Diptastic Dungeness!!

 Or the true story of my trip to try to find the Collared Pratincoles reported at Dungeness all week while I was at work!! I feel the title may have ended any jeopardy in the outcome😏, as the birds, as so often happens thought, right it's Saturday, Evans is off work let's bugger off to Suffolk😂!! 

However Dungeness is never bad and in my glorious failure some some very nice birds anyway, they don't all hate me!!😂 With blistering temperatures predicted I decided an early start was imperative so decided to leave at 4AM which would see me arrive around 5.45. Predictably I was on my own as Margie declined my invitation to come the conversation went something like this 

Me "Going to Dunge tomorrow to have a crack at the Pratincoles if you fancy it"

Margie "What time we Going?"

Me "Probs about 3 to 4"

Margie "cool give me time to do the house work and have a light lunch"

Me "3 to 4 in the morning"

Margie "there is a 3to 4 in the morning?"

Me "yes"

Margie "enjoy ya day!!"

(conversation may not have actually happened😂😂😂)

So after my recent failures to get up early I surprised myself by leaping from the bed like a young gazelle and I'm on the road at 4.05 whoop, first sighting is a large Hedgehog walking up the middle of our road which I successfully manage not to squash, didn't see much else on the journey and arrived at the Arc carpark at about quarter to six. The birds had been reported between Boulderwell Farm and Dengemarsh so the plan was to walk from the Arc Carpark to Dengemarsh scanning the fields as I went, unfortunately in my haste I had forgotten my scope (may have been psychological as it is bloody heavy to lug about😀!!)  although to be honest don't think it would have been much use in this situation anyway!! 

Opening the car door was fantastic, greeted by a cacophony of bird song, with at least 2 Cuckoos distantly calling, Cetti's explosive bursts every few seconds plus Linnet,Wren, Reed and Sedge Warbler as well as Common Whitethroats giving it large, fantastic stuff, in fact the walk down the entrance track was a joy with all the above,  holding forth, on pretty much  every bush, sadly the light wasn't up to much as the wall to wall sunshine predicted actually transpired to low cloud and a bit of a breeze, although anticipating an improvement I had chanced the walk without a coat a good decision as it turned out!! 

A few pics of the songsters below, even managed some Cetti's pics as inexplicably a couple were actually singing from the top of the bushes instead of buried deep in the undergrowth!

Cetti's Warbler

Linnet

Cetti's

Cetti's eyeing up lunch! Clouds of bugs around this time of the morning

Cetti's and Common Whitethroat

Common Whitethroat

Sedge Warbler

The Power Station

Lot's of these flowers about

Had good, but distant views of a couple of Marsh Harriers, a Great White Egret and a couple of Grey Herons but to far for pics, I headed up track which leads behind Dengemarsh, scanning constantly without success (think we will just assume the without success bit from here on in) The pools here had little on them although a Swan reflected nicely in it's slumber and a nice male Pochard was unexpected, the views open up here with the land becoming more farmy with arable fields, although the ditches and reeds still held good numbers of Warblers and some nice Reed Buntings, plenty of Linnets and a couple of Corn Buntings were heard, though i couldn't get a view of the buggers, they were either on the back of the bushes or maybe even more distant on the next hedge line. Did have good views of a couple of Hares though! Plenty of Lapwings about here occasionally taking to the air and the Marshies were slowly getting a bit closer!

Swan having a peek

Hare

Hare

Pochard

Painted Lady?

Lapwing

Sedge Warbler by far the most cooperative of the Warblers

Reed Bunting

Marsh Harrier

Reed Bunting

Common Whitethroat

Marsh Harrier

Poppies

Hare

I had gotten far enough down the track to be thinking I was out of the critical area and was about to turn back when I saw a yellow blob on a distant bramble patch, closer examination revealed a lovely Yellow Wagtail!

Yellow Wagtail

Go on you all thought it only had one leg didn't ya!!😂

In successfully sneaking up on the Wagtail I had ninja like melted into the bushes as I emerged a Marsh Harrier flew right over my head and I really should have got better pics😢!

So headed back, the  Corn Buntings were still singing, still couldn't get a view of them, Skylarks were singing and a very pleasant stroll ended  at Hooker's Ramp, where I decided to make my stand with sweeping views over all the likely Pratincole flying areas seemed as good a place as any!!

This is another reason Margie doesn't like twitching as it can lead to endless standing around with me saying things like, "let's give it another 20 minutes" which basically translates into I'm standing  here til it's to dark to see😊! I can sympathise with this viewpoint if the place in question is a dodgy sewage farm or a supermarket car park but when it's Dengemarsh in the spring nothing could be finer, I was in position for approximately 2 1/2 hours but it flew by the reeds in front of the viewpoint were alive with warblers, Bearded Tits were calling and I had brief views and plenty of stuff was flying by, for one brief second I  thought the Pratincole had appeared, until the bird rising up from behind the scrub turned into a Hobby, fell for this twice during the stand, wishful thinking is a powerful thing and in my defence I corrected myself instantly in both cases! The couple of people present were forgiving or at least didn't openly take the piss!!! (was surprised how few people were out and about for this bird really considering there was little else about the south-east,suppose most people had seen it during the week)

Sedge Warbler thought this was a mouse initially as it scuttled about the brambles practically at my feet

Lapwing

Common Tern

Bearded Tits only pic I managed though had several other very brief sightings

Great Crested Grebe

Oystercatcher

Hobby

Greylag Geese

Reed Warbler far harder to get pics of than the Sedge Warbler but winkled one out

Stock Dove

Marsh Harrier

Marsh Harrier

Sparrowhawk piled into the bushes but didn't see the result

No didn't try to string this into a Pratincole

Hobby

The heat was building now and despite my fetching sunhat my face was turning a nice beetroot colour could literally feel it burning, so decided to hit the road and see if anything was on the Hayfields. All the hides are shut at the moment and the RSPB have got a one way system in place which i was the wrong side of which restricted my access, but followed the track around the top of the Hayfields, the fields had a herd of Cows in but know sign of any Cattle Egrets  some other birders had said they had seen a couple of Egret sp fly out from the Cows, I'd seen a couple of Little Egrets feeding on the waters edge so assumed it was those, however further around the track I spotted a distant white blob in another cowless field through the bins it appeared to have a yellow bill and I thought was likely a Cattle Egret  However I was distracted at this point by a low flying Hobby which nearly took my head off and by the time I turned my attention back to the Egret it had disappeared! Subsequently the pics confirm cattle Egret Hurrah😀

Linnet

Wren

Cattle Egret

Hobby

Yet another showy Sedge Warbler

Hobby Food!!

Should really have got better pics of the Hobby😢But it all happened so quick😂!!!

So with exhaustion setting in I decided to head back to the car, bit quieter now with the Warblers silent  in the heat of the sun. On one of the pools just before Hookers I heard a plop, looked up to see my first Kingfisher of the year exiting right with a nice fish, no pics unfortunately was along hard slog back to the car but kept scanning despite the dawning realisation that it weren't going to happen😢 Still the views were nice

Heron

Reed Bunting

A fellow birder had told me that the Glossy Ibis was showing on the ARC Pit "the other side of the screen" so despite my aches and pains and the camera seemingly weight an extra Kilo for every ten steps taken, I decided to take a look, I reached the spot, further than I remembered, another birder present told me the bird was present but had buried itself in the under growth, hmmm! I decided to go a try for pics of the Hobby I could see hunting further down the track and return in ten minutes, were two birds present catching Dragonflies and I got quite excited when I realised one wasn't the right shape for a Hobby, dreams of Elenora's flittered across my mind til I realised the other one was a Kestrel, I really wish birds wouldn't behave atypically especially when I'm knackered and easily confused!

Kestrel

Hobby

I love watching Hobbies hunt!!!

I returned to the Ibis site, the birder had gone, I scoured the Island, no sign, I was about to give up when I noticed a bird flying across the lake which promptly landed on the Island, Glossy Ibis result!!!

Glossy Ibis flying in!

Ibis looking a bit Glossy

Due to the light was pretty much a silhouette but a nice bird to see!

Got back to the car and in my heat induced madness decided to go and have a look on the sea, the logic for this was "can't go to Dunge and not visit the sea" however subconsciously I think my brain was more interested in the café and the cakes therein😂😂!!! 

Unfortunately a large % of the population Kent had made the same decision and much as I like cake I hate queuing more, I walked the Power Station fence to the bird ops in the hope of a Black Redstart but no luck, Linnets, House Sparrows and Stonechats the best!

Linnet

Stonechat

I headed to the beach but it was wall to wall sunbathing anglers, there were no birds on "The Patch" at all first time I've ever seen that, Got to be said the area looked a treat though with loads of plants in flower!

Meadow Pipit

That was finally that, The Sat Nav said it was 2hrs plus home although when it hit signal it turned into 1hr 40 which was a nice surprised until I realised it was taking me up the M20 and round the M25 92miles!! but quicker than the 60 mile direct route!! Bloody Coast road!!!

A cracking birding session, I've realised apart from our holiday to Scotland this is the first time this year I've gone birding outside Sussex!!! 

Shame about the Pratincole!!!