Dog Days

Cold and Wet, SW 4 - Its the fag-end of the year and difficult to get motivated to go out birding when its chucking it down; although when you`ve got a bundle of energy like Ted who has to have two walks a day, out you go, despite the weather! However, to be fair there have been some dry and sunny, frosty days this past week enabling two afternoon visits to Littlestone golf links where we had no joy with the Short-eared Owls, but plenty of wintering waders on the foreshore and an incredibly confiding Skylark (see below). Our farmland walks around New Romney have yielded a few winter thrushes and Cetti`s Warblers along Hope Lane and plenty more Song Thrushes and Blackbirds in the hedges on the Salts, plus good numbers of Meadow Pipits, Stonechats and Skylarks, a few Corn Buntings, Yellowhammers and Linnets, several Marsh Harriers and Common Buzzards and thousands of Starlings, Stock Doves, Woodpigeons, Lapwings, Golden Plovers and black crows over Belgar Farm.

                                 Corn Buntings, Romney Salts

                                  Ted rabbiting

    Skylark, Littlestone

Forays out to Walland Marsh along the Midley road over the weekend have produced hundreds more Fieldfares and a thousand plus Stock Doves, plus 33 Bewick`s and four Whooper Swans from Hook Wall. On and around the bird reserve at least one Great Northern Diver is still present on Burrowes/New Diggings, while the first Goosanders and White-fronts of winter have been reported. Elsewhere, an adult male Hen Harrier has been seen at various locations across the Marsh over the past few days.

                                 St Nicholas church, New Romney