Warm, dry and sunny, NW 2 - This morning we checked out the local patch at Lade where there was nothing much out of the ordinary. A couple of hundred Pochard and Tufted Duck and 50 Great Crested Grebes remained across both waters, while two Common Sandpipers and four Little Egrets were on the margins of south lake. The reedbeds were alive with chattering Reed Warbler juvs while a couple of Lesser Whitethroats tacked noisily by the ponds. Moving onto Kerton Road quarry where after many decades of aggregate excavation the diggers have finally fallen silent and been removed from site leaving another wetland habitat available for future conservation use. And it was busy today on the high tide roost with hundreds of Mediterranean and Black-headed Gulls and Sandwich Terns (good to see a few juveniles present), 50 Oystercatchers, two Bar-tailed and a Black-tailed Godwit, two Common Sandpipers and a Red Knot. We moved onto the beach to check the foreshore where hundreds more terns and gulls were roosting on the shingle and flying around fishing. Scanning the bay revealed at least six Grey Seal heads bobbing up and down in the distance along with a wild swimmer (at least a quarter of mile out) crossing the bay. I had him in view for about 20 minutes as he swam from Hythe direction, steadily headed towards Dungeness.
Yesterday`s outing took us to Dengemarsh for a circular walk around the reserve and adjacent farmland. Despite the recent rainfall the hayfields were dry and unsuitable for waders, although a Green Sandpiper flew over hayfield 3 calling. From the hide at least four fledgling Common Terns were being well attended to on the tern island and a couple of Common Sandpipers fed around the margins. Two Great White Egrets, a juvenile Marsh Harrier and a family of Lesser Whitethroats were also noted, plus a few Yellow Wagtail, Skylark and Corn Bunting on the arable-lands. The highlight of the morning evolved as we approached Manor Farm by the road where a thousand or more Sand Martins appeared from nowhere, settling on the the chicken shed roofs and along the overhead wires. For 20 minutes we were immersed in a marvellous twittering, swirling mass of birds, after which they rose as one and flew south in one huge straggling flock leaving behind total silence.
On the way home yesterday around noon a check of Greatstone beach from the Tavern yielded a minimum of 500 Mediterranean Gulls amongst a couple of thousand Black-headed and Common Gulls, plus 100 Sandwich Terns, 200 Oystercatchers and six Bar-tailed Godwits.
No comments:
Post a Comment