A ring-tail Hen Harrier arrived from the east and flew over the Level before flying out over the sea heading south.
Other raptors were 2 Marsh Harriers, 1 Merlin and a Barn Owl.
On the marsh were 62 Golden Plover,225 Dunlin and 6 Ruff.
Out to sea were 4/500 Great Crested Grebes, 6/800 Common Scoters and 2 RT Divers.
8 Pochard on the pools.
Pete Rouse
On Long Pit, the Black-necked Grebe is still present, along with at least two Scaup and three Goldeneye (including one drake). A good selection of waders on the reserve included at least 29 Snipe on Wader Pool, showing well from the hide, and 80+ Sanderling 65+ Knot, 54 Dunlin and 29 Grey Plover along the shore. In addition, a Peregrine was reported over Flat Beach mid-afternoon.
Highlights from the Hanson-ARC site this morning were provided by a brent goose, two goosanders, yellow-legged gull, turnstone and three dunlin. The Siberian chiffchaff remained near the willow trail along with several goldcrests.
The following post shows the results of not designating land as an SSSI. This photo shows the Lade, the north eastern part of the Dungeness shingle beach in 1946. This section of the beach is relatively young with a series of beach ridges terminating in the marsh soils to the west of the shingle. The dark line bending round from the top left and cutting south across the shingle is the old railway line, with little development to the west of this feature other than the listening mirrors, which were reached by tracks from the east coast. These structures were a pre-radar attempt to focus the noise of aircraft crossing the channel for its operators, and in those days they have a relatively clear view of the sea with only scattered housing along the coast. the most extensive buildings are the beginnings of the Romney Sands holiday camp.
The shingle shows the characteristic relative absence of vegetation on its northern fringes, a consequence of the gravel consisting of very large stones, more hostile to plant life, and no doubt the origin of the term Greatstone. The ridges are aligned in a north-south direction, with the strips of vegetation aligned also in this direction. The pale lines crossing east-west are footpaths across the shingle.
Flick forward to the current Google Earth aerial
