Black Throated Diver.
I spent a very pleasant few hours in the Dungeness area last Monday the 28th November and my first port of call was Brett Pit near Scotney in the hope of seeing the Black Throated Diver which was seen over the previous weekend .
I parked near the entrance and scanned over Brett pit and saw the Black Throated Diver in the distance , i decided to walk along the footpath for a closer look noticing plenty of Eurasian Wigeon , Pochard & Tufted Ducks as i went , the Black Throated Diver never really came close and was busy diving alot of the time .
Note the white thigh patches.
After having decent views of the diver i called into Dungeness Rspb reserve and had some great views of the drake Ring Necked Duck which was showing much closer to the track then my last visit here.
Ring Necked Duck.
Really smart bill pattern.
There were plenty of Lapwings & Golden Plover in the adjacent fields however i didn't see the Cattle Egret this time although it was seen later in the day. I carried on along the track to the visitor center and had superb views of a Kestrel hovering .
Kestrel near the visitor center.
I checked out the trees behind the dipping pond but the Long Eared Owl was not on show , probably keeping out of the cold wind .
From the Firth hide i saw a distant adult Yellow Legged Gull roosting on one of the islands and a 1st winter Caspian Gull which i tried to relocate from the Makepeice hide without success , there were good numbers of ducks including two female Goosanders and several Goldeneye including one really smart male bird , sadly all were to distant for a photo.
I then called into the Dennis hide and saw a smart Great White Egret plus several Grey Herons dotted around Burrows pit.
Great White Egret.
