Waders and raptors

Dungeness - cold, sunny, nw 5 - Spent the day in the field guiding for Lizzie from Sheffield. We started off at the point where the 1st winter Glaucous Gull put in a brief appearance at the Patch amongst a mass of gulls over the boil. A male Peregrine and Kestrel both showed well perched on the power station superstructure sheltering from the rasping north-westerly wind. Unsurprisingly, due to the wind direction, there were few seabirds on offer from the fishing boats, but persistence paid off and we eventually had decent views of a handful of Guillemots, Razorbills, Red-throated Divers and Gannets. Several Kittiwakes fed closer to shore amongst the gulls, while the regular Caspian Gull was at the puddles.
  We then moved on to Lade for the Long-tailed Duck and Slavonian Grebe, where also Goldeneye, Sparrowhawk and Marsh Harrier noted. On the bay, from the Varne boat club, a host of waders comprising nine species were duly logged, including a flock of 30 Black-tailed Godwits.
  At Dengemarsh hundreds of Golden Plovers showed well on the fields, plus Black-throated Diver, Raven and Linnets from Springfield Bridge. Also noted the Boulderwall Tree Sparrows, Smew and Glaucous Gull on Burrowes and at least three Marsh Harriers to roost in the Oppen Pits.
  A decent days birding for our guest during which we recorded a typical range of wintering birds with waders and raptors the highlights.