Come and volunteer at Dungeness Bird Observatory this year! We have a couple of positions available to help out with the monitoring of the wildlife on the Dungeness peninsula as well as helping in the running of the Observatory!
It was like a very mini-Dungeness (but no sea or shingle) 🤣🥳🎉.
The “gulls galore” session continued at Singleton Lake when two adult Great Black-backed Gulls lumbered overhead with Herrings, as they headed towards the “smell” & Godinton fields. A scarce bird in Ashford, my last was at the Flood Storage Reservoir in 2021. So 6 species of Gull for #PWC2026 #72.
But today was a Gull Fest on the patch #patchbirding. One of the Godinton fields by the Great Chart Cricket Pitch had been spread with manure, attracting hundreds of Gulls. Lots of Black-headed & Commons, 2 LBBs, Herrings and best of all, 4 adult Mediterranean Gulls. Patch year ✅. #71 for #PWC2026.
Come stay at the Observatory this spring with the season being well underway with plenty of offshore passage the last couple of days! Theres plenty of availability and for a very reasonable price of £15 per night for friends, and £20 per night for others! Come along and see some migration in action!
Yesterday’s #patchbirding walk was uneventful but the drake Shoveler was still at the Hothfield Waterfall Lake with 2 Teal & a pair of Grey Wagtails. At the Flood Storage Reservoir another Grey Wagtail, C Snipe, 3 Canada Geese, 2 Stonechats, 4 Yellowhammers & 3 Reed Buntings.
A murky day at Dungeness today. 2 Chiffchaffs singing, 3 Bearded Tits from the Hookers viewpoint, 15 Cattle Egrets, 2 GW Egrets, the usual wildfowl & waders, pairs of RL Partridges & Whooper Swans at Cockles Bridge with the family of 3 Whoopers still at Scotney on the old sandpit & 3 Corn Buntings.
A murky walk around Denge Wood this morning but some nice woodland birds spotted: 3 Marsh Tits, Firecrest, plenty of Chaffinches & 2 singing Chiffchaffs. 2 Mandarins & male Bullfinch at Selling. Finished on Sheppey with more murk but a showy Cetti’s Warbler at Elmley.
A bit of patch gold after work today with a moulting drake SHOVELER (a terrible record shot🤣) feeding on the Hothfield Waterfall Lake, very scarce on this side of Ashford. Year ✅ #70 #patchbirding #PWC2026. Little Grebe, 2 Tufted Ducks (a pair with a 3rd drake noted on Tuesday) and 12 Teal.
At the Hothfield Flood Storage Reservoir: 2 Common Snipe, up to 3 Green Sandpipers, pairs of Stonechat & Grey Wagtail, 6 Yellowhammers, 3 Mipits, 4 Skylarks & 3 Reed Buntings, Raven nearby, Bullfinches, Siskins & Linnets. Pair of Tufted Ducks on Singleton lake & 4 Canada Geese.
3x #patchbirding visits this week since returning from Norfolk. The #PWC2026 list moves on to 70 species with the first male Greenfinch in song on rural Godinton Park, LBB Gulls back over the Cobbs Wood Industrial Estate, and the first Chiffchaffs singing (x7) across the area.
Spent a lovely couple of hours eating lunch in the Welney WWT cafe with splendid views over Lady Fen. More Common Cranes, Cattle & GW Egrets, Pinkfeet & White-fronted Geese, Avocets, Golden Plovers, Marsh Harrier & plenty of Wildfowl & waders.
On Monday (2nd) visited the Fens & the Nene & Ouse Washes. Plenty of wildfowl, raptors & a bonus LEO. 2 Common Cranes in flight at Ouse Fen, Water Rail, GW & Little Egrets, 1000s of Whooper Swans still. At Denver Sluice 1 red-head Goosander, Pinkfeet & a bonus 34 White-fronted Geese that flew E.
On Sun (1st Mar) it was nice to catch up with the Eastern Black Redstart at Sheringham. There was a pale-bellied Brent Goose with DBs between Cley & Salthouse, plus 2 of the 3 Glossy Ibises at Stiffkey Floods, 2 Cattle Egrets & 3 Pintails. A Barn Owl was a nice way to finish the day at Burnham Overy
Spent the weekend in Norfolk, 1st visit of 2026. Plenty of birds & better weather than of late. Highlights on 28th Feb of Slavonian & Black-necked Grebes, 3 drake Eiders & R-B Merganser pair in the channel between Brancaster Beach & Scolt Head. At Titchwell, Scaup & Goldeneye, Raven & 2 Tawny Owls.
Remember to get your February scores submitted onto the spreadsheet by the evening of the 7th March, ready for the February round-up on the blog.
If you haven't signed up yet and want to be included, follow this link: docs.google.com/spreadsheets...
Come stay at the Observatory this spring with the season being well underway already! We have plenty of availability and for a very reasonable price of £15 per night for friends, and £20 per night for others!
For more info on signing up for this year's competition, then check out the blog here: patchworkchallenge.blogspot.com
For the sign-up sheet, follow this link: docs.google.com/spreadsheets...
The Patchwork Challenge 2025 article is now out in the latest issue of @birdguides.bsky.social's Birdwatch Extra Magazine! We hope all subscribers enjoy the write-up, it was a brilliant collaborative effort and we thank those patch birders that helped! Enjoy!
Wednesday Birder Club at Rye Harbour
Red Roof Hut- Rye Harbour
Rye Harbour view from Denny Hide
Madeira Cake which was not eaten at Rye Harbour this pm
The ‘Wednesday Birder Club’ spent a few hours at Rye Harbour Nature Reserve today
Dartford Warblers, the wintering Spotted Redshank, Red-breasted Merganser and a pleasant selection of waders and duck
Ran out of time for cake and tea - so I started eating it when I got home 🤦
#sussexbirding
Stunning day in my local woods. The Lesser spots were active all morning including at noon this amazing display of wing flicking, wryneck posturing plus an unfamiliar guttural call. @lesserspotnet
Acrylic sketch of one of today’s Lesser spots.
Fantastic 👍👏
This afternoon’s after work #patchbirding walk was very springlike in warm sunshine. Plenty of common birds in song and a Greylag Goose flew west into the sunset at the Hothfield Flood Gap, #PWC2026 year ✅ #66. At dusk both Tawny & Little Owls were calling on rural Godinton Park.
I spent severals hours today taking video of The Lesser Whitethroat(halimodendri)? Blueskys 100mb is somewhat limiting, lots more to edit and eventually upload to YouTube.
And then today 22nd: 05:00+01:00 presumably roosting on a lagoon/lake north of Oldenbuttel & the Nord-Ostsee Kanal before relocating to fields nearby at 10:00+01:00 (Germany). She is very close to where she was on Xmas Eve 2025. 👍 Good luck Nadine on your migration. Safe journey.
Yesterday Sat 21st: at 05:00+01:00 she was 530.5km away from Walland Marsh, in the Netherlands at the Oostvaardersplassen near Lelystad. At 10:00+01:00 she moved another 311km further NE to near Wilhelmshaven in Germany. The final ‘ping’ yesterday was at 16:00+01:00, a further 178 km NE near Gokels.
For those that have enjoyed seeing ‘Nadine’ & the flock of Bewick’s Swans on Walland this winter, only 10 birds noted this PM in the Ashentree Lane fields. I have just had a look at Nadine’s data track. She was last in those fields at 16:00+01:00 on Fri 20th & her migration back E has now started…
