Saturday 2 October 2010

Scotney & Dungeness

We arrived at Scotney shortly after 09:00, being joined shortly after by Barry Wright. We soon picked out one of the Buff-breasted Sandpipers some distance away and walking along the footpath in an attempt to get closer, we were soon looking at two Buff-breasts together. While at Scotney, we also enjoyed views of a partial albino Lapwing, Little Stint (2), Marsh Harrier (1), Little Egret (1), House Martin (2), Golden Plover (many), and Swallow (2).
After enjoying the birds at Scotney we moved on via an early lunch at the cafe, to the observatory area where we saw Swallow (20), Wheatear (2), Sparrowhawk (1) and were busy checking through feeding Meadow Pipits (80+), when the pager alerted us to a Barred Warbler at the RSPB reserve. We made our way to the reserve and were soon enjoying brief but fairly frequent views of the Barred Warbler. While at the reserve, we also saw the Great White Egret, Little Egret (2), Peregrine (1), Marsh Harrier (2), Blackcap (1), Chiffchaff (3) and Cetti's Warbler (heard).
After returning to the visitors centre and car park, a phone call from Barry alerted us to the presence of the Black-throated Diver on the New Diggings, so we were soon in the car making our way to the road bisecting the pits at which point the weather started to deteriorate. We were soon enjoying good views of the Diver and Red-breasted Mergansers (2) and Black Tern (2), on the ARC.
Barred Warbler
Barred Warbler
Barred Warbler
Buff-breasted Sandpiper
Buff-breasted Sandpipers
Buff-breasted Sandpiper with Ruff
Buff-breasted Sandpipers with Ruff
Ruff

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