Today on the reserve, our presence has been graced by another American vagrant - a male hooded merganser! He has spent his day over by the Denge Marsh area of the reserve and can be viewed from the ramp and on the footpath by Hookers pit. A really stunning bird!
Our ring-necked duck is also still about on the reserve and has been flying from pool to pool by the Boulderwall farm area.
Perhaps not so lucky for them, being so lost, but we are happy that these two American birds have chosen to 'visit' us. Hopefully the merganser will stay around for the weekend, giving people a chance to come and see him.
Please can I use this moment to remind visitors that parking is only permitted in the car parks by the visitor centre and over the road at the ARC. Please do not park and leave your car along the track. Also, please do not ignore the sign and go through the gate leading to Denge Marsh. From the visitor centre it is only a 15 minute walk through the discovery area to get to Hookers pit.
Hooded merganser at RSPB Dungeness - by Stephen Mills
Ring-necked duck at RSPB Dungeness - by Graham Parry
Other wonderful sightings on the reserve today include:
A really good view of the two long-eared owls who are still with us! A peregrine eating her lunch on one of Burrowes pit islands in front of the visitor centre. A black redstart at Boulderwall farmhouse. Black-necked and slavonian grebes. Goldeneye, chiffchaffs, dunlin and great white egrets.
A female black redstart - by Graham Parry
A couple of my poor scope photographs of the peregrine eating her prey with a crow begging for scraps
This week we have had:
Avocets, white fronted geese, goosander, scaup, smew, bitterns, a merlin, a red kite, a sparrowhawk, grey plovers, black-tailed godwits, caspian gulls, firecrests, redwings and a raven.
So all-in-all a pretty lively week here at Dungeness! Spring is on the horizon as birds are starting to pair up, hibernating creatures such as bumblebee queens, newts and marsh frogs are starting to wake up and we've had a day where going outdoors was possible without a coat!
What will RSPB Dungeness have in store for us next week?