Destination Dungeness

With favourable wind conditions and with forecasted rain showers during the morning we headed for the beach and joined one of the locals in the sea-watching hide. Unfortunately, the rain never arrived and the wind conditions didn't really produce the birds we had been hoping for. Good numbers of Gannets were constantly seen moving through, with much smaller numbers of Kittiwakes, Fulmars, and Scoters also seen. We did, however, manage to add a year tick in the form of a distant Arctic Skua.  Eventually, it flew much closer allowing some nice scope views when it started harassing the Common Terns.

With the recently prolonged spells of dry weather, I was quite surprised to find the water levels at Dengemarsh much higher than expected. However, there were a couple of small strips of exposed sandy islands and a scan of these produced Ruff, Oystercatcher, Lapwing, Common Sandpiper and a second-year tick in the form of a Wood Sandpiper. Sand Martins were present in their hundreds, skimming low across the water surface and perching on nearby fence wires. 

A drive along Galloways Road added a few Wheatears and Stonechats and a young Whitethroat, but the birding was interrupted when we found a sheep wandering along the road and had to open one of the gates and encourage it to run through. Eventually, we managed to reunite the sheep with the rest of the flock without too much drama.

We stopped off at Elmley on the way home and were entertained by a family of Swallows.

The fields either side of the entrance track were very dry, but we did manage to find a single Green Sandpiper feeding along the edge of a pool that still held some water. The only other birds of note were a couple of Marsh Harriers and Yellow Wagtails.