Thursday 30th September
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| Chiffchaff |
The last day of the month felt very quiet but in fact it was quite the opposite and produced a total of 42 species, I covered the site from 6:30 - 10:50am, which produced a new arrival of 6 Wheatears and 1 Yellow Wagtail in the paddocks, apart from that it was pretty much the same as the previous couple of days, other bits noted today were 1 Brambling, 1 Whitethroat, 9 Chiffchaffs, 6 Blackcaps, 6 Redwings, 6 Siskins, 6 Swallows, 27 Chaffinches, 26 Linnets, 16 Meadow Pipits, 13 Goldfinches, 4 Sparrowhawks north, 24 Song Thrushes, 4 Great Spotted Woodpeckers, 1 Green Woodpecker, 60 Starlings west, 9 Skylarks, 3 Pied Wagtails, 3 Jackdaws, 1 Kestrel, 47 Ring-necked Parakeets and 200 Herring Gulls passing through.
Wednesday 29th September
Due to a very busy day I didn't get over to the patch until 3:40pm, and had to depart once again by 4:35pm, so with very little time for a proper watch I concentrated my efforts purely around the cemetery, this in turn wasn't to bad with a Ring Ouzel present near the paddocks, and a good overhead movement of 500 Swallows which were mainly heading in a northerly direction. Other bits included 73 Chaffinches west, 1 Brambling, 3 Siskins, 4 Redwings, 4 Goldcrests, just 1 House Martin, 6 Golden Plovers south, 20 Song Thrushes, 2 Linnets and 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker.
Tuesday 28th September
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| Ring Ouzel |
I couldn't get out when I wanted to at first light so had to settle for a 9:00am start, by this time I had probably missed a few things going through but I suppose what you don't know about you don't miss, anyway like yesterday there was a few bits on the move including 4 Pink-footed Geese that headed north late morning, also thrushes which were still going through when I had to leave at 11:20am, and included 77 Song Thrushes and 3 Ring Ouzels which stayed around a little while before heading off south/east. Other bits around were 1 Hobby north, 10 Bramblings, 30 Siskins, 60 Redwings mainly heading west, 10 Chiffchaffs, 1 Reed Bunting, 1 Grey Heron south, 7 Chaffinches, 4 Goldcrests, 27 Meadow Pipits, 4 Green Woodpeckers, 2 Great Spotted Woodpeckers, 10 Linnets, 7 Ring-necked Parakeets, 1 Pied Wagtail, 15 Starlings, 20 Crows, 200+ Wood Pigeons, 1 Goldfinch, 5 Jays and 1 Rook.
Monday 27th September
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| Pied Flycatcher |
I couldn't wait to get back on to the patch this morning especially after yesterday's not so desirable weather, I covered the area between 7:00 - 11:20am, and was pretty good with a very respectable total of 47 species seen. There was a very light northerly wind which certainly contributed to a busy start, best bird of the day was my second Richard's Pipit for the autumn which was heard calling and then seen heading west over the crematorium at 7:35am, it was followed soon after by the first of 5 Bramblings also 18 Redwings and 17 Siskins, there was certainly a slight movement of thrushes taking place which included 32 Song Thrushes and 33 Blackbirds with my first Ring Ouzel of the autumn also seen. It's a shame I had to leave so early as it looked more promising, but the rest of the birds noted during that time were 1 Pied Flycatcher, 14 Chiffchaffs, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 1 Whitethroat, 5 Blackcaps, 141 House Martins, 17 Swallows, 4 Goldcrests, 300 Golden Plovers south, 9 Grey Partridges, 5 Chaffinches, 37 Meadow Pipits, 21 Skylarks, 1 Reed Bunting, 1 Sparrowhawk, 3 Great Spotted Woodpeckers, 3 Green Woodpeckers, 120 Starlings west, 10 Goldfinches, 17 Linnets, 4 Rooks, 4 Jackdaws, 29 Magpies, 2 Cormorants north, 35 Ring-necked Parakeets, 2 Pied Wagtails, 1 Common Gull, 70 Black-headed Gulls and 2 Long-tailed Tits.
Saturday 25th September
I had a good look round for the Wryneck but without any joy, but to be honest it was pretty difficult walking round in a blustery north/westerly wind. Highlights today included 2 Redwings which were the first birds this autumn, and a total of 21 Pink-footed Geese that headed west early afternoon. Other bits noted were 20 Chiffchaffs, 3 Blackcaps, 4 Goldcrests, 3 Swallows, 3 Sparrowhawks, 1 Chaffinch, 1 Kestrel and 1 Green Woodpecker.
Friday 24th September
Star bird of the day was a Wryneck a good old favourite of mine which I managed to flush late afternoon from one of the allotments, it then briefly sat on some nearby bramble before disappearing low down, unfortunately soon after the heavens opened so I couldn't spend much more time looking for it, but will certainly give it another good go tomorrow. This is the 18th bird for the area that I have found, and the 20th overall. Apart from that excitement it was fairly quiet, others that were noted included 14 Chiffchaffs, 3 Blackcaps, 3 Goldcrests, 1 Sparrowhawk and 2 Great Spotted Woodpeckers.
Tuesday 21st September
Today was very slow but eventually picked up and produced 2 Hobbies heading east, 2 Wheatears, 6 Blackcaps, 6 Chiffchaffs, 110 Linnets, 14 Meadow Pipits, 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 1 Green Woodpecker and 1 Kestrel.
Monday 20th September
There was very little vis-mig taking place today, and even wandering around the most sheltered areas was a little difficult in blustery westerly winds, even so there was still a few varieties to be seen including 25 Chiffchaffs, 3 Lesser Whitethroats, 12 Blackcaps, 9 Swallows, 32 House Martins, 2 Yellow Wagtails, 3 Goldcrests, 6 Sparrowhawks, 1 Snipe west, 46 Golden Plovers east, 4 Jackdaws, 10 Rooks, 4 Long-tailed Tits, 15 Blue Tits, 29 Ring-necked Parakeets, 1 Kestrel, 5 Meadow Pipits, 1 Green Woodpecker, 2 Linnets and 1 Pied Wagtail.
Saturday 18th September
I met up with Dave Gilbert this morning and together we covered the area in glorious sunshine, between us we recorded 22 Chiffchaffs, 12 Blackcaps, 1 Reed Warbler, 6 Sparrowhawks, 1 Peregrine east, 1 Chaffinch, 6 Meadow Pipits, 3 Goldcrests, 3 Great Spotted Woodpeckers, 1 Green Woodpecker, 20 Blue Tits, 6 Linnets and 2 Kestrels.
Friday 17th September (Private Site)
I relocated what I presume was the White Stork that I had on Wednesday over Margate Cemetery, I contacted Dave Gilbert who also came over to see the bird to which it showed extremely well for the duration we was there, the bird was a juvenile and un-ringed it was also quite approachable like they are in Eastern Europe but also quite wary, even so it was certainly a superb bird to see, below are some record shots that I took on the day.
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| White Stork |
Many apologies to my readers for the lack of recent sightings as during the week I have felt like death with a nasty head cold, and although I did a couple of hours on Tuesday 14th and Wednesday the 15th today was my first proper watch since Sunday, and I didn't even have the energy to up date the site (which I will do now). Anyway after all that today was pretty quiet but there was still a few bits around including 1 Firecrest, 1 Hobby, 1 Whitethroat, 9 Blackcaps, 12 Chiffchaffs, 5 Swallows, 6 Goldcrests, 13 Meadow Pipits, 2 Kestrels, 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker and 1 Green Woodpecker.
Wednesday 15th September
I covered the site for a couple of hours which at first seemed to be a waste of time in horrible westerly winds, in the first hour I recorded just 1 Swift, 1 Blackcap, 3 Swallows, 1 Grey Partridge, 1 Kestrel, 30 Linnets and 3 Meadow Pipits but all was to change as I was just leaving the site an hour later at 5:45pm, when about 50 gulls went completely mad over the main entrance, when I looked up they were mobbing a WHITE STORK, and although this was going on the bird was still happy to soar overhead and this remained the case for a further 5 minutes, it then slowly headed off to which I manged to follow the bird as it moved in a south/westerly direction and eventually out of site in heavy cloud cover, this is the 4th record for the area and my first autumn bird here, it just goes to show never give up on patch watching even if it seems it could be a bad day, as the rewards will eventually come.
Tuesday 14th September
There was a few varieties around but nothing in any great numbers, birds noted were 2 Sand Martins south, 1 Sedge Warbler, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 1 Grey Wagtail, 7 Chiffchaffs, 5 Blackcaps, 1 Whitethroat, 6 Swallows, 6 House Martins, 2 Goldcrests, 6 Grey Partridges, 4 Linnets, 1 Kestrel, 32 Crows, 2 Meadow Pipits, 1 Green Woodpecker and 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker.
Sunday 12th September
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| Goldcrest |
There was a few bits around today but in general it was fairly quiet, most of the birds seen yesterday had cleared out and replaced by 7 Whinchats and 2 Spotted Flycatchers by the paddocks, with the first autumn Chaffinch and 3 Goldcrests. Other bits included 3-4 Chiffchaffs, 4 Blackcaps, 10 Rooks, 2 Sparrowhawks, 1 Kestrel, 10 Meadow Pipits, 4 Skylarks and just 5 Linnets.
Saturday 11th September
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| Reed Warbler |
I was out for a few hours this morning but had to leave by 10am, it certainly turned out to be quite productive and surprisingly the first bird I saw was a Little Egret which headed south over the garden of rest, but without a doubt the best bird of the day was a Spotted Redshank (new bird for the site), which was originally heard calling over the crematorium and was then seen as it headed off in a westerly direction. Another new year tick for the area was a Reed Warbler in the allotments which also held most of the 7 Blackcaps, 10 Chiffchaffs and a Whitethroat. Other highlights included 1 Pied Flycatcher, 1 Redstart, 2 Firecrests, 1 Grey Wagtail east, 7 Yellow Wagtails, 1 Sand Martin, 20 Swallows, 115 House Martins, 15 Linnets, 15 Meadow Pipits, 3 Sparrowhawks, 1 Kestrel, 178 Ring-necked Parakeets, 3 Great Spotted Woodpeckers, 3 Green Woodpeckers, 20 Starlings, 4 Jackdaws, 1 Goldfinch and 1 Long-tailed Tit.
Friday 10th September
I watched the area for most of the day but on the whole it was pretty quiet, birds of note included the first Firecrest of the autumn, and a Siskin which headed west. There was a Peregrine Falcon sitting on pylons by the paddocks with the latter holding 4 Wheatears, just 10 Swallows and 7 House Martins. Also around the area was 5 Blackcaps, 5 Whitethroats, 4 Chiffchaffs, 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 2 Green Woodpeckers, 15 Linnets, 7 Meadow Pipits, 1 Sparrowhawk and 2 Kestrels. Dave Gilbert and I had a wander over to Grove Ferry tonight at 6:30pm, to see the Wilson's Phalarope which eventually showed at 7:15pm, from the ramp.
Thursday 9th September
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| Spotted Flycatcher |
Yet another late afternoon visit in sunshine and showers which produced 2 Spotted Flycatchers, 1 Sedge Warbler, 1 Yellow Wagtail, 2 Blackcaps, 2 Chiffchaffs, 10 Meadow Pipits, 3 Grey Partridges, 7 Swallows, 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 1 Lapwing and 1 Kestrel.
Wednesday 8th September
I went out after the heavy rain had cleared but it produced very little, at best was 1 Whinchat, 1 Yellow Wagtail and 20 Swallows, although to be fair most of the cemetery, paddocks and allotments were not properly covered.
Tuesday 7th September
Another late afternoon visit which included 1 Tree Pipit heading east, 8 Whinchats, 12 Wheatears, 1 Yellow Wagtail, 100 Swallows, 4 Blackcaps, 1 Chiffchaff and 1 Green Woodpecker.
Monday 6th September
It was a little difficult today in windy conditions but it did produce 1 Marsh Harrier heading west at 12:30pm, with a nice little total of 15 Whinchats and 20 Wheatears, but that was pretty much it in a fairly quiet day, others of note were 1 Yellow Wagtail and 40 Swallows with the sheltered areas holding just 2 Blackcaps and 1 Whitethroat.
Saturday 4th September
I couldn't do much birding this weekend due to a friend's wedding in Maidstone, I did manage a few hours this morning which produced 1 Redstart, 4 Whinchats, 4 Wheatears, 12 Blackcaps, 3 Whitethroats, 1 Yellow Wagtail, 2 Chiffchaffs, 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 1 Green Woodpecker and a Grey Heron which headed east.
Friday 3rd September
Today produced my first Redstart of the year there was also 8 Whinchats, 6 Wheatears, 4 Yellow Wagtails, 2 Blackcaps, 2 Whitethroats and 4 Swallows.
Thursday 2nd September
Another late afternoon session which produced 3 Whinchats and 1 Peregrine which was hunting over the paddocks, there was also a very good total of 29 Grey Partridges in field next to the paddocks and 39 Lapwings which headed east over the garden of rest.
Wednesday 1st September
Just a late afternoon session which was very quiet, I had a good look round for Yesterday's Richard Pipit but with no joy, birds of note today included 5 Wheatears, 3 Blackcaps and just 2 Whitethroats.
