19/10/2014 White-winged Black Tern at Rye and Ring Ouzels at Dungeness

Sunday 19th October 2014
Dungeness and Castle Water (Rye)
Paul and group

The plan was to make an early start at the fishing boats at Dungeness to do some seawatching, then look for Ring Ouzels in the trapping area before relocating to Rye to look for the White-winged Black Tern that had been there since Friday.

The strong winds raised expectations of a rewarding seawatch but the wind direction turned out to be almost parallel to the shore line making the spectacular experience less likely.  The highlight was the sight of a close Arctic Skua to complement the earlier long distant ones.  There were a good number of other birds seen but no vagrants or scarcities.

We found 9 Ring Ouzels in the trapping area after 2 attempts.  Our first sweep of the area was too far east and after consulting other birders we tried the more westerly route with huge success.  The views were really good with the birds seen flying and then perched in the trees about 50 metres away from us.  Word has it that the majority of the huge numbers of Ring Ouzel that have been seen on the south coast have probably come down from Scandinavia.

On the way back to the car we saw a female Black Redstart near the café which was a welcome bonus. 

Having been told that there was little activity on the reserve we decided to go to Rye to look for the White-winged Black Tern which was reported showing well at Castlewater.  On the car journey to Rye we still managed to see a couple of Great White Egrets loads of Golden Plover and many ducks etc, Paul even managing to see his first Merlin of 2014.

The Black Tern was showing well from the hide and also a little to the west, from the shingle waterfront.  This bird was a new species to me.  It had migrated from SE Europe and Asia and was aiming  to get to Africa but had obviously got lost - much to our advantage.  Although the tern was in moult the views were excellent with the flight providing a special treat.

 


White-winged Black Tern flying
Library picture

White-winged Black Tern on ground
Library picture

Have a look at the pictures below to see the same bird in breeding plumage.

White -winged Black Tern in breeding plumage
Library picture

Also seen at Castlewater were 3 splendid Little Stints, barely 30 metres way from the hide and several Marsh Harriers in the background.

We spent quite some time trying to find the Yellow-browed Warbler that had been heard but not seen in the wooded area close to Castlewater but we had no luck at all.  Maybe we will be more successful in Norfolk next weekend.





Today's species list:
Gannet
Great Crested Grebe
Cormorant
Arctic Skua
Great Black-backed Gull
Sandwich Tern
Common Scoter
Herring Gull
Kittiwake
Ring Ouzel   (10)
Blackbird
Magpie
Black Redstart
Carrion Crow
Woodpigeon
Starling
Shoveler
Mallard
Coot
Great White Egret   (20)
Barnacle Goose
Golden Plover
Lapwing
Teal
Wigeon
Tufted Duck
Pintail
Moorhen
Mute Swan
Greylag Goose   (30)
Canada Goose
White-winged Black Tern
Little Stint
Marsh harrier
Kestrel
Robin
Blue Tit
Great Tit
Chiffchaff
Chaffinch   (40)
Linnet
Goldfinch
Meadow Pipit
House Sparrow
Goldcrest
Swallow




Pied Wagtail
Green Woodpecker
Great Spotted Woodpecker
Pheasant   (50)
Gadwall
Wheatear
Common Gull


Today's Species Count = 53




Addition to 2014 UK List of birds:
White-winged Black Tern  ( 265)
Addition to UK Life List of birds:
White-winged Black Tern  ( 278)