RSPB Dungeness. Glossy Ibis. 09.04.22

On Saturday 09.04.22, I went to RSPB Dungeness in order to survey bumblebees as pat of a Bumblebee Conservation Trust's Short-haired bumblebee reintroduction project.

I reached RSPB Dungeness by train an bus. (Train from Brighton to Eastbourne then Eastbourne to Rye, then 102 Stagecoach bus to Dover from Rye Station, getting off at RSPB Dungeness access road. Stagecoach's timetable gives the impression that there is a 202 bus from Rye to Lydd, and then another bus to Dover from Lydd, but it is in fact the same bus. There is no official bus stop at RSPB Dungeness but the drivers will drop you off there if you ask. It is a 1hr 45min train trop from Brighton to Rye, and runs hourly. It is a 40 minute bus journey from Rye to Dungeness, and also runs hourly. It is a mile walk from the entrance road to the visitors' centre at RSPB Dungeness.

I bird watched from 9.40 to 10.15; surveyed bumblebees from 10.30 to 15.00 and then bird watched from 15.00-17.00

Morning

At the beginning of the access road, there were five Glossy Ibis; there were mostly three together and another two together

Glossy Ibis plus a Coot

Cattle Egret in the background, beyond them Lydd Ranges (MoD shooting ranges)

Canada Geese

Glossy Ibis and Coot

Three Glossy Ibis and a Coot

Greylag Goose

Dead Grass Snake. Probably predated by a raptor, possibly a Marsh Harrier, and dropped before eating. Grass Snakes emit a foul-smelling pheromone from their anal gland to deter predators. Grass snake - Grass snakes and humans | Young People's Trust For the Environment (ypte.org.uk)