Day out in Boulogne

Family day trip to Calais/Boulogne. We spent an hour walking round some woodland near Boulogne before heading for the beach. Not much around in the heat but it was nice to catch up with birds like Short-toed Treecreeper, Crested Tit,.etc. We've also managed to see Honey Buzzard and Black Kite during the day. In the harbour the Kittiwake colony was still very busy and a number of Med Gulls were flying about.

Gargany on Restharrow Scrape

Brief visit to Restharrow Scrape this afternoon. Unfortunately the Spoonbills reported yesterday evening had departed. The journey wasn't wasted though with a nice drake Gargany being present and showing well.

3 Skua Day

Good day today - got down the bay at 6:30. Nige was already there and within the next 30 min we got treated to good views of a total of 12 Pomarine Skuas. Other birds during a three hour seawatch included a few Artic Skuas, a Bonxie, a Manx Shearwater, 5 Velvet Scoter and 2 Great Nothern Divers. Shame we missed the Long-tailed Skua that had been seen flying past Dungeness early morning. Otherwise a few migrants in the area including Tree Pipit, Ring Ouzel, Yellow Wagtail and 2 Wheatears.

Scaup at Restharrow Scrape

A drake Scaup was present today at Restharrow Scrape. The bird showed well although it remained fairly distant in the far left corner while I was there.

Spring migrants at Bockhill

A couple of hours at the clifftop at Bockhill failed to produce much but a Sand Martin and Swallow came in off the sea and small numbers of finches were on the move. Best bird was a Tree Pipit by the farm wood.

At Sandwich Bay another look for the Gargany was unsuccessful although a couple of birders i met a the gate told me it was still there but difficult to see. Still a fair few other duck, Little grebes and waders around though.

Ducks at Sandwich Bay

A quick look for the Gargany at Restharrow Scrape this morning was unsuccessful. A few other duck were around though with a number of Shoveler performing well. A Corn Bunting nearby provided a good photo opportunity.

Another look for Black Redstart and Short-Eared Owl

Nice and sunny yesterday so I decided to have another look for the Black Redstart at Kingsdown. A nice male has been present there for a while but I didn't see it on a couple of previous visits. This time I managed to see it straight away and was pleased to see that a female was also present.

Late afternoon we went for a quick walk along the Ancient Highway to look for Short-eared Owls. Unfortunately the sun had gone at this point. We saw two different birds hunting the area, showing very well on occasions.