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!!!

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?.