NORTH DOWNS & BEYOND

"Prrrp...prrrp..." There aren't many bird calls that can illicit such a strong response from the birder than that of a European Bee-eater. They are uncommon enough to be valued, colourful of plumage to the extreme, graceful in flight and are rainbows with wings. Redolent of the Mediterranean and the Middle East they bring glamour and excitement to our ordinary world. So when I heard one call whilst eating an ice-cream and sitting chatting to Dave Bunney I knew that the day had just got a whole lot better - and more were to come! That afternoon (May 24th) we were to be treated to at least four of them flying around the point, giving their position away with calls to then reward us with low fly passes. Two of them decided to hang around Kerton Road Pit for long enough to enable all-comers to feast their eyes upon these apparitions calved from the sun, perching up on wires or sweeping above in the blue skies, feeding and calling, feeding and calling, feeding and calling. Bli...

A new month, a new challenge. As I am still not comfortable with travelling far from home, and prefer to travel on foot, I looked at the Ordnance Survey maps last night to identify a 2km square which would act as the focus of my natural history efforts for the month of June. Our house is bang on the southern edge of TQ2261, and within this 2km square can be found Priest and Howell Hills, both SWT reserves and good for plants and butterflies, if not so much birds. Given that spring is almost over, and my attention does tend to switch away from ornithology for the summer months, this seemed like a good square to bash, particularly as the farmland close to Howell Hill has been allowed to run wild in places, and so holds the potential for some surprising plants to pop up. After a morning of painting the garden fence, I walked from home and first of all checked the farm paddocks attached to NESCOT, as a flock of Starlings has been building here - after all, a few Rose-coloured versions...

Part of the allure of spending mid-to-late May at Dungeness is the possibility of unusual birds. As already laid out in a recent post, the last four years has been kind to me at this time of year here. On Friday the first success came via a flighty Hoopoe at Galloways, courtesy of the ever-searching Martin C. The bird did not stay long, bounding away deeper into the Army ranges, although it was later relocated on the Dengemarsh Road to the relief of the many observers who had not been as quick off the marks (or as close) as Mark H and I had. Saturday was starting to resemble a day of unfulfilled promise until news broke of a Terek Sandpiper just over the county boundary at the superb Rye Harbour reserve. I weighed up the options - stay put scanning an almost empty sky - or indulge in the uncharacteristic behaviour of a filthy twitch. The latter won hands down. After picking up Martin C we arrived on site to be greeted by distant and heat hazed views of the bird, although we were able...

I've fallen into a most agreeable state of 'being', here at Dungeness. The warm weather invites the donning of shorts and t-shirt, a symbolic farewell to the cold spring. Birds may be the primary target, but the vegetation is growing before our very eyes and new species are flowering on a daily basis; a good number of butterflies, dragonflies and damselflies are taking to the air to grab our attention; smells and sounds, sights and sites manoeuvre aliteratively for control of our senses. It might be a dramatic sky with puddle formations in the clouds, accompanied by thunder and lightening; maybe the gentle fragrance of the Nottingham Catchfly in sudden, sensory wafts; or a Bee-eater, silhouetted by the morning sun as it circles the old lighthouse, before gaining height to head back out to sea - all seen, heard or smelt over the last 48 hours in the company of others who also seek such things. These are some of the reasons that I return to Dungeness. Its magic continues.