23 January: Dungeness

We started our day on the beach opposite our B&B. It was high tide and we could see from our bedroom the black heads of oystercatchers roosting on the shingle bank as it drops down to the sea. We approached cautiously and at a distance, but even so, I think as soon as we came into view the birds spotted us and flew up. Fortunately they resettled a little further along the beach, and through the scopes we were able to see a substantial mixed roost of Dunlin, Oystercatcher, Sanderling and both Black-tailed and Bar-tailed Godwits, the latter being yet another new tick (it’s so easy at this time of year!).

Form here we headed down to Dungeness beach, where we attempted a seawatch by the fishing boats, but the sea was rather choppy. There were hundreds of Cormorants and some Great-crested Grebes close to the shore. We could just make out some auks bobbing in the waves at some distance, but the combination of poor light and windy conditions made it difficult to confirm whether they were Guillemots or Razorbills, although we think we had both. A single Gannet was just identifiable against the horizon.

Our next stop was the RSPB reserve, but this proved somewhat disappointing compared with previous years. At the ARC hide water levels were very high, and the ducks present were those that prefer deeper water, predominately Tufted Duck and Shoveler, although Tim picked out a pair of Goldeneye right at the back of the pit. There were good numbers of Great Egret and Marsh Harriers around the reserve, including a gorgeous male harrier with red-brown, grey, and black tipped wings which was hawking low over the reedbeds. The high number of Cormorants was noteable but there was little else of interest. The recently reported Smew was not evident and had not been reported that day.

Our last stop was out on Walland Marsh where we located a flock of over 30 lovely Bewick Swans grazing in the fields.

Bewick Swans - smaller and yellow/black bills compared to Mute Swan. Winter visitors