Wednesday 5th Sept

Managed a trip to Dungy today, nice bright day, not very hazy so a good day for photo's. Stopped by The Imperial Hotel at Hythe on the way, and spotted 2 Purple Sandpipers. Went to Hanson Hide first, to check out any waders in the area, a few but not too many, not surprising as it was time of low tide. Reasonable numbers of Golden Plover and numerous Lapwings, a large female Peregrine lifted most of the birds a few times, and 1 Sparrowhawk also flew across the lake. Over to visitor centre for my customary rich roast coffee, not forgetting to use my loyalty card to collect a point (well each point counts!). After a brief chat, drove up to the viewing mound - my favourite spot - for a bit of lunch. There I heard a few Bearded Tits but they didn't show, a Chiffchaff showed, and a very vocal but invisible Cetti's also attended. A Sparrowhawk had a continuous argument with a Crow, with a nosy Magpie even joining in! From there I went round to Denge Hide where the Great White Egret showed well for a while before flying into a channel behind a large reed bed. A Little Egret made a close flyby pass close to it's larger brother which really showed the difference in size. Noticed 3 juvenile Great Crested Grebes, 2 of which were chasing parents and calling for food, but both being ignored. Raptors showed quite well with 3 Marsh Harriers, 2 Hobby's a Kestrel and a Sparrowhawk. Then back to the centre for another coffee (not forgetting another point on my loyalty card!), on the way back down the track a Kestrel posed quite nicely in a tree. A few Yellow Wagtails and Wheatears around, but no sign of the female Red-Backed Shrike spotted yesterday. A few Whinchats were reported, but I was unable to manage a full walk around the reserve today so I missed them. Dragonflys were also noticable in their high numbers everywhere.

Now feeling a little more sated, I ventured back over to ARC Hanson Hide. A few less Golden Plovers by this time, but numbers included 2 snipe, 1 Little Ringed Plover, 1 Little Stint, 5 Common Sandpipers who became more vocal over time, 5 Little Egrets, 3 Grey Herons, 1 Black Tailed Godwit, and 1 female Pintail. A sparrowhawk made another couple of passes through, permanantly shifting the plovers and the stint.

 

Total count for the day was 56.

Posing Kestrel

Distant shot showing size comparison