Lesser Yellowlegs .
I headed to Pett Level on the 10th January in the hope of seeing the Lesser Yellowlegs , on arrival there was only one other car there and the Lesser Yellowlegs was nowhere to be seen , after a short while it flew in and i was soon enjoying some very close views of this cracking wader , i have seen several over the years but this is the best views i have had of one.
Lesser Yellowlegs alongside a Dunlin.
Balancing act.
Just to prove it does have two legs.
From here i headed to Dungeness checking out the Cattle Egrets along Denge marsh road and got some decent views .
Cattle Egret.
Both Cattle Egrets together.
I went down to the fishing boats to check out the gull roosts in the hope of a Caspian Gull but despite my best efforts i could not locate any , a quick look out to sea produced a few year ticks such as : Gannet , Guillemott , Kittiwake and Fulmar.
The weather was quite awful , very strong winds and lashing rain at times so i retreated to the RSPB reserve and saw a single Great White Egret and 3 Redhead Smew , i then called into the Hanson hide and saw the Kingfisher on its favoured perch performing for the crowd .
One of two Kingfishers .
I also saw Redhead Smew and several Goldeneye from here.
Redhead Smew.
Male Goldeneye.
I called back into Pett Level where i had some more really great views of the Lesser Yellowlegs .
Lesser Yellowlegs.
And then i headed to Pevensey Level where i had decent views of two Hen Harriers which were both ringtails , there were several Stonechats which was new for the year and also a Raven which was also a new bird for the year , my main purpose here was to look for Short eared Owl however whether it was due to the strong winds i never located any , i did see a Dartford Warbler.
Record flight shot of the Dartford Warbler.
It was then time to head home after a cracking days birding.
