Dungeness 27/08/26

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Two visits to Dungeness in a week is unusual for me, prior to that I hadn't been since the spring. This visit was prompted by the weather forecast showing that a belt of rain was moving up through Kent, clearing the south coast early in the morning. There was the potential to ground some migrants I thought.

It was raining hard when I left home but on reaching Dungeness the rain had stopped and the sun was out. We decided to start at the Observatory and checked out the moat. Several Willow Warblers and Whitethroats were seen, also a Reed Warbler. The Obs had caught some interesting moths though they weren't ringing any birds.

We went to the Hanson Hide to look for waders though they were few and far between. Two Garganey showed very close to the hide and neither appeared to be the bird seen on Saturday.

Fortunately the RSPB reserve had a good collection of waders viewed from the Firth Lookout. Good numbers of Dunlin and Ruff were present, also three Curlew Sandpipers and two Little Stint. The juvenile White-winged Tern was still there, also a juvenile Black Tern.

The final visit was to Denge Marsh and Galloways.  Five Great White Egret were seen from the bridge at Denge Marsh, also an amazing view of a male Kingfisher, probably my best ever. However, Galloways was surprisingly quiet.

Garganey 


Curlew Sandpipers, adult and juvenile 


Juvenile White-winged Tern 





Male Kingfisher 



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