A superb day at Dungeness!

07.00 I wandered down to The Patch with OL. From the hide sheltering from the light rain c50 Common Terns over the boil with small numbers of the usual gulls, off shore a few Gannets. OL went off to work and I stayed a while longer but nothing new came in. I spent the next 2 hours wandering around the point and Desert in the drizzle for very little reward, the highlight being 2 House Martins over. 

 I then went to Springfield Bridge and wandered down to Hayfield 3 where the highlight was 2 Black-tailed Godwits. I didn't go any further as the farmers truck was parked a little further on, thinking that he was in Hayfield 1 with his cattle, I decided to go back to Plodland for coffee, Big Mistake! A few minutes after settling down with coffee and Muffins I got a message that there was a Cattle Egret on Hayfield 1. I immediately started back there, getting another message that there were now 2 Cattle Egrets, then another message 3 Cattle Egrets.
As I approached Hayfield 1 I could see PB looking from Dengemarsh towards me but I could see no Cattle Egrets, I walked a little further and spotted 1 through the rushes, as I put my scope on it, it spotted me and took flight and took another hitherto unseen bird with it. They flew down towards Burrowes and disappeared over the Oppen Pits. Moments later another unseen bird flew to the bottom of the field. Shortly after it flew back to the top of the field but always looked wary and a little later it flew off towards Boulderwall Farm.  

 A very wary Cattle Egret distant and manual focus through the reeds.

 Making my way round to Boulderwall via Plodland to grab my Muffins DB called to say that the Egret was indeed at Boulderwall. It soon became apparent that there was 3 Cattle Egrets there, presumably the other 2 birds had doubled back unseen. While watching these and generally chatting with the other locals present a Bittern flew into a small reed bed a couple of hundred yds down the track, another flew into a ditch a few yds from us quickly melting into the reeds. As I looked for the Bittern a shape above me caught my eye, A Honey Buzzard taking me completely by surprise I grabbed the camera even the light was awful.

 Shortly after the Honey Buzzard disappeared over Lydd, the Bittern that we thought was in the ditch jumped out of the field about 20ft from the ditch, it had crept through the tall grass completely unseen.
2 Cattle Egrets flew from Boulderwall and was lost to view over the Hay Fields follew shortly by another. A few minutes later 2 flew from Boulderwall and were lost to view over the airport pits, so possibly 5 birds were involved.

 Myself and CT made our way to the VC then down to Makepiece where another call alerted us to a Black Kite over the VC. We looked round and saw it over the Oppen Pits heading towards the Power Station where it was lost to view.

A very distant Black Kite!

2 Summer plumaged Black-necked Grebes were on Burrowes and up to 8 Hobby's were seen. We walked round to Hayfield 3, on the way back a Cattle Egret flew into 1 briefly before flying off and lost to view over Burrowes Pit.