Long Tailed Duck at Scotney.
I spent a pleasant couple of hours down Dungeness and Scotney yesterday 2nd April to see what was around and principally try and see the wintering Long Tailed Duck which has been seen on and off at Scotney this winter , having tried on 2 previous occasions and failed both times i was pleased to finally connect with it this time , it was on the first pit before the main Scotney pit coming from Lydd ( Thanks for directions Neil ) .
The Long Tailed Duck was asleep on the bank the whole time i was there and was a very welcome addition to my year list . From here i headed of to the sea and it was very quite with the only bird of note being a single Sandwich Tern which was a year tick , on the way back to my car i heard and then saw a Black Redstart on the power station wall and this was my 3rd year tick of the day.
Black Redstart in full voice.
Black Redstart at Dungeness.
A quick look from the Dennis hide didn't produce much other than the usual wildfowl but otherwise once again was very quite and there were to many spiders in the hide for my liking , i did see what i can only presume was a Common Lizard run underneath the hide as i was leaving , to quick for a photo sadly .
Reed Bunting and Tree Sparrow.
On the way out of the reserve i saw 2 Marsh Harriers drifting over the surrounding fields and on the feeders there were the usual Tree Sparrows and a really smart male Reed Bunting.
