Time for an early Winter visit to Dungeness to see whether the easterly winds had grought any migrants in. Surpringly the area around the old lighthouse was desperately quiet with no pipits at all, and only a couple of elusive Goldcrests which were skulking in the gorse. In fact the only bird of note was a Redwing which was looking a bit lost on top of a bramble bush by The Moat.
So wasting no more time we set off to the RSPB reserve and stopped by Boulderwall Farm to look out for egrets. Despite the recent numbers we could only find a single Cattle Egret, which was quickly joined by an enormous by comparison Great White Egret.
Still quiet around the reserve with just the usual suspects to provide some photographic subjects on a beautiful sunny day, including these Shelduck and a drake Teal having a bath.
Round at Denge Marsh a huge flock of Greylag Geese flew in and circled the lake a few times as individual squadrons peeled off to land causing quite a disturbance.
The geese had possibly been disturbed by this stunning female Marsh Harrier that just wafted around in the afternoon sun.
So what was the highlight of the day? Well, on our approach to Dungeness lighthouse we stopped off at the fishing boats to look for the two Black Redstarts that had been reported the day before. A bit of a challenge as there are acres of fishing boats, buildings and machinery to search through especially in a blustery wind. But at this point I noticed a large flock of white seabirds reasonably close in above the shingle bank.
By the time we had slogged up the bank and on to the beach the mixture of Kittiwakes, gulls and Gannets, which were following a fishing boat, had moved a few hundred yards further along the coast. However, there must have been some large shoals of fish off-shore as slowly but surely the birds starting drifting back for some photos.
The first birds to fly close to the shore-line were some Kittiwakes, mainly juvenile birds with their characteristic wing markings.
Once a shoal was located the onslaught started and we spent over an hour trying to photograph the non-stop plunging into a sea full of fish.
Here is a particualry young bird with a plumage more chocolate brown than white.
WOW!!! What a way to spend a morning. Might have to give that another go.
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