Mild, dry and cloudy, N2 - A decent day of weather for a guided tour for Pauline and Richard from Folkestone commenced at the point with an obligatory seawatch from the hide where four tardy Swallows were feeding along the shoreline. The flat, calm sea with clear views across to Beachy Head delivered plenty of typical winter seabirds such as Gannets, Kittiwakes, Med Gulls, Common Scoters, Brent Geese and Red-throated Divers, while there was a melee of a couple of hundred gulls over the Patch. On the land we enjoyed good views of three Chiffchaffs in the lighthouse garden, a pair of Stonechats and a few overhead Meadow Pipits, Goldfinches and Chaffinches. Our next port of call was along the Lydd Road where, on the way in I noticed the four Glossy Ibises in the Rhea paddock, but had shifted an hour later; however, we did see eight Cattle Egrets, two Great Whites, three Grey Herons and, at Cockles Bridge, a Common Buzzard and a brown Merlin sat on a bund in a turnip field. Moving on to Scotney where the front sward produced the usual host of geese including 15 Barnacle and 10 Brents, plus a Black-necked Grebe and a Pintail at the Sussex end amongst hundreds of common ducks. On Walland Marsh we logged 19 Bewick`s Swans on a turf field opposite the model flying club, a Little Owl at Midley and several Yellowhammers and hundreds of Fieldfares, Lapwings and Starlings from the drying barns.
Back at the bird reserve we enjoyed cracking views of both Great Northern and Black-throated Divers, a Goldeneye and a drake Pintail on Burrowes, along with distant views of a Slavonian Grebe, plus all the usual wildfowl and Marsh Harriers. We ended the day at Littlestone where the Shorties failed to show, although we did see six species of waders on the foreshore. In summary a superb day`s birding for the guests with 90 species logged, the highlights being three species of divers, four species of grebes and three of egrets.
No comments:
Post a Comment