Friday 26 July 2013

Sandpipers

First thing at the The Patch the usual 3 Little Gulls, 3 Mediterranean Gulls, c100 Common Terns and a few Sandwich Terns and Gannets off shore. 5 Harbour Porpoises were also seen thanks to the flat calm sea. Behind the hide a juv/female Black Redstart. In the scrub by the car park a Common Whitethroat posed. Still no migrant passerines in the bushes.
 Next stop Burrowes Pit where 4 Common Sandpipers and Green Sandpiper could be seen also the 2 Egyptian Geese still present.
Appears to have a Tick in front of its eye.
 At Dengemarsh the Great White Egret still, a Bittern flew over the reed bed, a Bearded Tit sat on the fence, 3+ Marsh Harriers could be seen and the Common Terns as noisy as ever on the rafts.
The electric fence has its uses!
 At the ARC 3 Wood Sandpipers, 4 Common Sandpipers, 4 Little Ringed Plovers, c100 Lapwing could be seen. Also c100 Sand martins flew through. In the Screen Hide the young Swallows look just about ready to fledge.
            By the Water Tower the Spitfire and Hurricane put on their now daily display.

This afternoon at Jurys Gap I met Tony and Brenda who had just seen a Curlew Sandpiper with some Dunlin on The Midrips on the second pools. When I arrived it was still there along with 2 Whimbrel, 23 Avocet and 2 Marsh Harriers, but no sign of the Wood Sandpiper and 8 Common Sandpipers seen in the morning by OL.  As it was high tide I had a lovely swim in the beautifully warm sea, I was surrounded by White Bait driven inshore by a Mackerel Shoal and had superb views of the Sandwich Terns diving after the them just a few feet from me. The Terns took absolutely no notice of me wallowing amongst them.
Stopping at Scotney on the way home there was still 6 Egyptian Geese present and a single Whimbrel.  

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