Red Necked Phalarope.
I decided a day trip to Dungeness was in order today in the hope of catching up with some of the star birds that had been reported there yesterday , my first port of call was the screen hide over looking the ARC pit and my target birds there were Red Necked Phalarope & Little Stint , i bumped into Andy there and he kindly put me onto the RNP which although was slightly distant great views through the scope were obtained and i managed a couple of digi scope pics .
Another Digi scoped pic of the RNP.
I could see some golden / yellow "braces " on the mantle of this delightful wader , it never came any closer which was a shame but i enjoyed watching it all the same , news broke that yesterdays Melodious Warbler was still present which was a bit of a surprise , however Andy and myself along with some other birders decided to check out the pines a bit further around from the screen hide for any possible migrants and we did see at least 20 Yellow Wagtails along the railway track but that was it , on our way back to the cars another birder had located the Little Stint in its fine juv plumage.
Red Necked Phalarope alongside a Coot.
My next destination was Denge marsh gully and hopefully catch up with the Melodious Warbler and after about 15 mins wait we were all enjoying brief views at first and then some prolonged views of this cracking warbler , here are a selection of pics i took .
Eating a fly.
Melodious Warbler .
I watched this bird for a good hour + and had some fantastic views , this is the 2nd Melodious Warbler i have seen in the UK and both have been at Dungeness.
A quick loo stop and cup of coffee ( thanks Andy ) back at the visitor center where i parted ways with Andy and decided to have a quick look at Galloways on my way back and added 5 Wheatears and 1 Whinchat to my days total , i was unsure where to go next so decided to have a look down at the " Patch " where i added 2 Arctic Terns among a large number of Common Terns , a look out to see produce 2 pale phase and 1 dark phase Arctic Skuas plus large numbers of " Commic Terns " moving west .
Time was getting on and i had just enough time to check the gorse bushes around the cafe area and beyond where i saw 2 Common Whitethroats , 2 Willow Warblers , Peregrine , Green Woodpecker , 2 Black Redstarts and a very pleasing Pied Flycather then it was time to head home very happy.
