A few weekends ago, we hosted a Christmas event here at Dungeness. We had lots of visitors turn up to browse the shop, have a glass of mulled wine and taste our chutneys and jams. The children (and adults!) were able to create Christmas cards and make advent calendars to take home with them. We got very messy with lots of glitter!

Hopefully tomorrow, for those of you that made advent calendars, will open the very first…

Yesterday we had an absolutely gorgeous day here on the reserve. It was bright, still and reasonably warm as well! There were lots of birds flitting about, many people came back into the visitor centre saying how wonderful and enjoyable their walk was which was lovely to hear!

The long-eared owl has been spotted in the same place since Wednesday. Four red head smew have been seen on Burrowes pit now. A caspian and yellow-l…

A long-eared owl has been spotted roosting by our dipping pond on the main trail. He was seen yesterday and is still here this morning, so come down and have a look! Ask our friendly staff in the visitor centre about exactly where to find him.

The long-eared owl is a medium-sized owl with head feathers known as ear tufts (these aren't actually ears) which it raises when it's alarmed. It is buff brown with darker brown…

Christmas has arrived in store at the RSPB Dungeness Visitor Centre.

The Christmas tree and decorations are up and the store is full of gifts, cards and crackers galore.

Racing Robin crackers £12.99 - Crack!...and out pops a party game! Each cracker contains a crazy wind-up robin to race whilst you digest your Christmas lunch.

Beat the crowds and do your shopping away from the high street at RSPB Dungeness.

The…

We've had some lovely sightings this week with a Dusky warbler being seen today and yesterday. A Dartford warbler has been present on site all week as well. Smew are still being sighted on Burrowes pit everyday and we have had some arrivals from Brent geese and Bewick's swans. Kingfishers have also been delighting us with their flashy colours having being sighted from Scotts hide almost daily!

Yesterday we had a lot of…

Winter has officially started with our first sightings of smew on the reserve last week! We also had a spectacular fly over of more than 2000 rooks, jackdaws and crows last night over Burrowes pit. As the sun is now setting earlier it is nice to be able to see a lot of the birds fly up and off to their night time roosts. 9 marsh harriers were also seen at one time yesterday afternoon which is something pretty special.

Is your scope in need of an update? Are you looking to purchase your first pair of binoculars or to upgrade your binoculars?

Then this is the event for you...

Come on down to the visitor centre at RSPB Dungeness on 14^th or 15^th November 2015 between 10am and 4pm for our binocular and telescope demonstration weekend!

Try out telescopes and binoculars and have a chat with our friendly staff and volunteers.

As well as…

We had a great time at the reserve on Friday and Saturday last week. The staff and visitors alike dressed up in their scary Halloween costumes and the children got stuck in to many different crafts and activities, earning their treats as they went along. We made candy apples for the birds, painted jars and pebbles with spooky characters and created monsters out of leaf prints. There was also a competition to see who could…

This week, we've had a mixture of weather from warm and sunny, to cold wet and windy. There are still swallows about, which just shows us that our temperatures are still too mild for them to want to leave! However we have been getting more ducks and geese staying with us over the last couple of days. A beautiful brambling is seen regularly on the bird feeders in the car park and a black redstart seems to be showing off…

The RSPB Dungeness store now has in stock a Kowa 883 25-60x telescope kit

The result of many years of optical design, the light gathering ability of this scope is a highlight, although images are also crisp and clear to the edges with minimal chromatic aberration. The Magnesium alloy body of this scope has the feel and strength of traditional scopes, but with a decreased weight which is noticeable when out in the field…

Just a quick update on what's been seen about the reserve over the last 5 days. Lots of winter migrants are starting to arrive now!

-

Brent goose – six at Denge Marsh on 15^th

Wigeon – on Burrowes pit on 18^th   

Pintail – at Burrowes pit and ARC on 19^th

Goldeneye – two female on Burrowes pit on 20^th      

Goosander – female on Burrowes pit from Makepeace hide on 18^th

Black necked…

This week there has been a chill in the air, showing signs that winter is approaching us quickly. The difference in bird sightings has changed too, with less waders being seen and an increase in ducks and small birds from the continent. The highlight of this week was seeing a common crane here at the reserve with it staying here for a few days and last sighted on the 12th.

The crane is a huge, grey and graceful bird…

We've been joined by a whiskered bat (Myotis mystacinus) who has been sleeping in Makepeace hide since yesterday.

Photo from visitor Patsy Carney - gives a good idea on its size compared to an A4 poster.

Photo by Louise Kelly

The Whiskered bat is widespread but fairly rare in England, Wales and parts of Ireland. They feed over meadows and water. They can sometimes be seen in mature gardens illuminated…

We've had some beautiful weather down here over the last week. Although windy, the sun was shining most days and it was a good week to be out on the reserve. Some of our warden team even caught a tan! The insects are still clinging on to the last traces of summer; with butterflies such as painted lady and small coppers being seen. Crickets are still to be heard in the grasses and dragonflies are still dancing over the…

We have some new high end binoculars in store, just in time for our binocular and telescope demonstrations over the next few days. Pop in to the RSPB Dungeness Visitor Centre, try them out and compare them to our top of the RSPB range HDX binoculars.

We currently stock:

Zeiss Victory SF 8x42 and 10x42 -- (price range £1825 - £1850)

Swarovision EL 8.5x42, 10x42, 8x32 -- (price range £1440 - £1785)…

Come and enjoy our reserve this winter! 

Get away for the day and be inspired by a wild walk around our beautiful reserve. Spot our winter water birds who have travelled from colder climates to keep warm here. Enjoy a hot drink, browse a great range of gifts and stock up on your bird food in the shop. Beat the winter blues and come along to our events. Come out on a guided walk with a knowledgeable guide, bring the kids…

Is your scope in need of an update?

Are you looking to purchase your first pair of binoculars or to upgrade your binoculars?

Then this is the event for you...

Come on down to the visitor centre at RSPB Dungeness on 3^rd or 4^th October 2015 between 10am and 4pm for our binocular and telescope demonstration weekend!

Try out telescopes and binoculars and have a chat with our friendly staff and volunteers. Steve Vickers…

Thinking of buying binoculars or a telescope? 

Whether you know a bit or don't know where to start, come to the RSPB Dungeness Visitor Centre and get some hands on advice from our friendly team and have the chance to try them out.

Our friendly and knowledgeable volunteers and staff will be available to assist you. 

 If you cannot make these dates, do not worry as the visitor centre is open every day from 10am to 5…

Thankfully, the weekend brightened up for us after a few weeks of rain, wind and constant dark skies! It was definitely nice to see the sun shine again down here at Dungeness!

Butterflies and bees reveled in the sunshine, dancing around the remaining wildflowers to sip the juicy nectar. There was also a celebrity sighting down on Dungeness point on Tuesday with an Acadian flycatcher arriving in Britain from North America…

The weather here last week may have put some people off - but the wildlife wasn't bothered! If you had braved the rain and the wind, you would still have been lucky enough to spot a fair amount of water birds. Bitterns were spotted regularly throughout the week as were the great white egrets which moved from pit to pit. The cattle egret (whether the same or a different one from a few weeks back) was seen back in the…

We are still home to many different wading birds at the moment and the bad weather isn't putting them off just yet! Soon more of our winter visitors will be arriving to the reserve as well.

The red backed shrike has been hanging around in the same spot since the 1st September much to the birders delight! A black tailed godwit was spotted on the 9th at Burrowes pit from our visitor centre. A short eared owl was seen in…

The last few days have been busy with people out to spot the Icterine Warbler and the Red-backed Shrike who visited us in the first few days of September. As the temperature is dropping and Autumn is now here, they are both probably preparing to start their migration south to spend the winter. Honey Buzzards were also a delight to see as three were spotted flying over the Visitor Centre last week and one was spotted on the…

We had a wonderful time getting mucky in the pond at our reserve this summer. Families marched on down with wellies and nets to see what they could discover hidden in the murky depths of the pond. It was amazing how much we found – lots of fat marsh frog tadpoles, baby smooth newts, medicinal leeches, dragonfly larvae, water boatmen and diving beetles.

Many families were new to pond dipping so they had great fun…

It's been a good few weeks for waders! We've had 2 great white egrets hanging out on our reserve for a while, with them being spotted every day for about 2 weeks. A cattle egret (below) was seen in the cow field on the 15th of August which was a delight to see as you drove down the track.

Bitterns have been about, being spotted at various hides, one was last seen at Denge Marsh hide on the 18th. An avocet

What a beautiful night we had on Saturday 8th August! It was warm and windless on the reserve and the stars shone brightly in the cloudless sky. On arriving at the centre, everyone who brought a torch with them covered the light in red cellophane – this was to try and prevent scaring the night time wildlife as they are unable to see red light. Children created candle bags with their wishes for nature and guessed the names…