Rain

I went into this week full of anticipation. Annual leave from work, national lockdown so not much else to do but bird, winter visitors in huge numbers at all my local spots. 

And then it shat it down for basically the whole week. What was earmarked as quite a fun blog entry to write swiftly turned into clutching at straws for something to talk about.

Monday morning saw a trip down to the Isle of Sheppey in the hope of finding Owls and some scarcer winter visitors. Parking up at Harty Church, I wandered down to the Swale Estuary Reserve and was immediately struck by how muddy it was. Apparently cows had been moved in to naturally graze the saltmarsh, and they certainly left it in a right state! 

Ultimately I had no joy with Owls, but there were tonnes of Kestrels and a few Marsh Harriers around. Other highlights included Snipe, Reed Bunting (which I had convinced myself was a summer visitor, apparently not!), Red Legged Partridges and a crazy Hare that I narrowly avoided turning into roadkill.

I walked the length of the marsh for a brief sea-watch out into the North Sea. Not much was to be seen aside from Turnstones, a few Godwits and various Gulls, and the cold was starting to bite to I headed back. I was hoping to get nearer to a beach that I often spot seals on from the nearby Oare Marshes but the access path was flooded. Essentially summed up the lack of luck on the day!

Took a brief pitstop at Capel Fleet on the way home, this site is essentially a raised mound overlooking farm and marshland, and can be excellent for birds of prey. Again, there was not a lot around today, save for a large rabble of Corn Buntings, but that's the thing with birding. I'll definitely be back before winter is up to try again!

After most of the week had been rained off, I jumped at the chance to head down to Brooklands Lake in Dartford for a quick wander. It's becoming a favourite spot, as long as you can deal with the constant stench of kids smoking pot!

Above, Male. Below, Female. Note the red tinge on her bill that's absent in her fella

We all know why I'm starting to love this place though, and Mr and Mrs Kingfisher showed very nicely in their respective trees. Thoroughly enjoying trying to get better pictures of these guys, although it's always just as you have everything lined up that they get flushed by another walker to the opposite side of the lake!

I wanted to chuck this photo in of a Redwing too. Definitely not the best shot ever, and distant, but I like how it highlights just how close Swanscombe Marshes are to the nearby heavy industry, and how lucky I feel to be able to see some cool wildlife tucked away where noone would think to look!

Birds are now at 88 for the year, so I'm making decent progress on my targets!

Until the next time!

Winter Round Up

I haven't posted a proper blog in a long time, life has been crazy! My New Year's Resolution is definitely to get back to doing this properly, and I figured the best way to start would be to fly through a catch up of the last month or so.

Most of my spare time has been spent working on Northward Hill, preparing the woodland and scrub plots for the arrival of the summer migrants. Hopefully all the hard work will pay off when the Nightingales and Warblers get cracking over breeding season! There's been a few nice spots, including Woodcock and White Fronted Geese, but unfortunately I don't tend to take the camera on work days!

I've moved to Greenhithe, and the joy of having Swanscombe Marshes literally a ten minute walk from my place is definitely something I've been abusing! 

I've started to check out different areas of the reserve rather than my usual route, and one thing I have picked up is to meticulously check the power pylons for Raptors scanning the area. There's definitely a pair of Peregrines that frequent the marsh, and I was lucky enough to catch the female tucking into a Pigeon one afternoon.

Lately the whole place has been taken over by the winter thrushes, with hundreds of Redwing and Fieldfare feasting on the berries. No doubt they'll run out and move on soon enough, but they're going strong for the time being!

On a tip off from another birder at Swanscombe, I've taken a look at Brooklands Lake in Dartford. It seems a pretty decent site for wetland birds, and I got the best photo of a Kingfisher that I've managed so far. I'll definitely be back to see what else turns up, but I'm trying to time it earlier in the day before it gets overrun with kids and anglers.

Riverside has been on the quiet side, I was hoping to get a few more birds there over winter, I'll keep trying but it's mostly a selection of standard Wigeon, Teal and Brent Geese, with a lot of the more common Passerines.

Cliffe Pools is really starting to hot up, with waders and wildfowl starting to peak. I got 63 species today alone there, and that's without the scope! With a little more work, patience and luck I get the feeling it would be possible to top 100 birds in a day there, that could well be a challenge before the winter visitors start to move on!

Highlight of the year so far is a Black Necked Grebe at Cliffe. The UK sees only 100-150 of these guys every winter, so it's a huge priveledge to have one on my local patch! Easily overlooked for a Little Grebe, but subtly beautiful in its monochrome plumage. In summer they are a lot more striking, but I'd be dreaming getting one in breeding plumage!

I'm going to start a new thing this year, keeping a running total of the year list at the end of each entry. My aim is to hit 175 birds, and I've hashed out a vague plan to hit 100 in February, with most of the residents and winter visitors ticked. Hoping to be at 150 in August, and then the passage migrants and any winter visitors I may miss first time around should bring me up to around 175 come the end of the year! Touch wood! 

Current total 69

Aside from the usual sites, I really want to check out Dover and Sandwich Bay in Kent, I need some seabirds! And Covid-Permitting, some trips further afield. Until the next one!