Red is the colour theme here this week at Dungeness with a red-crested pochard drake seen on the dipping pond yesterday, a red-throated diver on Burrowes pit on the 6th, two redpolls seen today and a redshank seen by Boulderwall.
Redshank. Image: Andy Hay rspb-images
I saw my first bumblebee of the year today! It was a buff-tailed bumblebee queen looking for a place to nest. A small tortoishell butterfly was also seen on the reserve today, so spring is slowly arriving. Goldeneye and great crested grebes are starting to show breeding behaviour on Burrowes pit. Other sightings today includes: pair of smew and a water rail on Burrowes pit, great white egrets and bearded tits by Denge Marsh, a barn owl by the entrance and a peregrine swooping over Burrowes pit.
Buff-tailed bumblebee. Image: Grahame Madge rspb-images
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Other sightings this week include:
Black-necked and slavonian grebe on New Diggings yesterday
Little egret by Boulderwall, a bittern at ARC, a chiffchaff by Dennis' hide and the long-eared owl by the dipping pond also seen yesterday.
Waders including; oystercatchers, 50 golden plover, curlew and dunlin have all been seen on Burrowes or Denge Marsh over the week.
Kingfishers, cetti's warblers, goldcrests, firecrests and ravens have also been spotted!