Wednesday 27th. November 2013

When I drew back the curtains this morning to a dank, drab day , I was pleased that I had chanced the weather yesterday , with an away-day to Dungeness , hoping for a sight of the elusive Black Kite that had been in the area . I drove down in cloud , but always in the distance was a bright band , and 10 miles before arriving , I was in bright sunshine which held throughout the day , albeit a tad on the chilly side . No sign of any Swans in the fields , never mind the hoped for wild species , nor any Winter Thrushes seen in the roadside bushes . Arriving at the ARC car park , I chose the hide rather than the screen because of the low Winter sun , and found I had it to myself , enabling me to sit in 'Ken's throne' in the corner , but when the flaps were opened , a raw wind blew straight in . Nothing was seen close in on the water , which was exceptionally high , but further out Cormorants filled the island to the right and just Coot , Wigeon , Mallard , Shoveler and Tufted Duck in small numbers drifted aimlessly about or dozed in the sunshine . That changed somewhat , when a

female Marsh Harrier drifted over from the left , one of several seen during the visit . Nearby , two Cetti's Warbler called to each other and two Grey Heron flew over the hide and landed left of the viewing screen on the far side , closely followed by two Little Egret . Shortly after , a Great White Egret emerged from the reedbed and worked it's way to where one GH and one LE had landed on the bank . The GWE was followed by the other LE , and provided a size comparison shot of the three

species . I think the Magpie was just a 'wannabe' . Without a wader , Goldeneye or Pintail in sight , never mind anything rarer , I made my way back to the car park , watched very carefully by a male

Chaffinch . Heading for the beach , I stopped briefly at the far end of the ARC pit , to find a large

flock of Gadwall , somewhere in the region of 75-100 , just part of the spread out flock seen here , and a few more Wigeon further out . I spent some time scanning the fields between the holiday camp and the airfield for the Black Kite , without success , probably as I read in the evening that it was reported flying out to sea at some point during the day . A look around the lighthouses area proved almost birdless , apart from the Gulls loafing on the shingle . I retraced my tracks and headed for the RSPB reserve , and in keeping with the sightings , found not a single Tree Sparrow around Boulderwood Farm , and the car park far from full . A quick scan from reception , then off around the track . A look in at Firth Hide found one photographer , seemingly concentrating on a Little Egret on the edge of an island just off to the left , but after a while , more white could be seen moving about further back in thicker vegetation , but never seemingly showing in the open , but from size had to be

another GWE . As we watched and waited , a large flock of Coot , part of flock here , way out on the water , seemed to be having a 'running on water race' , the cause being another Marsh Harrier passing

over . The MH's appearance also caused the GWE to show , as it lifted off , it must be said somewhat ungainly with that long neck and legs , flew around the small island a couple of times , then landed

back on the righthand side , in the open , and there it stayed as , now joined by a third photographer , we fired off streams of shots , to which it seemed oblivious . Moving on  just the expected wildfowl were seen from the other hides round to Christmas Dell , with very little else from the track , so a

small flock of Greylag Geese flying over at least gave something to point the camera at . As I approached Dengemarsh Hide , a MH came in from the right and what was on the water outside the hide took off in all directions , so when I entered , the hide was empty , matching the water in front .
Heading around to Hookers Pits , a couple of Linnet and another two calling Cetti's Warbler , but just Moorhen , Coot and Tufted Duck on the pits . Just a bit further along , something caught my eye low over the reedbed , and without realizing what , but thinking 'it could be' , quickly aimed the camera and fired off five shots , before it disappeared back into the reeds , as quickly as it appeared . It all happened so quickly I didn't have time to change settings , so it wasn't until I got home and

downloaded the shots and lightened them , that my hopes that it was a Bittern were confirmed . This was the first of the five shots , and as can be seen , the bird wasn't flying , it jumped up above the reedbed , flapped it's wings a few times , and crash landed about 10 metres further on . Given the circumstances , I was pleased to get anything from the encounter . In the same area 'pinging' of Bearded Tits were heard , but no sighting . As I made the right turn onto the smaller path back to the Visitor Centre , I disturbed a Staring that had been feeding on the orange Sea Buckthorn berries on

the left of the main track . The small track proved almost birdless , just a pair of Rook , fossicking on one of the grazed fields . A slow cruise from the car park to the entrance only produced a single male Stonechat and yet another MH , and the feeders at the farmhouse again failed to produce a Tree Sparrow . With the sun still shining , I decided on another look on the ARC site before heading home , heading up to the viewing screen first , finding just rabbits out enjoying the warmth of the sun , but found the area where the GWE,GH and LEs had been seen from the hide earlier , could not be seen from the screen , so headed back over to the hide , finding just two birders inside , neither on 'Ken's throne' , so settled in . Not much had changed , the other birders had been told of two female Smew being seen , but between us we didn't manage a sighting . It was about 1400 , still sunny , and what surprised me was that during the next half hour , 5 or 6 MHs drifted over the pit , each time putting up anything in the area , but I watched each and every one of them drop down into reedbeds around the pit and appear to go to roost , as in the following half hour before I left at 1500 , they hadn't moved . This female seemed very particular , flying around and perching several times , till she

settled in the reedbed directly out from my position . I looked for wild Geese on my way back , but failed to find any again , perhaps next time . The sun didn't last long as I ran into cloud cover before Maidstone , so felt lucky to have chosen the right area for today's trip .
Since my last post I have visited several local sites , but have found very little of interest to post , but

did find an unusual fungi on Keston Common , Auriscalpium vulgare / Ear-pick Fungus , which only grows on buried , decaying Pine cones , and on a visit to RSPB Rainham Marshes , 100s of Wigeon

and a male Kestrel hovering in a very strong breeze , but no sign of the Bewick Swans or Red Mergansers reported the previous day . A visit to Sevenoaks Reserve , found what looks like a

cross Greylag / Canada or Barnacle , but , even rarer , met Phil / Sharp by Nature , good to see you again Phil . And finally , we've had the first visits this Winter from the male Blackcap , feeding on the Callicarpa berries , which are plentiful this year , so hope he makes more visits .
Just looked out the window having finished this , and it's still a dank , drab day , really glad I went out yesterday .