Trip reports

Field Trip to Kent

Sunday, 1 July 2007

On a fine, bright day we met first at the Blean Woods RSPB reserve, close to Canterbury, and not far in we heard two nightingales and had excellent views of a calling turtle dove. We soon found song thrush, green woodpecker and many great spotted woodpeckers.
After lunch we moved to Stodmarsh NNR and made our way to the reedbed hide, where we saw Cetti's warbler, hobby, common tern, great crested grebe, little grebe and shoveler. In the woods there were treecreeper, lesser and common whitethroats and bullfinch.
From the marsh hide we were able to watch the marsh harrier's quartering the reed beds. It was from this hide that the day before I heard the bittern booming, but on the group's visit it was silent.
Saturday morning we met at the Dungeness Bird Observatory where our first bird was a black redstart by the power station. Up on the shingle bank looking out on the Patch the wind made sea watching extremely difficult, but we could pick out little gull and common gull.
At the RSPB reserve we saw greylag, little and ringed plover, garganey, gadwall and a spotted flycatcher. Near the ARC pit were four hobbies and a tree sparrow. At ARC water rail and grey partridge were added to the list.

Sunday morning was spent at Rye Harbour NR., where we visited the little tern colony (with numbers down due to predation) and saw plenty of Sandwich terns - most with young. From the hide we watched some fifty pairs of Mediterranean gulls on their nests and bar-tailed godwit.
Some seawatching from the beach gave us common scoter.
At Pett Pools avocet, common sandpiper, sanderling and barnacle goose were added to the list.
It was now time to come home after a lovely trip with fine company and weather, and a grand total of 105 species seen by the group as a whole.

Finally, I would like to thank all members who have supported the walks during the eight years that I have been the Field Trip Organiser.
Vic Austin