Dungeness RSPB 14-2-2013

On Thursday 14^th February Wendy had a course at Dungeness RSPB reserve, so I took the opportunity to accompany her, the weather-lady had promised lovely sunshine all day so I went fully kitted out with camera and scope, the only downside was limited time as we arrived in early afternoon.

Mallard - ARC Hide - Canon 400D + 100-400mm

On arrival the car park bird feeder although almost empty was being visited by numerous Blue Tits, whilst several Moorhens were around its base along with a solitary Rabbit. Instead of the walk I decided to start at the ARC, this gave me the opportunity to drive slowly back down the drive scouring the various flocks of geese for the visiting Bean and Barnacle Geese but was only rewarded with Canada and Greylag.

Coot - ARC Hide - Canon 400D + 100-400mm

The ARC was a lot quieter than in previous visits probably because the water level was quite high, none the less a couple of Herring Gulls  were accompanying the Cormorants on the little island, whilst a quick scan round of the ducks revealed Coots and Tufted Ducks aplenty with a few Mallard (the sun giving the male Mallards a metallic sheen to their heads), Shoveler, Teal and Pochard dotted around.

Goldeneye - ARC Hide - Canon 400D + 100-400mm

A slower look at the ducks revealed a couple of Goldeneye and several female Smew, whilst tucked away in the reeds to the East was a male Smew, also asleep but a little more prominent was a Great Crested Grebe. Overhead flew a Marsh Harrier whilst 2 Great White Egrets flew into and were lost in the reeds to the North.

Female Smew - ARC Screen - Canon 400D + 100-400mm

I went round to the viewing screen where one of the Great White Egrets showed for a brief time before flying off towards the power station and beyond. From the screen were improved views of a Great Crested Grebe, and the female Smews. A couple of additional visitors were a Carrion Crow who hopped across the screen roof and a Green Woodpecker flying past. On the walk back to the Car Park I added Mute Swan to the list, a pair of which were swimming in a pit to my right.



Great White Egret - ARC Screen - Canon 400D + 100-400mm

On the drive to the main reserve I saw three Reed Buntings near the farm, another scouring of the geese flocks revealed Barnacle Geese sadly they were some distance away and only visible with the scope, there were also a large number of Wigeon grazing.

Great White Egret over Dungeness Power Station - Canon 400D + 100-400mm

Sadly the light was dropping rapidly as dark clouds rolled in (hence most photos from ARC). My first stop in the reserve was Makepeace Hide from which large numbers of various duck could be seen, I added Shelduck and Gadwall to the list, a Dabchick dove briefly in front of the hide before disappearing into the reeds and a Heron flew into the reeds to my right.

Great Crested Grebe - ARC Screen - Canon 400D + 100-400mm

On the walk to Denge Marsh Hide I was accompanied by several Stonechats which were showing nicely against the darkening sky, sadly the best poses were also out of focus. Over to the south of the footpath was an amazing sight, a large flock of Fieldfare were on the ground feeding, along the right hand fringe of this flock were a few lapwing and to their right were large numbers of Curlew also feeding, several hundred birds in all, I love seeing birds in large numbers and get a larger thrill from that than I do seeing the odd rarity.



Stonechats - Dungeness RSPB - Canon 400D + 100-400mm

I was running late and forwent Denge Marsh hide, however I then found that the footpath back to the centre was closed and with the diversion I suddenly found my return journey doubled in length and although this did afford me a wonderful view of a large mixed flock of lapwing and Golden Plover I was in danger of getting locked in and 4.45pm saw me still about15 minutes from the car park. I Marched briskly in the drizzle (thank you BBC local Weather forecast) when a very nice lady leaving the reserve,stopped her car and kindly offered me a lift back to the centre which I gratefully received and am very very thankful for.

Pochard - ARC Screen - Canon 400D + 100-400mm

Missed off the day list are Blackbird, Wood Pigeon, Magpie, Robin, Starling, Great Tit and long Tailed Tit who were dotted around the reserve. Two spots on the drive to the reserve were a Sparrowhawk which flew in front of the car across the road no more than 4 feet off the ground just South of Ashford and a hovering Kestrel just before Lydd. The count for the day was 41, not terrific, but not bad.

Rainbow - Dungeness - Canon 400D + 100-400mm

 

First Four Days of 2013

 

Robin at Riverside Country Park

2012  was not a brilliant bird watching year for me with only 130 spieces seen, some 32 down on the previous year. The continual dull and wet weather definitely put a damper on the hobby for me as well as a serious reduction of photographic opportunities. However with a New Year came a new start and although I have not been out Bird Watching as such, Wendy and I have been out for walks most days with camera and binoculars (and once with a telescope - but it was still a walk NOT Bird Watching even though we then stood for an hour watching birds). All pictures in this post were with my Canon 400D + 100-400mm

Waxwings - Tescos, Whitstable

New Years Day saw us visiting friends in Whitstable and whilst there we took a short stroll to Tescos Car Park where over the last few weeks some Waxwings had been seen. Soon after we arrived in a car park devoid of all birdlife except a rather bold Herring Gull, a small flock of 70+ Waxwings gathered in a tree before flying off. Unlike my previous sightings at this venue they did not stay to feed. Fortunately a sunny day provided a few nice photos. I understand a smaller flock is still there.

Waxwings - Tescos, Whitstable

On 2^nd January We went for a walk along the Medway at East Barming, the day was dull and drizzly with a heavily overcast sky turning from frequent showers to constant rain. We started walking West along the river which was high, turgid, fast flowing and a horrible muddy brown colour. There was a reasonable amount of bird activity from small numbers of Goldfinch, Chaffinch, Blackbirds, Robins, Blue Tits and Great Tits inhabiting the bushes, whilst the river itself was empty except for the odd Moorhen along and on the opposite bank.

Chaffinch - Riverside Country Park

After half a mile due to the worsening weather we returned, on the way back we added a Sparrow Hawk and a Cormorant to the day list. Before leaving we checked the woods to the East where a mixed flock of Redwing and Fieldfare were found in a couple of the taller trees together with a large number of Wood Pigeons scattered among the rest. A small flock of Long Tailed Tits were sheltering in the woods though still constantly on the move. Other sightings on the day included Carrion Crow, Wren, Starling and House Sparrow.

Carrion Crows (silhouette) - Leybourne Lakes

The 3^rd January was another heavily overcast day so we stayed local and went to Leybourne Lakes. Ocean (Tescos) Lake provided sightings of Cormorants, Mute Swans, Mallards, Coots, Moorhens, Greylag Geese, Canada Geese, Great Crested Grebe and what I believe were Aylesbury Ducks. We strolled on towards Streamside Lake when we saw this female Kestrel sitting in a tree over the footpath.

Female kestrel - Leybourne Lakes

We took a look at the Dipping (Round) Pond, but only a few Coots were seen however some Long Tailed Tits were performing at the edge of the pond, if only the sun had been out to show their full splendour in the photos.

Long Tailed Tit - Leybourne Lakes

We took the path between Streamside and Railway Lakes, in Railway lake we saw a pair of Dabchicks swimming among the many Tufted Ducks that were there whilst in Streamside we saw Shovelers, Gadwalls and Black Headed Gulls along with a single Pochard, we were also fortunate enough to see a Kingfisher flying low over the water near the west bank.

Female Tufted Duck - Leybourne lakes

During the walk we had also added Blackbird, Chaffinch, Carrion Crow, Collared Dove, Fieldfare, Goldfinch, Heron (flying overhead), Jackdaw, Jay, Magpie, Wood Pigeon, Robin, Blue Tit, Great Tit and Great Spotted Woodpecker to the days list.

Collared Dove - Riverside Country Park

The 4^th January was yet another gloomy overcast day with the added excitement of a chill in the air but undaunted we spent 2 hours of it at Riverside Country Park in Gillingham, the tide was out and a lot lower than I have seen it for some time – somewhat in contrast to the high level of the Medway we had seen at east Barming.

Robin - Riverside Country Park

We started off at the sunken pond finding Collared Doves, Wood Pigeons, Great Tits, a Robin, a couple of Dunnocks and several Moorhens.

Moorhen - Riverside Country Park

Next we moved West along the shoreline where I was happy to see a number Redshank on the mudflats.

Redshank - Riverside Country Park

A scour of the muddy estuary towards Kingsnorth Power Station revealed Curlews, Shelduck, Oystercatchers, Black Headed Gulls, Herring Gulls and a couple of Grey Plovers, also in one of the gullies were a large number of Teal. We followed the path West until it turns South again from here a scan of the mudflats gave us some Dunlin, Wigeon, Carrion Crow, Lapwing and a sole Greenshank near enough to photograph.

Greenshank - Riverside Country Park

In addition, nearby on its own was an Avocet with a missing left foot who was continually struggling so as not to sink into the mud.

Avocet - Riverside Country Park

Further out in the river were some Brent Geese and a number of Cormorants whilst watching them was a Lesser Black Backed Gull.

Dunnock - Riverside Country Park

We returned to the car park via the woodland walk which produced sightings of Goldfinch, Blue Tit, Blackbird, Chaffinch, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Jay, Long Tailed Tit, Green Woodpecker and Great Spotted Woodpecker.

Great Spotted Woodpecker - Riverside Country Park

The four days had only brought us 55 species, but as this was 42% of my 2012 total I was more than happy, in addition despite the very poor light on 3 of the days I did still manage to get some nice shots.


Oare Marshes 18-9-2012

Tuesday was another nice day so Alan and I visited Oare Marshes though the wind was quite fresh it was warm enough (for me) to spend most of the day jacketless. My recent lack of practice at photography tells in these shots for which I apologise. We started off taking a quick look out from the jetty which revealed very little except a single Curlew and a number of Black Headed Gulls, a look down the margin from the western path revealed some Mallards, Coots, Tufted Ducks a sole Dabchick keeping close to the reeds and a Snipe snoozing in the corner of one of the islands. 

Linnet - Canon 400D + 100-400mm

We headed up the main road noting that the New West Scrape was dry with only a few flies buzzing about the remaining small puddle. The East Flood was also low on water but this did not diminish the variety of birds there. A large flock of Bar Tailed Godwits with a few Redshank around the edges were in the distance whilst nearer to us on a dried patch was a significant number of Ringed Plovers with a Curlew Sandpiper preening itself in their midst.

Ringed Plover - Canon 400D + 100-400mm

A large flock of Golden Plovers (aprox 150) covered one island with a similar number of Starlings scattered around as were a large number of Lapwings. Dunlin were dotted about busily feeding as was a Little Stint, however soon after spotting it all the Starlings and Plovers together with the Little Stint took to the air and I never found it again. A scan of the skies revealed a Peregrine Falcon quite high, they must have been very vigilant to pick it out as I needed my binoculars to identify it.

Little Stint - Canon 400D + 100-400mm

Other occupants of the flood included Mute Swans, Cormorants, Little Egrets and several Ruffs

Lapwings - Canon 400D + 100-400mm

Seen from the roadway was this odd looking heron.

Heron - Canon 400D + 100-400mm

And then it closed its wings.

 

Heron closing wings - Canon 400D + 100-400mm

As we moved off towards the West Scrape a pair of Swallows flew through and a Goldfinch was seen in a nearby bush. The West Scrape was as usual relatively quiet with the only excitement a Hobby skimming fast and low over the reeds and disappearing behind the hide before I could point it out to Alan. In the distance a couple of Buzzards were over Mocketts, some young coots were in the water in front of us together with 4 Teal.

Starling - Canon 400D + 100-400mm

On the footpath to the East Flood Hide a Green Woodpecker flew out from our right. From the West Flood hide we had repeat views of a Curlew Sandpiper and excellent views of all the Bar Tailed Godwits among which a couple of Greenshanks were stood. There were about 70 odd Avocets in the flood and feeding along the far bank a pair of Spotted Redshank, the summer plumage still clinging to one of them. Occupants of the hide had been watching a Water Rail before our arrival but it did not appear for us.

Dunlin - Canon 400D + 100-400mm

We left and watched the butterflies and dragonflies around the water margin near to the hide. We were watching  a Small Copper, some Small Whites, and a Common Blue of the former and some Common Hawkers and a Common Darter of the latter when a gentleman called us back into the hide as a Water Rail had just reappeared, it was my first sighting of one this year and lovely to see as it walked along the waterline on the far bank too far away to photograph. It was very kind of those in the hide to consider calling us back.

Common Blue - Canon 400D + 100-400mm

The walk to the sluice was uneventful and we set up on the creek side of the flood to scour it from another angle but nothing new seen, however I looked over to where the Water Rail had been to see two Water Rails walking together which were then joined by a third – I was in seventh heaven, especially as one of them thought it best to walk in the sunshine avoiding the reeds all together.

Golden Plovers (from road) note summer plumage far right - Canon 400D + 100-400mm

The walk to the Sea Wall hide flushed out a solitary Long Tailed Tit, a pair of House Sparrows and a Linnet were seen in the various bushes whilst on the bank near the hide we saw a Pied Wagtail and some Reed Buntings. From the hide little was to be seen due to a very high tide however on the distant shore towards Seasalter were a large number of Oystercatchers. A check of Sheppey gave up a Marsh Harrier directly north of us.

Reed Bunting - Canon 400D + 100-400mm

Other birds seen were Carrion Crows, Wood Pigeons Collared Dove, and Herring Gull. A total of 42 for the days walk but for me the highlight was the three Water Rails. A final thank you to the person who found the lost eyecup to my telescope and put it on a post for me to find, I am very grateful.

 

Kelsey Park, Bromley 15-9-2012

Young Mallard still with down  - Canon 400D + 100-400mm

On Saturday I took my mum for a walk round Kelsey Park, near Bromley in Kent, it is a very popular public park and most of the birdlife is anything but shy vying with the plentiful Grey Squirrels for the nuts seeds and bread all the visitors seem to bring. The closeness of these birds would give some good photo opportunities if they were not forever on the move scurrying after the next bit of food thrown down by well meaning families.

Adult Moorhen - Canon 400D + 100-400mm

Tufted Duck  - Canon 400D + 100-400mm

The park consists of a central lake fed by the river beck which is really no more than a large stream. The lake has a couple of small islands, one of which contains a Heronry consisting of 21 nests, the below photos are of the last chicks this year of which there were 40.

This Years Heron (chicks?)  - Canon 400D + 100-400mm

Heron  - Canon 400D + 100-400mm

The lake has always had a good mix of waterfowl and we saw Mallards, Coots, Moorhens, Tufted Ducks, Mute Swans, Graylag Geese, Canada Geese and a single Dabchick, all of which are regulars at the park.

A Line of Greylag Geese responding to a group of children throwing food for the ducks  - Canon 400D + 100-400mm

Its location has also meant that it usually has a few escapees of which a Muscovy Duck and an Aylesbury Duck can often be seen here along with the odd Domestic Duck and an increasing number of Egyptian Geese (6 on this occasion), whether these are all free flying or not I have no idea.

Egyptian Goose  - Canon 400D + 100-400mm

Muscovy Duck  - Canon 400D + 100-400mm

My favourites at Kelsey Park are the Mandarin Ducks which happily breed here, their fantastic colours dulled by their preference for the quieter areas of the lake swimming among the many overhanging trees in the lower portion of the river Beck.

Male Mandarin Duck  - Canon 400D + 100-400mm

Female Mandarin  - Canon 400D + 100-400mm

The spot of the day had to be this Teal in mid moult – the probability is that it is a Ringed Teal (note the dark red patches on its back) which have been at the park before.

Teal (probably Ringed Teal)  - Canon 400D + 100-400mm

Over the years the popularity of the park has meant that the wooded areas have been over-visited from a nature point of view and are heavily criss-crossed with a myriad of mini footpaths and thus especially on a busy Saturday the number of passerines seen was very low, limited on this visit to single sightings of Wren, Blackbird, and Robin whilst overhead a few Great Tits called from the upper canopy as did a large number of Ring Necked Parakeets (the pictures of the latter are taken at my parents neighbours apple tree about 2 miles from Kelsey Park in the early evening when they visited, hence poorer picture quality).

Ring Necked Parakeet  - Canon 400D + 100-400mm

Other bird sightings were House Sparrow, starlings, Black Headed Gull, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Collared Dove, Wood Pigeon and Feral Pigeon. A quick word of thanks to the lady from “The Friends of Kelsey Park” who was doing a duck count and engaged me in conversation, updating me on recent goings-on.