Trip reports

Sandwich and Pegwell Bays

Monday, 17 November 2008

From the car park at Sandwich Quay we followed the route alongside the river for a short distance, then on the path towards St George's golf club - a new route to me. This passes between shrubs and small trees, great for small birds, though not a lot were seen; dunnock, robin, blue and great tit and, in the distance, one fieldfare and a couple of redwing flying through. A footbridge crosses a small stream and along the bank are tall trees. One of the more alert at the back of the group studied a flock of chaffinches, and called us back very excitedly - two of the birds were not chaffinches but waxwings!! the first that I had seen for many years, and for several in the group a first. We watched them until they flew off in the direction of the Observatory.

The path across the golf course seemed very sterile with just a few crows and a single green woodpecker - not many golfers either. On the beach was a single knot, oystercatchers and on the sea brent geese and shelduck. The walk along the beach produced several stonechats on the fences and meadow pipits bathing in the muddy pools. We then returned to The Quay via the golf course and the river bank.

The afternoon was to be spent at Pegwell Bay, hoping that we would catch the rising tide and the roost; however I had not allowed for the fact that they were six-metre tides and so it came in faster and earlier over the flats. There was still plenty to see though. The walk along the path towards the new hide brought about another amazing experience - a peregrine was spotted harassing a very large flock of lapwings; suddenly it peeled off almost towards us and took a snipe that we had been watching a few seconds earlier. A second bird then appeared and they spent several minutes chasing each other and carrying out food swaps, before they disappeared towards the cooling towers. We spent a while in the hide watching the birds out on the sea and at roost; these included avocets, godwits, eider, and many others that the area provides both shelter and food for.

Leaving the hide we continued along the path, and in the scrub were tits, linnet and thrushes. However, surprises were not over, as another call went up: "look at those two large birds flying along the shore line" - they were cranes !! Perhaps the "biggest" surprise of the day. Apparently some had been roosting near to Dungeness. Were they these? Were they from the continent or from the group that are resident in Norfolk?

What a day we had - 54 species in total and the surprises, which of course they were. You never know what you are going to see on a day out.