NORTH DOWNS & BEYOND

Dungeness wouldn't be Dungeness without its Wheatears, whether they be early spring migrants, big beefy late spring Greenlands, those that stay to breed or the protracted autumn departees. The are all good in my book. This past week saw a modest dribble of white-arses through the area with just the one pair holding territory. Dungeness is full of industrial bric-a-brac which lends itself to being perched on by these smart birds, and also adds a touch of 'something else' to any photograph. There is another option for obtaining an image, and that is when the birds are trapped for scientific study.

When DBO's assistant warden Jacques Turner-Moss invited me to go shrimping with him, citing a few ticks for my pan-species list as an incentive, I didn't need asking twice. Last Wednesday morning found us walking across the sands at low-tide, opposite the Dungeness lifeboat station.  We headed for the shallow sea, with Jacques carrying a Heath-Robinsonesque contraption made of wood and netting that he claimed was his shrimping net. I was very much an onlooker during the next hour, watching him walk parallel with the water's edge, pushing the net ahead of him, every so often examining the catch and hauling it ashore to empty the spoils into a bucket. Most of this was Brown Shrimp which were boiled and snacked upon soon after return to the bird observatory, but much else found its way into the net as the images below show - any identification error(s) are mine alone and any correction(s) would be welcomed. Five-bearded Rockling Lesser Weever Velvet Swimming Cra...

The final day of my current stay at Dungeness dawned clear and cold, was then followed by a sea fret that rolled in, which finally gave way to sunny and warm conditions. The birds decided to stay away so it was up to the invertebrates to take centre stage. LARGE TORTOISESHELL. The butterfly that was seen last Sunday, and again on Tuesday, appeared before Dave Brown and I early this afternoon, in the same place as Owen saw it three days ago. I had spent several hours searching for the insect this week and has assumed that today's weather would provide my best chance of seeing it. Rising up close by, taking off from lightly vegetated shingle, it flew towards us and, thankfully, banked as it glided past, providing good views, before being lost in flight. Over the next couple of hours in which it was unsuccessfully searched for, by-product reward came in the form of single HUMMINGBIRD HAWK-MOTH and LIGHT ORANGE UNDERWING. Before I left for home in the late afternoon I went onto t...

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...

My first full day at Dungeness in this mini early-Spring break. As always it was a real pleasure to meet up again with my friends (some old and some not so old) and to once more lose myself to the feel and rhythm of the shingle. The light northerly went more westerly, the sun shone and the coolness of the day did have its warmer moments. A few Wheatears, Black Redstarts and Chiffchaffs trickled through and a mid-morning pulse of 20 Common Buzzards came in from the west (in ones, twos and threes) circled above the peninsula and headed northwards. When it came to the end of the day, in a slowly dying light, it was a joy to wander across the beach just inland from the fishing boats. By now it was calm. A pair of Wheatears were opposite Jarman's, the male in full song, carrying across the honeyed shingle. This is one of my special places. It's good to be back.

You don't need to travel far to conjure up some interesting observations. Just by being around and about the garden throughout the day, and pausing now and again to glance up, I managed to record a second record for the garden (a Peregrine that circled high for a couple of minutes before being lost to view), my earliest ever Holly Blue and a steady dribble of Common Buzzards that headed south to south-westwards. I also paid my respects to a Peacock that alighted momentarily on a patch of earth (above) - I don't think that there is a butterfly that can beat it.

The National Trust have recently - well, maybe three years ago now -  opened up a footpath along the northern bank of the River Mole between the Stepping Stones and Box Hill Bridge. Until this morning I had not trodden along this rather delightful stretch of prime Surrey habitat. Meandering along the flood plain at the base of the North Downs, it looks as though regular coverage would pay off. There are shallow sections of the river, deeper pools, a few small vegetated islands, copses, hedgerows running back up the hill and livestock inhabited farmland. A handful of singing Chiffchaffs announced that Spring was truly here, and a pair of Grey Wagtails gave the impression of scouting the area for possible nest sites. It was, however, a pair of Kingfishers that stole the show, with one bird, a female, giving close and prolonged views perched up in the dark tangle of waterside vegetation (above and below.) Crossing the A24 I strolled along the southern bank of the River Mo...