Sanderlings

 Dungeness - hot, dry and sunny, SE2 - Had an early morning visit to Lade and the bird reserve before the `heat bomb` became too unbearable. All the usual suspects were noted including a juvenile Marsh Harrier over the Willow Swamp; several Willow Warblers around the Willow Trail and ARC car park were my first of the return passage; Greenshank, Redshank, LRP, Common Sandpiper, Black-tailed Godwit, Garganey and four Glossy Ibises from Hanson; five Cattle Egrets in Boulderwall fields, several Yellow Wagtails over; juvenile Bearded Tits, Cooks Pool; nesting Sand Martins in the wall on Burrowes.

                                 Cattle Egrets, Boulderwall fields

This afternoon around the high tide we spent a very pleasant couple of hours in the sea at Lade. Due to the heat (33C), tide and sea state and atmospheric conditions, looking out to sea the French coast appeared to be weirdly close and the mid-Channel shipping `up in the air`; such mirages are common place down here during a summer heat wave. However, it was good to see a few Sandwich Terns dipping down to take sprats as they leapt across the waves, but the highlight was a party of five adult Sanderlings that flew in across the bay and landed close by. Luckily I`d brought along my bins and camera and stood stock still in the surf as these little beauties, fresh in from their Arctic breeding grounds, scuttled around my feet, merrily feeding and calling - what a privilege!

                                             Adult Sanderlings, Lade Bay