Rye Harbour - Wednesday Outing

An early start saw Martin, Richard and I arrive very shortly after 06:30 at Rye Harbour Nature Reserve to have a wander and check out the Sandwich Tern colony. Despite the early start it already felt warm as we wandered the track that led around the reserve perimeter. Across Flat Beach and New Saltmarsh, there were good numbers of black-headed and Mediterranean Gulls with juveniles of both species present  along with Oystercatchers and juveniles, displaying Ringed Plovers, Avocets and three Greenshanks. Plenty of tern activity with birds leaving and returning with food including several Little Terns of which we could see what appeared to be three well grown chicks.

From Parkes Hide there were great views and lovely sounds of the seemingly chaotic Sandwich Tern colony which every now and then took a precautionary flight as a predator in the form of a gull or bird of prey loomed overhead.

A great few early morning hours on the reserve.

I just love the grumpy expression on the chick

There were a few waders visible from Parkes Hide, including this close juvenile Redshank.

Adult Common Sandpiper

It's always great to watch the comedy duo that is an adult Oystercatcher with its chick in very close attendance. Watching every move of its parent in anticipation of a food morsel, the disappointment shows when it misses the opportunity and the adult eats what it has caught.

Scotney and ARC

In addition to twitching the Kentish Plover, earlier in the day I had cycled to Scotney to hopefully hear Quail that had been singing there over the past couple of days. I stopped at Pigwell as two lumps caught my eye on the ridge of the barn roof. The barn had been recently repaired and it was good to see the lumps turn in to the pair of Little Owls that live in the barn as I was concerned that maybe the work had caused them to leave. As usual one of the two made a hasty exit on seeing me but not before I managed to get a shot of them both.

Little Owls

A Spoonbill had been found by Martin a couple of days ago and had stuck around but as usual it spent most of the time fast asleep on Scotney main pit so it was welcome to actually see it feeding on Scotney West pit. Good numbers of Tree Sparrows were at the back of Scotney and breeding Yellow Wagtails seemed to be doing well around the arable fields.

At ARC returning breeding waders comprised five Redshank (juv and four adults) were new in that day and the female Garganey was at the back of the pit from Hanson hide.

Juvenile and adult Redshank

A trio of Oystercatchers were making a lot of noise with a head down piping display. This was presumably a pair attempting to see off an intruder.

 

Buff-breasted Sandpiper

I wasn't in the area on Monday 22nd when a Buff-breasted Sandpiper was found at Jury's Gap in the same field used by the Golden Plovers and American Golden Plover. By the time I returned to the area in the afternoon of the 23rd, the Buff-breasted Sandpiper had apparently been flushed by a couple of people and hadn't returned. I checked the same field twice on the 24th to no avail and had more or less given up on seeing it. However, a phone call today from Martin got me cycling out to fields at the back of Scotney where he had relocated it. The sandpiper wasn't associating with any other waders although earlier it had been with a flock of Lapwing. 

Many thanks to Martin for the call and for also staying near the bird so I knew where to go.

Buff-breasted Sandpiper

With the exception of Glossy Ibis, the RSPB reserve has been a bit quiet recently in respect of visiting shorebirds however, this flock of Knot at the Firth Lookout was a welcome sight especially as a single Curlew Sandpiper had joined them.

A flock of 22 Redshank were on the islands out from the picnic tables near Dennis's Hide.

A couple of Hobbies have recently been on the RSPB Reserve anywhere between Dengemarsh and Boulderwall. This adult Hobby was perched in Kenny's Fields.

On the 20th September there was a movement of hirundines comprising mostly Swallows but also House Martins and still the occasional Sand Martin. A mixed flock of c.2,000 House Martins and Swallows heading past the New Lighthouse and out to sea was an impressive sight.

Now that the wind has switched to the north-west the rewards of sea watching have become poor but before the switch in wind direction skuas, mostly Arctic, Sandwich Terns, Gannets, Shearwaters and the occasional Leach's Petrel, Storm Petrel and a Grey Phalarope could be seen off-shore.

Up to 20 Arctic Skuas have been lingering off-shore between Lade Bay and Rye Bay terrorising both feeding and migrating Sandwich Terns.

Arctic Skua chasing a Sandwich Tern

Manx Shearwaters

Arctic Skua

Our first Red-throated Diver of the autumn was on the 18th September.

This Yellow-legged Gull looks about as mean as they come!

Avocet chicks at last

At ARC it has been possible to watch five pairs of nesting Avocets amongst the islands. This is a great increase from 2024 when there were 3 nesting pairs on ARC up to the 21st June when on the 22nd this went down to only one pair which successfully fledged one young on 20th August from three chicks. Today the 26th June the first three Avocet chicks have hatched to one pair and the other four pairs remain nesting all with sitting birds.

Avocet pair with three eggs

One of the three newly hatched Avocet chicks at ARC

The female Avocet was still removing egg shells from the nest location when I watched likely meaning that the chicks could only have been hours old. What a treat.

It is still proving tricky to work out what the Common Terns are up to at ARC. I think that there are still at least 15 nesting pairs in the colony but over the past few days their behaviour has been strange. At times for no apparent reason that I can understand all the terns suddenly lift into the air and fly away from the colony area only to return after a few seconds. Whether the strong winds are causing them to spook easily as I cannot see any predators overhead, I just don't know and I wonder if we will get any chicks from this colony? Still, it does allow me to count them and this morning I had 52 in the air together. Elsewhere on the reserve there are at least four sitting common terns on Burrowes and another three sitting birds at Dengemarsh with seven to eight chicks with a couple of them near to fledging.

I wondered what this Common Tern had caught and it looks like a young Pike

Common Tern chicks at Dengemarsh

Common Tern chicks at Dengemarsh

Adult waders are starting to turn up on the reserve in low numbers, with Green, Wood and Common Sandpipers, Bar and Black-tailed Godwits and Grey Plovers.

Adult Black-tailed Godwit

Common Sandpiper

Wood Sandpiper

This adult Redshank is one that has successfully fledged one chick at ARC

Juvenile Redshank

A flock of six Mediterranean Gulls dropped in to ARC on the 25th June. One of them was ringed with a Yellow Darvic ATSS, and is likely to originate from Germany. 

Mediterranean Gull ATSS giving the hard stare to a 1st Summer Little Gull at ARC

Black-winged Stilt

Early morning excitement and anticipation with a productive and varied sea watch including a good movement of Common Scoter. A Surf Scoter was amongst a Common Scoter flock heading east off Beachy Head at 06:51, an hour later it was passing the Point and was seen by a few of the locals and visiting birders as it sped past moving position within the Common Scoter flock. As the sea watch started to slow down, a nice find by Gary Johnson of a female Black-winged Stilt at RSPB Dungeness on Hayfield 1 early morning caused most remaining birders to depart and head to the reserve. 

The late afternoon light was great for getting some photos with the Stilt close to the western fence of the Hayfield.

Female Black-winged Stilt

Female Black-winged Stilt

Sedge Warblers are established across the reserve, a small number now singing from exposed perches.

Sedge Warbler

Also on Hayfield 1 an Avocet joined the Stilt and a pair of Little Ringed Plovers.

Avocet

Little Ringed Plover

Ravens breed locally but it is not often that you get a chance to see one up close. Martin gave me a call on the radio as one had been bathing and was drying off near the Hayfields.

Raven

A couple of pairs of Redshank are favouring the shingle islands in front of Xmas Dell and looking very smart in their breeding plumage.

Redshank

Three Grey Plovers were roosting on the islands along with a single Redshank.

Grey Plovers