Gary Howard's birds and wildlife

With the weather set fair and winds from the south forecast Dungeness looked a good bet for summer migrants. We were not to be disappointed. Our first stop was the ARC pits and no sooner were we out of the car than we could hear a Sedge Warbler singing. We had no luck with the penduline tits but  the flooded boardwalk was of huge interest to the boys with the usual consequences!  A Yellow Wagtail flew over and several Chiffchaffs were singing. Out on the water the wildfowl count was much diminshed with only a small group of Goldeneye of note.

At the seaward end of the ARC we had 2 White Wagtails in company with a couple of pied for good comparison.

Driving around to the old lighthouse we had a Black Redstart near the new lighthouse, a Wheatear by the Britannia pub and several Stonechat.

Pied Wagtail  - this showy bird was collecting food near the old lighthouse.

We parked near the old lighthouse and in glorious sunshine walked across the shingle towards the gorse, heading for the "desert" and trapping area. Whilst I was busy photographing a Linnet,  Jenny found a Firecrest. We spent ages watching it , even the boys got looks.

The trapping area itself was a big disappointment, virtually birdless, and very wet.

Linnet

Firecrest

After a brief chat in the Obs with Dave Walker, "assistant" Dave and GIll Hollamby we decided to have lunch on the top of the moat. It was sunny and very pleasant but yielded few birds.

We spent the early afternoon at the Brenzett Air Museum on Romney Marsh which is fascinating and a labour of love for a sadly diminishing band of volunteers.

Late afternoon we returned to Dungeness and walked around the reserve, for much of it in the company of Ray Turley. Several Slavonian Grebes showed well though they looked rather odd in their transitional winter/summer plumage.