I had a feeling this year was going to be my
Gull-billed Tern year and when news came through last night regarding one on ARC pit at Dungeness I thought this would be my chance to finally add it to my life list. I left early but had to divert as the road down to the M25 was closed apparently due to a murder enquiry but I still arrived before 7am. The bird had been seen to leave the roost at 4am but hadn't been seen since and I had to wait until 9.30am before I saw it flying in from the Tower end where I'd already found a
Black-winged Stilt. The small crowd were more than happy when I put the shout up and as the bird moved closer and closer I was glad it proved to be the target and not a Sandwich Tern which did run through my mind as I called it.
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| Gull-billed Tern |
I watched the bird until 10.30am when it flew over Burrowes pit to rest and I decided to have a quick look at the sea. The only thing of note here was a RNLI lifeboat picking up a group of people and delivering them to the Border Force patrol. I had another go at seeing the Tern and after an hours wait it flew in again and gave a decent display to the handful of birders for the afternoon shift. As I stood waiting I picked up a large raptor coming in toward the pit and as it got close enough I could confirm it was a Honey Buzzard which again delighted me and the other guys on site.
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| View over ARC pit |
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| Border force doing what they do |
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| The Honey Buzzard |
The year list nudged forward to 224
The life list now sits at 412 with my first new bird of the year
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| Gull-billed Tern |
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| Gull-billed Tern |
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| Gull-billed Tern |
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