`Scarce grebes`

Dungeness - 0900hrs - cool, cloudy, w 4 - A brisk westerly airflow with cloud cover certainly supressed temperatures down to something like `normal`. Although conditions weren't ripe for a seawatch we stuck it out for half an hour in the hide, during which time 40 Common Scoters trickled up-Channel and 20 Gannets fished to and fro. At least six Porpoises were noted offshore, while the land was Dodo-like.

                                Slavonian Grebe, New Diggings

RSPB - From the gate entrance overlooking New Diggings we had distant views of two Black-necked Grebes, but a much closer encounter with a pair of summer plum Slavonian Grebes. At ARC there was plenty of warbler activity including our first Reed Warblers of the spring and singing Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Sedge and Cetti`s Warblers. From Hanson hide we watched several Great, Blue and Long-tailed Tits rip apart a clump of Bulrush spikes and then descend the stems to extract an unknown worm-like invertebrate. A couple of Marsh Harriers showed well and a mixed three species flock of hirundines came and went. From the Willow Trail boardwalk two Speckled Wood butterflies struggled to warm up in the intermittent sunshine.

                                Marsh Harrier and Speckled Wood, ARC

  We completed the three day Birdwatching Break for Ann and George on 95 species with the highlight being Mondays`s fall of migrants. Quality sightings included: Black-necked and Slavonian Grebes, Little Ringed Plover, Long-eared Owl, Yellow Wagtail, Redstart, Ring-Ouzel and Pied Flycatcher, plus the birds we take for granted such as Marsh Harrier, Tree Sparrow and Corn Bunting.