22 January: Pett Level and Rye Harbour

We left home early in the morning and arrived at Pett Level at 8.30, around half an hour after sunrise. Our friend Sue, always the earlybird, was already there and waiting for us with scope set up. We parked up adjacent to one of the pools beside the road. A large gathering of Coots were nibbling the vegetation at the back of the pool and in the grassy fields beyond there were good numbers of Curlew and Lapwing, poised motionless. As we scanned, I spotted a few Ruff feeding, with their distinctive spangled backs and bright orange legs, an annual tick! Dunlin were also feeding in the gloom, much smaller than the other birds, when suddenly everything went up in the air  as a creamy headed female Marsh Harrier appeared low over the horizon.

We crossed the road and climbed the sea wall to the beach which gave a better view across the flat marshy fields and pools. There were many  geese feeding in the distance, initially hard to distinguish any identifying features, but then the light brightened and we were able to pick out Canada, Greylag and finally the birds we were hoping for, White-fronted Geese, with bold dark stripes across the chest and a distinct white patch at the base of the bill. Sue became very excited when she located a group of Bearded Tits feeding in the reeds right next to the road, daintily balancing on the flimsy reeds, which swayed gently under their weight. The sun brought out the rich buff colouring, blue-grey heads  and black ‘teardrops’ on the males. A splendid sighting and another new tick.

There were plenty of the usual wildfowl on the pools including Shelduck, Shoveler, Teal, Wigeon and Pochard, all looking resplendent when the sun came out enhancing varied glossy green heads, rufous backs and brilliant white fronts. 

One of the great advantages of Pett Level is the opportunity for 360° birdwatching, so having covered the wetland area, we simply turned the scopes round to scan the beach and the sea. This is an area with a sheltered bay that is often good for varied types of grebe and diver, but today there was little on show, other than a few distant Great-crested Grebe. The tide was very high, so no sign of the stumpy remains of the submerged forest and just a few Turnstones and Oystercatchers on show.

Next we drove on to Rye Harbour and headed out to the Flat Beach area of the reserve, comprising of shingle and muddy islands with a large area of water overlooked by 2 hides. This is a good location for waders and we had Ringed Plover, Golden Plover, Grey Plover and Redshank. A small group of Greenfinch flew over and went down into some weeds and bramble along the fence line, and unusually a single Snipe appeared on the shingle nearby. A pair of Raven flew over with a loud ‘Cronk cronk’ alerting us to their presence - another new tick. There was little else of interest here or on Ternery Pool, although a couple of female Reed Buntings flew in and settled on the edge of the pool for a few minutes. Some Meadow Pipits and Stonechat were moving about as we walked along the path back to the car park, where Sue left us.

 Tim and I then drove round to ‘The Viewpoint’, a boardwalk and viewing platform at the edge of a small copse  overlooking some reedbeds and waterways. Tim spotted a Bullfinch in the trees, but it dropped out of sight before I could get on to it. Some Long-tailed Tits passed through the trees and a single Goldcrest. A  Treecreeper climbing silently upwards was our fourth and last new tick for the day. Cormorant were roosting in the trees across the marsh, holding their wings aloft to dry. A beautiful and atmospheric setting, where we have previously seen barn owls, but at 2.30 we were a little early in the day. 

We continued on, passing a pair of Egyptian Goose and a distant Buzzard before retracing our steps and heading for our bed and breakfast accommodation at Greatstone, near Dungeness. A long but satisfying day of birding!