Gannet near London (1 Viewer)

J

JeffMoh

Well-known member

• Nov 3, 2012

• #1

I'm going to be in London for a few days over Xmas and should be able to get a day away from family to go birding. I would really like to see a Gannet. What's the nearest place to London where I might reasonably expect to see one?

Jeff

 

Steve Arlow

Well-known member

• Nov 3, 2012

• #2

Best chance is probably a seawatch off the south coast, somewhere like Dungeness in Kent or Beachy Head in Sussex.

 

KenM

Well-known member

• Nov 3, 2012

• #3

JeffMoh said:

I'm going to be in London for a few days over Xmas and should be able to get a day away from family to go birding. I would really like to see a Gannet. What's the nearest place to London where I might reasonably expect to see one?

Jeff

Click to expand...

Saw several in the English Channel a week ago from St Margarets, Kent..(you can almost ''touch France'' from there)..although you might need a bit of luck, as you'll be two months later!...blue skies and an on-shore wind?

cheers

 

dantheman

Bah humbug

• Nov 3, 2012

• #4

Don't know the area well myself (coast south of London), but I'd assume that views could be distant at this time of year, and require correct conditions in any case as mentioned.

Might be best to tie it in with a visit to other sites/nature reserve for other wildlife in the area rather than pin all hopes on getting poor views of this one species. Birdingpals might be worth looking up. Dungeness certainly interesting (with RSPB reserve nearby for other interesting species), although presumably a bit further to travel.

 

Nohatch

Mad scientist

• Nov 5, 2012

• #5

Hi Jeff,

There's always a few hanging around in the Channel - easiest way to see one is to take a cross-channel ferry (Dover-Calais). You can do this as a day trip as it's only 1.5 h one-way.

N

 

Monahawk

Well-known member

• Nov 5, 2012

• #6

Need not go too far. A trip to the Isle of Sheppey on the north Kent coast may produce one or two out at sea. Shellness on the eastern tip of the island used to be a regular birding spot of mine in the past and I regularly chalked up gannet there while sea watching.

Si.