Wrapped up warm at Dungeness

Friday saw Phil and I travelling to Dungeness, in some trepidation because, although we were in a nice warm car and the sun was (mostly) beaming down, we knew that there was some serious windchill going on outside, and if there's one thing Dungeness does well, it's windchill. We arrived at the warden's cottage at about 10.45am, just as a female Kestrel zipped low across the track in front of us.

She landed on the cottage chimney stack and stayed there while we cautiously got out of the car and took some photos. As you can see by the state of her plumage,  it was indeed super-windy. No Tree Sparrows were showing at the feeders, so we got back in the car and drove on to the visitor centre.

Some of the trails were closed because of flooding. But the gen was that there were several Smews on Burrowes Pit. The water on view from here was very choppy indeed and the only birds braving it were a small fleet of Coots, but we thought there might be some sheltered bits further along, so walked down to the Makepeace hide.

This hide sits on a corner and shelters a bit of the pit. In this area were great rafts of ducks, avoiding the roughest bits of the water. Most of those close at hand were Shovelers, with larger numbers of Wigeons further out. Here and there were also smaller groups of Tufties, Pintails, Teals and Gadwalls.

 Here's a little flight of Teals...

... here's a chillaxing female Gadwall...

... and here's a rowdy pool party of Wigeons.

A pair of Great Crested Grebes materialised among the closer ducks.

Further out we could see a redhead Smew, and thought that it might be more readily viewable from the next hide along, so we opted to continue.

On our way round, we met this Robin foraging on the path, and coping well with the wind periodically knocking it flying.

From the hide at the far end of the pit, half a dozen redhead Smews were visible, a couple of them pretty close. As we watched this one, a Kingfisher nipped past.

We went back to the visitor centre, walking into the wind now so were obliged to adopt a ridiculous bent-double posture to make any headway. After a look at the board and a bit of debate, we decided to try the ARC next.

We paused on the way, for Phil to investigate a warning light on the car (a call to the garage said we were not immediate danger of catastrophe) and for me to photograph these Curlews in fields by the path.

The ARC car park was empty, a worrying sign which was borne out when we reached the hide and from it could see nothing but Coots and two very distant Goldeneyes. Because we are nothing if not optimistic, we walked around the other side to the viewscreen, seeing a couple of Marsh Harriers on the way.

From the viewscreen, we could see ONE bird. This one. At least it is a 'good' bird - one of the nine Great White Egrets currently present in the Dungeness area. The sheltered water right in front of the hide looked the perfect refuge for birds to get out of the wind but it was deserted.

So, we headed for the beach next. I had hoped there might be some seabirds around besides the usual, but this was not to be, though down at the Patch there was a phenomenal number of gulls on view.

A few pics to give you an idea of the scale. These were taken while sheltering in the lea of the rather nice new seawatching hide.

The sea was throwing some pretty crazy shapes.

It was by now about 2pm, very sunny, and still windy as heck. We returned to the car, and decided to drive on to Hythe and have a look for Purple Sandpipers, as has become something of a winter tradition. The drive is always enjoyable, through a string of coastal villages - all of which I'd like to live in - before you get to Hythe, a very nice coastal town which I'd REALLY like to live in.

We parked near the first breakwater, and while Phil made a phone call I went down onto the beach and looked for waders among the big rocks. There was some work going on nearby, with diggers shifting the shingle about, which I thought might be why I could find no Purps, but then Phil joined me and instantly located a lone Purp. However, it was distant and we couldn't get closer. The next breakwater we checked, at the far end of Hythe, was Purp City, though, with at least six of the chubby little waders pottering about on its rocks, along with two Turnstones.

Two Purps and a Turnstone. The light was, as ever, tricky, but it was (again, as ever) a joy to see these confiding little waders.

A few gulls were drifting past. I was hoping for a Med but had to make do with Black-headeds. The vicious wind also seemed to have dropped, it was really very pleasant and I was sorry to have to leave.

Chilling at Rainham

I'm so fed up with the cold weather. I'm trying to build up my running distances at the moment, with a view to MAYBE doing a half-marathon (my first since 2007) in March, but it's difficult getting motivated to get out of the door when it's barely above freezing. Motivation is a little easier to come by when the objective is birding rather than running, though, and I was pleased to accept Shane's invitation of a morning at Rainham. We were forecast greyness, so I brought the D700. In fact there was quite a bit of sunshine and the D300 with its crop factor would've been a better option. Life was simpler when I had one camera...

There was a lot of wader action as we walked out onto the reserve, heading clockwise. Overhead were flocks of Lapwings and Dunlins, and these Golden Plovers, seen in pic 1 with the Eurostar. Pic 2 is here because I was amused by the way the two in the bottom left seemed to be sharing a single pair of wings.

Water levels were very high, and there was a lovely array of birdlife on view from Purfleet hide. All three waders mentioned above were here in profusion, along with Wigeons, Teals, Gadwalls, Mallards, Shovelers and the odd Pintail, though sadly none were close enough for good photos.

Once past the water, things quietened down a lot. We clocked a couple of Marsh Harriers way away over Aveley Marsh, and 'weet-weet-weet-ing' Mipits leapt out of the rough grassland as we went by.

Little birds of the reeds were in short supply. We found a pair of Reed Buntings, but there was no sign of any Beardies and not a single Cetti's was to be heard. From the Marshland Discovery zone we could see another flock of Wigeons and a Little Grebe.

We went into the tower hide, and surveyed a scene of much water and, on the Target pools, many gulls and Shelducks, looking lovely but distant in strong sunshine. A lone Grey Heron stalked along, and on the other side, looking into the light, there were more of the same wildfowl as before.

Finally, a bird close enough to fill the frame (nearly) - juvvie Mute Swan.

We were on the return loop now, and slammed the brakes on when a Stoat bounded across the path in front of us and vanished into the undergrowth. We searched for it, I made squeaky noises for it to investigate (it didn't) and then Shane spotted it tearing along the boardwalk behind us. Always good to see a mustelid, but I do wish I could get some decent photos!

Next we stopped off at the little pools by the boardwalk where Water Rails have, of late, been showing very well. And we found one, but it was very tucked away and all my photos only show its flicky white rear end. As we watched it, a dark juvenile Sparrowhawk came bombing past.

The feeders were attended by modest numbers of Great Tits, Blue Tits, Reed Buntings and a single Robin. Goldfinches were singing and calling nearby, and as we walked on Shane found a pair of shy Bullfinches and I found a Chiffchaff.

Back at the visitor centre, I bought a cup of tea and we relaxed in the warmth for a while, enjoying a nice view of a flock of Black-tailed Godwits coming in off the Thames as we did so. Then we set out again to walk the first bit of the path again.

The sun was becoming more elusive now, but we enjoyed closer views of Teal and Wigeon from Purfleet hide.

We cut back along the riverside, walking on the low path close to the water. On the Thames were many Teals, plus a few Cormorants and a Great Crested Grebe. A few Redwings flew along the shore, including these two which just about permitted a recognisable photo.

We were almost back at the visitor centre when we found a Stonechat pair, working their way along the bankside. The male was a bit skittish but the female was a little star, flying right over to where we stood and striking a series of poses for us.

Lost in London

No, not me. I knew where I was almost the whole time. The lost soul is a Scaup, which has been living on the Round Pond in Kensington Gardens for a few weeks now. Paul and I went to visit it yesterday, and to check out the general scene. It was very, very cold and grey - luckily I stayed in Teddington on Saturday night and now have my low light-friendly D700 back (well, that helped with the grey, not so much with the cold).

Here's a Teddington House Sparrow, photographed through Susan and Paula's kitchen window before I headed into central London.

Got to Ken Gardens at about 12.30am and met Paul at the Italian Gardens, from where we went to look at a big crowd of Shovelers which were milling around in the corner of Long Water - mostly drakes but a few ducks (probably 4:1 ratio). These two broke away from the herd.

There is an empty skip parked in the water on the western shore. This Moorhen seemed to like it. We had a few seconds of sunshine at this point.

We carried on to the main bird-feeding area, where several people (including this gentleman) were offering handouts to the tits and parakeets. We joined in for a while.

Blue Tits and Great Tits readily came down for seed but the Coal Tit was just too shy.

Of course Feral Pigeons and Grey Squirrels were in attendance too, the former trying to break into Paul's rucksack, the latter trying to convince us that it was the very soul of adorable innocence.

We headed for Round Pond, on the way meeting Ralph Hancock, diligent blogger of the birdlife here and supremely helpful chap. He pointed out the Tawny Owl tree for us, gave directions for a new Little Owl tree, confirmed that the Scaup was still present on the Round Pond, and persuaded a couple of Jays to come down for peanuts.

A Jay, coveting a peanut. Ralph said that at least some of the Jays here will feed from his hand but this one waited for a nut thrown on to the ground (and then swooped down and grabbed it too quickly for photos.

Some of the small flock of Starlings that mugged us for mealworms en route to Round Pond. The top is a first-winter, then an adult male - note blue bill-base, and adult female - note pink bill-base. How disappointing to see Starlings conforming to gender stereotypes. The female had a bad leg - she seemed to be coping OK but took the opportunity for a sit-down after her fill of mealworms.

The Scaup was dead centre of Round Pond but we waited and it did come closer. It is a first-winter drake, developing some grey adult-type plumage on its mantle but mostly looking rather brown and boring. I suppose it prefers Round Pond to Long Water/the Serpentine because it is, at heart, a seaduck (or if not then a reservoir duck), preferring less vegetated waters.

First-winter Black-headed Gull. Round Pond is good for eye-level portraits of close-range water birds if a) you don't mind lying on the ground and attracting funny looks from passers-by and b) you don't mind that almost all the water birds you see at close range will be Black-headed Gulls.

Almost all. There were also a few Greylags.

On the surrounding grassland were 30 or so Egyptian Geese, including this white-headed bird.

And with the Egyptians was this weirdo. A Maned Duck (aka Maned Goose, aka Australian Wood Duck). There is no collection of clipped exotic wildfowl in this park, so this must be a free-flyer, and Paul suspected it had wandered here from Regent's Park.

We then went to the new Little Owl tree but there was no sign of the owl/s, and we also checked the Tawny tree with similar lack of success. We were freezing by this point so went for a cup of tea at the Lido cafe, first stopping to look at the gang of gulls on the Serpentine, mostly Black-headed but some Commons and a couple of tough-looking adult Lesser Black-backs.

Post tea, it was getting close to 4.30pm and very gloomy, so I decided to put the camera away. However, a passing birder told us that the Tawny was now showing, so the camera came out again for a not-very-impressive record shot of the gorgeous owl.

This is the male of the pair. The female is down there in a hollow from the broken bit of trunk, presumably incubating a clutch of eggs. Hopefully there'll be 'branching' owlets out in a few weeks' time.