October 21st
On a very wet morning with a fresh northerly wind we arrived at Minnis Bay at 0755 where we met Marc Heath who was already there and had seen a juvenile Sabine's Gull flying E at 0730. We remained there for two hours and between us we counted 7 Little Gulls E, 5 Guillemots E, 6 Common Scoter, 2 Curlew, 194 Dark-bellied Brent Geese, 1 Wigeon, 2 Teal, 95 Gannets E, 1 Rock Pipit, 25 Skylarks E, low over the sea, 1 Razorbill sitting offshore, 1 adult male Peregrine unsuccessfully chasing an incoming Starling, 2 Pintail E, 3 Kittiwake E, 6 Turnstone, 4 Ringed Plovers, 1 Grey Plover, 1 Dunlin, 44 Oystercatchers, 6 Arctic Skuas E, 3 large auks E and 1 Great Skua W.
Marc visited Minnis Bay again betwen 1200 and 1530 and saw another juvenile Sabine's Gull as well as 1 Little Auk (187th), 459 Gannets E, 147 Kittiwakes E, 26 Little Gulls E, 150 Dark-bellied Brent Geese, 13 Common Scoter, 4 Guillemots E, 4 large auks E, 1 Merlin E at sea, 1 Spotted Redshank calling and flying E, 8 Great Skuas, 2 Mediterranean Gulls E, 2 Wigeon, 3 Red-breasted Mergansers, 1 Red-throated Diver, 5 Skylarks , 70 Oystercatchers and 8 Little Egrets W.
Derek Smith, Tony Swandale, Julian and Alex Perry and John Cantelo spent most of the day at the Towers. Their highlights included 1 Guillemot, 1 Shag W (186th), 1 Short-eared Owl in off the sea, 1 Long-tailed Skua (188th), 1 Little Auk, 3 Red-breasted Margansers and 1 Little Stint W (189th) .
Anne and I spent an hour at Reculver from 1345 and counted 106 Gannets flying E, 5 Little Gulls E, 24 Dark-bellied Brent Geese W, 1 Pomarine Skua E (190th), 1 Mediterranean Gull W and 1 Guillemot W.