Kestrel

An early morning sea watch in relatively calm conditions proved tricky as the light conditions were bad resulting in mostly silhouetted birds against an orange sky as the sun rose. A light fog and haze also added to the difficulty. However after an hour or so the usual morning westerly movement of auks had occurred along with a few more Kittiwakes and Gannets than usual but to be honest it was not all that inspiring. Walking back to my car I noticed a small raptor flying low and going past my car out of view and I thought it had landed. Peering carefully and slowly around my car a Kestrel had landed next to a large puddle in the shingle and proceeded to wander in to the puddle to drink and bathe. Given the still conditions and the fact that I was now looking north with the sun behind me the opportunities for photography were superb and I couldn't believe my luck in getting almost perfect reflections of this lovely falcon.

Moulting Ducks and Returning Waders

In July and August duck numbers on the RSPB Reserve increase, especially Pochard and Gadwall as males visit the pits on the reserve to moult and obtain their eclipse plumage. I've been making counts on behalf of the RSPB for a few years now and this year noticed the numbers of males arriving at the reserve start to significantly increase from about mid-June. 

So it was a busy day today as I tried to do a duck count across the reserve and managed to reach a total of 1,006 Pochard and 636 Gadwall. An additional 180 Pochard were counted on Lade Pits which is also part of the RSPB Reserve. I think that makes the second highest count (1,186) of Pochard on the reserve since I moved to the area back in 2019.

3 Garganey are now in residence with two preferring ARC and the third on Burrowes. The female Red-crested Pochard and duckling remain on ARC with an eclipse male Red-crested Pochard on Dengemarsh.

The remaining Common Tern colonies on Dengemarsh and Burrowes are still producing chicks with 8 on a very noisy colony from Dengemarsh Hide today and hopefully more than the one I saw back on the 12th July at Burrowes.

Returning wader numbers are gradually increasing with 4 Wood Sandpipers, 1 Greenshank, 1 Redshank, 18 Little-ringed Plovers, 2 Ringed Plovers and 10 Common Sandpipers.

Almost fledged Common Tern chicks at Dengemarsh

Plenty of squabbling when an adult makes an appearance

Common Sandpiper

Kestrel at the Hayfields

Greenshank at Firth Viewpoint

Wood Sandpiper from Hanson Hide

Whimbrel on Burrowes Pit

Garganey from Hanson Hide

Small Red-eyed Damselfly in tandem

When there were 3 Avocet Chicks back on July 8th, now sadly only 2

It is always very frustrating to come across people wandering over sections of the reserve where they are not permitted and even more so when they have a dog either on or off the lead. I don't blame this couple as the signage at ARC is (or rather was) pitiful. It is now more obvious as after encountering several dogs on sections of the reserve where they are prohibited I have put up more obvious temporary signage. No excuse now and I'll continue to be on the lookout.

The Common Tern colony on Burrowes Pit, so wonderful to have so many terns nesting compared to last year.

A trip with Martin and Richard out of the area in search of Purple Emperor butterfly ended with us not seeing that but enjoying woodland bird species that are rare or tricky to see on the peninsula.

Nuthatch, a rarity on the peninsula, this one in woodland near Hamstreet

Song Thrush, can be tricky to catch up with on the peninsula. This one giving a snail a headache using its anvil to bash the living daylights out of the snail! 

Coldharbour Lane, Walland

 A visit to Coldharbour Lane on Walland Marsh this morning resulted in three species of raptor making an appearance as I was watching the flock of 48 Bewick's Swan that only includes a single juvenile bird. Initially the Bewick's flock were a little distant but gradually started to fly on to a flooded area within the same field. Those on the flooded area started to call and trumpet which is just one of those incredible natural sounds.

The flock of 48 Bewick's Swans

Bewick's Swans

Bewick's Swans

As I was watching the swans I picked up a male hen harrier quartering a ditch beyond them. Despite taking a number of photos, they were all badly out of focus, with this one the best out of a bad lot. The harrier continued to hunt up and down the various ditches but never got remotely near me despite my efforts of chasing after it in the car and trying to anticipate where it might get closer.

Hen Harrier male

Back at the swans, a kestrel had perched up near to the road and seemed very interested in some sound or movement just below it.

Kestrel female

The flock of Black-headed gulls that were roosting on the flooded field suddenly all got airborne and moved away. On scanning the skies for a possible raptor, I picked up two Peregrine Falcons coming down one of which then just flew round and round in small circles with a Black-headed Gull like they were both having a game! The two Peregrines then landed in the field and remained there.

Peregrine Falcon 

Peregrine Falcon

Peregrine Falcon

 SSE gusty wind 15-22mph am, 20-30mph pm. Dry, 100% cloud cover, 12C to 13C. Cold in the breeze.

A hirundine passage had started early at the Point with Steve Gale recording an excellent 16,000 Swallows heading south then west up to 09:15. I started at the top of the Long Pits and noted small numbers of Swallows heading south across the Long Pits using a different flight path to those Steve was recording at the Point. Still plenty of Chiffchaffs around associating with Tit flocks, with at least 47 on the northern side down as far as the Causeway. Also five Robins, and singles of Song Thrush and Great-Spotted Woodpecker plus 16 Meadow Pipits south.

Had an enjoyable natter with Steve Gale as we birded the Desert, as he recounted some incredible Dungeness birding moments.

Earlier in the morning there had not been too much being recorded on the sea and it wasn't until 14:40 that I arrived at the Fishing Boats to find the visiting KOS group plus Martin, Richard and Stephen behind the boats. I felt like a bit of a bus queue as a line of watchers stretched out across the shingle. 

Initially, there didn't seem to be much happening but a couple of Sooty Shearwaters had been recorded heading east earlier. At around 15:30 the number of Little Gulls heading west started to greatly increase and in an hour up to 16:30 I had 231, with the day total standing at 263. They were all distant but great to see them in flocks of 20 mixed in with feeding Gannets and the occasional Kittiwake. In the same hour, two Balearic Shearwaters, one Manx and two Black Terns also headed west.

The Bus Ride

The Desert to the north of the Long Pits

Kestrel numbers across the Desert still remain high. This one hunting out of the wind in the lee of a gorse clump.