Dungeness and Rye

As illness had prevented me from taking a holiday last summer, and as I had to use up some leave before the end of the financial year I took a few days down on the South Coast starting with a visit to Dungeness.

The most obvious attraction is of course the Romney Hythe and Dymchurch Railway but that is only one aspect of this remarkable ecosystem.

From a birding point of vie

w there was a lot of interest. Without making any effort I quickly saw black redstarts and wheatears. I didn't have time for serious birding and didn't manage to see the serin that I was told was around.

The shingle landscape and the architecture are both fascinating. Look closely at the right hand hut in the photo, the central section is clearly an old railway carriage.

The power station dominates of course, show here behind the formeer Trinity House experimental station.

The Corporation of Trinity House of Deptford Strond, to give them their full title has a long association with Dungeness with two lighthouses on the headland. The old lighthouse shown here is now redundant, the shingle just behind the buildings was where I saw both the wheatears and the redstart.

Suprisingly I also saw a fair sized flock of house sparrows, far more than I see at home or in London these days. Staying in Rye we saw more, so now we know where they have moved to.

The Rye Harbour nature reserve is an area of marsh and grassed over shingle with Camber Castle sitting in the middle. The transition from marsh to shingle when walking from the Royal Military Canal isn't immediately obvious until you come across a badger set with mounds of shingle thrown up. The castle itself has a severe dose of jackdaws who are audible long before you can see that there are any birds on the building at all. On the nearby lagoons we saw more gadwall than I have seen in one place as well as shelduck, tufted duck, mallard, coot, moorhen and oystercatchers. The gulls included herring, black headed and lesser black backed. Suprisingly I saw no herons on the lagoon but did see one in flight.

A second walk in the countryside and marsh around Winchelsea didn't show much in the way of visible birds but we were mocked by green woodpeckers who "yaffled" away but never showed themselves. A great spotted could be heard drumming but again wasn't seen.

Along the Royal Military Canal the Environment Agency has placed regular "elf 'n' safety" notices. Apparently the Great British Public are unable to realise that they are in the countryside.

No Choice

Taking my usual walk today it was striking how the autumn colours had come on in the last few days. When the sun came out I really regretted not having the camera with me. There wasn't much to see in the way of variety or numbers of birds. A couple of probable skylarks put up on a cultivated field but the gem was naturally a red kite. Circling over the fields behind my house at tree top height it finally came over my head as I reached the edge of the field. Living where I do I suppose that I should be blasé about them by now but when one comes overhead there is no choice. I still just stop and say "wow!"

Harvest

The arable fields between Ley Hill and Latimer have been harvested over the last couple of days. This morning I saw a group of yellowhammers in the middle of the road by a field gate. From the look of things they were eating spilled grain. Instead of flying into the hedgerow they flew away from me along the road at windscreen height. I haven't seen much else recently apart from a distant glimpse of a partridge and the occasional red kite.

Finally

Health issues mean that I haven't been paying any attention to my blogs but I was roused from my afternoon cup of tea today but a most unholy racket. Yes the parakeets have finallyarrived in my part of Chesham with a flock of five in the tree in my neighbours garden. It had to come eventually as they have been in Rickmansworth for years. Not much else happening apart from the usual circling kites and the occasional buzzard. I haven't seen anything eating my rowan berries but the tree is being steadily stripped. Usually its a mix of wood pigeons and blackbirds. Collared doves seem to be back in this end of the village as I saw a pair while waiting for the bus this week. They used to be garden regulars but hadn't seen any near the house for years.

Chiltern Birder

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