Hello! Firstly, we would like to apologise for the lack of blog updates recently. We plan to kick off the new year with a sightings update from January to give you a taste of what's about here at Dungeness.

This month we have had quite a few special sightings.

We started the new year with an absolute highlight. After having no smew on the reserve last year we finally had a red-headed smew spotted in ARC pit which has…

As we end another challenging year at Dungeness with plenty of change and lots coming up in 2022, we thought that this would be an ideal opportunity to update you on some of our exciting plans going forward. If you have any questions, please do speak to the Welcome Team on your next visit – we are always happy to have a chat!

We have received lots of positive comments about the reserve, the Lookouts, the targeted…

Credit Aardman/Netflix.  

We’re delighted to be partnering with Netflix and Aardman on Robin Robin, a half-hour, stop-motion, festive story for the whole family, about a young robin trying to fit in. It’s debuting on Netflix on 24 November – get the date in your diary! 

To celebrate, we’re inviting you to join exclusive Robin Robin-themed adventure trails right here at RSPB Dungeness nature reserve this Christmas…

This week, we've had some nice dry weather on the reserve, although windy and a little colder at times. It's brought out a lot of insect species, with sightings of emperor dragonflies and a range of butterflies, from common blue, to small coppers to peacock, red admiral and painted ladies.

Small copper butterfly - Dave Clarke

Recent bumblebee surveys showed good numbers of brown banded carder bees, buff tailed…

The last couple of years have certainly been strange, and everyone is still trying to figure out what the new ‘normal’ might look like. There has been constant change over the last couple of years, interspersed with three national lockdowns. No one could have predicted that!

Despite the national lockdowns and all of the disruption brought about by COVID, the RSPB Dungeness team have been hard at work improving…

This week, we've had a lot of harrier sightings. This included 5 marsh harriers in one go, which included 3 juveniles, so we are hoping this may have been a breeding success! We also had a hen harrier hang out on the nature reserve for the day on Wednesday. 

Of the UK's birds of prey, hen harriers are the most intensively persecuted. Once predating free-range fowl, earning its present name, its effect on the number…

It's been hot this week! It's lovely to finally feel like summer is here, plus the bonus of being at Dungeness during a 'heatwave' is that there is nearly always a breeze to keep you a little bit cooler on your walk around our amazing nature trail. 

As the birds rest up after their busy breeding season of raising their chicks, this is the time to shine for our invertebrates! Dungeness is awash with dragonflies…

This week, our wildlife garden is blooming the best it ever has done. With thanks to hardworking volunteers, the garden has been extended and transformed with lots of insect-friendly plants added. Jackie and James, our volunteer gardeners have done a fantastic job, nurturing plants in their greenhouse at home and then bringing them in to give us an outstanding array of flowers for our visitors and wildlife to enjoy. Our…

Nottingham Catchfly (Silene nutans), a plant first found growing all along the walls of Nottingham castle, but now no longer grows there. Dungeness is a good stronghold of this species of plant. Thriving in sparse shingle habitat, Nottingham catchfly does very well at Dungeness, and this year seems the best ever! This plant has a delightful perfume and smells strongly throughout the evening as it is a night flowering plant…

This week has been glorious and the reserve is full of stunning summer wildlife. The wildflowers, although a little late to the party, are starting to burst out in all their glorious colours. This is delighting our pollinating insects I'm sure, and Dungeness is starting to buzz and hum with a wealth of bee, butterfly, dragonfly, damselfly and beetle species. 

Sea thrift - Louise Kelly

At the start of the week we were…

As the weather finally warms up a bit this week, we are seeing flurries of activity from our wildlife. We've had a few more wheatear pop into the reserve, a few late arrivals to the UK. Also, we've had a regular spotted flycatcher seen on the reserve this week, which has been nice to have something different around to point out to our bird watching visitors. 

Spotted flycatcher - Graham Parry

The warmer weather…

I’m writing to you from a very blustery Dungeness today. With gusts of 60mph, a walk around the reserve today is not for the faint hearted! At least, for now, it is dry, which is always a bonus! Most birds are hunkering down on their nests or in the shelter of the gorse and bramble bushes. Swifts are braving it against the wind to feed on what little flying insects there are around. The St Marks flies are out later than…

As we approach the end of Mental Health Awareness week, it's been a good time to reflect on how this year’s 'theme' of nature, really rings true for many staff, volunteers and visitors to RSPB Dungeness. Nature is good for all of us in so many ways. Not only providing us with the fresh air that keeps viruses at bay (you know the ones I mean), but how trees and plants literally provide oxygen to support all other living…

In the first week of May we had a mixed bag of weather. The wind is still cold but we have had some welcomed rain showers after a very dry April. Our common terns and hobbies have now arrived at our shores. The terns are displaying well over the islands on Burrowes Pit, so we hope we are in for another great breeding season.

Common tern - Dave Clarke

Up to five hobbies at one time have been seen on the reserve, so it…

The weekend is set to be a sunny one! We have so much to showcase on the reserve at the moment so why not visit us for a walk and absorb the sounds of spring. Cuckoos are calling, bitterns are booming and there are many voices of smaller birds such as whitethroats, robins, sedge warblers, wrens, dunnocks and more all competing in the great dawn chorus. 

Sedge warbler - Graham Parry

The dawn chorus is a spring time event…

This week marked the arrival of some familiar spring birds. A cuckoo was seen and heard on the reserve on Monday and it's glorious calls have been heard daily by our visitors since. The cuckoo, with its unmistakable 'cuck-oo' call, is a dove-sized bird with a long tail and pointed wings. It arrives in our country around this time of year and the adults will depart late August, juveniles will hang around until…

Despite the cold wind and frosty nights, the day times at Dungeness recently have been beautiful! We've had lots of dry weather, perfect for those brisk walks we have all come to know so well. We are pretty much fully open for visitors now, the only things that remain closed for the time being are our hides (due to following government guidelines). However, don't let that put you off coming. If you haven't visited Dungeness…

It's Warden Wednesday, so here's an update from our Warden, Craig, on what his team has been up to recently to get ready for the seabird season:

The warden team have been busy installing bamboo canes on our seabird rafts across the reserve, in an attempt to help some of our breeding seabirds.

David Tipling (rspb-images.com)

RPSB Dungeness is a really important area for breeding seabirds, which nest at different…

Friday morning I was ready to start my big garden bird watch count. I thought it would start my first day off on a positive. I had been SO excited all week leading up to it. Yet, the weather didn’t want to play ball. Rain, rain and more rain . A bit like the weather on winterwatch in wales. The poor Iolo Williams. I also spotted a female sparrowhawk in the woods that back onto my garden. Which may have explained…

This year has certainly been a year to remember (or forget – the choice is yours!). I’ve lost count of the number of times we’ve closed, re-opened then closed again, but that doesn’t mean the RSPB Dungeness team haven’t been busy working to make Dungeness a fantastic home for nature. We thought we would look back at the events of 2020 and celebrate some remarkable successes.

Coronavirus

We are delighted to welcome visitors back to our reserve at RSPB Dungeness! It feels like it's been a very long four months when we weren't able to welcome visitors to our reserve, but we are now finally open!

The reserve is currently operating on reduced hours, so we are open:

• Main nature trail, main car park and toilet block - open Thursday to Sunday, 10am to 5pm
• ARC car park for easy access to the Public Rights…

It's been a very surreal couple of weeks. The nature reserve is still closed and will be for the foreseeable future, so please do not make any attempts to visit us and stay at home where possible. We are all doing our bit to help try and slow the spread of coronavirus so the team are working remotely. We've been maintaining our social media channels to provide a bit of joy to people through the wonders of nature. Please…