Avocets

Dungeness - cool, overcast, heavy rain, dry later, SW2 - A shocking day of weather with rain throughout until around 2pm and far from ideal for guiding for two guests from Sussex. However, we eventually connected with all the Dungeness specialities: Wheatear, Black Redstart, four species of breeding waders, Marsh Harrier, Bittern and the like. At one stage, late morning, the temperature plummeted to 10C, but thankfully it warmed up enough to enable at least five Hobbies to hawk for insects over Hookers, where a Cuckoo and Kingfisher were also noted. Two Avocets dropped in on Hayfield 2 while the only Common Terns we saw all day was a pair briefly on Burrowes. A mid-afternoon passage of 100 plus Swifts and a few House Martins was noteworthy considering how few have come our way this spring. Despite the weather we ended the day with 72 species of birds.

                                  Avocet and Redshank, Hayfield 2

                                 Sea Kale in full flower