DUNGENESS, RYE AND LYDD.

Sunday, 14th September 2008.

Standing at the bus stop I thought about the weather forecast for the day. They had promised good weather and so I had only put on a vest and heavy shirt, although I did have lightweight waterproofs in my rucksack. It was now quite cloudy although I could see that it was only light cloud that would burn off relatively quickly once the sun started to come up. Having met Leon on the bus we arrived at the ’Green Man’ slightly before our meeting time, seven thirty, only to find that John was already there. In the car with John was Libby, a lady that I think that I recognised from the Wetland Centre.

THE MARTELLO TOWER, RYE HARBOUR

Photo: Reg Norman

The journey down to our first stop, Rye Harbour, was uneventful and the weather improved as we made our way. John had a birdsong CD on as we went along which I really enjoyed. When we got to the part where it featured the Barn Owl, Leon mentioned that he had yet to see one and John replied that if there was a chance later in the day we would try for one; the youngster was made up!By the time we reached Rye there was warm sunshine although the wind coming off the sea kept the temperature down somewhat. All around us birds were battling with the wind.

THE NATURE RESERVE, RYE

Photo: Reg Norman

Never having been to the place before, Leon and I suggested that John might like to set the itinery fro the day. This was to prove to be one of the best decisions of the day; John certainly knows his ‘birding’ spots!
We walked from the carpark and headed towards the harbour entrance. There were not as many birds about as John expected but we put it down to the time of year and the strong wind. As we walked along we scanned the nature reserve area and gradually we began to see more birds, especially Meadow Pipits and Pied Wagtails.When we reached the harbour entrance, atop a pebble beach, we found many Turnstones doing exactly what their name suggests. The longer we looked the more we saw.

THE BEACH AT RYE, WESTWARDS

Photo: Reg Norman

The wind had eased off slightly but we noticed gulls just hanging in the air and quite a few more making their way to the nature reserve. Several Sandwich Terns also passed by and headed inland.
After spending a little while ‘sea watching’ we made our way back to the café for something to eat. On the way back we saw any more small birds including a flock of Linnets, these were keeping company with Meadow Pipits, Wagtails and Starlings. I wasn’t going to have the breakfast, just something quick. I was glad that I changed my mind as it was delicious and I hadn’t realised just how hungry I was! There was a terrific picture of Barn Owl in the café and Leon mentioned that, as yet, he had not seen one!

RYE, FULHAM FC COLOURED HUT!

Photo: Reg Norman

We moved off and made our way to Dungeness RSPB, going through some charming little villages on the way. I had been there, many years ago, and it seemed not to have changed one little bit! Our first stop was at the ARC lake, hopefully to see the Common Cranes that had been in residence for a couple of weeks.
Unfortunately we were not to see them, we met the warden on arrival and she explained that we had missed them by about fifteen minutes! There were going to be a lot of disappointed people as there were cars arriving all the time and, I would guess, that most of them had come to see the Cranes!The helpful lady then said that we should go over to the viewing point nearby, as there were a flock of Black Terns in residence. Not only that, but, there was a White Winged Black tern among them! She joined us for a while and was kind enough to point the bird out to us and to describe the differences between them!

ARC LAKE, TERNS, NO CRANES!

Photo: Reg Norman

We next moved to the other side of the site where we visited several hides. I couldn’t believe the number and variety of species of birds! We saw several new ones (to Leon and I) and many ‘old friends’. With so many experienced ‘birders’ in the hides with us we couldn’t really miss anything because they would all call different birds as they saw them and give directions.John had a master plan! “Lets’ go down to the beach at Dungeness, do some seawatching and look around near the Bird Observatory, we can come back here later when, hopefully the Cranes will have come back to roost”. This seemed a good idea to us, so off we toddled!

DUNGENESS BEACH, NOT CROWDED!

Photo: Reg Norman

All around us, in that peculiarly Dungeness landscape, were small parties of ‘birders’; some singular and others in various sized groups. Each group with its’ own agenda and all thoroughly enjoying themselves! I wondered aloud what they had all come to see or all might like to see. “I’d like to see a Barn Owl” said a little voice not too far behind me! John led us to several different areas, each offering the chance of seeing different species and slightly different habitats. After having spoken to somebody who seemed to be very well informed we ended up watching a Little Owl that had made its’ home in a disused rabbit burrow; I’ll never forget its’ vivid green eyes. I was waiting for a little voice to ask if a certain other type of owl might reside in rabbit burrows!

DUNGENESS, HERE BE PORPOISES!

Photo: Reg Norman

The beach was our next stopping point, on the way to it John warned us not to go into the bird hides as the local fishermen use them as toilets! The beach didn’t bring up to many bird species, possibly because the wind had gotten a little stronger, but we did get an unexpected surprise! There were about four or five Harbour Porpoises not many yards from the shore! We stayed for a while but there seemed to be fewer birds as the wind increased and the tide receded; there weren’t even any birds around the outflow from the power station.

SEAWATCHING, DUNGENESS BEACH

Photo: Reg Norman

Moving back to Dungeness RSPB, we ate our lunch in the ARC carpark. Again I didn’t realise how hungry I was until I started eating; it must be the sea air! We checked and found that the Cranes had not yet returned and so we made our way to the main site. As usual at all RSPB sites we were greeted most warmly and were soon being given information about possible sightings. John, of course, knew the site and suggested our route which we all agreed upon. As we moved through the shop we came upon a book on owls; it had a you-know-what on the cover. “Hope I see one of those later!” said you-know-who.We had not long started going round this enormous site, only having visited a couple of the many hides, when John recognised some of his old ‘birding’ buddies. They reported that there really was not much to see further on along the site and that we might spend our time more profitably in another place. John mentioned that one of our party could possibly be interested in seeing a Barn Owl and asked if they, being local, could point us in the right direction. They gave him the directions and we resolved to try for a sighting a little later on as it was still too early for them to be out. In the meantime, we decided to go back to the ARC and spend some time in the ‘Viewpoint’ hide. Passing through the shop once more we noticed some lovely paintings, one of them was of the target bird for later on. John and I stood in front of it.

YOU NEED A 'SCOPE HERE!

Photo: Reg Norman

There were more small birds about when we got back to the ARC area. We saw quite a number of Yellow Wagtails moving about in a flock; what busy little birds they are!One of my best ‘birding’ moments was to follow. We noticed a large group of people studying a bush most intently and I asked one of them what they were looking for. “There are loads of Willow Warblers in there,” I was told “and, there is a Redstart with them!” I joined the waiting crowd and, sure enough, out popped a Redstart! What fabulous colours! One of the chaps, who was guiding this particular party, said that he had never seen a Redstart with such vivid colours; I quite believed him. Libby, John and Leon joined us and very shortly they had been treated to the sight of this beautiful bird as well!

POWERSTATION, FROM RSPB

Photo: Reg Norman

As we moved to the hide we were aware of the Wagtails moving about, seemingly trying to cover every square inch of the site! Some of the Black Terns that had moved off earlier in the day had now started returning but the White Winged bird never came back. By all accounts this was the highest number of Black Terns ever recorded in one day here!From he hide we noticed that, although not in the same numbers as earlier in the day, there were still many birds to be seen. In particular there were many Cormorants with more arriving by the minute. Every so often nearly all of the birds other than the Cormorants would take flight; there were many raptors about, not surprising really, considering the amount of prey about! Libby tended to be the one who spotted these; she really has a great knack for it.

LIBBY AND JOHN, A DUNGENESS HIDE

Photo: Reg Norman

We spent quite a long time at the hide; it would be pointless trying for Tyto alba until later in the evening. The Cranes never came back whilst we were there, but, with the prospect of trying out yet another location our disappointment was not too bad!Apart from one minor wrong turn John took us to our destination deep in the country. All of the things hat we were told to look out for, a deserted farmhouse, a particular pub on the way and even a partially hidden stile were all exactly where they were supposed to be! One of our party was getting very excited!

WAITING FOR CRANES!

Photo: Reg Norman

We crossed the stile and started to make our way to where we thought the best vantage point would be. As we went along we became aware of a large flock of mixed birds moving about in the bushes and shrubs along our track. We had not seen many Tits and such during the day, so this offered us a chance to add a few more species to our total. My favourites, Long Tailed Tits, were much in evidence to my delight. One, then another showed itself and then vanished. John pointed and said, “Long Tailed Tit” at a bird that seemed apart from the hubbub. I looked and knew straight away that it wasn’t. The mask gave it away. “No it ISN’T!” cried John, “ It’s a … it’s a Red Backed Shrike!” It was, it vanished, we never saw it again however hard we tried to relocate it! Leon smiled, but Red Backed Shrikes seem not to impress like a certain other bird might do.

RYE, EAST TO THE WINDFARM. UGH!

Photo: Reg Norman

A couple of ‘birders’ passed us; we knew they were ‘birders’. They ignored us even though they must have witnessed our excitement a little earlier. Like ships in the night they were. We moved off in the direction that they had taken and soon caught up with them. They were to one side of the raised track on a sort of a, supposedly, ‘natural’ viewing platform. John approached and asked if they had seen anything and was curtly told that they had only just arrived. They must have known that we knew that they had just arrived. We had been told that we might see Tree Sparrows in the area but, when asked about this, we again got a curt reply to the negative, “Not round here!” They were also ‘not looking for anything in particular’! Good, because they wouldn’t see the Shrike either!Barn Owls were a different thing though. “You want to go right back there, where you came from. That’s’ the best place to be, sometimes two!” They couldn’t get us away quick enough! I wondered what they were there for in a place they obviously knew well.

RYE, EAST TO THE POWER STATION

Photo; Reg Norman

We did move away from them, not as far as they would have liked because we moved out into a field atop an enormous heap of stones from the field clearance. The heap was about twenty feet high and gave us the perfect view of the place indicated for the ‘target bird’. We could see for miles; including everything that our new ‘friends’ could see and more!
It was still not quite dusk and so we settled down to a regime of systematically covering all sides from our viewpoint. It was such a good spot we may have seen all sorts of stuff. The friendly couple seemed to be getting agitated; could the main event be about to start? It was. Libby, with the knack for birds of prey, spotted the first one. A Marsh Harrier was slowly drifting in from some distant hunting ground. He was soon followed by another … and another …and another! In the end there were Harriers everywhere! There were up to six in one field alone! Not only that, but there were also Buzzards sat on the field fences and even eating in another field! “Nothing” eh?Well, not Barn Owls! This perfect place for Barn Owls had yielded exactly … none!

NO OWLS HERE THEN!

Photo: Reg Norman

It having gotten dark, all of a suddenly, we decided to make our way home. We had had a fabulous day out, not really covering the area but getting a ‘taste’ of it. We will definitely be going back again, many times, I hope. We would have many things to talk about for along time to come and the prospect of a pint to start with was most appealing!

BIRDS SEEN: Herring Gull, Feral Pigeon, Robin, Blackbird, Magpie, Starling, Carrion Crow, Curlew, Redshank, Common Sandpiper, Meadow Pipit, Pied Wagtail, Black Headed Gull, Ringed Plover, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Great Black Backed Gull, Yellow Wagtail, Hobby, Wheatear, Cormorant, Oystercatcher, Swallow, Turnstone, Sandwich Tern, Linnet, Lapwing, Wood Pigeon, Collared Dove, Mute Swan, House Sparrow, Coot, Rook, Black Tern, White Winged Black Tern, Mallard, Shoveller, Wigeon, Gadwall, Little Grebe, Moorhen, Heron, Greylag Goose, Canada Goose, Great Crested Grebe, Teal, Golden Plover, Common Snipe, Dunlin, Knot, Curlew Sandpiper, Little Stint, Greenshank, Common Gull, Little Egret, Green Woodpecker, Little Owl, Gannet, Common Tern, Brent Goose, Merlin, Redstart, Willow Warbler, Great Tit, Marsh Harrier, Jackdaw, Blue Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Red Backed Shrike, Chiffchaff, Pheasant, Osprey, Ruff.