An early start, leaving home at 0600 in thick fog it took two hours to get to Rye Harbour. When I arrived I was anticipating a long walk to the Ternery Pool hide shrouded by the fog and being able to listen to all the birds calling. No chance - monster industrial scale works going on in the harbour entrance - four cranes and a colossal amount of plant making the most horrendous row. However as the distance away increased the cacophony of hundreds of Black-headed and Mediterranean Gulls coupled with the scratchy calls of about 100 Sandwich Terns soon filled the air. The work on the islands has really paid off, many more nesting sites available and the birds occupying them already. Wonderful to see the Meds displaying, probably in excess of 50 pairs now on site. They have some very weird display activities - one of which can only be described as being from "The Ministry of Silly Walks" - hard to capture on a still image.
Further on down Ternery Pool one island was occupied by a real mixed bunch which included a small flock of Golden Plovers and two Avocets which were almost ready to start courtship displays but were put off by the antics of the Med gulls
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| Mediterranean Gulls |
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| Ministry..... |
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| ...of Silly... |
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| ....Walks! |
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| Sandwich Terns are back |
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| Avocet |
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Meadow Pipit |
On the way back to the car park I came across a Meadow Pipit - a rather tatty specimen but he was asking to be snapped so I duly obliged. Also, my first butterfly of the year - a Small Tortoiseshell happily basking in really warm sunshine.
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