Smew

At long last a day out where the camera came out of the bag. With the weather set fair Martin suggested a day out at Dungeness, a tempting list of possibles - Hooded Merganser, Smew, Ring-necked Duck and Garganey made it a no-brainer - a trip to the far east was just what we needed.

On the A 27 it seemed as if all the traffic was heading in a westerly direction and we made good time. First stop was the pit outside Camber, just a possibility of a grebe of some description - and that's exactly what we got - a Great Crested Grebe but precious little else.
Next, Scotney Pit where, yet again, it was obvious that most of the wintering waterfowl had departed for their summer residences.

On arrival at Dungeness we stopped at Tanner's Pit and scanned briefly for the Ring-necked Duck, plenty of Tufties in evidence and a single likely candidate that was snoozing at the back of the pool. With no chance of any improved snaps it was on to the visitor centre to check the sightings board. Luckily the board was being updated as we came in through the door - Drake Smew - Christmas Dell Hide/New Excavations. A nod is as good as a wink and we were hotfoot out the door heading for Christmas Dell.

We did manage a very brief look for the long staying Long-eared Owl, but as it wasn't posing out in an obvious position, we ignored it.

Five minutes spent in the Makepeace hide was long enough to ID a single Ruff out on one of the islands, important as a year tick, as waders have been in short supply so far this year. But there was a bird waiting for us further round the reserve and we just couldn't spend any more time scanning the vastness of Burrowe's.

As we entered Christmas Dell hide a kind birder indicated to us a white blob some distance from the hide - drake Smew - Woo Hoo! Not only could we record a stunning bird but it started to swim closer and finally it was joined by a charming red-top.

 

 

 

 The birds were feeding happily together when it became obvious that the female was up for more than companionship - she displayed to the male - tail in the air and head low to the water. He was having none of it - though at one stage he made an effort at preening but not a single spark of response.

Finally they flew off to the far side of the pit so with little chance of any closer shots we carried on with our circumnavigation of the reserve - the only highlight being a couple of Bearded Tits adjacent to the viewpoint.

Reports of Black Redstarts on the beach were enough to have us make a visit. Sure enough the easiest tick of the year as on the walls of the garden around the old lighthouse were at least four specimens, probably five. Alas I couldn't get close to any of them and most of the shots I took had pretty awful backgrounds.

We broke the journey home with calls to Scotney and Pett but it was more of the same - very little to be seen.

Meanwhile, in the garden, I managed to capture the 79th species of my garden list. What I thought was a pair of feral pigeons turned out to be Stock Doves. Unfortunately recorded on a dull day and snapping through glass. Another bonus was the return of the Greenfinches to the feeders and two Goldcrests passing through.