Tuesday 25 August 2015

Well it's probably a Wader!

A thoroughly miserable day at Dungeness. I joined DW and AJG at The point for a sea watch: The numbers below were kindly collated by AJG from the time he started at 05.45-08.10
Common Scoter: 18E  1W
Fulmar: 3E
Gannet: 249E
Dunlin: 25E
Arctic Skua: 4 around
Sandwich Tern: 57E
Common Tern 22 down
Black Tern: 2 around
Arctic Tern: 1W
Yellow Wagtail: 302 coasting East
From a very wet Hanson 2 Wood Sandpipers, 3 Little Stints, 3 LRPs, 28 Golden Plover(no juveniles) a Greenshank, 2 Redshank, Ruff, 3 Black Terns and 100s of Sand Martins. In a break in the weather a walk saw  to the pines a few each of Willow Warblers, Lesser Whitethroats, Common Whitethroats, Reed Warblers and Sedge Warblers with large Tit flock. From the pines the 2 Red-crested Pochards could be seen also c20 Yellow Wagtails there.
In the light house garden a Pied Flycatcher was showing quite well and more Yellow Wagtails over.
Taken at 260x Digital when the rain cleared and the light improved.
A message from Dan to say he thought there was a Temminck's Stint on the Cormorant island persuaded me to go back there. On arrival through a curtain of rain a Little Stint, Common Sandpiper and what appeared to be Temminck's Stint could be seen on the Cormorant Island. I alerted the locals, a seed of doubt was sown in my mind when when Least Sandpiper was mentioned. The bird was certainly considerably smaller than the Little Stint adding to my doubts and causing confusion over it's identity. Still it wouldn't be a proper Autumn if I didn't mess up a Peep or 2, there is plenty more time left for more mistakes.


Black Tern bathing at the ARC

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