A message for all the photographers out there.  Why not enter our Focus on Insects amateur photography competition?

Download details here or email the reserve (dungeness@rspb.org.uk) for more info and an application form.

RSPB Dungeness is celebrating all things bumblebee this month and the wildlife explorers were lucky to have Dr Nikki Gammans visiting to tell them all about bumblebees with a presentation, art and craft and then a quiz. Having learnt lots about bumblebees they then set out onto the reserve to catch some bumblebees to try to identify them. They caught several feeding on the flowers along the trail including buff tailed and white tailed bumblebees which they were able to work out from what they had learnt earlier.

To find out more about the Purple Herons WEx group contact leader Heather Chantler on 01797 320588

To find out all about the Bee Festival contact the RSPB Dungeness reserve on 01797 320588 or check out our webpage

The first meeting of the RSPB Dungeness Harriers was held last Saturday 19th May 2012.The Harriers task team is a new group set up for the older members of the Dungeness Purple Herons group, made up of children aged 12 and over plus two young leaders. They will meet four times a year to find out how the wardens manage the reserve here at RSPB Dungeness and to assist them with practical conservation tasks. This months meeting saw them counting livestock: sheep, lambs, cows, calves and a very large bull and then helping to survey the bitterns and marsh harriers to assess whether breeding is going on. They recorded the bittern booming from Hookers ramp and marsh harriers carrying food across the reed beds. Returning to the Visitor centre after their morning they reported back to the younger members of the group who had spent their morning getting close up to bumblebees.

For more information on joining the Dungeness Harriers contact Wildlife Explorer Leader Heather Chantler 01797 320588

The great tit parents continued to astound us with their incredible hard work as they brought food into the chicks at least every minute this morning. The nest cam is proving very popular with everyone; staff and visitors alike enabling us a privileged view of the great tit's private life.

Elsewhere on the reserve this morning a spotted flycatcher was seen at Hookers Pit and the bittern continues to call there. Also at Hookers there were two avocets, a number of hobby's and calling cuckoos. This morning two of the hobby's were sitting on the shingle beside the entrance track waiting for the day to warm up.

Of interest to moth enthusiasts was a pebble hook tip moth photographed sitting beside the Willow trail path.

A very sunny but still quite chilly morning with a good number of birds. A black kite, presumably yesterdays bird, flew over Denge Marsh gulley at 10.45 am and a red rumped swallow flew over Hookers Pit towards Burrowes Pit at 11.15 am. Also of note, the bittern is still booming and can be heard from the ramp overlooking Hookers Pit and there were 45+ common terns from Denge Marsh hide. There were two cuckoos at ARC and a lesser whitethroat at the entrance to the reserve.

In the Visitor centre the great tit nest continues to entertain with views from our nest cam of the adults feeding the chicks throughout the day.