25/08/2018 Paul James and Group at Dungeness

Saturday 25/08/2018
RSPB Dungeness
Paul James and Group

I enjoyed an outstanding day at Dungeness with Paul and the group - our first outing in the UK since the middle of February.  14 of us turned up on a mild, overcast day for what turned out to be a memorable outing with over 70 species seen, covering a wide range of birds.

• Thankfully, the American Black Tern was still present, enabling those in the group who had not seen it earlier in the week to get their first view of this rare visitor to the UK.  We needed to make 2 stops at Makepeace Hide - an initial visit to ensure the sighting and a later one when it was not so busy to get the close up views needed to differentiate this bird from the other Black Terns present.  

• On the way to Denge Marsh Hide we saw several Yellow Wagtails in the nearby field with the cattle.  From the hide we saw a number of interesting birds, including a couple of Ruff with a Snipe just a few feet away from them.  A Hobby flew past giving excellent views.  Marsh Harrier and Great White Egret added to the glamour.

• At the ARC Hide there was also a fabulous assortment of birds seen including a Garganey, Golden Plover, Dunlin, Common Sandpiper and a Curlew Sandpiper.

• We finished off at Galloways where the star attraction, a Wryneck, proved elusive to all but a couple of the group.  We were compensated richly by superb views of a Little Owl, 2 Short-eared Owls and several Whinchats.

A cracking day out and it was so good to meet up with everyone again.

Species list  - thanks Alan!
American Black Tern		Little Egret
Bittern		Little Grebe
Black Tern		Little Owl
Black-headed Gull		Long-tailed Tit
Black-Tailed Godwit		Magpie
Blue Tit		Mallard
Buzzard		Marsh Harrier
Carrion Crow		Meadow Pipit
Cetti's Warbler		Moorhen
Chaffinch		Mute Swan
Chiffchaff		Pied Wagtail
Collared Dove		Pochard
Common Gull		Raven
Common Sandpiper		Reed Warbler
Common Tern		Ringed Plover
Coot		Robin
Cormorant		Rook
Curlew Sandpiper		Ruff
Dunlin		Sand Martin
Dunnock		Sandwich Tern
Egyptian Goose		Sedge Warbler
Gadwall		Short-eared Owl
Gannet		Shoveler
Garganey		Snipe
Golden Plover		Sparrowhawk
Great Black-backed Gull		Spotted Redshank
Great Crested Grebe		Starling
Great Tit		Stock Dove
Great White Egret		Stonechat
Greenfinch		Swallow
Grey Heron		Swift
Grey Plover		Teal
Greylag Goose		Tree Sparrow
Herring Gull		Tufted Duck
Hobby		Water Rail
House Martin		Wheatear
House Sparrow		Whinchat
Jackdaw		Whitethroat
Kestrel		Widgeon
Lapwing		Woodpigeon
Lesser Black-backed Gull		Wren
Lesser Whitethroat		Wryneck  seen by Paul
Linnet		Yellow Wagtail

86 species