Saturday - New Romney - mild, light airs - Fine weather for a four mile flog around the local lanes and tracks from home out towards St Mary-in-the Marsh. As expected small birds were at a premium with just a scattering of Goldfinches, Chaffinches, Skylarks, singles of Cetti`s Warbler, Greenfinch and Song Thrush and 20 Blackbirds noted. Raptors, however, were much in evidence with at least two each of Kestrel and Sparrowhawk, plus four Buzzards. Most numerous were corvids, Woodpigeons and Magpies in the sheep fields and Common Gulls on winter wheat (what on earth do they find to eat?).
Sunday - Scotney - mild, overcast with drizzle, W3 - In contrast to yesterdays slim pickings the wetlands around the gravel pit lakes at Scotney were alive with birds, particularly the front sward that attracted c1,500 Golden Plovers, c1,000 Lapwings, c1,000 Greylags along with hundreds of Starlings, Wigeons, Shovelers, Egyptian and Barnacle Geese. Amongst the throng were six White-fronts (probably laggards from last winter that stayed over, one of which had a dodgy wing), 10 Redshanks, two Curlews and 20 Linnets. The lakes held the usual common diving ducks, gulls and grebes, plus Marsh Harrier, Kestrel, Buzzard, Great White and Little Egrets and two Green Sandpipers outback.
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