Monday 31st July 2006 Pegwell Bay
I popped down just before midday to see Craig (AKA Daisy) and we watched
the incoming tide. Nothing unusual showed of course but we did see 190
Oystercatcher, 10 Grey Plover, 6 Whimbrel, 20 Dunlin,
15 Turnstone, 15 Little Egret, 6 Greylag, 26 Great
Black Backed Gull, 600 Sandwich Tern and 20 Common Tern.
A few Hirundines were making their way south - 80
Swallows, 15 House Martins and half a dozen Sand
Martins. (Phil M)
Monday 31st July 2006 Kingsdown
About 50 Gannets flying north during a 20-minutes watch from the
cliffs yesterday evening – a ratio of 2 adults to one juvenile.
(Steve Coates)
Sunday 30th July 2006 Preston Marshes
As Gadget had never seen Cattle Egret, in the UK, we took a
leisurely drive over to the Preston Marshes where the bird was still
present in the company of a large flock of feral Greylag & Canada
Geese. The pool on the water meadows (TR 240605) also
had a few Lapwings, an eclipse male Wigeon and a lone Green
Sandpiper in attendance. We spent quite a time just watching the Cattle
Egret; noting the rather snake-like hunting technique that involved
the bird assume a horizontal pose and move its' head left & right
several times before suddenly striking out at an item of prey. I have
never noted it before and can find no mention of this technique in BWP?
Back up by the car we had fabulous view of at least 3 Spotted
Flycatchers and an adult Little Owl with a handful of juvenile Yellow
Wagtails present on the potato field besides Preston Church. Great
stuff. (Dylan & Gadget)
Sunday 30th July 2006 Reculver Area
The cloud and southerly winds encouraged a handful birds to move this
morning. Sightings included 1 Arctic Skua, 1 Little Stint,
12 Bar-tailed Godwits, 6 Whimbrel, 2 Green Sandpipers,
3 Snipe, 1 Grey Plover, 23 Lapwings, 20 Common
Terns, 1 Cuckoo, 1 Kingfisher, 80 Yellow Wagtails,
3 Common Scoter, 17 Little Egrets and 4 Mediterranean
Gulls. (Tim Hodge)
Saturday
29th July 2006 Seaton & Preston Marshes
A walk along the river from Seaton to the Preston Marshes was a very
pleasant way to spend the afternoon. A Kingfisher flew upstream
carrying a small fish and there was a steady stream of Black-headed
Gulls moving west overhead. The pits were rather quiet with just a
handful of Tufted Ducks and a Great Crested Grebe. A Kestrel
hovered in the distance and I had nice views of a juvenile Grey Wagtail,
as it chased flies near the concrete bridge. Once on the Preston Marshes I
followed the riverbank and after several scans of the area, was finally
able to locate the bird that had brought me here. A Cattle Egret
was watched feeding around the margins of a shallow pool in the company of
a large flock of Greylag Geese. Not quite what I was expecting.
There were several Lapwings and a bonus Wigeon sharing the
pool and I also noted a few groups of Swallows hawking over the
fields or recently harvested hay. I took a few pics then headed off
homewards, mission accomplished! (Dylan)
Friday 28th July 2006 Garden Minster
At 2pm today 28th July had this pink faced juvenile Starling in my
garden, managed to get four shots of it. Is it an aberration or a rosy?
(Don Wilks)
Thursday 27th July
2006 Minster Marshes
as
it was cooler took a walk across the fields plenty of common butterflies
but not much else except a rather large family of Mute swans.
I had heard that a pair of swans had 13 cygnets and have been looking for
them for some time and there they were today on a dyke bank preening two
adults and twelve Cygnets, its the biggest brood I have seen in
Minster, the most before was eight young.
(Don
Wilks
Sunday 23rd July 2006 Grove Ferry & Preston Marshes
I was walking the Grove Ferry entrance track at 05.45hrs, but despite
both Martyn & Brendan's cars being parked in the lay-by neither of
these stalwarts were on duty on the ramp. A quick scan revealed 7 Ruff,
13 Green Sandpiper, 2 Little Ringed & 1 Ringed Plover
and 3 Common Snipe amidst the usual array of Mallards, Lapwings,
Little Egrets and Grey Herons. I moved on to the Green Hide
where 2 adult Common Terns were resting on the floating platform. A
Little Grebe was fishing in the dyke right outside the hide and
several Cetti's Warblers were calling from the tangled vegetation
on the left-hand side of the path. Keeping going I recorded 2 Whimbrel
and a Curlew flying W/SW over the reserve and also managed to get a
few images of a female Bearded Tit in the reeds on the bend just
after the "Baillon's Pool", which held a lone Greenshank.
The missing birders were found strolling along Harrison's Drove, complete
with news of a Cattle Egret seen in the semi-darkness around dawn!
It had flown off towards Seaton and I thought that the Preston Marshes
could be a good bet. It seemed like a good idea so off I went in search of
the missing white heron. Preston Marshes are a wonderful part of East
Kent, but try as I might, I failed to locate the bird despite scouring
every flock of sheep and herd of cattle. I even tried the horse paddocks -
same result. The effort wasn't wasted, however, I did manage to find a
pair of Spotted Flycatchers feeding a brood of three well-grown
young in an old Horse Chestnut and also a juvenile Little Owl that
allowed me to within 2 metres with no signs of alarm - it just stared at
me through those huge yellow eyes - magic stuff! (Dylan)
Sunday 23rd July 2006 Grove Ferry
Cattle
Egret at Grove Ferry
today, Photographs by (Martyn Wilson)
Saturday 22nd July 2006 Pegwell Bay
An evening session turned up: 450 Sandwich Tern, c12 Common Tern,
1 1st summer Roseate Tern, 1 juv Mediterranean Gull, 8 Little
Egrets, 1 Peregrine, 6 Whimbrel, 2 Ringed Plover,
15 Dunlin etc. Francis saw 2 Curlew Sandpiper, 1 Little
Stint, 80 Dunlin, 12 Whimbrel, 12 Grey Plover, 6 Knot
and 4 Greenshank on the morning tide and Dave Beadle saw a
'northern' Hobby on his wander down to the Bay from the West
Cliff. (Phil M)
Saturday 22nd July 2006 Oare Marshes
A late afternoon drive across to Oare was all I could manage. The tides
were wrong, so wader numbers were much lower than my last visit. I spent a
couple of hours viewing the East Flood, mainly from the road although I
did venture into the hide during a brief spell of rain. The waders were 40+
Dunlin, 1 Little Ringed Plover, 5 Green Sandpiper, 1 Common
Sandpiper, 1 Avocet, 17 Ruff, 3 Whimbrel (fly
overs), only 1 Black-tailed Godwit with a smattering of Lapwings
& Redshank! Nice views of Little Egrets, Marsh Harriers and
imm Yellow Wagtails around the reserve and plenty of opportunity
for digi-scoping - very enjoyable. (Dylan)
Friday 21st July 2006 Manston Thanet
Little Owl
Took a day off work today (Friday) to get some chores
done, finished those and thought I would try and spot the Little Owl
at Manston, drove out there and found the spot, had a look but no Little
Owl on the nearest pile of rubble, bit disappointed I wandered up
the road a bit further to see round the mound of earth and low and
behold there on another mound of rubble was the Little Owl showing
well, set the scope up to try for some photos difficult because of the
intervening vegetation. While I'm doing this, by coincidence a friend from
work was passing by and saw me so he and his wife came
over and I had fun showing them the Little Owl through my scope,
then I saw a tall chap coming in our direction and I thought
"oh no, not security", images of those Greek plane spotters
going through my mind but no, it turned out to be Simon who kindly showed
us the old watch room with the pellets and we got better views of the Little
Owl from the car park. All in all the best half hour or so I have had
in ages. Owl watching is not something you normally reckon on doing midday
in July. Thanks Simon for reporting it. (Mick S)
Friday
21st July 2006 Pegwell Bay
I popped down for the evening tide seeing: 493 Curlew, 4 Whimbrel,
7 Greenshank, 220 Redshank, 1 Knot, 2 Bar-tailed
Godwit, 260 Oystercatcher, 8 Grey Plover, 7 Lapwing,
18 Dunlin, 2 juv Mediterranean Gulls, 1 adult Roseate
Tern, 32 Common Terns, 380 Sandwich Terns, 14 Little
Egrets, 1 Sparrowhawk and 1 Peregrine. (Phil M)
Thursday
20th July 2006 Pegwell Bay
I had to go down to the Bay to see some hairy Geezer about a moth so I
watched the last knockings of the incoming tide. There were - c350 Sandwich
Tern, c6 Common Tern, 5 Whimbrel, 2 Greenshank,
280 Curlew, 13 Dunlin, 1 Barwit plus a handful of Grey
Plovers. (Phil M)
Thursday 20th July 2006 Grove Ferry (05.00 -
07.00 hrs)
The sweltering conditions did nothing to aid a good night's kip so I was
up and turning the moth-trap off just after 04.30hrs. A very pleasant
drive across to Grove was the result and a couple of hours wandering
around the reserve. Not much water left anywhere. From the ramp the right
hand pool has almost completely dried up and the main lagoon is just a big
puddle! 8 Little Egret, 23 Green Sandpiper, 7 Ruff, 1
Greenshank, 2 Ringed & 1 Little Ringed Plover, 30
Black-tailed Godwit and an assortment of ducks, Black-headed
Gulls, Common Terns and Lapwings about sums up the birds to be
seen. I headed off to Harrison's Drove, noting a few Sedge & Reed
Warblers still singing odd phrases as I passed. A family party of Cetti's
Warblers were in the willows beside the Green Hide and a few Bearded
Tits were in the reeds by the sharp bends. Harrison's Drove was
nothing more than a damp patch in a muddy desert. 3 Common Snipe, 3
Little Ringed Plover and another Green Sandpiper were
my meagre reward. Returning to the Green hide, I was pleasantly surprised
to find the water levels in good health but, ominously, 2 Redshank
flew in and landed out off sight to the left of the tern raft - there must
already be exposed mud at that end of the pool! Several Common Terns
were hunting over the pool and I was able to get a few pics of adults and
juveniles as they rested on the platform. A few drops of rain fell, yet
not enough to wet the grass - looks like we're in for another sticky 24
hours? (Dylan)
Wednesday
19th July 2006 Newington Thanet
I heard a Green Sandpiper calling in the darkness over the garden
at 00.25hrs during one of my many overnight checks of the garden moth
traps. (Phil M)
Tuesday 18th July 2006 Grove Ferry
Spent a
couple of hours or so taking a slow walk around the Grove Ferry end of the
reserve in the increasing heat - 6:20 -9:15am. The Ramp produced 4 Little
Egrets, a couple of Grey Herons, Little & Ringed Plover
& a variety of Sandpipers, providing much fun in IDing the same
due to the heat haze & their strange insistence on staying where the
puddle of water was! Could make out Common, Green, & one Wood
fairly easily, together with a Greenshank & couple of Ruff.
Otherwise this area was populated by assorted common ducks, Black
Tailed Godwit, looking splendid in the sunshine, & Lapwing.
Several ages of Black Headed Gulls was also present & a number
of squabbling Common Tern. Just one Greylag. A walk along
the river as far as Paddy's bench produced 3 Turtle Dove, a Cuckoo,
unseen (surprisingly!) but certainly heard Ring Necked Parakeet,
Blackcap, Common Whitethroat, & a party of 10 or so juvenile Long
Tailed Tits - never noticed their 'devil-like' red eyes before,
spoiling their 'cute' image somewhat! The water level at Harrisons was unsurprisingly
low, as was the variety of birds. Raptor-wise, just 3 Marsh
Harriers, a flyover Sparrowhawk, & a distant large-ish bird
which was possibly a Buzzard. My attempts to get any images of
Bearded Tits was a non-event, a slight breeze apparently preventing
the odd bird seen from making an exhibition of itself! (Ben Ring)
Tuesday 18th July 2006 Palm Bay, North Foreland
& Ramsgate Harbour
I turned the moth trap off at 04.45hrs and headed off to Palm Bay. The
playing field behind the school had a nice mixed flock of gulls, the bulk
being Herring Gulls and Black-headed Gulls but there were
also 5 adult Lesser Black-backs Gulls, 4 adult Common Gulls
and a, rather tatty, adult Mediterranean Gull. Despite the fact
that it didn't have a coloured ring, it did have a metal ring on the left
leg and I can't help wondering if it is White OHA returned? That
colour-ring was in a very worn state last winter and the material it was
made out of is now known to be faulty - so loosing it is not beyond
the realms of possibility. However, only time will tell. Nothing much else
apart from a flyover Whimbrel, calling as it went south, so I went
to North Foreland to check the gulls on the fields around the lighthouse
and in Joss Bay. Again the majority were Herring Gulls and Black-headed
Gulls, but I did find 7 adult Lesser & 3x2nd summer Great
Black-backs Gulls. The most bizarre sighting was of an Oystercatcher
flying down Elmwood Avenue towards the sea, calling loudly as it went.
Still no coloured rings so my last option was the harbour. I should have
known better! Loads of boats moored in the outer harbour meant lots of
activity, despite the fact that it was only 07.00hrs. A Turnstone
and 2 Rock Pipits were the only birds of note whilst overhead a few
Swifts were "screaming" over the town centre - can't be
long before they leave us for another year. (Dylan)
Monday
17th July 2006 Pegwell Bay
I popped down in the evening to have a look for a Roseate Tern but
saw none of course. Lots of Sandwich Terns (520) building up as the
evening wore on plus half a dozen Common Terns, 1300 Black
Headed Gulls, 1
Mediterranean Gull, 180 Herring Gulls, c6 Little Egrets,
c60 Redshank, 3 Greenshanks, 7 Whimbrel, 1 Turnstone,
8 Dunlin, 7 Grey Plover, 1 Ringed Plover plus there
were a few Sand Martins overhead and a pair of
Peregrine present. (Phil M)
Sunday 16th July 2006 Oare Marshes KWT Reserve
The superb weather, combined with a heavy social commitment, meant that I
didn't get out until 17.00hrs. Deliberately wanting to get a few pics, I
drove over to Oare Marshes, where the setting sun provides superb
opportunities to get good images of the birds on the East Flood - just by
standing besides the road. As usual, I didn't attempt to make any serious
counts but, there were several hundred Black tailed Godwit
(including three colour-ringed birds), 30+ Ruff - mostly adult
males and also including a Dutch C-R bird, 1 Green Sandpiper, 1
adult Knot, 7 Dunlin, 1 Whimbrel flying over, a large
number of Redshank with lesser numbers of Lapwing and Oystercatcher.
A Common Tern dropped in briefly and I noted the Bar-headed
Goose was still in residence amongst a large assembly of Mallards.
An eclipse male Garganey was sleeping on one of the islands and
several Little Egrets were scattered around the margins. I was back
home just after 20.00hrs having enjoyed yet another excellent session at
this wonderful reserve. (Dylan)
Sunday 16th July 2006 Pegwell Thanet
Tide up produced a scattering of returning waders and Terns etc.
1 Little Ringed Plover, 3 Golden Plover, 7 Grey Plover,
3 Knot, 4 Greenshank, 1 Dunlin, 250 Sandwich
Tern, 10 Common Tern, 24 Little Egrets and 34 Sand
Martins north. (F Solly)
Sunday 16th
July 2006 Reculver
A few bits at Reculver this evening included 1 Hobby, 5 Common
Sandpipers, 9 Whimbrel W, 4 Dunlin, 300 Sand Martins,
4 Little Egrets, 1 Greenshank and 24 Redshank.
Thursday 13th July 2006 Manston Thanet Little Owls
I was fortunate last month to get a job back at Manston, a place I'd
worked at for 17 years before the demise of Planestation. Anyway, in and
around the then redundant Jet Support hangar I found evidence of owl
activity. Owl pellets, droppings and feathers were all numerous. There is
a windowless Porter cabin behind the hangar that is the most prominent
place they must sit. I heard young owls up in the roof but nothing
was seen until Monday 10th when two owlets were seen and heard on a
pile of concrete and building debris behind the hangar. Thanks to my
photographs they were identified as Little Owls. I'm not sure how
many there are but at least one was almost constantly in view, even now on
Thursday. It hides if I'm getting too close but soon reappears. I'm
a novice birdwatcher hence the slow identification myself but seeing any
Owl in the wild is a first for me.
(Simon P)
Thursday 13th July 2006 North Foreland (19.15 - 20.15 hrs)
I spent an hour seawatching in the shelter of the boarding around
the pumping station at North Foreland. There was a stiff NW blowing and I
thought that there might have been a chance of a Shearwater. There
was a steady procession of Sandwich Terns fishing offshore with the
occasional Common Tern for company. A smart adult summer Mediterranean
Gull flew south, just after I arrived and I also recorded 7 Gannets
(6 south, 1 north) Sadly this was about as good as it got. Lesser
Black-backed Gulls were conspicuous, with good numbers moving
into the wind and a large flock resting on the field below the Lighthouse.
I did have a quick scan for colour-ringed birds, but the majority were
sitting down! As I prepared to leave I recorded my first juvenile Common
Gull of the autumn as one flew south along the cliff top. (Dylan)
Thursday 13th July 2006 Reculver Area
Still rather quiet. An early morning walk included a juvenile Mediterranean
Gull, 3 Common Sandpipers and a brood of Gadwall, but
not much else. Barry saw a Black Redstart and Green Sandpiper
yesterday. (Tim Hodge)
Wednesday 12th July 2006 Garden Newington
Thanet
I saw a single Sand Martin fly over the back garden this afternoon
- they are less than annual over the estate. Also overnight whilst
watching the moth traps there were quite a few Sandwich Terns
flying over in the darkness. (about12.30am) I heard both Sandwich and Common
Tern a couple of nights back too. It always seems a bit wired getting
Terns flying over the estate in the darkness even though I hear them quite
regularly in the summer months on return migration. (Phil M)
Tuesday 11th July 2006 Grove Ferry
I
had a short session at Grove Ferry this afternoon. Obviously, the major
draw was the desire to relocate the Great White Egret, but I was
not over optimistic and consequently not surprised when I failed. Plenty
of birds about the reserve and I recorded 21 Green Sandpiper, 26 Black-tailed
Godwit, 6 Ruff - all moulting adult males, 6 Little
Ringed & 1 Ringed Plover, 1 Greenshank, 3 Little
Egret, 2 Cuckoo, 2 Wigeon - the resident female and an
eclipse adult male (large white wing panels), 1 juvenile Water Rail
and a single Golden Plover amidst the large flock of Lapwings
(300+) on the left hand pool from the ramp. A few other bits included
a juvenile Marsh Harrier, 1 Hobby and a juvenile Kestrel,
whilst there was still a lot of activity amongst the Reed & Sedge
Warblers across the reserve and Bearded Tits were particularly
showy on the bend beyond the Green Hide. (Dylan)
Monday 10th July 2006 Reculver area
An early morning walk around the Reculver area produced a juvenile Wheatear,
2 Little Gulls (adult summer and second summer), 1 Garganey,
15 Gannets, 4 Dunlin and 6 Marsh Harriers. There were
a couple of Mediterranean Gulls, 2 Common Sandpipers and 20 Common
Scoter there yesterday.
(Tim
Hodge)
Sunday 9th July 2006 Grove Ferry
Despite the fact that the majority of the UK populous have yet to have
their summer holidays, migrant waders are already on their return
"autumn" migration. With this in mind, I drove over to Grove
Ferry. Martyn Wilson was in "pole position" on the ramp and
reported the sighting of a Great White Egret at some un-Godly hour.
I surveyed the scene from the ramp. Plenty of Common Terns,
Black-headed Gulls, Lapwings and common Ducks, but apart from 5 Little
Ringed & 1 Ringed Plover, 1 Greenshank and 4 Ruff
there was little to report. I headed off to Harrison's Drove, seeing an
adult Hobby hunting over the water meadows. Harrison's Drove pool
had 7 Marsh Harriers (including a group of 4 over Stodmarsh - a
family party perhaps?) 1 Kingfisher, 5 Green Sandpiper, 1 Ringed
Plover and 2 Redshank but little else of note. I retraced
my footsteps, calling in at the Green Hide to check the water levels. This
was a bad move as I missed the return of the Great White Egret.
This news was relayed as I walked back up to the ramp. I spent a further
hour in well - humoured company. I managed to get brief flight views of
the Great White Egret, as it flew around the distant pool before
dropping back out of sight, as well as recording 2 Sparrowhawk,
11 Ruff, 10 Black-tailed Godwit, 1 Cuckoo, 3 Little
Egret and a small flurry of Sand Martins and Swifts.
(Dylan)
Thursday 6th July 2006 Minster Treatment Works & The Abbott's Wall
I awoke early, 04.45hrs, and, after switching off the moth trap, drove to
Minster; seeing a Hobby hunting over the fields by St. Augustine's
Cross as I passed. I parked in Station Approach and walked the track
down to the treatment works and the River Stour beyond. Plenty of
activity amongst the resident birds. Greenfinches, Linnets and
Starlings all seem to have had a particularly successful breeding
season. Walking down the track revealed the Reed and Sedge Warblers
had also had a very productive breeding season with many young birds
around the hedgerows and dykes. I walked down to the fishermen's carpark,
seeing several small parties of Black-headed Gulls as I went. A
male Cuckoo called a few times in the distance and I found a female
Yellow Wagtail feeding three well-grown young as I headed out along
the Abbott's Wall. Common Whitethroats were very conspicuous and
had a large number of juveniles amongst their ranks. It would seem that
despite my own reservations, this spring has been a good one in this part
of the world? I made my way back, slowly, seeing several Kestrels
hovering in the distance and the bizarre sight of 3 Green Woodpeckers
together on a telegraph pole way out in a field of wheat. As you can see,
it was hardly cutting edge birding, but somehow I didn't care - could it
be because the French beat the cheats? Vive La France, and I never thought
I'd say that! (Dylan)
Wednesday 5th July 2006 Dumpton
Thanet
There
was a juvenile Swallow perched on the wires by Newland's Farm as I
pedalled across to work this morning. Good numbers of Starlings, House
Sparrows, Linnets and Greenfinches seem to be present locally
but, in all probability, they are no indicators of national
trends. Half time in the France vs. Portugal (yuk - spit!) game revealed a
male Song Thrush signing from our t/v aerial. I only took the
picture because we have so few pics of Song Thrush in our
archive! Oh! By the way I'm so very pleased that France got through - as
to who wins the Final; I have no preference, now I know that it won't be
Portugal! (Dylan)
Tuesday 4th July 2006 Reculver
and Minnis Bay
A few more signs of autumn this morning, with a Garganey, 7 Teal,
a juvenile Cuckoo and 3 Dunlin at Reculver and a Greenshank
and an adult Common Gull at Minnis Bay. The gull had two legs but
only one foot, so, sadly, any colour rings would have slidden right off. A
few other bits I’ve seen in the area recently include a Green
Sandpiper and two Long-eared Owls at the Minnis end and a Barn
Owl and Hobby at the Reculver end. Whilst I was away there was
a Quail at Minnis Bay and an adult Roseate Tern seen by
Chris Hindle at Coldharbour on June 29th. (Tim Hodge)
Tuesday 4th July 2006 Oare
"If you can't stand the heat " - the car
temp gauge was just nudging 20ºC as I parked at Oare at 6:45am and not a
hint of a breeze. I had a very slow walk around the reserve, seeing not
much different from Dylan on Sunday, save for not seeing the Bar-Headed
Goose & seeing a Little Ringed Plover on the East Flood -
the heat haze (God's fault) & sweaty focusing (my fault), rendering my
distant images useless! Again, there were probably 12 Little
Egrets present. Reed Warblers were very obvious & I had a
nice sight of an adult with 2 juveniles pestering to be fed. Two Avocets
were dozing in the sun near the roadside, but indiscreet coughing on my
part failed to encourage them to wake up. The West Hide had very little
except a Mute Swan with 3 small-ish cygnets in tow. (Cute factor!)
Leaving Oare at 9:15, I headed over to Grove. The Ramp viewing was
distinctly hazy with the birds present not a lot more than differing sized
& shaped blobs. Reed Buntings seemingly called from every
vantage point, soaking up the now very strong sun. Really nothing out of
the ordinary to report a fem & m Marsh Harrier passing food
provided the highlight as I cut my walk short, headed up to the river
& back along to Grove ferry carpark at 11:20am (Ben
Ring)
Sunday 2nd July 2006 Oare Marshes KWT Reserve
I can't claim to have been in the best of humour, following the England
vs. Portugal fiasco. Too much Stella and still it couldn't numb the
pain! Oh the joys of being an England fan? Hey-ho - I left Bev around
07.45hrs and drove across to Oare Marshes. Top down, sun shining, from a
clear blue sky, and the wind doing its' best to remove the lingering anguish
of the previous evening. Oare Marshes is a brilliant place to get close to
birds, chill out and enjoy the natural surroundings. Today was no
different. I made no attempt to record numbers, but did note several small
parties of moulting adult male Ruff, 30+ Black-tailed Godwit,
12+ Ringed Plover, 1 Greenshank plus the usual Oystercatchers,
Redshank, Lapwing and Black-headed Gulls. Raptors were
represented by two Marsh Harriers and a Kestrel, although
Geoff Burton had seen a Hobby and Peregrine prior to my
arrival. A male Yellow Wagtail sang continually from the far side
of Faversham Creek whilst Sand Martins, Swallows and Meadow
Pipits were all present in good numbers. Many Little Egrets
were scattered around the site and included a very smart juvenile bird
showing distinctly yellow/green legs. The escaped Bar-headed Goose
was resting amidst a large number of its' Greylag cousins and an Avocet
was feeding close to the road on the East Flood, although the early
morning sun did nothing to aid my attempts at a decent image. Roll on the
European Championships - C'mon England! (Dylan)
Saturday July 1st 2006 Minnis
area
I’ve been away a lot recently, but managed to get a couple of hours
birding in this morning in the Minnis area. As to be expected at this time
of year, not much to report, but a few bits included 1 first summer Little
Gull, 63 Turnstone, 2 Curlew, 2 Marsh Harriers, 1
Lesser Whitethroat, 1 Eider, 1 Little Egret, 4 Lapwings
W, 14 Sandwich Terns, 15 Common Terns and 40 Linnets.
(Tim Hodge)
