Thursday 18 August 2011

Off The Marsh

Shorne Marshes, Kent - 0730hrs - cool, ne 3, cloudy - Ventured off piste this morning to recce a couple of sites for magazine articles. Started at Shorne Marshes near Gravesend, a large area of grazing meadows and lagoons on the south shore of the Thames. Plenty of warblers in the bushes along the old canal path plus wagtails, finches and hirundines over the fields. Also, 2 Whinchats, 5 Wheatears, Redshanks, Lapwings and Green Sandpiper and hundreds of gulls and terns on the river.
Stockers Lake, Herts. - 1100hrs - An old local patch of mine comprising mature gravel pits in the Colne Valley near Rickmansworth. Good to reacquaint with birds rarely encountered on the Marsh such as Kingfisher, Grey Wagtail, Red Kite, Jay, Nuthatch and (unfortunately) Rose-ringed Parakeets.
Dungeness - 1600hrs Back on the Marsh and an hour long seawatch from the boats produced a mix bag of 100 Common and Sandwich Terns with singles of Black and Arctics, 10 Kitts, 50 Gannets, 2 Arctic Skuas and 3 porpoises.
                                        Shorne Marshes, Kent
                                         Stockers Lake, Hertfordshire

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