Saturday, 10 May 2025
Saturday, 26 April 2025
Barwit evening (SCP)
April 25th: St Cath's sea watch (17:15 - 20:00): as the easterly winds had swung more south during the afternoon I gave the point a go: Barwits dominated with 759 east; combined with 470 recorded in the morning, 1229 was the day total. (NB Dungeness recorded 3000+). Always a great spring-time spectacle. Also: 44 Whimbrel, 2 Arctic Skuas, 5 Manx, 12 scoter, 11 Kittiwakes, 1 RTD, 6 Sarnies etc. The land remains very quiet tho.....
Tuesday, 15 April 2025
Pied fly (Ring ouzel & Gropper)
A bit of a slow start to my spring birding campaign; work stuff getting in the way; but hey/ho that's life. Plus, the recent successive (seemingly endless) run of bright easterlies maybe not so great for the patch. I managed to dip an Alpine Accentor at Gore Cliff back on April 5th: an exceptional rarity found by Graham A. and the Island's second record. The next morning (April 6th) it was not seen again; but we did see an in off male Pied Flycatcher fly past us after coming up and over the cliff. Plus, an equally smart male Black Red in the spot the accentor would have been.
April 15th (conditions have changed): Luccombe area (including Village and Farm etc) yielded a flyover Yellow Wag, reeling Gropper, Sedge warbler, and Ring Ouzel (of note). Whitethroats are back on territory singing away...
April 23rd: Gropper (Nansen Hill) & Sedge Warbler (Haddon's Pits).
Saturday, 5 April 2025
Island Tick
Thursday, 20 March 2025
SCP (Scoters, Little Gulls, swallow etc)
Tuesday, 18 March 2025
Harrier (St Cath's)
Saturday, 8 March 2025
SCP (Skua, Velvets etc)
Wheelers Bay Ventnor: (fem type) Black Redstart on March 5th.
SCP (St Cath's):
Sat March 8th: morning sea watch with George H [06:40-08:50]. Easterlies (ESE). Given it's early March, there was enough to keep us interested with a few highlights: an Arctic Skua east (by date early in the season), as well as three Velvet Scoters (with a scoter flock), a mixture of ducks (100+ scoter, Pintail, teal etc). LBB gulls. In off mipits etc. Number-wise somewhat paltry compared to Dunge?! but enjoyable all the same.
Sun March 9th: similar conditions (easterlies): SCP [06:40-09:35] with George (then Ollie): slow going, but some things moving eastwards: C.Scoter 26, LBB 10, Shoveler 7E, RTD 12E/2on, Common Gull 13, etc. Mipits in-off c60, a few alba/pied wags including a good candidate for White Wagtail (coasting low and east). My first singing Chiffchaff.
Ventnor: Hummingbird hawk-moth on March 10th (and chiff calling over Leeson Road).
Mind boggling Pintail numbers!!! Full totals ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/fqG5Avaug1
— Dungeness Bird Observatory (@DungenessBO) March 7, 2025
Couple of Painted Ladies - SCP lighthouse wall - May 10th (evening)

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My 1st juv Yellow-legged Gull at Sandown Beach (North of the pier/typical spot for them) on July 15th and 17th.. probably my earliest by ...
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A couple of days ago (October 15th), George found a Richard's Pipit along the coast and just west of the Lighthouse, which again was se...