Purple Heron

Purple Heron skulking around in the Denge Marsh reed bed.

The RSPB at Dungeness have history in the making on the reserve, with a pair of Purple Herons expected to be the first ever to breed in the British Isles. My first and very distant views were made after a early morning start to Dungeness on Satuday morning. The reserve seemed to be alive with birds and I was able to catch-up with some of our more common summer visitors to;


A distant comparison here between the Purple Heron and a larger Grey Heron being pursued by a Lesser Black backed Gull

Whitethroat collecting insects in Gorse

Lesser Whitethroat still calling and proclaiming its territory seems a little late in the year. Usually this is something I usually associate with late April - so it's really a sign of our late spring.

Female Reed bunting - seemingly abundant on the Reserve

Sedge warbler with a collection of bugs ready to delivered back to its nest.

A fine adult male Marsh harrier - one of many individual harriers that can be seen hunting in the vicinity of the reserve.


And finally, a look upwards seemed to give a guarantee of up to 4 Hobbies. Beautiful birds, if only they'd all fly a little closer for the lens!

Blue Tits ready for the jump

Hidden in the shade of Ivy leaves, our Blue Tit box houses a thriving family of fledglings now ready to depart. When not being fed with a near continuous feed of Green caterpillars, the young birds jostle for a better view of the world outside. I'm guessing that within 24 hours, they'll have made the big jump and join many other Blue Tit young already on the wing.