Anyhow, so off we went, pausing briefly on the boardwalk with a bunch of hippies looking wistfully across the bay at a blood-red sky towards Folkestone. It was then onto the bird reserve, via public footpaths, commencing at Boulderwall for a dawn chorus where a riot of bird song was on offer: Sedge and Cetti`s Warblers, Common and Lesser Whitethroats, Cuckoo, Song Thrush and Blackcap were all in fine voice, and as the sun popped up over the horizon a Barn Owl floated by the water tower, followed by a flock of egrets leaving the ARC roost - seven Little, two Great White and a Cattle Egret. Phew, some start to the day!
Various water birds soon tumbled onto the morning list as we walked towards Dengemarsh - Curlew, Oystercatcher, Lapwing, Pochard, Marsh Harrier, Buzzard, Swift, Linnet, Reed Bunting and loads more of the aforementioned warblers. From the ramp, a Bittern `boomed`, Beardies `pinged` and Common Terns fished the shallows, although the hayfields were devoid of any birds apart from a few feral geese. Backtracking on the farmland, Yellow and Pied Wagtails, Corn Bunting, Skylark Swallow and Raven all showed well for Lucy. On Burrowes a Little Ringed Plover was new for the year and we finished off in fine style back at Boulderwall with a Cattle Egret amongst the stock and a flyover Black-winged Stilt that flew south towards Dengemarsh/the Ranges never to be relocated as far as I`m aware, but presumably the Rye bird.
Lucy wanted a tally up, and it came to a respectable 64 species of birds during the four hours we were out, during which time we didn't encounter another soul around the reserve.
After breakfast a check of the garden moth trap with our nine year old grandson revealed our first Sussex Emerald of summer and Scalloped Oak, although he was far more impressed with the Privet Hawk-moths! A late morning check of the local patch, in a fine drizzle, delivered 150 Swifts over south lake and precious little else.
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