Shellness Sheppey 21-2-2012

On Tuesday Alan and I went to Shellness with the aim of catching a Short Eared Owl. We got there at noon – I was late as the M2 had been closed for an accident and I had had to divert via Maidstone doubling my travel time. En route however I had seen a Buzzard overhead so not all bad news, however Alan was one up on me as he had had a Sparrowhawk pass about 10 feet from him and also had Jackdaws which I had missed. A quick look over the Sea Wall gave a couple of Turnstones and a number of Black Headed Gulls, but little else. As the tide was in we made our way down to the High Tide Roost by the gun emplacement. When we reached the riverside a check of the groynes revealed a Purple Sandpiper hidden among the Grey Plovers, Redshanks and Turnstones on the posts.

Grey Plover  - Canon 400D + 100-400mm

Turnstone and Purple Sandpiper - Canon 400D + 100-400mm

Purple Sandpiper and Grey Plover - Canon 400D + 100-400mm

By the time we got to the gun emplacement what had started out to be “nice and sunny” had deteriorated into “dull and cloudy with a blustery wind” making the scopes just a little unstable and the smaller waders a wonderful juddering blur and sadly, unidentifiable (to me). We did see several hundred Oystercatchers and to the right of them was a similarly sized mixed flock of Godwits (Black Tailed I believe), Dunlin, Grey Plovers, Redshanks and several Sanderlings. On our way back to the car park the tide had started to go out and feeding on the shore nearby was a Redshank, two Ringed Plovers, a Knot and quite a few Turnstones, as we watched more waders arrived, Grey Plovers, Dunlin, Oystercatchers and several Redshank’ this short stretch started getting very busy, a brief burst of sunshine (the last for the day) gave me enough light to get a couple of clear shots.

Five different Waders  - Canon 400D + 100-400mm

Our next viewing point was to look out seawards (East) which revealed very little except a large flock of about 150 Mallards and one Pintail Duck.

The last venue was a bit of a walk away, out into the marshland to the Sea Wall hide to have a late lunch there. Near to the gate of the nature Reserve were a few Linnets and a small flock of House Sparrows, however as we walked on activity seemed to drop off. A sad sight was seeing a couple of tractors ploughing all the fields to our right, in January this area had been home to hundreds of Brent Geese, Lapwings and Golden Plovers, today though there was nothing except a small cloud of Gulls following the distant tractors and about a dozen Red Legged Partidges who looked a little lost running alongside one of the ploughed fields. (Having read “Letters from Sheppey” Blog it looks like this ploughing has been going on for a few days).

As we neared the first bend, things picked up a little with a Little Egret to our left and three geese flying overhead a pair of Brent Geese with a white Goose. A scan with the scopes over all the fields about picked out a Kestrel on a distant fence post; a mixed flock of Golden Plovers, Lapwings and Starlings in a couple of distant fields and a two Mute Swans even further away in a gully. Nearer at hand were half a dozen Greylag Geese (no White Fronts though). A scan of the shore line revealed a large number of Shelducks and Curlews. It was about this time we picked up our first Marsh harrier of the day, but it was some distance away).

Ringed Plover (near gun emplacement earlier when there was some light)  - Canon 400D + 100-400mm

We reached the Sea Wall hide to find the ladder cut off and a Health and Safety closure notice. Why only on the hide, why not a warning in the Car Park too? A long walk to see a rotting shed on stilts, I have had better days! However I was close enough now to a small group of white geese I had seen earlier and as expected they were Domestic Geese.

The return trip picked up a bit with more sightings of Marsh Harriers quartering the wetlands, Shelducks and Curlews flew past us making their way inland and several Reed Buntings were flitting between the footpath and the reeds to our left. A Cormorant also flew past. I again checked the Lapwing fields by the bend and was surprised to see among the Plovers and Starlings a Marsh Harrier, just sat in the middle of them all. The photo is very grainy as the light was awful and they were over 500M away. I have underlined the smaller birds with little red 'x's. It was while we were watching the Marsh Harrier that a Sky Lark started to sing high above us, in the overcast sky he was easily picked out.



Marsh Harrier amidst Lapwings and Starlings  - Canon 400D + 100-400mm

We were about 400 yards from the car park when a large grey shape took off about 100 yards to our right which the binoculars revealed to be a male Hen Harrier, only the second Hen Harrier I have ever seen and my first male of the species, a fantastic sight, he kept very low to the ground heading South where we lost it close to the shore. I was glad we had made the trek after all, unfortunately I had already packed my camera up for the day. There was still one more to add to the list, in a tree next to the car park was a small flock of Corn Buntings.

Other species seen throughout the day included Magpies, Carrion Crows and Wood Pigeons. We had inevitably disturbed a few waders close to the path on our journey and I am sure Snipe were among these, however as I had not seen a stationary one, with my eyesight I am unwilling to call it. An odd day, with 38 between us, a bit low in all honesty but understandable with the ploughing and weather. In the car, BRFM radio had the news that the bridge off the island was closed due to a wardrobe fallen off the back of a lorry (I kid you not). A very odd day to be sure.

Chatham Dockside 11-1-2012

Yesterday I merged a shopping trip with bird watching and went to Chatham Dockside. After the shops I took a stroll around the Marina and Basin No2. The Marina had loads of boats but little in the way of birdlife, Feral Pigeons were around and a Pied Wagtail was flitting between low rooftops and the boardwalk. There were also a large number of Black Headed Gulls about but no sign of the Dabchicks I saw on my last visit. I moved on to Basin No2 where there had been consistent reports of a Long Tailed Duck and intermittent reports of a Great Northern Diver.

I crossed the road and quickly scanned the basin, there was a Cormorant happily sat on a buoy, a pair of Mute Swans and a couple of distant Coots but no sign of the two birds I had come to see.  However I did get these three Black Headed Gulls to pose for me. The lighting was perfect with the sun behind me, if only I had got the depth of field correct (the one at the back is slightly out of focus).

Black Headed Gulls - Canon 400D + 100-400mm

I had a closer look at the Cormorant on the buoy, which revealed its true identity; it was actually a Shag. I had heard of them on the Thames, but had not expected to see one, especially this close.

Shag - Canon 400D + 100-400mm

I walked along the south side of Basin No2 and saw the Long Tailed Duck diving on the opposite side. I walked round and managed to get quite close, however I was now facing into the sun. Fortunately the Long Tailed Duck was quite close to the pontoon which runs alongside the north side of Basin No2 and so was able to get an angle without too much glare.

First Winter Long Tailed Duck - Canon 400D + 100-400mm

Nicely chuffed with the short outing, I made my way back to the Marina where I saw a Cormorant flying over my head, a few Blue Tits in someone’s front garden and a couple of Carrion Crows on the grassy area in front of the shops. In the Marina were another couple of Mute Swans, I am not saying they were tame but they swam straight towards me and when just below where I was standing one of them barked (it was probably more like a cough) at me four or five times staring straight at me, presumably to feed them!!!

Stodmarsh NNR 9-1-2012

Yesterday Stephen had a day off work so we decided to check out Stodmarsh NNR where the Glossy Ibis had been seen. The weather was overcast all day, so apologies for the grainy photos, a high ISO helped a little, but not much. Stephen had already seen a Cetti’s Warbler before my arrival. We decided to walk anti-clockwise around the reserve starting off with the nature trail but it did not reveal anything other than the call of a Pheasant, but once beyond it a scan of distant trees with the scope revealed a large flock of Fieldfares, which were also using nearby telephone wires alongside a Starling and a Chaffinch, the only bird nearer was a Blue Tit or two moving through the nearby trees.

Mute Swan - Canon 400D + 100-400mm

The stroll to Marsh Hide was fairly uneventful, Long Tailed Tits were about us and large numbers of Carrion Crows in the distance. We had a couple of brief glimpses of a Sparrowhawk as it flitted across the path ahead of us, disappearing behind a tree, re-appearing with something in its talons before disappearing behind the trees again.

Marsh Harrier - Canon 400D + 100-400mm

We reached Marsh Hide where there was a fair amount of activity from a small number of Water Pipits pottering about on mud mounds, constantly on the move, one eventually came slightly closer than the others to get a half decent photo.

Water Pipit - Canon 400D + 100-400mm

A little Egret was feeding here as was a Redshank and two Ruffs. Patient scanning revealed a couple of Marsh Harriers, and then I spotted a ringtail Hen Harrier over by the river disappearing as soon as I saw it, it then reappeared less than a 100 yards in front of the hide before disappearing off to the East. How it had got from the river to us in so short a time baffled me and it must have been very low to get so near undetectcted.

Redshank and 2 Ruffs - Canon 400D + 100-400mm

Walking from Marsh Hide towards Grove Ferry we came across a Stonechat which was happily posing, so I took advantage of its generosity. Further along the footpath we climbed up to the Stour bank where we found Blue Tits and a Great Tit, also a Kestrel showed well in a tree.

Stonechat - Canon 400D + 100-400mm

We ate our lunch in the Bus Shelter at Grove Ferry where we could see skittish Lapwings take off from the viewpoint lake, on one of these flushings smaller waders could be seen in their mist, and on another occasion instead of settling again as normal, the whole flock kept climbing until almost out of sight, we assumed to get above a specific predator – but we did not see any ourselves. Whilst sat here a couple of Ring-necked Parakeets flew past behind the shelter (sadly unseen by Stephen).



Turfted Duck (Feast Hide) - Canon 400D + 100-400mm



After lunch we checked out the feeder at Grove Ferry where a couple of Dunnocks and a Robin were enjoying themselves. Next we walked up on to the ramp which gave us views of a large flock of Lapwings and about 50 Greylag Geese, a few Starlings were amongst them as were about 5 White Doves; Teals and a couple of Pintail Ducks were in the water along with a pair of Mute Swans, I also saw a Great crested Grebe on my first sweep of the lake, but it disappeared and was not seen again.

Little Egret (Marsh Hide) - Canon 400D + 100-400mm

The next stop was Feast Hide, however the only birds present were some Mallards (including two which were crossbreeds with something, probably a Domestic Duck), Teal, Tufted Ducks and some Gadwalls, I tried for some photos but the light was waning fast and this is the best I could get.

Pair of Gadwalls - Canon 400D + 100-400mm

Leaving the hide we saw another Kestrel. We walked back along the river, scouring the water meadows, but no joy with the Ibis, however of interest were a large number of Pied Wagtails, there were more than 30 of them feeding on one small patch. Small groups of Jackdaws flew overhead as dusk approached ever closer.

We reached Tower Hide where we had good views of large numbers of Cormorants, Shovelers, Pochards and Teal with a smattering of Gadwalls and Mallards also a solitary sleeping Great Crested Grebe. A Great Black Backed Gull was in the water towards the SW of the lake. The walk back to the Car Park was uneventful with Wrens and Cetti’s Warblers calling but both remaining hidden. Throughout the day we had seen Cormorants flying overhead, small flocks of Fieldfares on the move, larger flocks of Lapwings being disturbed and Blue Tits wherever there were a few trees, Coots were in most of the Water courses we had passed as were Moorhens though not in quite as many as the Coots and Carrion Crows were in all parts of the reserve. Others sighted and unmentioned above include Wood Pigeon, Black Headed Gull, Blackbird, Magpie and one Heron we had seen in flight.

Mute Swan - Canon 400D + 100-400mm

It had been a good day despite the bad light, I make it 43 sightings each (if you include the Doves) with a total of 44 seen and 2 heard (Wren and Pheasant).

New Hythe Lakes 7-1-2012

On Saturday afternoon Wendy and I went for a quick stroll at New Hythe lakes we only took binoculars so no pictures I’m afraid. We started off by checking the footpath by Strikers Lake, nothing other than a Coot and a Tufted Duck on the lake, however Blue Tits were in among the trees, just above our heads, a Robin was bobbing around at knee height, whilst at the very top of one tree a Great Spotted Woodpecker could be seen. Down to Ocean lake where we saw Canada and Greylag Geese, some Mallards, Mute Swans, Moorhens, Coots, and Tufted Ducks also what I assume are White Mallards. A few Herring Gulls were interspersed among the Black Headed Gulls.

We walked alongside the woodland by Strikers Lake towards the scrape, however other than a few Wood Pigeons, Magpies, Carrion Crows and a Blackbird, not much else was about. At the Scrape all was quiet, however we did pick out a pair of Jays at the far end. As we moved towards Round (Dipping) Pond a flock of about 20 Goldfinches rose up from the ground and chattered from the trees, we moved quickly on. A couple of Coots and BH Gulls was all there was at the Round Pond.

We then walked round the back of Round Pond where we saw a pair of what from their behaviour could only have been Wrens, however we never got a clear look at them and not a peep out of them either; we also saw a mixed flock of Blue Tits and Long Tailed Tits, at the same time there was also a couple of Great Tits but I am not sure they were travelling with the other two.

Due to limited time we decided to walk between Streamside and Railway Lakes as far as the bridge and then return, this was a good choice, on Streamside we saw Gadwalls and a pair of Shovelers, whilst on Railway we added Great Crested Grebe to the list. The return walk between the lakes gave us the best treat, a small flock of Siskins in the trees about 10 feet from us, constantly on the move, the wing bars in the dimming light confirming their identity, also with them was a Chiffchaff. The rest of the Walk back was uneventful though a couple of Cormorants had flown in and were now roosting on a boat one of them drying its wings. Not a long list, but still some nice spots for what was a walk with my girlfriend and not a Birding walk.

Oare Marshes 6-1-2012

Friday was a lovely day with lots of sunshine and with a drop in wind from Thursday the perfect birding weather, Thus with a song in my heart and a skip to my step I made my way to Oare Marshes. Parking up I made my way up to the ramp to find the tide was already on its way out. Despite a tide table that Wendy has given me, I never seem to catch it right at Oare, I am either just too late for the tide going out or far too early waiting for it to come in. From the ramp I saw Curlews, Ringed Plovers, Dunlins, Redshanks and a Grey Plover feeding on the shore whilst a Common Gull watched me from a nearby pole. 

Redshank - Canon 400D + 100-400mm

I had decided to go anti-clockwise today and so walked back up the road passing a small flock of Greylag Geese to my right. On the East Flood my first scan revealed a couple of Snipe (sleeping), some Teal, Pintail Ducks, Starlings, Moorhens, Lapwings and Black Tailed Godwits on the islands, whilst in the water I saw some Shovelers, Mallards, Coots  and Wigeon.

I then made my way to the West Flood Hide, you never know your luck – the West Flood Hide either has nothing or a couple of nice surprises. On the way there I saw a Green Woodpecker, whilst from the hide itself a Greenshank was clearly visible and then a Green Sandpiper showed up (I am willing to be corrected see photo below), 2 Pheasants also chose to feed nearby one walking across straight in front of the hide, a Dunnock was in some distant Brambles and a heron flew overhead.

Greenshank - Canon 400D + 100-400mm

Greenshank & Green Sandpiper - Canon 400D + 100-400mm

Green Sandpiper - Canon 400D + 100-400mm

Back walking around the East flood I found a Robin and a Blackbird to the south of the Path and a Little Egret which took off from near the hide, fresh looks over the flood revealed a Ruff feeding nearby with Coots and Tufted Ducks out on the water. A check of the reeds on the opposite bank provided a Dabchick. Walking towards the sluice gate a Reed Bunting sat and posed on a wire fence, but not long enough for me to get the camera out of its case.

Pheasant - Canon 400D + 100-400mm

The creek banks were home to loads of Redshank and Dunlin, a few Oystercatchers were interspersed among them. From the Seawall hide I saw Turnstone with one feeding quite close to the hide, it was interesting watching him climbing over the rocks and with his whole head bulldozing the seaweed around searching for food. A small flock of Brent Geese flew east, a Cormorant was the only non-Gull amongst the Herring and Black Headed Gulls on the Swale. Looking across the Swale Common Seals were basking on Horse Sands whilst in the far distance a flock of Avocets could just be seen. Some Shelducks were over towards Whitstable and on most of the exposed sandbanks in the Swale.

Turnstone - Canon 400D + 100-400mm

Having warmed up again in the hide I walked back towards the car park, I had one last look at Sheppey from near the ramp top where 2 other birders were with their scopes; and what wonderful people they were initially pointing out 2 Kestrels, one in a tree on the west flood, the other on a tree half way up Mocketts on Sheppey and then guiding me to a Short Eared Owl which was patrolling the fields and ditches to the East of Ferry House Inn. I doubt if I would have picked out any of them myself. A fantastic finish to the day. Seen but missed off the list above are Magpie, Carrion Crow, Wood Pigeon, Mute Swan and Great Black Backed Gull. The tally was 46, not bad for me.

Greenshank - Canon 400D + 100-400mm

Dungeness 23rd December 2011

With Christmas fast approaching and the end of the year nigh I went with Stephen to Dungeness on the 23rd hoping to get a few extra  year ticks before it was too late and despite recent rain and weather reports of cloud with showers it was a nice bright sunny day with little wind.

We started off at the ARC pit; parking up we were greeted by a small flock of Tree Sparrows, we moved on to the hide and were surprised to find it empty. There was a lot going on with Lapwing covering most of the islands, whilst plenty of Tufted Duck, Gadwall, Coot, Widgeon and Teal were in the water, among them was a single Goldeneye. Some Mute Swans flew in and amongst them was a solitary Bewick’s Swan, whilst on the far bank a Great White Egret was chased off by a Heron. It flew to our side of the lake, but disappeared into the reeds.

Great White Egret - Canon 400D + 100-400mm Lens

Gulls were also in abundance, mainly Great Black Backed and Herring Gulls whilst closer to us on our right a Cetti’s Warbler called and made a couple of brief appearances. A flock of Long Tailed Tits with a few Blue Tits in their midst were to our left, a Robin also made an appearance as did a Chiffchaff and a Wren.

Chiffchaff - Canon 400D + 100-400mm Lens

The final sighting at the ARC was a Long Tailed Duck, it was about as far from us as you could get from us and still be seen with a telescope next to the far bank, an excellent start to the day. As we left the hide Stephen showed me the short walk nearby which was fairly quiet except for a Great Spotted Woodpecker clinging to the top of a tree posing very nicely – if it wasn’t for all the twigs.

Great Spotted Woodpecker - Canon 400D + 100-400mm Lens

At the reserve proper we decided to walk clockwise round, taking in Firth, Makepeace and Scott hides, however the sun was to the South dazzling us for over half the lake and making it impossible to identify anything other than by silhouette. There were more Coots and Cormorants plus a fantastic amount of Shovelers to be seen here. From the last hide where the sun effects were not as bad we could also pick out some Pintails which had been hidden behind one of the islands. Pochard, Garganey, Wigeon and Tufted were also present.

Christmas Dell hide had very little on show, a Great Crested Grebe, some Greylag Geese, a couple of Tufted Duck and a pair of Mallards who were courting, not only this but after a short courtship display, they mated. Egg laying in January? According to a couple of dodgy domestic duck sites I have looked at it is unlikely,  mating does go on throughout the year with fertilized egg production only occurring as a result as expected in spring. I am on the search for more learned sources.

Robin ay ARC - Canon 400D + 100-400mm Lens

Denge Marsh hide gave us fantastic views of Marsh Harriers. At one point there was a pair working their way southwards, whilst at the same time another single Marsh Harrier stayed over to the North, this latter eventually sat on a post opposite the hide, remaining there about 10 minutes, sadly my autofocus could not lock-on and all my photos of him came out fuzzy. I checked the pylons and wires for smaller raptors, but found only Starlings and Wood Pigeons. From the hide we saw quite a lot of Dabchicks, one of which was noticeably smaller than the others; this was also noticed by a passing Magpie which made an attempt to grab at it as it flew over. Its small size and the fact it seemed to sit lower in the water led us to believe we may have been looking at something else, but a little book searching left us with the conclusion that it was just a small dabchick. Black Headed Gulls were in the pool, a Little Egret was across hunting across the other side and we also managed to pick out a few Reed Buntings among the reeds on the far bank; then a fellow watcher in the hide with us spotted a Kingfisher sat on an ideal perch in a break in the reeds to the North.

Coot - Canon 400D + 100-400mm Lens

In our travels between the hides we had seen Blackbirds, a flock of about 10 Great Tits, Carrion Crows, a Chaffinch, Green Woodpecker(s) (several sightings),  Shelduck were in small numbers on a couple of the lakes, and we saw Lesser Black Backed Gulls but I cannot remember where though it was probably at the ARC among all the other Gulls, which is where Stephen also saw a Redshank missed by me due to  all the Lapwings being spooked as soon as he saw it and everything rose into the air, it was fascinating to watch the swirling mass of birds, but we never saw the Redshank again.

Reed Bunting on feeder at Visitor Centre - Canon 400D + 100-400mm Lens

We left Dungeness to go to Littlestone to see the Short Eared Owls, checking the back of the ARC as we went, the only new sighting was a Black Tailed Godwit – which Stephen missed, whilst nearer to Littlestone we saw 3 Brent Geese fly over. We arrived just before dusk, but had missed the Owls, apparently they had been out most of the day and dusk was now too late to see them. However soon after parking up a Peregrine Falcon flew past us, his mask clearly visible through the binoculars. We did see loads of Curlews on the beach with some Oystercatchers and Godwits which Stephen identified as Bar-Tailed, also a friendly Pied Wagtail paid us a visit. It was a highly successful day with 53 different species (individually 52 each), topped off with clear sightings of the Great White Egret, Great Spotted Woodpecker and the Peregrine Falcon. We had lovely weather and met some lovely people in our travels.

Chatham Docks

Living in Chatham I took the opportunity on Sunday morning to go with Wendy to the Outlet Centre and walk down to the Marina and Basin No 2 hoping to catch the Long Tailed Duck that has been there for the last few days. I arrived at 10.30am and the sun was shining brightly. The marina held 3 Little Grebes which were spending more time under water than on top, a few Herring Gulls sat on the rails and several Black headed Gulls buzzed us, I presume looking for handouts – they were disappointed; a Pied Wagtail was also bobbing about on the open footpaths. We crossed the road to Basin No 2 and my luck was in, the Long Tailed Duck was there in full view preening in bright sunshine not 20 feet away. The following are just a few of the photos I took with a borrowed Canon 20D with my 100-400mm Lens attached. I could have spent all day there, but after an hour Wendy wanted to go shopping, that was why we had gone to the Outlet Centre after all, wasn’t it?.