Trip reports

Bird Migration Twitch

Saturday, 15 September 2007

Seven members met at B&Q car park in central Dover, and another couple two waiting for a decision on location of the first site so as not to waste petrol. Unfortunately there hadn't been much migration reported locally on the previous day, so after a bit of discussion we opted to go to Dungeness. We would have another go at Seawatching as there had been some interesting birds during the week. A quick call to the others and we were off to Dungeness. Vince was already there when we arrived and although things had been slow, he had seen some Skuas and an Arctic Tern. Several Gannets, including some immature, were fishing out to sea. There were a few Guillemots and Steve identified a Razorbill on the sea. Both Sandwich and Common Terns were in abundance, but we had to work for Arctic Terns, walking along the shingle to check through the gulls and terns on the beach. Not always easy to identify when some birds are juveniles and huddled down on the beach. Keith and Steve were able to pick out 2 Arctic Terns, and we were able to see the difference in size as one was close to a common tern. Thirteen Common Scoter flew from the east and settled on the water. A couple of Arctic Skuas were flying around quite close in and later we saw another chasing a tern.

There weren't many small migrants around on the landside but we did see some Swallows passing through. Then we were thrown into a bit of a panic by a mega alert on the pagers. I thought at first it was a joke and someone was having me on, but no it was real. A Booted Eagle had been seen by several people at Grove Ferry and had apparently flown towards Seaton. What to do? Eventually we decided to press on to the RSPB reserve to use the facilities while we made a decision and check out what was there. A few people walked down to see the Red-crested Pochard from the boardwalk and then went to the ARC pit to have a look at the Black necked Grebe. Also Pochard, Ruddy Duck, Grey Heron and Little Egret were added to our list.
At this point the group split with 4 going round to Pett Levels with the rest heading towards Grove and Seaton hoping that the Booted Eagle would be relocated.
At Pett Levels there was a good selection of waders including Lapwing, Black-tailed godwit, Dunlin, Curlew sandpiper, Oystercatcher, Curlew, Ringed Plover, Little Stint, and Redshank. A lone Wheatear was located on the bank.

The "eagle" hunters weren't having much luck thus far and some people had stated towards home when there was a pager message saying the Booted Eagle had been sighted on the road between Wingham and Ickham, a few phone calls and a few more miles on the clock, and the group were reunited near Wingham, where the birding world and his wife were already assembled.
Meeting up with Steve and Mike again, who had been watching from further along the ridge, they told us they had a sighting of what may well have been the bird, but not enough to count. We watched over the field and woods for some time, chatting to other birders but eventually gave up. Later that evening I noted from a website that those who stayed for another hour had been rewarded with an Osprey flying over.
Ah well, that's birding for you, do you hope and go for a rare bird, or do you just carry on doing your own thing.