Hen Harrier

Dungeness - cold, dry, sunny, nw 2 - 0800hrs - The first frost of the winter was on the car windscreen this morning but once the sun rose it turned into a beautiful sunny day, and the birding wasn't bad either. Following a tip off from OL we soon located the Dartford Warbler in a gorse thicket behind Jarman`s along with its attendant Stonechats, but frustratingly it evaded the bridge camera for a piccie. Several Robins, Wrens, Great Tits and a Siskin overhead were also noted on the edge of the Desert before a cracking female Hen Harrier hove into view. I watched as it dropped onto a rabbit spending 10 minutes feeding before floating off towards the Dungeness Road. However, it soon reappeared and put on a superb show for the local birders as it worked the scrub behind the Sanctuary and down to the Pilot. Also noted around the peninsula this morning Ring Ouzel, Woodcock, Chiffchaff and a Sparrowhawk, and driving past Kerton Road a Black Redstart was perched on the corner house at the junction of Coast Drive.

                                Hen Harrier, Dungeness

  An hour at the fishing boats this afternoon delivered the obligatory Gannets and gulls offshore and little else. It was all quiet at Lade today, apart from a film shoot on the `mirror` island.