An overcast grey day to see the much-discussed 'grey' first-winter female Stonechat that DNA re-analysis has identified as a Common Stonechat. It proved mobile but we watched it for 90 minutes or so. A visit to the RSPB reserve produced the drake Ring-necked Duck and the returning Long-eared Owl again wintering behind the Dipping Pond. A drive to the point and in the first roadside flock of Gulls encountered an argentatus Herring Gull was immediately obvious and it took JFC just a couple of minutes to pick out a first-winter Caspian Gull. On our way back past Scotney we noticed Matt and Paula who were watching a pair of displaying Bewick's Swans that soon took flight heading towards Dungeness.
First-winter female Common Stonechat at Dungeness
Drake Ring-necked Duck at Dungeness RSPB
Long-eared Owl at the Dipping Pond
argentatus Herring Gull at Dungeness (JFC)
First-winter Caspian Gull at Dungeness
Pair of Bewick's Swans at Scotney
