Dungeness with the East Grinstead RSPB Group

Saturday 23^rd 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.

Courtesy of Martin Jeffree

•          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.

Little egrets -Courtesy of Patrick Sullivan

 

·         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. 

Courtesy of Ian Hodgson

·         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.

brown argus butterfly  -courtesy of Patrick Sullivan

 small copper butterflies – courtesy of Martin Jeffree

 

•  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.

 Courtesy of Patrick Sullivan

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.

Courtesy of Ian Hodgson

 

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