two local ticks.

A quick visit to Fisher's Green our local patch in the hope of ticking a Green-winged Teal for a year tick before they lump them together later this year.

Brian needs to get out after his father-in-law's funeral and has had it rough of late.

So we pick him up from home and 20 minutes later we are looking over the Goose field, a few people there put us straight on the Teal so not a hard tick.

We never hung about so that was the only tick for the day.

This morning we saw that a Red-necked Grebe had been seen at Walthamstow Wetlands, another local place that is only a short trip for us and is where we pay for our permits to the KGV res.

Parked up we walk the short distance to Lockwood Reservoir where we meet up with a fellow who walks the res nearly every day and he points the Grebe out to us, as we watch over the next hour it comes close for good views of the bird and its yellow beak.

Once again it is only a quick visit so only one tick but the year total is slowly creeping up to 140.

                                                                      

                                                    

First visit of the year to Dungeness, 7 year ticks

Brian needed a break and it was really good to pay our first visit of the year to Dungeness. 

On the way to the beach, we stop along Dungeness Road and scan over New Diggings.

We are looking for a Long-tailed duck. 

It's not long before Brian picks it out along with a single Red-throated diver for a couple of year ticks for us all. 

Up on the beach as expected the sea is calm and apart from a flock of 20 Red-throated divers, a few Gannets, and hundreds of Cormants, it is very disappointing tick-wise.

A fellow birder from East Sussex that we got talking to tells us that he had seen a large flock of Tree Sparrows at Scotney G P.

So off we head to find them and 2 Peregrine Falcons are seen on the pylons as we head back to the car.

Parking just off the road, we head down the path toward some men working with diggers.

Thinking it will be a long walk we get a nice surprise when the Tree Sparrow is seen within a few minutes in a few bushes along the path, about 50 seen.

Jimmy picks out a Ringtail Hen Harrier as it puts up hundreds of Golden Plover and Lapwing.

 A  ride round to Walland Marsh where we see 48 Bewick's Swans. not needed for a tick but nice to see. And as we drive around a single Yellowhammer is ticked.

At Cockles Bridge 4 Cattle Egrets are seen in a Sheep field so a quick stop to get a photo or two.   

2 off the Cattle Egretrs

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