Black-winged Stilts

Dungeness - warm, dry and sunny, N 2 - A wander around the point first thing delivered very little apart from several Whitethroats, Wheatears and Black Redstarts, two Swallows through, Yellow Wagtail and Whimbrel over. The sea was predictably quiet with just a few Gannets, Common Scoters, Mediterranean Gulls, Sandwich and Common Terns offshore, plus five of the latter at the Patch. The male Peregrine was surveying its domain from atop the pylon closest to the Obs and there was a good show of Early Purple Orchids on the shingle.

                                Early Purple Orchids

                                Whitethroat, DBO

  A pair of Black-winged Stilts dropped onto the Boulderwall fields this morning and promptly did a tour of the local wetlands throughout the day (MC). I managed to catch up with them at the southern end of ARC on the way back from Folkestone this evening, without optics; so, many thanks to David Scott for loaning his bins for cracking views from the causeway road and for sending me through the pics below.

                                Black-winged Stilts (David Scott)

  Infact it was a very good day all round on the bird reserve with the following highlights on the board by close of play (LK): Red Kite, Hobby, Cuckoo, Swift, Yellow Wagtail, Cattle and Great White Egrets, Spoonbill, Crane, Garganey, Barwit, Knot, Greenshank, Whimbrel and LRP.
Woodchurch - A mid-morning walk through a classic coppiced woodland amongst carpets of magnificent Bluebells and a riot of other spring flowers was, as always, a wondrous experience. Migrant Blackcap, Chiffchaff and a single Nightingale were in song amongst resident Nuthatch, Treecreeper, Goldcrest and Coal Tit. As the morning wore on several Buzzards and a Sparrowhawk soared over the woodland canopy. Orange Tip, Speckled Wood, Peacock and Brimstone on the wing.