On Thursday I spent another hour or so in the Feast hide at Grove Ferry-not as productive as the previous day but the Kingfisher put on a prolonged display without ever perching close to the hide. Two Marsh Harriers also showed well. Yesterday was spent at Dungeness where, to my surprise, we had almost no rain after about 10.00. At the ARC pit a Stoat ran across the path and there were lots of Chiffchaffs and Goldcrests. At the Willow Trail there was a Firecrest and we heard a single call from what was probably a Yellow-browed Warbler. It didn't call again. At the Obs. trapping area a few Redwings and the odd Bramblimg flew over, and Merlin flew towards the Old Lighthouse, before about 120 Fieldfares dropped into the gorse bushes. Two Wheatears were also noted. Back on the reserve, there were 7 or 8 Great White Egrets, several Little Egrets and 2 Black-necked Grebes on Burrows. A Black Redstart showed well on the visitor centre roof and 2 Tree Sparrows and a Great Spotted Woodpecker were on the feeders.

Marsh Harrier

 Great Spotted Woodpecker

 

No moths to report, but I spent an interesting hour in the Feast Hide at Grove Ferry this afternoon. Male and female Marsh Harriers flew past, followed by a Kingfisher. The ringtail Hen Harrier then put in an appearance and just before I left a Bittern took off from the reed bed.

Bittern

 Hen Harrier

Cold nights still keeping numbers down, but this morning the 5 moths in the trap included 2 new for the year: The Chestnut and Blair's Shoulder-knot.

The Chestnut

 Blair's Shoulder-knot

A milder night on Tuesday meant 15 moths of 10 species yesterday morning, including a Pine Carpet, another Sallow, and my first Black Rustic for 5 years. Last night was colder but there still 7 species with November Moth and Red-green Carpet new this year.

Black Rustic

 November Moth

 Pine Carpet

Yesterday in beautiful weather I managed to get 2 ticks for my Oare Marshes bird list: Great Grey Shrike, which gave good but distant scope views before heading off west, and 2 Ravens which flew overhead as I returned to the car. A milder night meant 14 moths in the trap this morning including The Sallow, Feathered Ranunculus and the first L-album Wainscot of the year. This afternoon at the Restharrow Scrape at Sandwich Bay in the rain, I saw my first Jack Snipe for nearly 20 years.

 Jack Snipe

 L-album Wainscot

 Raven

Had a good day at Dunge yesterday in brilliant sunshine but very windy conditions. We started at the ARC pit where 2 Black-necked Grebes were showing but not much else was seen. Our next stop was the Lighthouse Garden where 1 or possibly 2 Yellow-browed Warblers were showing well every now then. Here and in the surrounding area there were also several "Continental" Coal Tits with good numbers of Firecrests and Goldcrests. At the Patch the Grey Phalarope was still present. After lunch we spent an hour at the Fishing Boats sheltering from the wind next to a conveniently placed vessel. There were 3 Arctic Skuas in the area, occasionally harassing good numbers of Sandwich Terns. A couple of Gannets, 20+ Common Scoters and 11 Brent Geese were also noted. A Wheatear was seen on our return to the road. After another session at the Lighthouse Garden we adjourned to the RSPB Reserve where, from the Dennis Hide area, 5 Great White Egrets, 5 Little Egrets, 3 Grey Herons and 4 Dunlin were noted. 

 Yellow-browed Warbler

 Firecrest

 Coal Tit (Continental race)

 Grey Phalarope

Not many moths this week but 2 of interest. The first Feathered Ranunculus of the autumn was a very dark and quite large individual, and this morning there were just 2 moths: Setaceous Hebrew Character and a Rhomboid Tortrix, a new one for the garden list, which unfortunately didn't want to pose for its photo. We've reached the end of the month and the year total stands at 276 species (168 macros and 108 micros), which compares favourably with last year at this stage with 254 (150 macros and 104 micros).

Feathered Ranunculus