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.
- 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
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