Debbie and I love Rye Harbour Nature Reserve. If they needed conversion I think it happened for Jane, Roger, Rikki, Helen and Gavin today. It was even sunny and mainly warm. By the way, at the end of this report I am going to treat you to the one and only gardening tip I am capable of giving so don’t stop reading half way through.

We descended on the visitor centre just before the opening hour of 10 to find it was quite busy as it now opens at 9.30. Coffee and cake being a key element of HBW trips, we sat ourselves down looking out over the reserve and spotting the first of many Avocets along with Oystercatcher, Shelduck and Grey Lag Goose. Inside there was a short-lived crescendo of dog barking from all the canine visitors apart from a gently chilled out hairy little chap who was politely asking me to share my chocolate and coconut flapjack (no chance). Helen provided me with the official Rye Harbour checklist and Rikki bought a nice sharp pencil so we could fill it in. Fully equipped we set off to the sound of Skylarks.

Our preferred route starts at the back end of the caravan park and follows a grassy track beside a large stream bordered with reeds, bushes and small trees. Ideal for little birds who like to be heard rather than seen. We very soon heard a rattle which denoted a possible Lesser Whitethroat. Merlin was convinced we had it right and sure enough the singer showed himself well enough to finally confirm the I.D. So far so good. A Reed Warbler droned on happily and a little later a much chattier warbler was heard. Debbie eventually spotted him and his perfectly applied white eyeliner announced his Sedge Warblership. After a few more Reed Warblers Roger began showing concern for the usually omnipresent Cetti’s Warbler. Almost on cue one belted out its attention-grabbing aria and seemed to wake up the rest of the local population. The oohs and aahs erupted when a Moorhen chick gave an exhibition of grebe like diving. Overhead were Red Kite, Kestrels, a Swift and Swallows. As usual, a number of walkers strolled past us dawdlers and it was some time before we left the waterside to walk through a scrubby area with gorse and small bushes interspersed with small trees. A fresh habitat to explore.

Birdsong again but this time dominated by Linnet, Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethroat, Blackcap, Dunnock, Wren and distant Skylark. Jane is a bit of a Lesser Whitethroat specialist and that helped me to start to learn a song I struggle with. At least I could hear it loud and clear with my wonderful new national health hearing aids. I was really surprised to see a Dartford Warbler arrow across from one gorse bush to another and was mightily happy when a lady stopped to ask what we were seeing and announced we should keep an eye out for Dartford Warblers. We had great fun trying to I.D. all the little brown jobs diving for cover and I think that between us we did pretty well. Approaching the big lake which backs on to the far end of the scrubby bits we listened intently for Goldcrests by some fir trees and Roger scanned the nearby farm buildings for Pied Wagtails. Total no show but never mind it was an ideal shady area for lunch.

Fully fed and watered we made a short trip to a slight eminence from where you could, with carefully positioning, see the lake through the trees. Pressure on as I had mentioned Pochard possibility and Rikki wanted to see one. We didn’t! But as we were about to move on after appreciating the majestic head shaking and general luvvy-duvvyness of a pair of Great Crested Grebes a long-winged falcon zoomed along the lake close to the bank and performed a 90 degree turn and stoop in front of us then zoomed off out of sight – a perfect Hobby.

It was time to enter the coastal part of the reserve and new species came thick and fast. First however was a Sedge Warbler who sat up Stonechat like and everyone got a chance to look at it through the scope. I liked that bird! Gavin and I checked out a couple of Gadwall which is sometimes overlooked as a rather drab duck. Not a bit of it when you get a chance to see its feathering really well. I liked that bird too! Amongst the raptors we found was a beautiful male Marsh Harrier who’s colours were radiant in the sunshine. Everybody liked that bird! Helen had earlier spotted an overflying Curlew and we added Shoveler, Pochard (hooray), Mute Swan, Tufted Duck and Little Grebe by the time we arrived at the beach.

I desperately scanned the sea for Gannets and Red Throated Divers while the others ……………. sat down and said it was a shame there wasn’t an ice cream van! That’s not fair actually as Jane spied a lone Ringed Plover a long way off, well camouflaged by shingle. Fully revived we moved on while Common Terns and the occasional Sandwich Tern gracefully cut through the air. We made it to our first hide and really enjoyed our time there. We had great views of some of the birds. A glorious Common Tern posed on a pole and a young lad in the hide told us that we would see Sandwich Terns and possible Little Terns in the saltier scrapes nearer the visitor centre. As we scanned through the Tern, Black Headed Gull and Cormorant colonies we became more and more aware of small waders and we got to work trying our ID skills. Four birds came in close and provided my bird of the day in two fully summer plumaged Dunlin. Each Dunlin flew in accompanied by a Ringed Plover which caused a few raised eyebrows and theories on what  offspring might be produced.

With time flying we moved on to the hide near the visitor centre and on the way found Great and Lesser Black Backed Gulls, Redshank, Turnstone and the world’s noisiest Oystercatcher ever. There was plenty to see from the hide including both Common and Sandwich Terns. In the distance were even more Terns and Gavin managed to see they had yellow beaks and looked small. Great, he had found our Little Terns. In a magic moment all the Terns on the scrapes suddenly went up and you could see how tiny the Little Terns were in comparison. It was really hard to pull ourselves away, especially as a long-distance Spoonbill was found just as we all decided to make the move.

The visitor centre was shut since it was nearly 5 o’clock, 7 hours after we had arrived! So no retail therapy. We did have one more delight when we got a close up of a handsome Meadow Pipit, like a miniature Song Thrush. Everyone agreed it had been a super day and it had ended with 69 species which may surprise the group as I told them at the time it was 73.

Ah, the gardening tip. Don’t grub out all your Green Alkanet, the Greenfinches love it.