Before heading off to Dungeness this morning we made a brief stop at Oare Marshes. The tide was out, therefore, it was pretty quiet on East flood. Teal and Lapwing were most numerous with smaller numbers of Wigeon, Shoveler and Pintail. There was no sign of the Long-billed Dowitcher either on East flood or the surrounding mudflats. Before leaving I did manage to add two new additions to the year list, with a Green Woodpecker perched on a telegraph pole and a Kingfisher at the sluice gates.
After a brief stop at the entrance gate to Dungeness RSPB reserve to pick out several Tree Sparrows on the feeders it was off to the reserve centre. An Iceland Gull was showing well among a small gull roost on one of the islands. This was an unexpected bonus, We'd hoped that the Long-eared Owl would be visible this morning and it didn't disappoint, showing extremely well in the bushes behind the dipping pond.
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| Long-eared owl |
We left the reserve after being told of the presence of a Black-throated Diver on ARC Pit. After several scans, the diver was found along the Eastern edge. It remained distant throughout our visit and a scope was essential to get any decent views. A Great White Egret flew in and provided another welcome year tick.
From here we headed for the beach and quickly located the 1st winter Caspian Gull among a small group of roosting gulls by the fishing boats.
A juvenile Glaucous Gull had been reported the previous day and with no sign of its presence at the fishing boats, we headed for "the patch" and were told by another birder that it had been seen but it had disappeared into the power station compound and not seen since. The fact that there were hardly any gulls roosting on the beach was probably due to the extensive work taking place on the shingle banks trying to save the 2nd seawatching hide from disappearing below the bank. The recent storms and high tides had left the hide on the very edge. The Glaucous Gull was showing no signs of emerging from the compound, then as luck would have it, two workers came around the corner and this was enough for the Glaucous Gull to take flight. The walk back along the shingle was halted when a Kittiwake was found roosting on the beach. It didn't hang around long as the incoming tide reached it and it took to the air.
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| Caspian Gull |
A juvenile Glaucous Gull had been reported the previous day and with no sign of its presence at the fishing boats, we headed for "the patch" and were told by another birder that it had been seen but it had disappeared into the power station compound and not seen since. The fact that there were hardly any gulls roosting on the beach was probably due to the extensive work taking place on the shingle banks trying to save the 2nd seawatching hide from disappearing below the bank. The recent storms and high tides had left the hide on the very edge. The Glaucous Gull was showing no signs of emerging from the compound, then as luck would have it, two workers came around the corner and this was enough for the Glaucous Gull to take flight. The walk back along the shingle was halted when a Kittiwake was found roosting on the beach. It didn't hang around long as the incoming tide reached it and it took to the air.
A stop off at Capel Fleet before heading for home added another two year ticks, with a small covey of Red-legged partridge and a small flock of Corn Buntings. An hour or so scanning from the viewing mound produced plenty of good birds including Three Hen Harriers (1 male and 2 Ringtails) several Marsh harriers, Peregrine, Barn Owl and Merlin.
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