BOC Coach Trip to Dungeness, 22nd October 2017

Sandwiched between a major storm and very changeable wet weather, this was a most fortuitous day: it started a bit grey, but brightened as it went on. In some ways, the birding followed that pattern too.

At Dungeness in October, one might reasonably hope for some late migratory movement, but in the event a few late Swallows were the best evidence of this. The scrub areas and shingle of the main reserve yielded a couple of Green Woodpeckers, the odd Stonechat and a few common tits and finches. Some Tree Sparrows obliged in the garden near the entrance.

A notable flock of roosting gulls was worth checking out, since a couple of rarer forms had been reported. We had no luck with those, or with the Cattle Egret that had earlier been among the grazing animals: a number of distant Swans, white posts, plastic buckets, white hocks and Black-headed Gulls raised our hopes, but we had to make do with Lapwings and Rooks in the end.

However, there were two Marsh Harriers and a Kestrel on display, and a great deal to check out on the various pools, including the ARC pit to the north of the main road. The dozen or so species of wildfowl included several Pintails and a few Shelduck. Waders were not numerous, but we notched up a healthy assortment of Golden Plovers, Grey Plovers, Black-tailed Godwits, Little Stints and a solitary Dunlin. There were one or two Little Egrets and Herons, but someone spotted early on a Great Egret. Later we all saw several, since a flock of about a dozen flew through the main pool. These birds have featured in my three previous reports, but this was proof indeed that the species has now gained a real foothold in Britain and will become even more familiar.

Even these beauties were rivalled by the Red-necked Grebe that showed on the ARC pool and by the Black Redstarts that appeared at the Power Station later. The sea watch was fun too, with plenty of gulls, including a few Kittiwakes, the odd-Red-breasted Merganser, and about twenty Gannets fishing quite close in-shore. The wind and light were ideal, but mid-afternoon failed to produce any other movement.

But such is the nature of bird watching that the biggest surprise occurred as we drove out from the lighthouses, when someone spotted a Short-eared Owl on the wing over the gravel ‘desert’  between the cottages. Our obliging driver pulled up to let us all see it well.

It had not been a massive turn-out, particularly as three people had to pull out at the last minute with seasonal ‘bugs’, but we were again well-supported by members of the RSPB groups. For the 21 people who did go, it had certainly been a day well-worth the effort. The species count had been fewer than 60 (thanks to Ralph Watts for his check-list) but the quality had been extremely high.

Ray Reedman