Couple of ticks in Kent

This morning we head off to Kent looking for a few year ticks. First up it's Stodmarsh NNR. We look out of the Reedbed hide & find the place full of Teal & Greylag Geese but there's no sign of any Bean Geese that we were hoping to add to the year list.
A Water Rail kept us entertained for half an hour before we see a group of Geese flying over the hide & two off them are the target Bean Geese, they fly out of sight so we think they have flown a long way off so we  hop in the car to head off to Dungeness, as we drive up the exit road the Geese are seen on the field, so it's out of the car to get a good view of the two Bean Geese amongst all the Greylags. A few photos taken before it's on to Dunge.

A Sabine's Gull is the target bird here & on arrival we are told that the bird was showing well from the second hide along the beach.
A small group were looking but we are told that the bird had not been seen for some time,so we set about scanning all the Gulls flying around the patch but it's not looking good.
A few birders headed off & the mood was not good when out of the blue Brian calls out to Jimmy to confirm that he had found it & we are all on another year tick.
We put it out on the pager so those that had left could get back to see the bird as we knew one of them needed it for a lifer.
With nothing reported that we need the boys decide to head off to Cuckmere Haven which is 50 miles away as they need a Grey Phalarope for a year tick.
Not far off Eastbourne the place is packed with day trippers & the fields are all waterlogged.
After a walk off maybe a mile we find a small pool of water & the Phalarope is showing really well & only 20 yards away so good photos taken.
So with the boys getting 3 year ticks & myself getting 2 it's a milestone for all of us as we all pass our highest ever year totals Brian 290, Jimmy 272 & myself 268 so well pleased with that with another couple of months to go it looks good for a nice year total.

 Grey Phalarope, Cuckmere Haven

The Stodmarsh Tunra Bean Goose

Sabine's Gull at Dungeness

Again the Sabine's Gull

Red eyed Vireo + Great Snipe in Yorkshire ( Lifers )

The three of us head off to Titchwell just to get out birding for the day. Arriving around 8 am it's a horrible day dull & wet.
We walk around & soon find a year tick when we find a Yellow-browed Warbler & also meet up with Graham J & he & friends were going to Yorkshire for the Red eyed Vireo, that puts the idea in our heads & after a short talk we decide to head there ourselves.
It's about 3 hours from where we are in Norfolk & the journey is hampered with the weather & road closures in Hull don't help us.
It is now past 1 o'clock as we park up in Easington,we could see a group not far away & when we join them we get lucky as the Vireo settles on an  Elderberry bush in front of us to give great quick views.
Over the next 3 hours the bird follows the same pattern returning every 20 minutes or so.
While standing around we see a few more Yellow-browed Warblers & Jimmy & I get lucky when we get a late tick when a Pied Flycatcher shows.
Around 4 0'clock news starts to break that a Great Snipe had been found at Beacon Lane Kilnsea.
We soon joined in the rush to head there ,it's only a few minutes away by car & we are soon parked up & walking with many others up the lane towards the sea.
Half way up the lane a large group had stopped & after getting as high up on the hill as we could we get our second lifer of the day.
The Great Snipe was hard to see in the long grass but once you got onto it with the scope it was a good view of it.
Now for the long 4 hour drive home to Essex softened in the knowledge of a good days birding with 2 lifers & another 2 year ticks on top.

The Great Snipe Kilnsea

Part of the crowd at the Snipe twitch

The Red eyed Vireo at Easington