A proxy Fieldfare

Lade - mild, foggy, light airs - The perfect morning for walking Mockmill Sewer, but as we slogged across the shingle one of the regular dog-walkers hailed me and said she`d just seen an unusual bird that had flown off towards the back of the pits. Oh dear, I get a lot of this kind of thing, but listened patiently as she described a bird that was, " bigger than a Blackbird and mainly grey and rufous". Pretty good thought I, it could only be one thing, and sure enough it was, as an hour later a Fieldfare rocketed from cover behind the wall `mirror`.
However, we continued our walk along Mockmill which was alive with bird song - Whitethroats, Sedge Warblers, Linnets, Dunnocks, Wrens, Reed Bunting and a pair of Stonechat. At the airfield end two smart Whinchats were perched on a wire fence, plus a Cuckoo, with another one behind the `mirror` reed swamp where Reed, Sedge and Cetti`s Warblers were in song, plus a singing Lesser Whitethroat. On south lake just the usual diving ducks, grebes and Coots, but still no hirundines.

                               Linnet, Lade

Dungeness - 1500hrs - Joined PB in the hide for a short seawatch in poor visibility. A flock of 30 scoters was about it, plus a few Commic and Sandwich Terns coming and going from the Patch. Apparently the Yellow-browed was not seen today in the lighthouse garden.