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Overview
Dungeness is a shingle spit off of the coast of South Kent. The main birding features are Dungeness RSPB reserve, Dungeness Bird Observatory and 'The Patch'. It is is great value to birds and birders alike, hosting a massive array of rarities and wintering waterfowl.
Birds
Notable Species
It is the second most reliable place for UK Smew, after Thorpe Water Park is Surrey. Black Redstarts, Bearded reedlings and Yellow wagtails breed in fair numbers, and it is the only southern breeding site for Northern Wheatear. There is also a large colony of Tree sparrows at Boulderwell farm and the bird observatory and Bittern have bred for the last few years. . There is a local Bewick's swan and White-fronted goose flock that frequents the local area (Brooklands, Old Cheyne Court) that sometimes roost on the reserve. Great White Egrets and Penduline tits are now regular winter visitors. Large flocks of Goldeneye, Goosander, Shoveler, Teal, Mallard, Pintail, Wigeon, Gadwall, Cormorant (200), Pochard and Tufted duck can be seen, and I have never found anywhere with so many Coot!
Wheatear (inc. Greenland), Bewick's swans, Ring Ouzel, Common Crane, Redstarts, Whinchat and Whimbrel are important passage migrants.
Barn, Little, Short and unusually Long-eared owls can regularly be seen in the winter in the surrounding scrub. At the patch, a large area of warm water created by the adjacent nuclear power station, several thousand Razorbills, Guillemots, Grebes, Terns (2000 Arctic and Sandwich), Gulls (inc. Kittiwake and Little), Skuas, Gannets, Leach's Petrel, Shags and Shearwaters (400 Sooty and Manx) can be seen.
Rarities
Black-browed Albatross, Baird's sandpiper, Oriental pratincole, Collared pratincole, Gull-billed tern, Puffin, Tufted puffin, White-billed diver, Herald petrel, Little shearwater, Dalmatian Pelican, Black-winged stilt.
Check-list
Birds you can see here include:
To do List of Birds Spotted Last Month in Dungeness [1]
Other Wildlife
To do
Site Information
History and Use
To do
Areas of Interest
To do
Access and Facilities
Grid Ref: TR062197
Contact Details
Tel: 01797 320588
External Links
Dungeness Bird Observatory[2]
