I hope you weren’t caught out by any April Fool bird sightings today!
The past week has been filled with the sights and sounds of spring. We’ve had queen bumblebees buzzing around the reserve looking for a place to start a nest, our colony of Andrena vaga bees or grey-backed mining bees are back, burrowing into the sandy bank just outside Dennis’ hide. These bees are a very rare sight in the UK and here at RSPB Dungeness we have one of the only colonies in the UK!
Some other exciting wildlife highlights of this week include a (tundra) Bean goose seen at Denge Marsh on the 30th March, a spoonbill on the 28th March, booming bitterns around Denge Marsh area throughout the week, oystercatchers with their beautiful striking colours on Burrowes pit every day, a black tailed godwit seen at Denge Marsh on the 30th March.
Little gulls, common gulls and Mediterranean gulls have been seen on Burrowes pit and a common tern has been seen at Denge Marsh.
Image: Common gull - Mike Lane
Sand martins and swallows have been seen around the reserve.
Wheatears, black redstarts, rock pipits, sedge warblers and willow warblers have all been seen over at Denge Marsh!
As well as birds, hares and stoats have been seen on the reserve. A green tiger beetle was seen on our bug hunt yesterday as well as a caterpillar for a peacock butterfly!
Image: Wheatear - Tom Marshall
The weather is looking great for the weekend, so why not come down to the reserve and enjoy the spring sunshine here? We still have our Easter egg hunt going on for the children too!