Snowy Lade

Lade - cold, wintry showers, ne 4 - A bitter cold start to the week with a rasping north-easterly blowing in sleety showers off the bay, some of which briefly settled; Barney couldn't quite make it out! A Long-tailed Duck showed well on south lake amongst the flurries.

Dungeness - A four day Birdwatching Break for three guests from Dorset kicked of with Black-throated Diver and Slavonian Grebe on New Diggings. Moving on to Hanson hide, where a Robin kept popping in through the flap to feed, a Great White Egret and 20 Dunlin were noted among the usual wildfowl and the Tree Sparrows were noted in the Boulderwall garden. Following a tip off from PB concerning the Bean and White-fronted Geese at Scotney we nipped round to the double bends where the geese had just been flushed by the shepherd feeding the sheep, although the Barnacle flock was still present.
Walland Marsh - Criss-crossing the flatlands checking for wild swans drew a blank, infact very little of note was seen apart from six Buzzards and a Kestrel. However, we finished the day in fine style with 17 Marsh Harriers coming to roost at a reed bed site, including four adult males and a large white-headed female. Fabulous stuff.