{"id":2197,"date":"2013-07-18T03:47:46","date_gmt":"2013-07-18T08:47:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rdnhs.org.uk\/blog\/?p=2197"},"modified":"2013-07-18T03:47:46","modified_gmt":"2013-07-18T08:47:46","slug":"dungeness-29-june-2013","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rdnhs.org.uk\/blog\/dungeness-29-june-2013\/","title":{"rendered":"Dungeness – 29 June 2013"},"content":{"rendered":"

The annual coach trip, on Saturday 29th<\/sup> June, was to Dungeness in Kent. Laid down over 5000 years, Dungeness has the largest expanse of shingle beach in Europe, with a number of rare plants, insects and birds. First stop was by the old lighthouse. On the walk to the beach, plants seen included abundant Nottingham Catchfly, Bur Chervil, Shepherd\u2019s Cress, Biting and English Stonecrop, Yellow Horned-poppy, Sea-kale, Sea Beet, Sheep\u2019s-bit, Buck\u2019s-horn Plantain, Sea Campion, Slender Thistle and Rock Samphire. A Black Redstart was singing on a post within the nuclear power station complex. Six-spot Burnet Moths were nectaring on the flower heads of Viper\u2019s-bugloss and Painted Lady, Small Tortoiseshell and Small Heath butterflies were seen.<\/p>\n

Next stop was the nearby RSPB reserve. Some of the party visited the hides closest to the Visitor Centre. They reported the sighting of a Marsh Frog. The rest of the group followed a 2 mile trail round the reserve. The willow bushes beside the path were draped in webs which contained grey and black caterpillars. A Sedge Warbler was watched as it fed along the banks of a reed-lined dyke. It perched on a floating polystyrene block, giving good views of its eye-stripe. Whitehroats and Linnets were seen, a Cetti\u2019s Warbler was heard and several Hobbies were hunting overhead. From the Denge Marsh hide, there were good views of Common Terns with fluffy chicks which were nesting on floating rafts. While watching a Common Lizard at the entrance to the hide, a cuckoo bumblebee was spotted, searching amongst the vegetation for a bumblebee nest to parasitize. Several Marsh Harriers were patrolling across the reed-beds at the northern end of the reserve. Finally, as the coach was leaving the reserve, there was a brief pause to inspect the nest-boxes on the warden\u2019s house for Tree Sparrows. A number of sparrows were spotted, but the views were not good enough for a definite identification.<\/p>\n