Just a Bit of Fun Quiz Week 38 answer plus new " Mystery Bird "

Male Pheasent in Dorset.

Last weeks " Mystery Bird " was indeed a male Pheasant which i saw in Dorset whilst i was on a twitch , this proved quite hard with quite a few wrong answers this week , however a very big well done to the correct entries who were : Ellis Lucas , Mark L, Mark Lewis , Ben M and Martyn Wilson ( well done in finding the Bluethroat & Spotted Crake at  Grove Ferry this week ) .

Unlucky to those with the wrong answer , great try and many thanks to everyone who had ago . 

Here is this weeks " Mystery Bird " you get a bonus point if you can not only name the species but give the correct number in the picture .

Mystery Birds ???? 

If you fancy ago just leave your answer in the comments or DM on twitter @RobsBirding , i will reveal the correct answer and entries next weekend , Good Luck .

Little Grebe at Restharrow

Little Grebe at Restharrow .

I paid a short visit to Sandwich bay this morning in the hope of seeing the 2 Common Cranes but sadly they had departed by the time i got there so i decided to have a look in on Restharrow Scrape and was rewarded with some very close views of Little Grebe.

I called into Grove on the way home and heard a Lesser Whitethroat in the paddocks plus a very vocal Cetti's Warbler by the ramp , a single Greenshank was among a  small gathering of Lapwings before flying off out of sight in a hidden pool , otherwise quite a quiet session here with only Marsh Harrier , Sparrowhawk and a single Swallow making an appearance.

Migrants and Godwits at Oare Marshes

Black Tailed Godwits in flight .

I paid a visit to Oare Marshes today in the hope of seeing one or two migrants , i started of looking over the East Flood and was straight onto a large number of Black Tailed Godwits in various plumage colours , from the stunning orange to the pale grey , i really love the noise they make as they chat away to each other , among the Godwits were smaller numbers of Dunlin , Avocet and Redshank plus a single Greenshank flew around the flood and seemed to head off over the swale to Sheppy.

Lovely range of colours on these Godwits.

I then drove down to the car park and instantly heard a Sedge Warbler which was in some sort of singing contest with a Cetti's Warbler ,i then headed along the sea wall towards the sea hide adding brief views of 3 Sedge Warblers plus several Bearded Tits were " pinging " their way through the reeds giving only glimpses and not posing for my camera .

One of approx 5 Sedge Warblers seen today.

The wind was quite chilly along the sea wall so i headed off down Faversham creek hearing plenty but not seeing a great deal , i had a small flock of about 5 Med Gulls fly over head heading towards Faversham plus 2 or 3 Reed Buntings put in an appearance , i then headed back behind the East flood hide and heard and saw very briefly a Lesser Whitethroat which was new for the year for me , when i reached the road i saw another first for the year for me in the form of a Swallow which landed on the telegraph wire and gave itself up to my camera.

My first Swallow of the year.

This bird was then joined by a second Swallow who then played chase with each other over the flood , i made my way back along the road to my car taking in this stunning Little Egret which was have a great time fishing.

Little Egret.

 A really enjoyable birding session with some Migrants and Godwits for company.

Just a Bit of Fun Quiz Week 37 answer plus new " Mystery Bird "

Collared Pratincole

Last weeks " Mystery Bird " was indeed a Collared Pratincole which i saw at Immingham in Humberside in 2011 . 

A very big well done to all correct entries who were : Ellis L , Ben M ,  Mark Lewis , Mike.H. , Dave Dowell and Martyn Wilson .

Unlucky to those with the wrong answer , great try and many thanks to everyone for taking part . Here is this weeks "Mystery Bird " .

Week 38  " Mystery Bird " ??????

If you fancy a go just leave your answer in the comments or DM me on twitter @RobsBirding and i will reveal the correct entries and answer next weekend , Good luck.

Just a Bit of Fun Quiz Week 36 answer plus new " Mystery Bird "

Week 36 "Mystery Bird " is a Turnstone.

Indeed week 36 " Mystery bird " was  a Turnstone which i saw in Devon the end of last year , well done to all the correct entries who were : Ellis L ,  Ben M , Matthew B , Steve Ashton , Martyn Wilson , Mark Lewis  and Mike.H.

Here is this weeks " Mystery bird " :

Week 37 " Mystery Bird " ??????????

If you fancy ago just leave your answer in the comments or DM on twitter @RobsBirding , good luck and many thanks for having ago .

Dungeness & Scotney

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.