15th February - RSPB Dungeness, Kent

Another weekend, another storm, this time Storm Dennis and its arrival was timed this weekend from Saturday.  Looking at the forecast it looked like the dry weather would be to the east, with the rain due around early afternoon, so it was to the east I went, with the opportunity to see one of the iconic winter birds, and one that I haven't seen for a few years now.

It was raining as I left home, and this stayed with until I turned on to the M26.  I was off to Dungeness, one of the driest spots in the country, with one area of the National Nature Reserve designated a desert due to the amount of rainfall.  I was going to the RSPB reserve though, and I pulled in past the farm buildings and pulled over to check the first pool.  The last time I had been here I had found a Ring-necked Duck almost immediately.  Today I was hoping to catch up with a drake Smew, a beautiful little saw bill, similar in size to a Goldeneye.  Its alternative American name is the White Nun, reference to its white plumage which takes on a cracked ice and panda appearance.

A scan of the pool though only produced Tufted Duck.  The bird had been reported from other areas of the reserve, so I decided to cross the road and view the ARC pits from the hide.  I was on my own in the hide, and pretty much out on the water too.  There were good numbers of Coot and Shoveler but very little else.  I returned to the area around the farm, checked the pool again but nothing, and then spent sometime around the farm buildings in the hope of maybe a Tree Sparrow, but the best I could muster was a Reed Bunting.

Back at the pool, an immature Marsh Harrier drifted across sending lots of the duck for cover.

I headed on to the visitor centre and went and checked the main pits, again the only one in the hide, and little else but Coots out on the water, in fact I don't think I can recall ever seeing so many Coot.  As I sat contemplating the number of Coot a Grey Heron flew across the water and past the hide.

If the number of Coot was something to think about after a walk around the car park and the willow scrub I was also considering the number of Great and Blue Tits in the remote and windswept area.  There are feeders and I wondered if they were here because of the feeders in which case was this creating a false environment?  What would happen if the feeders were not kept full?  As well as the tits there were Chaffinches and Greenfinches and at times there were little snippets of song.

I left the car park and walked around the main loop.  At the Makepeace Hide there was a group of Black-tailed Godwits roosting on one of the shallower parts of the pit.

I kept checking all the open water for any sign of something that was black and with a white bill, but without any luck.  I did though manage to get close to one of the Coot.  For some reason it appeared to be interested in something in the water and showed no concern for me as I got close.

Outside the Christmas Hide there is an area of scrub and gorse.  A sign there says sit and wait as this is a good spot where a lot of the smaller birds seek shelter.  So I did.  A Cetti's Warbler rattled out its song from within the gorse, but never showed itself, then a large flock of Long-tailed Tits appeared, they busied themselves searching amongst the lichen for any food and I was able to sit and photograph them.

This one sat out in the open calling and listening for a response from the flock.

The flock then moved to the gorse and they foraged amongst the branches, again showing a lot of attention to the lichen and spiders webs.

As well as the Long-tailed Tits there were Great and Blue Tits and also a pair of Goldcrests that were very vocal.

The sun was now threatening to come out which considering the forecasts of doom issued throughout the week was a big surprise but also quite welcome.  I walked to the Denge Marsh Hide, again empty, but out over the marsh and water a Marsh Harrier floated by with that rocking flight, while on the water a Great-crested Grebe appeared from behind the waves whipped up by the strengthening wind, the only sign so far of the impending storm.

Amazingly the grebe managed to stay in the same spot despite the wind and waves so I can only assume its feet must be constantly paddling beneath the waves, not much of a rest!

Then a passing Coot (what else!) spooked the grebe and it raised its head to check it wasn't in danger.

On Hooker's Pit there were islands that provided shelter and still water from the wind.  Here Tufted Duck bobbed around with their heads tucked under their wings.

Shoveler came out from under the branches of the trees on the island.  They were concerned by my presence, lifting their bottle green heads in concern.

Then finally bursting from the water to escape from the perceived threat.

Tufted Duck swam past me, always a lovely duck to photograph in dark water.

Gadwall were also present, the drakes and understated beauty with the vermicelli waves on the flanks and breast.

Once upon a time Pochard were a common duck on reservoirs but just recently there numbers have reduced and today to come across a Pochard, especially in Hampshire is a treat.  Here a male was at rest close to the branches.

But was disturbed, much to its annoyance by a Tufted Duck and decided to move away.

This was the only drake I could see, but there were at least four females.

As I lft the duck I saw a Stoat dash across the road, but what caught my attention was the very black tip to what was a white tail.  Fortunately it appeared in the field, moving along the bank of a ditch.

Stoat do acquire a winter coast that is thicker and in northern areas of the country they also change to a white coat, known as ermine.  However in the south of the country they normally keep the same colour as the summer coat if not a little thicker.  Dungeness is very much in the southern part of the country, but this individual has started to acquire a white winter coat.  It is even more unusual as this has been one of the mildest winters for some time, with no snow along the south coast.

I made squeaking noises and the Stoat stopped and looked at me.

There were spots of white on the forehead, it wasn't clear if these were as a result of the change to a winter coat or just some leucistic fur.

Then it was gone, scurrying along the bank and then away through the grass and out of sight.  I walked on reaching the main track that leads into the reserve.  From here I had another view of Tanners Pool where I found the drake Smew, but unfortunately very distant.

Then as almost as soon as I found the Smew a Marsh Harrier flew across the lake scattering the duck before doing the same to the Lapwing and Golden Plover as it made its way across the field.

There must have been around 500 Golden Plover in the field and surprisingly not all of them went up as the Marsh Harrier flew through.

While the Marsh Harrier was terrorizing the waders on the field four Coot were going at each other in front of me.  When Coot fight they really go for it, wings raised and feet and claws thrust forward in battle.

I relocated the Smew but it was still very distant.  It has been some time since I have seen a wild drake Smew, I had hoped iit would have been a little closer for photographs but the scope views were wonderful.  I referred earlier to the cracked Ice and panda look, this is due to the fine black line on the flanks and the dark patches around the eye.  The record shots do not do this gorgeous duck justice.

While the Smew is considered a British bird the truth is that it is not very british.  Even the remnant we do receive is second-hand, so to speak. Smews travelling south-west after breeding tend to settle for the winter in Holland, on a huge lake called the IJsselmeer, where they stay if they can, and may number 10,000 birds. It must then take a surge of freezing weather to drive decent numbers of Smews over the North Sea or English Channel to Britain. The first arrivals are usually in November, but many do not stumble over here until January or even February, ensuring that their stay is startlingly brief.

Smews don’t even send us many of their best. Although the females, and the similarly plumaged first-winter immatures, are distinctive and dapper birds, they cannot compete for sheer looks with the males. A true Smew is a male Smew, with its authentically snow-tinged plumage and smart black blobs and lines that break up its outline. Yet we receive many fewer of these than females and immatures. The reason is a phenomenon known as differential migration. In many species of birds, different age classes of birds have different migratory profiles. Most typically, adult males undertake the shortest journeys, staying as close as possible to the breeding grounds so that, when the time comes, they can sprint quickly to occupy their high latitude territories. Females also tend to be smaller-bodied than males, and potentially suffer in competition with them, so they migrate longer distances, keeping them away from the males and allowing them to nestle in more gentle climates. But the result of this differential migration is that we, at the far end of the Smew’s migration, are starved of seeing the handsome males. The migration is differential, and also discriminatory.

Those that do arrive though keep to familiar sites and Dungeness is one of those sites.  It could be that this male will return later in the year or early next year, a lot will depend on the weather in Holland.  The concern this year is the number of this gorgeous little duck arriving in Britain.  Numbers have been around 500 but this year there have barely been 100 sightings.

I watched this drake diving, and tried to get a suitable photograph, but this was the best of a pretty bad lot.

The core of a Smew’s life, its breeding season, is also lived in faraway places – in the northern taiga to be exact. The taiga is the complex of vast, mainly coniferous forests and wet bogs and marshes that dominates the land south of Eurasia’s cold tundra zone. It starts well to the north of Britain, and our nearest breeding Smews are in northern Sweden, Finland and European Russia. They are scarce there, with quite exacting habitat requirements. They need small, productive, still or slow-flowing pools surrounded by forests of large trees, including dead ones. And they also need a very specific property developer to be present, the Black Woodpecker. This big, chisel-billed excavator is often the only maker of holes large enough for these ducks to use for their nests.

The clouds away to the west were darkening and there were spots of rain about.  I dragged myself away from the duck and started the walk back to the car park.  The distant power station started to disappear as the rain became heavier, I was walking into the wind and the rain was sending it into my face.  It looked like the storm was arriving so I decided to have lunch and then head back, the weather en route home would probably be worse than iot was here.

As I drove back down the rack I stopped to check the Smew once again in the hope it was maybe closer.  It wasn't it was still distant.  I set off happy with the sighting which, despite the lack of photograph opportunities, was still a good one.  I wonder when I will get the chance to see and photograph a drake Smew in this country again?