TheFinancialBirder

Yesterday, an adult Sharp-tailed Sandpiper was discovered at Oare Marshes, which turned out that it was present the day before and so sparked another twitch in which I was desperate to see this superb wader. I had gone on two previous twitches to see this species (Grove Ferry & Drift Reservoir) and failed on both by just minutes! But it was third time lucky for me, as Andy Fisher and myself set off at 6am to north Kent.
The weather was on our side with clear skies and bright warm early morning sunshine as we took the two and a half hour drive to get to Oare Marshes. Parking along the narrow entrance road wasn’t easy as I managed to find a small inlet in which to park. We then walked the rest of the way down to the East Flood and amongst the hundred or so birders that had gathered already. Setting up the scope, the Sharp-tailed Sandpiper was kindly pointed out to us as it was seen feeding along the muddy edge of the pool. This was my 404th ‘Life species’ in the UK and Andy’s 316th and all round celebrations took place with me doing a serious ‘Karen Pose’ and Andy doing his Irish dance and knotted hanky on his head!
The bird was clearly an adult, sporting a dark brown cap, clear white supercillium and the incomplete breast. Fortunately for us birders, the bird then flew across the water in front of us and then carried on feeding on mudflats in company with an adult Curlew Sandpiper (year tick) and a Ruff. This was a splendid opportunity for those who took photographs and the sound of shutters going off could clearly be heard.
The bird showed well all the time we were present as more and more birders arrived and occasionally flew to different parts of the pool in front of us. The bird looked Ruff like in flight as it settled on the muddy shoreline. The heat haze was soon taking effect as we were nearing to go and so photography wasn’t too easy to focus. But I managed to get some good shots.
I notched up many month ticks and several year ticks during my stay at Oare Marshes. Yesterday, an adult Curlew Sandpiper and two Little Stints were present amongst the waders and I found both species. The Curlew Sandpiper fed in front of us all morning while a Little Stint, an adult, was found feeding with a Dunlin amongst many Black-tailed Godwits and Redshank. The most numerous waders were Black-tailed Godwits and other waders included were Lapwings, a single Greenshank, a Common Snipe (which flew over our heads when we arrived) and a Green Sandpiper, which was heard only. I counted at least another 10 Ruffs present on the reserve also.
Another year tick was a couple of Marsh Harriers flying over the reserve. The waders were on their toes when they saw these and were flushed a couple of times. Another Marsh Harrier, a male, was seen flying over the countryside as we were walking back to the car.
Andy, saw a Kingfisher flying behind us over the marsh then it was relocated perched on a fence in the distance. A Turtle Dove was seen perched on a telegraph pole and good numbers of Yellow Wagtails flew overhead throughout our stay. Three Garganeys were seen in the afternoon, apparently, but we had to dip on something! So, a good successful twitch and good supporting cast. What could be better? On the way back to the car, seeing it was only 9.30am, we decided to go to Dungeness for a look around.

We parked up near the lighthouse and walked to ‘The Patch’ for possible Terns and Gulls. The sun was now getting rather hot and so we slowly took our time to get to the sea watching hide. Its been a few years since I was last here at this location and things haven’t changed much at all. The nuclear power station looks exactly the same as in huge, boring and miserable. The long walk to the sea watching hide wasn’t much fun either with no birds to look at, though a couple of Southern Hawker dragonflies and a couple of Red Admiral butterflies put on a good show. The walk up the shingle bank was murder too as I had sandals on and the stones got under my feet!! Grrrr!
Once we reached the hide, we took a look inside and gave it a miss. It was full of human excrement, probably from the fisherman using it as a toilet and the smell was unbearable. We took to watching from outside the hide on the shaded side. My quest was Black Tern, but unbelievably, there wasn’t one despite an extensive search for an hour here. Groan! Instead, amongst the many Common and Sandwich Terns, we found a single Little Tern, at least four juvenile Kittiwakes and an adult Little Gull feeding over the patch. Offshore, at some distance, several Gannets were seen which all were added to my month list. There was a Black Tern and a couple of Arctic Skua’s seen here yesterday but no diamonds today.
After an hour, we walked back to the car and had lunch. I had prepared a nice pasta, cheese and salmon lunch while we talked about the morning. A Painted Lady butterfly was seen close by while chomping on my pasta! From the car park we saw a Whinchat perched on a telegraph wire and then was joined by a juvenile Wheatear, another month tick. That was a bonus, but the thought of rummaging around the bushes area was off putting by the now rising temperatures. So, after lunch, we headed back home but not before we took a look on the pits opposite the RSPB reserve. From the side of the road overlooking the pits, we also notched up good numbers of Pochard and at least two Ruddy Ducks (a pair) as well as dozen or so Great Crested Grebes.
There ended a good days birding as we drove home. There was some other good sightings in the UK today which included a Little Shearwater off Flamborough Head, East Yorkshire, a Squacco Heron in Cambridgeshire and two White winged Black Terns in Cambridgeshire and Essex. Farlington Marshes hosted a juvenile Spotted Crake this morning too.

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