30th May 2018 Dungeness Arc
Great Reed Warbler from Hanson hide.
Regular readers of my blog know that i am often off on far flung twitches all over the country in the hope of seeing new & wonderful birds , however when i have been on these trips in the past i have often missed some great birds in my home county of Kent.
Although i am still prone to long trips (people keep tempting me , you know who you are ...) for new birds i decided a couple of years back to try and spend more time local birding and have seen some truly great birds in Kent as a result and in the process added some new birds to my Kent bird list.
Singing it's heart out.
Well yesterday the 30th May was one of those occasion's i added a new bird to my Kent bird list in the form of a Great Reed Warbler singing & showing well from the Hanson hide at Dungeness , i have dipped a couple of these in Kent in the past so when news came out yesterday morning i jumped in the car and headed straight there.
Steep forehead.
The news was negative when i arrived , it had not been seen or heard for an hour although it was still thought to be present , i gave it about an hour then decided to try and see the adult Rose Coloured Starling which was only just down the road and come back later in the afternoon when hopefully the GRW would perhaps be more active.
Rose Coloured Starling.
Rose Coloured Starling's are absolutely delightful looking birds and i was really pleased i went to see this one, it was feeding by some feeders near some ones garden and i asked if it was OK to view and they couldn't be more helpful , many thanks to the homeowner.
I also saw a distant ♂ Black Redstart on the roof of another building, there was also a large number of Starling's with plenty of young birds.
Juvenile & adult Starling.
Whilst watching these news broke that the Great Reed Warbler was again back in front of the Hanson hide , so i headed there and enjoyed some very prolonged views and added this bird to both my Kent & Dungeness bird lists. Here are some digi scoped photos of the GRW.
Having a preen
In full song
Great Reed Warbler.
27th May 2018 : Bishopstone
Adult Rose coloured Starling.
News on the the 26th May of an adult Rose coloured Starling at Bishopstone made up my mind to pop over there the next morning and try and see this superb looking bird , when i arrived i was told that i had missed it by approx 5 minutes (don't you just love that saying, 'it was here 5 minutes ago').
On top of a pine tree.
Well i had a walk round and eventually saw it first on top of a TV aerial and then on top of a pine tree , it often dropped down in to gardens to feed and was quite elusive.
Rose-Coloured Starling.
Although the light was awful for photographs this bird was a lovely coloured bird and a welcome addition to my Reculver bird list.
25th May 2018 : Dungeness
Spotted Flycatcher.
On the 25th May i went to Dungeness for some birding and more or less the first bird i saw was a Spotted Flycatcher in the Old lighthouse gardens , in fact i saw 2 Spotted Flycatchers there and another birder informed me there was probably 3 birds as one had flown before i got there.
Cracking bird.
I could have watched these all day , however i dragged myself away and ended up at Dungeness Rspb reserve , there was lot's of Common Tern's on the islands plus a nice selection of waders : 2 Grey Plovers , Whimbrel, Curlew, 2 Turnstone, 4+ Dunlin , 2 Ringed Plover & 1 Common Sandpiper .
Common Sandpiper.
I walked around to the Firth hide and first there was 1 and then later 3 Little Gulls.
3 Little Gulls.
There was quite a selection of birds at Dungeness today and i added a brief flight view of a Bittern near the Arc pits plus Hobby, Lesser Whitethroat & 3 Avocets were all seen there.
