Rye Harbour and Dungeness

Thursday 18th August 2022

Martin and I with Mark and Elizabeth

Rye Harbour

First stop was Rye Harbour.  The fine sunny weather had brought out the tourists but this did not detract from the fine birding we experienced.

• Pick of the day were the wheatears which were a delight to see on the shingle by the main path from the car park out to the sea.  They were ubiquitous!

• There was also a good presence of wagtails including both grey and yellow varieties as well as the common pied.

Waders were there too!

• We had some lovely close views of a couple of knot and several greenshanks. as well as the usual ringed plovers 

Dungeness

We had lunch at Dungeness, in the main car park, before entering the reserve.  This was my first visit since ???? and my first chance to visit the ARC Hanson Hide since it reopened after the pandemic.  Alas it was not to be as the hide was closed due to essential work being carried out to build up the islands to ensure that they were not submerged in winter when the water levels were at their highest.  So we set off round the main reserve, now a shadow of it's former self with only 3 hides remaining - the rest having been replaced by the controversial lookouts.

We moved quickly from lookout to lookout until we reached Denge Marsh Hide where most of the action was. 

• We saw a fantastic 6 glossy ibis' on the far side of the water.  They were quite mobile but always visible.

• Not to be outdone, 5 great white egrets joined the show.  The picture below gives a good comparison with the little egret.

• Apart from a couple of waders that was all there was.
• Mark and Elizabeth saw a Marsh Harrier.
• With time running out, we headed back to the cars before the 5 o clock lockup, catching sight of a hobby, a kestrel and a sparrowhawk on the way.   
• Finally we drove round to the  power station  and walked to the hide, by the patch, to look for black redstarts.  Sadly there were none showing.

A really good day out with a variety of birds on show and, of course, some excellent company.

All pictures courtesy of Martin Jeffree

Year total - 204

Bonaparte's Gull and Whinchat at Oare Marshes

Sunday 14th August

Ashdown Bird Group

7 members of the group made the trip to the north Kent coast on a blisteringly hot day.  Target species was the Bonaparte's gull.  

An early start was the order of the day to enable us to finish before it got too hot. 

• It took less than 15 minutes to find the Bonaparte's gull.  It was on the mud about 50 metres east of the slipway and half way from the sea wall to the shoreline.  The views were very good and just within camera range.

• We then headed west along the sea wall where we saw a good selection of waders, including a couple of green sandpipers, a snipe, and several yellow wagtails.  

• A couple of hobbies and a marsh harrier were the pick of the raptors.

• Just before Dan's Dock, we saw the first of the 4 whinchats that were around.

• At Dan's Dock there was only 1 grass snake showing today but the marsh frog numbers were roughly the same as last week.

courtesy of Martin Jeffree

• Also seen here were sedge warblers, a reed bunting, a reed warbler and several linnets.

 

We retraced our steps to the car park for a welcome break before heading off to the East Flood.

• The usual waders were there in numbers again but this week we were graced with 12+ golden plover, a group of 5 greenshank and a water rail.

A energy sapping walk round the main reserve didn't produce any extra species and the bearded tits were keeping out of sight.

• A  migrant hawker dragonfly was the highlight of the day for many.

All pictures courtesy of Alison Playle except for one by Martin Jeffree

Job done by 1.30 pm!

Year total - 203

Round-up of latest outings

1st August 2022

Weir Wood Reservoir

Unusually for us, mud is a feature at Weir Wood Reservoir at the moment, partly due to the hot weather but more to do with urgent maintenance work that has been going on for some months at the dam end.

the usual story for the last few years - no mud

current situation - increasing amounts of mud

This has led to a build up of waders, a most welcome sight for birders..

• Basic waders include increasing numbers of little egrets, lapwings, black-tailed godwits and even some little ringed plovers.

• On Monday evening I was drawn down by reports of a huge build up of sandpipers.  When I arrived I saw 3 of the 6 green sandpipers, 2 of the 3 common sandpipers and my first wood sandpiper of the year.

all pictures courtesy of Friends of Weir Wood Society

4th August 2022

Oare Marshes

Martin, Mark & Elizabeth

4 of us spent the day at Oare marshes in the sunshine.  

• The Bonaparte's gull, our target species didn't put in an appearance even though we spent hours looking for it.
• It was wagtail day today with lots of yellow wagtails on show, some grey wagtails too and, surprisingly, fewer pied wagtails.

• The other stand-out birding event was the sight of flocks of whimbrel flying overhead all afternoon.  We also had great views of them on the sands of the Swale Estuary.

• The highlight of the day for me however was not the birding but marsh frogs (15+) and the grass snakes (5+) that we came across on the west side of the reserve, at Dan's Dock, just before lunch.

all pictures courtesy of Martin Jeffree

Not what we expected but a cracking day out anyway!

Year total - 201