FLIERS FLOWERS AND SHOWERS.

 DEVILS COACH HORSE-a very early specimen at the Hoe last week.

 This fearsome looking creature is more normally seen in late summer.

 BELGIAN NAVY FRIGATE-F930  LEOPOLD 1.
A walk on the cliffs to St Margarets on Sunday found the Raven in cronking good form,Fulmar Petrels wheeling away never quite making that elusive landing on their chosen cliff ledge and skylarks in good voice in the breezy sunshine.

 RAVEN

 FULMAR PETREL

 SKYLARK IN FULL VOICE.

At Samphire Hoe today:-

 COLTSFOOT always a welcome sight as one of the harbingers of spring.

 After a clear sunny morning the afternoon turned a little cloudy with the odd shower providing some dramatic seascapes at Samphire Hoe.

DUNGENESS UNDER A HEAVY SHOWER.
Venus and Mars are visible in the west after sunset at the moment my shaky effort shows how red Mars appears.

VENUS AND MARS IN CONJUNCTION looking a bit shaky,but I quite like this effect,more than the one below

GLAUCOUS IS WILLING.

At last a white winged winter wanderer has pitched up in Dover Harbour,yesterday morning my persistence and eternal optimism paid off when a young Glaucous Gull caught my eye as it flew along the beach heading for the clock tower.I followed it in my bins and it appeared to go down into the old hoverport.When I got on the pier it was indeed in amongst a few other gulls,but was only viewable through the portholes,I cleaned the glass as best I could and took a record shot:-

THAT`S HIM ON THE RIGHT.
This is undoubtedly the best bird of the winter here,I have only seen a single purple sandpiper,the young shag and four snow buntings,no auks no divers and only a handful of grebes.
A plan was hatched to return in the afternoon with some chummy made up from brown bread and sardines in sunflower oil.
It was getting a bit gloomier by the time I arrived at the pier head, and there was no sign of my quarry,in fact hardly any gulls at all,but I tossed a couple of spoonfuls over the side and before you could say GLAUCOUS GULL it and a crowd of herring gulls arrived on the scene,the newcomer wasn`t universally popular and was attacked by some of the other "locals?".There now followed a tricky sequence of tossing chummy and firing off my Canon.......

FIRST WINTER GLAUCOUS GULL

 The lights from the cruise terminal reflected on the water show how dark it was getting.

 FIRST WINTER HERRING GULL FOR COMPARISON.

SLIGHTLY BIGGER THAN A HERRING GULL.
Hopefully it will hang around the area for a few days now,and don`t forget your chummy.

THE THEORY OF NOTHING MUCH ABOUT.

Last thursday I went to see THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING at Dovers Silver Screen Cinema,brilliant film I reccomend it to the house.I walked into town following the river the usual birds were seen including kingfisher,firecrest,goldcrest,grey heron,grey wagtail,little egret,little grebe,with gadwall and tufted duck in Bushy Ruff,and a water rail near Crabble Corn Mill.Redwings and song thrush in the Abbey and Mistle thrush on the rugby pitches-so as you can tell theres not much about really.This lunar halo appeared in the night sky last week the small object at 8 o`clock is Jupiter.

Some images from Samphire Hoe last Tuesday

 SHAG - note the thin bill and steep forehead

 Typical shag diving technique

 FUNNEL CLOUD-TWISTER? IN MID CHANNEL

THE EWES AT THE HOE ARE NOW BEING FED TO SUPPLEMENT THEIR DIET BEFORE RETURNING TO THE HOME FARM FOR LAMBING,SO PLEASE KEEP DOGS ON LEADS.

 CHIFF CHAFF

FIRECREST

 DRAKE GADWALL

 DRAKE TUFTED DUCK

FEMALE KINGFISHER NEAR THE CORN MILL.
This afternoon went to Dungeness and finally managed to pick out the Whooper Swan in the herd-the one cocking his leg-the yellow on the bill is more pointed and extends forward whereas the Bewicks is cut off more square.

WILD SWANS
The ARC pit had 6 goldeneye 4 ducks and 2 drakes I think the water is too shallow for them to dive any closer to the hide.

DRAKE GOLDENEYE
A treat was in store though as a pair of great crested grebes did this

BRILLIANT 10 OUT OF 10- BETTER THAN STRICTLY.

GOODNIGHT FOLKS.