We had a great turn out for out first Outdoor Meeting of the year today at Dungeness. Weather wise it was a dreary-grey day but much better than the forecast and we only saw rain fairly late in the afternoon. It was particularly nice to have Johan Norrlin along with us, a Swedish gentleman who was catching a plane back to Stockholm this evening! We started off walking to the Hanson Hide seeing Cetti’s Warbler, Goldcrest, Great White Egret, several Goldeneye and Firecrest (seen by a few but alas not by me).

We walked over to Boulderwall Farm and the adjacent pools where we had large numbers of Golden Plover, a few Greenfinch, Sparrowhawk, 2 Ravens, a drake Smew and best of all a male Hen Harrier found by Dave Perrin. Our walk around the reserve was a little quieter giving us Kingfisher, Egyptian Geese and close views of a Chiffchaff.

After lunch we headed to Walland Marsh and enjoyed a Swan fest thanks to Gill Hollamby and Neil Burt getting great views of 40 Bewick’s and 2 Whooper Swans. We did a short Sea-watch from Jury’s Gap seeing Gannet and Fulmar before finishing the day at Scotney Gravel Pits where the heavens opened, more Ravens were observed as were 5 Ruff including one male in transitional plumage. We closed the day in the rain on 75 Species. Photo David Fenton-Scott. Our next outing is Sunday February 9th.

Field Trips meet at 8am and the venues are announced near the time dependent on up-to-date bird news, with weather, wind and tide taken into consideration. Advised to always bring wellies, drinks and sandwiches.