Dunge revisited

On Friday I was taken for another visit to the Dungeness area for some birding. It was a beautiful day and a very pleasant stroll round to the various hides. It was however fairly empty as far as the birds were concerned.

We stopped off at the gravel pit to start with and then headed down to the beach in search of the Glaucous Gull. Although we were not certain for a while, it did become clear that none of the assembled gulls were the bird in question. There was a Caspian Gull about we were told, but even my birding mentor was not confident he would be able to identify it if we saw it.

On the beach itself it was fishing day and the long line of men fishing off the beach was clearly deterring any birds from staying on the shoreline. Further out to sea there were some Auks and Guillemots about as well as Kittiwakes and a Grebe.

There's a Snipe at the base of the reeds...

We headed back to the entrance and round the reserves many hides, having our lunch on the way and were rewarded with some very nice views of Marsh Harriers hunting low over the reed-beds and a mid-air disagreement between a Green Woodpecker and a Peregrine. The falcon soon resumed its hunt and the Woodpecker its undulating flight with neither the worst for their argument.

During the course of the afternoon we also came across a very well camouflage Snipe resting at the foot of some reeds almost invisible until he turned his head and long beak. I was happy to see my first Smew, or at least the first that I am aware of and some nice views of other ducks, geese and swans which I much enjoyed for all their lack of rarity.

As we departed we had a brief view of a white bird by the water. Was it just another Little Egret or was it the Great White Egret? Unfortunately, I was the only one who saw it standing relatively clear and I'm pretty convinced. My birding mentor only glimpsed it as it was obscured by reeds and the bank of the pond. In my mind I see a heron-like stance and size and a flash of a yellow beak. No ticks for probables though.