Saturday 23rd September 2023
RSPB Dungeness (Outing 1 of 10)
East Grinstead RSPB Local Group
(11 members present)
Trip Report
What a way to start the new programme
of outdoor trips! Gorgeous weather, a
good turnout from our members and a species count of at least 67 birds ensured
we had a really good day out.
We spent the morning going round the
main reserve, meeting at the Visitor Centre and taking the standard clockwise
route (shown in yellow on the map).
After a delightful lunch in the seating area outside Dennis’s Hide we
relocated to the ARC pits before finishing off the day with a short seawatch
near the power station.
We got off to a flying start from the viewing area outside Dennis’s Hide.
- We were given a “guard of honour” from 6 great white egrets, 2 of which are shown below.
- There
were also 4-5 little egrets, cormorants and at least 3 grey herons in the same
area - on the banks of Burrowes Pit almost directly opposite to our viewing
point.
· Ian spotted a ruff but it soon disappeared. Thankfully it showed again at the Firth Lookout and our able cameramen were able to get decent images of the bird.
· There was a good selection of ducks including gadwall, teal, tufted duck, pochard, wigeon and shoveler. Many were in eclipse plumage, making the ID a tad more challenging than usual.
· We saw the first of several marsh harriers flying over the trees in the distance.
As we made our way round the reserve we were able to add to our burgeoning list.
· As well as some more marsh harriers there were a couple of buzzards, a hobby, several kestrels, ravens and at least one sparrowhawk.
· The most obvious sign of autumn migration came from the numerous chiffchaffs that were around and the constant presence of house martins and swallows - all obviously getting ready to leave the country.
We even had to start a butterfly list - such was
the abundance of these lovely creatures today.
· As well as the red admirals and peacocks there were common blues, small coppers, small white and several brown argus’s.
- Where there are butterflies you normally find dragonflies and we came across a large group on the way to Scott Lookout.
Migrant hawker dragonfly -courtesy of
Patrick Sullivan
We did not see any bearded tits from the Viewpoint
today but there was one rather amusing incident.
·
We
spotted at least 25 coots moving in a line down one of the channels between the reed
beds.
As we were leaving the reserve to go to
the ARC Pits we stopped on the track near Boulderwall Farm to look for birds by
Cook’s Pool.
·
We were
delighted to find at least 5 cattle egrets
sharing the venue with the cows.
Courtesy of Martin Jeffree
The afternoon session at the ARC pits was
simply delightful. There were lots of birds around – including some new species
for the day.
·
The
undoubted star of the show was the glossy ibis.
There were 3 present today. They
had disappeared behind one of the islands at the far end of the water, directly
opposite us, but they soon re-appeared. As time went on they came closer, giving some
cracking views.
Glossy ibis – courtesy of Patrick Sullivan
Glossy ibis x2 – courtesy of Ian Hodgson
·
There were 2 dunlin
on one of the closer islands.
·
A single snipe
caught our eye on the nearest island.
Soon 1 became 2, 2 became 3 and 3 became 4, all looking stunning in the
bright afternoon light.
Courtesy of Patrick Sullivan
· Most amusing scene of the day for me was this great crested grebe feasting on a pike.
After a brief, unproductive, visit to the screen
hide we relocated to the power station to finish the day with some
seawatching. The sea was a bit choppy
making things a bit more challenging than usual.
· Gannet was the most ubiquitous species on the sea today; they were distant in the main but one or two of them came close in.
· A few auks flew west but they were so distant as to make it impossible to see if they were razorbills or guillemots.
· One bird however was much closer in and we were just about able to ID it as a guillemot.
· Martin picked out a distant sandwich tern.
· There was no sign of the peregrine at the power station, although Ian had seen one there during his early morning visit before the rest of us arrived onsite.
· There were regular glimpses of a close harbour porpoise.
· Just as we were about to leave, a wheatear was spotted flying across the shingle in front of us. Ian’s photograph below is of the one he saw during his early morning visit.
What a great day – fantastic sightings and superb
weather!
Thanks Kevin.
Our 3 cameramen sent in a fantastic total of 42
images – thank you Martin, Ian and Patrick.
Bob Hastings
|
Name: |
Count: |
Name: |
Count: |
|
|
Black-headed Gull |
1 |
Linnet |
35 |
|
|
Blackcap |
2 |
Little Egret |
36 |
|
|
Blue Tit |
3 |
Little Grebe |
37 |
|
|
Buzzard |
4 |
Long-tailed Tit |
38 |
|
|
Canada Goose |
5 |
Magpie |
39 |
|
|
Carrion Crow |
6 |
Mallard |
40 |
|
|
Cattle Egret |
7 |
Marsh Harrier |
41 |
|
|
Cetti's Warbler |
8 |
Meadow Pipit |
42 |
|
|
Chaffinch |
9 |
Moorhen |
43 |
|
|
Chiffchaff |
10 |
Mute Swan |
44 |
|
|
Common Gull |
11 |
Pied Wagtail |
45 |
|
|
Coot |
12 |
Pintail |
46 |
|
|
Cormorant |
13 |
Pochard |
47 |
|
|
Dunlin |
14 |
Raven |
48 |
|
|
Dunnock |
15 |
Reed Bunting |
49 |
|
|
Egyptian Goose |
16 |
Ringed Plover |
50 |
|
|
Gadwall |
17 |
Robin |
51 |
|
|
Gannet |
18 |
Rock Dove / Feral Pigeon |
52 |
|
|
Glossy Ibis |
19 |
Rook |
53 |
|
|
Great Crested Grebe |
20 |
Ruff |
54 |
|
|
Great Tit |
21 |
Sandwich Tern |
55 |
|
|
Great White Egret |
22 |
Shoveler |
56 |
|
|
Grey Heron |
23 |
Snipe |
57 |
|
|
Greylag Goose |
24 |
Sparrowhawk |
58 |
|
|
Guillemot |
25 |
Starling |
59 |
|
|
Herring Gull |
26 |
Stonechat |
60 |
|
|
Hobby |
27 |
Swallow |
61 |
|
|
House Martin |
28 |
Teal |
62 |
|
|
House Sparrow |
29 |
Tufted Duck |
63 |
|
|
Jackdaw |
30 |
Turnstone |
64 |
|
|
Jay |
31 |
Wheatear |
65 |
|
|
Kestrel |
32 |
Wigeon |
66 |
|
|
Lapwing |
33 |
Woodpigeon |
67 |
|
|
Lesser Black-backed Gull |
34 |
|
|
Today's species count = 67
2023 species count = 196
