Probable Chinese Pond Heron.
A very enjoyable days birding was had yesterday , my plan was to call into Folkestone for the over wintering Pallas's Warbler however on route news that the probable Chinese Pond Heron was currently on show in Hythe which was only approx 15 mins away from my currant position , wi duly arrived on site and saw the CPH sitting / perching high up in a tree , superficially my first impressions was Squacco Heron , however there are subtle differences , i watched the bird for about 10 mins before it left its roost and flew to the nearby gardens , very dark mantle was observed which contrasted against its very white wings , if you go for this bird i would suggest you need to be there by 8am as once it flies to the gardens you have little chance of seeing it again .
Turnstone having a paddle.
From here wi headed off to Folkstone and to keep a long story short i dipped the Pallas's . the weather was awful and not really suitable for warbler watching . I then headed to Dover Harbour and had an enjoyable birding session . There were several Turnstone running around and 7 Great Crested Grebes out in the harbour , i also saw several Guillemots and Razorbills plus a distant Eider and 3 Shags which were gratefully added to my year list , there were plenty of Kittiwakes flying around over head .
Adult Kittiwake.
1st winter Kittiwake.
Kittiwake are such magical birds to watch as they glide over the harbour wall , i could have watched these all day however i decided i would try for the Humes Warbler in Ramsgate Cemetery .
Great Tit just inside cemetery.
I arrived at the cemetery and the weather was quite overcast and cold , there was a smart Great Tit to greet me as i ventured through the entrance but there was no sign or sound of the Hume's in its favoured areas , after getting some info i found out that it is now favouring another area at the back of the cemetery and despite my best efforts i drew another blank , however in my defence i did get very side tracked in watching 3 quite stunning Firecrest which gave me my best ever views of this species .
Lovely orange crown on this bird.
Yellow crown stripe on this bird.
What you looking at .
Just love the head pattern on these birds.
I think i spent well over an hour watching these stunning little birds zipping about and yet again i had to drag myself away from them , i also saw several Ring Necked Parakeets here plus Green Woodpecker , Mistle Thrush and Jay.
2 Ring Necked Parakeets.
