large numbers of migrants and the wind has been consistently from the North for several days. So I was not overly optimistic when I set out this morning. However a Spotted Flycatcher in the Paddock closely followed by five fly over Crossbills was encouraging. There was little else to get excited about as I walked the clifftop to Little Green apart from 11 Swallows heading North. Returning past Hope Point I picked up a singing Marsh Warbler, which only gave three brief glimpses in the two hours I spent with it. No photos sadly but I managed a couple of sound recordings on my phone. Other birds noted two House Martins at Hope Point, 14 Whitethroats holding territory, four singing Chiffchaffs, two Lesser Whitethroats

16th May 2018

A brisk northerly wind didn't offer much hope but inspired by the arrival of new rarities in the north, I mistakenly thought it was worth a visit to Bockhill. An early morning sea watch produced a single dark phase Arctic Skua but nothing else. "Up top" produced nine Whitethroats, four Chiffchaffs, and three Blackcaps, all presumably local breeding birds. Highlight was a Turtle Dove which flew North past the empty wood and a grant total of seven Swallows going North. Returning to the sea with Chris Cox, produced two Common Scoters, 17 Sandwich Terns, a Whimbel and three Sanderling

6th May 2018

Well, it's been a bit disappointing to be honest for May. 1 Hobby & 1 Yellow Wagtail were today's highlights, although our first Green Hairstreak and Small Copper were welcome distractions. Some of the Early Spider Orchids are still going strong. Jack & Nigel (photos)

29th April 2018

An early morning seawatch from 0540-0800 was somewhat disappointing with 328 Sandwich Terns, 24 Common Terns, 20 Arctic Terns, 1 Black Tern, 10 Shag, 5 Red-th Divers, 1 Bar-tailed Godwit, 2 Whimbrel, 2 Com Scoter and a pale phase Arctic Skua all heading up channel. With a natural lull in proceedings, we headed up top, where there were also very few birds; namely 4 Chiffs, 4 Willow Warblers, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 6 Whitethroats and a Swallow. The day was salvaged however by this male Pied Flycatcher in the Farm Wood (a very rare bird in the spring here).

 

With rain arriving, we decided to head back to the sea, where we saw a further 47 Com Scoter, 45 Bar-tailed Godwits and 4 Whimbrel. Brendan, Gerald, Nigel (photos).