Nightingale

Lade - Lockdown Day 23 - warm, dry and sunny, e2 - Another fine, but cold start to the day that soon warmed up as the morning progressed bringing forth a number of Small Whites, Peacocks and Small Tortoiseshells onto the wing. There was a lot more Whitethroat activity across the site, including one singing over the road from the cottage in scrub by the fort, while a few more Sedge and Reed Warblers had moved in around the lakes, plus Blackcap, Cetti`s Warbler and Chiffchaff. A single Swallow went through and a Marsh Harrier quartered the main reedbed.

                               Whitethroats singing from scrub and power lines

                                Colour-ringed Sanderling

  However, bird of the day, and new for the list was a Nightingale (95) that delivered two bursts of song from deep within cover in the willow swamp. Its something of a scarce passage migrant down here on the coast and reminded me that this could potentially be a spring without a visit to the Low Weald to search for this supreme songster in the bluebell woods.
  On the beach a small flock of Sanderlings scurrying along the tideline included a bird with yellow leg rings from a Dutch ringing project. The east wind delivered another new bird for the Lockdown List in the form of several distant Gannets (96) crossing the bay along with 20 Sandwich Terns. Yet another Red Kite was noted flying along the coast at around 1130hrs from the cottage.