NORTH DOWNS & BEYOND

I couldn't call it a classic Spring morning as it was a curious few hours, with few birds about but plenty of high interest. A cold, grey and calm dawn was more November than March, although the first look out of the Hanson Hide (ARC Dungeness) provided us with a glorious raft of four drake Garganey and up to a dozen Sand Martins. The ducks fed constantly, took to the air several times but returned to their favoured spot. Another four appeared on Burrowes later in the day, and three flew past on the sea, part of a wide arrival in the south-east. Across the road, on the grassy banks of Cook's Pool, were a minimum of 27 Ruff, a motley collection of birds, some of which were coming into summer plumage, patches of black, white and chestnut dandifying the winter drabness. These birds scattered and were subsequently seen widely across the peninsula. A good count for recent years. Last but no means least was the ever expanding Water Pipit flock that haunted Hayfield One. Some indi...

Just in case any of you thought that my digiscoping skills were getting better, may I present another image of the Holmethorpe Garganey that proves that they are not. I suppose that birders in this country rarely get the chance to see first-winter drakes so there is a validity in posting this as an educational tool (if you believe that spin you'll believe anything...) I just hope that if it does stay it doesn't become some horrible hybrid and show us all up as duck dunces.

You don't expect to see a Garganey and Garlic Mustard in flower on January 2nd, but that's exactly what went into my notebook at Holmethorpe Sand Pits today. The Garganey (a first-winter drake) has been present for about a month now and furtively lurks on the same pool that provided us with a Ferruginous Duck back in 2010. A very poor picture, taken shortly after dawn, is above. Botanically it was most odd, with the picture above illustrating the point - a field full of Corn Marigolds still in good flower. Most plants had tens of flowers on them. More surprising was the single Garlic Mustard in flower, a good three months early in my reckoning. Needless to say, there were no Orange-tip butterflies on the wing to make use of this foodplant, although I wouldn't have been totally bemused if one had floated past!