Kent: 25th March 2019:
A traditional spring visit to Dungeness saw the weather set
fair today but despite the blue skies and occasional fluffy white clouds it was
the biting northerly wind that made it a generally less than pleasurable
experience.
We convened at the Old Lighthouse at 730am and immediately
could hear a couple of Brambling as we got our gear together. A smart male was picked up ‘dweaking’ away
merrily from the lighthouse garden and had already worn off most of his winter
edges to reveal the black underneath.
A duo of Wheatears were swiftly found and Meadow Pipits
parachuted around us while ten Jackdaws passed high and south.
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| Wheatear |
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| Meadow Pipit - Mark Vale |
The sea was calm and the wind was obviously keeping stuff offshore
but we did manage 181 Brent Geese in three wavy lines snaking up Channel and
there were quite a few Gannets milling around.
A single Fulmar and adult Med Gull was the only other species of note
with not even one Sandwich Tern being seen – all rather odd.
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| Brent Geese |
The Porpoises on the other hand were just great with animals
surfacing in all directions and with great frequency so I wonder just how many
are out there? With the feeling being lost in fingers and noses we retreated
for another look at the Wheatears before trying to find a Black Redstart that
was seen by others but with no joy.
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| Wheatear - Mark Vale |
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| Wheatear - Mark Vale |
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| Black Redstart - Mark Vale |
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| The lime green Spurges round the lighthouse were magnificent. |
A wander out towards the Obs gave us brief views of another
fine male Black Redstart and seven more Wheatears and couple of Stonechats but
it was the pair of Peregrines sharing a bloody meal on the pylon that captivated
the group.
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| Wheatear - Paul Rigby |
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| Meadow Pipit - Paul Rigby |
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| Peregrine |
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| Peregrine |
News of the Kentish Plover at Greatstone tempted us away and
a fun hour was spent on the mammoth expanse of deserted beach with the tide
full out. Six stop start plovers in the
distance had us heading along the beach for about half a mile only to discover
that all six were smart adult Ringed and not the French interloper with
pretensions of Britishness.
However, the most amazing thing on the intertidal zone
(about half a mile from the actual sea) was a huge mop head sized mass of gelatinous
fingers full of eggs. They were still
wet and the tide was on the turn so I had hope that they would survive but had
to send an image to Annie to discover what they were. Squid eggs! Who would have thought it and certainly a new
one on me.
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| Squid eggs |
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| Foggy, Clegg & Compo... |
From here it was down to the reserve where Tree Sparrows
were ticked off, facilities were utilised and then after a cuppa we decided
that the trail was possibly not the most productive use of our day and
abandoned the site for pastures new.
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| Tree Sparrow - Paul Rigby |
This entailed a drive north to Grove Ferry where hopefully
the Penduline Tit would give itself up... it did not and in fact the reedbeds
were very quiet with a couple of pinging Beardies and shouty Cetti’s for our
trouble and no sign of any masked bandits whatsoever.
Two Water Pipits dropped in in front of the Feast Hide and
vanished and several Snipe tried to blend in but no amount of staring at
Reedmace produced the desired results.
Marsh Harriers saved the day with several males and females
on patrol of one immature putting on a truly magical skydance for us high in
the blue as he successfully attempted to attract the attention of the two
females nearby.
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| Marsh Harrier |
We had all run out of steam by then and called it a day and
even a pop into Oare Marshes on the way home failed to balance out the day .
You can’t always see everything – such is the nature of our hobby – and I
should just be grateful to be outdoors in the fresh air and with birds around
me.
However, I could have done with a pick-me-up today but
nevermind.
Counting the days to Lesvos, and the weeks to even grander things...
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