The Return of the Wilsons ........ Pallas's again

Starling roost.

I only had a couple of hours to spare so i headed to Reculver to try and see the Pallas's Leaf Warbler that had been located there earlier in the day , i was on site at about 3.45pm and was straight away looking through loads of Goldcrests , it was hard to put a total number on these as they seemed to be everywhere but there were no less than 50 in the area i was looking for the Pallas's , well after about 30 minutes i managed to get onto the Pallas's Warbler high up in the canopy , it was constantly moving but simply stunning to see , they have to rate as my favourite warbler .

With time against me i headed of to Grove Ferry to try and see the Great Grey Shrike but had no luck with this , however i did manage to see the Wilsons Phalarope which was at the back of the pool with Lapwings viewed from the ramp , 5 Common Snipe and 15 Pied Wagtails overhead , plus a remarkable display of Starlings gathering before going to roost , there were at least 2000 birds flying in unison , twisting and turning as one , a really great sight and they flew over head at one point and the noise of there wings flying as one was remarkable.

Starling roost.

200 up .............

Rose-Coloured Starling.

A successful trip to Newhaven to see the adult Rose-Coloured Starling which was year tick number 199 , i saw lots of Meadow Pipits near the base of the cliff also there was a showy Rock pipit nearby , i walked / climbed up the cliff to view the hollow and within minutes i was enjoying really good views of this stunning bird , it was constantly eating the berries and then disappearing into the bushes out of sight then re appearing for another feed.

 Rose coloured Starling.

 I decided to head off to Beachy Head after about an hour here , on the way back down the cliff i heard then saw a Wheatear which was quickly followed by another , i also saw a Redwing at this site . I arrived at Beachy head and the news was positive that the Pallas's warbler had been seen but was very elusive only showing every 1or 2 hours , I was with the gathered birders at the bottom of the wood which was very windy and although i could hear crests i was looking high up into the canopy , i decided to try my luck at the top of the wood looking down at the canopy , this proved to be a wise move as it was far less windy and abit warmer and within a couple of minutes i saw several Chiffchaff , then someone picked out the Pallas's Warbler which i quickly got onto and brought my year list to 200.

 I only saw the Pallas's for a couple of seconds and the most outstanding feature was it glorious wing bars , quite simply stunning  , i would have liked a longer view and i did see it again very briefly ,  whilst i was there i had approx: 15 Brambling overhead which was year tick 201 , a very close view of a Sparrowhawk and approx 8 Fieldfares overhead were the first of the autumn for me , there were good numbers of House Martins overhead most of the time i was there with a few Swallows mixed in. 

Rose Coloured Starling.

Reculver

Just a short post about my trip to Reculver this afternoon . I started of with a close in Guillemot and an equally close in flock of 20 Mallards ,  abit further round past cold harbour i picked up a  Short-Eared Owl flying in off the sea at about 3.15 pm , it  flew inland and then dipped down below a bank out of sight , this was a very welcome year tick and very pleasing to see , i carried on my walk back along the green bank towards the oyster beds just adding several Meadow Pipits and Linnets on my way , then i was greeted to a fantastic view of a Ringtail Hen Harrier really spectacular bird flushing approx 30 Redshanks and 15 Little Egrets were also  spooked from there roosting spot . Here are a few totals of what i saw this afternoon :

Short-eared owl     1
Hen Harrier           1 Ringtail
Guillemot               1 west
Brent Goose           8 west
Mallard                  20 west
Little Egret            15
Chiffchaff              2
Goldcrest               1

Scotney and Dunge

Black Redstart 

I decided i would venture down to Scotney today and try and catch up with the 2 Buff-Breasted Sandpipers that had been residing there the last few days , i arrived on site and had the task of scanning through approx 500 Golden plovers and several Ruff and Lapwing.

 I was soon joined by another birder and we scanned the flock together then the other birder thought he had got one of the Sandpipers but all he could see was its head at first he quickly put me on to the bird and within a minute or two the Buff - Breasted Sandpiper walked out into the open , what a superb waders this is , very dainty in appearance , a clearly marked crown , buff face, chin and underparts not quite extending fully under the belly , yellow legs , well defined coverts and thin straight all dark bill , its approx same size as a Dunlin which was also seen as a good size comparison, a Little Stint was also seen here and a partial albino Lapwing was present ,  the second Buff Breasted Sandpiper was not located but was reported later on in the day.

From here i ventured down to the sea and missed a Long tailed Skua that had been lingering earlier in the morning , damn that would have been a Kent tick !! the sea was fairly quite , i added Guillemot to my year list and there were plenty of Gannets and the odd Red Throated Diver moving through but that was about it until another birder picked up a Shearwater flying west , we all got on it , quite long winged buoyant flight , dark belly , slightly paler under wings all pointed to it being a Sooty Shearwater and was gratefully added to my year list . i also saw male and female Black Redstart by the power station and Wheatear by the road .

 Black Redstart.

From here i then went to Dungeness rspb reserve , i headed off towards Denge marsh and on the way around at the back of Christmas dell hide there were quite a few small birds moving through the bushes , i saw 2 Chiffchaff ,  1 male Blackcap plus a couple each of Great and Blue Tit plus Dunnock and Robin all in one small Hawthorn bush . 

I called into the Denge marsh hide and there wasn't much to be seen from here except a fly by Little Egret and Marsh Harrier , i was hoping to connect with the earlier reported Ring Ouzel which was seen in this area but had no luck with that.

I then left the hide and started on the back trail just past the hide and before the next pool of water when i saw approx 10 to 15 phyllosc's moving through the nearby bushes, i and another birder and his partner checked through these then they moved on and i continued checking through on my own.

 I moved abit further around the track to the next bend and there was more activity plenty of chiff/willows then a female Blackcap put in an appearance , i was watching a Chiff which was out in the open atop a bare bush behind a slightly lower down gorse bush when all of a sudden this huge bulky warbler appeared on the left of the bare bush pale grayish upper parts , long grey tail with slight white edging , grey lower back and mantle , well marked fringes on the wing coverts , pale underparts , bulky bill large headed , pale grayish legs , it also cocked its tail at one point as it was feeding on some berry's . so i am very happy to say i had found a very bulky 1st winter Barred Warbler , which is a site tick and my second Barred this autumn and also i am informed is only the 3rd ever record of Barred warbler for the RSPB reserve !! 

I quickly got four more birders onto it and put the news out on the pager just as quickly , we watched it on and off  from 12.45am until 1pm then it dropped out of sight , the main small movement of phyllosc 's had stopped and it most probably moved on with them.  Just wished i had not left my camera in the car !!!!

I also added a rather smart male Stonechat to my days list on the way back to the reserve car park .

Edit : The Barred Warbler was seen again later in the day and proceeded to be seen for the next few days , apparently it's only the 3rd record for the Rspb reserve !!!

Nearctic comes to Kent

White-Rumped Sandpiper.

I went to Oare today in the quest of seeing the White-Rumped Sandpiper  , i arrived at Oare late morning and made are my way around to the east flood where the usual large numbers of Golden plover and Black -tailed Godwits were easily seen , there was a scattering of Ruff here and there and amongst the Godwits were several Redshanks , i continued around the flood towards the sluice and joined the already assembled birders who informed me that the target bird was showing really well about 10 mins ago but has now gone behind the nearby island out of sight (oh joy !!!)

White  Rumped Sandpiper.

Well whilst i was waiting for the hoped for re-appearance of the Sandpiper i checked out Faversham creek and added several Curlew Sandpipers and a scattering of Dunlin flew along the Creek , there was also several more Redshank seen here. 

I walked up further along the sea wall and re-located the White Rumped Sandpiper tucked in a little channel preening  , its white rump was easily seen whilst preening , then it went walk about and its extended primaries just beyond its tail were very obvious , this was a very welcome year and patch tick for me   , the bird spent a lot of time on the island and then went onto the mud feeding , sorry about the poor quality of photos but you can just make out the extended primaries in photo 1 (Ok i know you have to look hard ...lol )

Other birds of note seen here were Peregrine , Hobby , at least 6 Little Egrets and 10 Avocets , plus there were a few Common Seals basking on the sand bank.

I then set of to Grove ferry to try and see the re-found Wilsons Phalarope as  i was hoping to get better views than i had the previous week , I soon arrived at Grove and went to the viewing ramp and would you believe it ?? once again i were told that it had just flown into the inaccessible pool out of sight , damn and blast birding can be very frustrating some times ..lol

 Well i waited and waited some more than i thought i would go and  check out Harrisons drove as it might have flown there un-noticed , and not more than 5 minutes had gone by when news broke it was showing at Harrisons !!!! i set of and within 15 mins i was  enjoying good scope views of the Wilsons Phalarope , now if you think my record shots of the White Rumped were bad you have seen nothing yet...lol

Wilsons Phalarope  right hand bird (Honest !)

I was really pleased to see this , it was walking around the pool feeding very well , its feeding motion was really interesting with continuous jabbing motions as it was walking around this shallow pool , one bonus point if you can i.d the wader on the left !!

I also saw a small lizard which not being an expert on lizards or anything else really i thought was a Common Lizard , sorry no photos as i would have been strangled by the other birders who were straining to get better views of the Wilsons , with time against  me i had to head off after about an hour here , i did see Marsh Harrier and 2 Ruff from the ramp and heard several Cetti's warblers  .

Record Breakers ....... Oare Marshes

5 of the 8 Spoonbills present.

I called into Oare Marshes after work hoping to connect with Spoonbills and as i walked up to the East flood not 1, not 2 , BUT 8 Spoonbills flew over the sea hide and landed on the east flood , quite amazing my previous best total was 2 birds on numerous occasions but to get 8 is a real personal  record breaker , 2 adults and 6 juvs , sadly i could not get all 8 in one photo so have taken a pic of 5 and another pic of 3 birds.

3 Spoonbills with 2 Avocets.

There was the usual large numbers of Black-Tailed Godwits and Redshanks, Golden Plovers were gaining in numbers all the time with approx: 200 counted , a mixed flock of smaller waders flew around the East Flood and i counted 2 Curlew Sandpipers and 5 Dunlin , there were 50 + Avocets and several Ringed plovers .

A quick circuit around the east flood and past the sea hide did not add much more apart from 7 Linnets and 4 Pied Wagtails near the hide , with several Bearded Tits calling and briefly showing themselves.