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Venturing once more onto that
horror of horrors, the M25, we made our way from south-west London very
slowly (thanks to an accident and a ten-mile long traffic jam) to Lydd,
where we entered the Dungeness area. There are many excellent individual
spots, not all of which are actually in the RSPB reserve itself. As the
day progressed, we covered most of them. 
for a map of the hides and trails around the centre, and
for a map of the whole area with key spots highlighted. We had hardly entered
the reserve when a Great Crested Grebe on a roadside pond
caught our eye. What an impressive bird! |
road at Dungeness... |
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Dungeness is the largest single area of estuarine shingle in all of Europe. The action of the tides and the river over the centuries has shifted and changed the shape of the point many times. More recently, the influence of man resulted in gravel mining and the remaining pits are now filled with water, making it a very attractive area for migrating and breeding birds. Projecting out into the English Channel and with its close proximity to continental Europe, it becomes one of the first landfalls in England for migrating birds. |
.JPG)
copyright Don Desjardin |
Dungeness was teeming with birds the day we were there, although rather short on waders. The ponds to the side of the entry road contained Ruddy Ducks, Eurasian Coots, Northern Lapwing, Tufted Ducks, and a solitary Gray Heron. The islands in front of the Visitor's Centre were full of nesting Common Terns, with 2 Black Terns skimming over the water. Oystercatchers puddled in the shallows, while Cormorants squabbled on a far island. The many Mute Swans merely presented their rumps for inspection. | .JPG)
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| The ridges of shingle surrounding the pits contained Great Black-backed, Common and Black-headed Gulls. A flurry of black birds allowed us to appreciate the differences between Carrion Crows, Jackdaws and Rooks. Overhead, the wires were covered with Wood Pigeons. And a Little Grebe was spotted swimming placidly (when not harried by a rather aggressive Coot) and diving for its dinner, in a small reedy pond near the entrance. |
Visitor's Centre and two other hides. |
| We had barely left the first hide, intending to take the two-mile circle hike to the other hides, when a sudden downpour sent us scurrying for the car, and a quick trip to the Visitor's Centre at the Nuclear Power Plant. Not that we were particularly interested in nuclear energy, but it was warm and dry! We spent a surprisingly pleasant hour (waiting for the rain to stop) learning about the genesis of the gravel spit, the ecology of the whole area, and the impact of the plant on that ecology. The warm water outflow, for example, attracts fish, which in turn attracts feeding gulls and terns by the hundreds. |
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Later, at the viewing point on the Dengemarsh Road, we got quite a kick out of watching 3 adult Greylag Geese trying to convince an over-curious lamb not to get too close to the 12-15 goslings they were guarding. The Canada Geese, Pochard, Shelduck and a Northern Shoveler were totally unmoved to assist. Shallow water had attracted a Little Ringed Plover, Greenshank and Redshank. On the way back to Rye, and our hotel, we spotted two Grey Partridge in a field. We also had to stop several times to wait for mixed flocks of Linnets, Blackbirds and House Sparrrows to finish their baths in the puddles on the road, left by the earlier rainstorm. | .GIF)
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Back to Field
Common and Bushey Park
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