Wednesday, 21 March 2018

Bluethroats & Firecrests & A Wandering White Stork all in Kent

19th March 2018  Dengemarsh Gully




White Spotted Bluethroat.


On Sunday 18th March 2 Bluethroats were seen at Dengemarsh Gully Dungeness and they were still present on the 19th so i decided to head down to have a look.

I joined the handful of birders at the sluice with the windmill and soon had my first look at the delightful ♂ White Spotted Bluethroat and i managed a couple of photo's before it flew out of sight down the gully.

I decided to try my luck with the 1st winter Bluethroat which was showing by the concrete blocks and although i saw it quite well it was a bit to far for photos .

 1st winter Bluethroat after eating at juicy worm!!


I spent a couple of hours here before heading off to the Rspb reserve for a warm up and some lunch , whilst i was there news came through that there was now 3 Bluethroats and then that changed to 4 BLUETHROATS at Dengemarsh !!!!!!!


I headed back there and went straight to where the 1st w Bluethroat had been seen earlier and i am pleased i did , this bird came ever so close to me and showed fantastically well.


1st winter Bluethroat

Standing proud

Running fast

1st winter Bluethroat.

I then joined a couple of other birders looking down from the Gorse bank and the ♂ WS Bluethroat was also showing well along the waters edge.


♂ White Spotted Bluethroat


Red in tail

Lovely markings

♂ White Spotted Bluethroat.

Checking my photos from earlier this morning my first thoughts were i could have seen 2 different ♂ Bluethroats as the photos do show dark bill and paler supercillium on this mornings bird compared to yellow on bill and whiter supercillium on this afternoons bird .

However on reflection this mornings bird could have had mud on the bill and the light conditions could have made the supercillium look darker than it was ??!!

Other birders are certain they had 4 individual  Bluethroats , however i can only be 100% certain i saw 1 ♂ White Spotted Bluethroat & 1 1st winter Bluethroat.

However many there were or were not i really enjoyed watching them and was pleased to add them to my Dungeness bird list.


Firecrest.

I also saw 2 + Firecrest which are absolutely delightful birds to see and worth the trip on their own. I also saw a Raven fly over the Gully plus a Fox run through between the concrete blocks.


Stunning birds.

Fox.


18th March 2018  Beltinge

White Stork

News of a White Stork in a field at Beltinge on Sunday morning had me heading over there for a look , and sure enough there it was .

It had a Black ring on it's upper right leg and a Green ring on it's upper left leg , the number on it's Black ring was 1269 and Chidders did some great research on this bird and it transpires it was from a reintroduction scheme in Sweden.

There is much more information on Chidders blog:



White Stork trying to keep warm.