NEW HYTHE & STODMARSH 12TH &13TH APRIL 2011

After my wanderings along the North Downs on monday and with a couple of hours on my hands on tuesday, I thought i'd drop in at New Hythe to see what was occurring. It was chilly in the cool NW wind but I was confident it would warm up nicely as the morning progressed. It didn't. I didn't like it, and I don't think the birds did either.

I noticed Terry Laws' car in the car park so I gave him a quick ring to see what he'd found. He told me to watch out for a large mixed Hirundine flock around Brooklands lake. He was right, and they were still there, over the SE corner, dozens of them. I stopped a while and managed to pick out some House Martins among the Swallows and Sand Martins, my first of the year which bought my NH year list to 87.

I met up with Terry round the Sunken Marsh where we stood for a while hoping to strike lucky with an over flying Red Kite or Osprey, well, you have to speculate to accumulate don't you? Maybe our aspirations were a tad high though as we only managed Greenfinch, Cetti's Warbler, Chaffinch, Cormorant, Heron and Canada Goose. I blame it on the wind. We moved on after a while and headed towards the railway path, picking up Gt. Spotted Woodpecker, Bullfinch, Reed Bunting, GC Grebe, Jay, and our first Speckled Wood at New Hythe this year which earned it poll position at the top of the post.

Abbey Mead was home to just Coots and Tufties, no sign of the drake Wigeon reported there the day before. But we did see a couple of displaying Sparrowhawks in the distance, our only raptors of the morning. In the east scrub a Nightingale started to sing but immediately gave up. I blame the wind. The only other notable here was a yaffling Green Woodpecker, which sounded suspiciously like it was laughing at us. I suggested a diversion to the Water Vole stream, but there was no sign of them today, too many peope about I think, however a Common Whitethroat was good compensation. From here, we could hear a Willow Warbler singing it's descending notes over in the west scrub, I hadn't seen one this year, and so began a long mission which eventually resulted in a sighting which brought my year list to 88 for NH. I reckon we must have spent an hour or so trying to get a look at Reed and Sedge Warblers which were singing in various reedbeds around the site during the visit. We failed miserably. I blame the wind!

Today (wednesday) Alan Roman and I went to Stodmarsh in search of a Wood Warbler which had been reported there. Yes, I know I moaned about twitching the other day but that was the other day, i've changed since then. Anyway, we soon found the bird's preferred area in the Alder wood near the car park. And after spending about 20 minutes searching, during which time Blackcap, Treecreeper and Wren, were seen, we returned to the car park to pick up our rucksacks before heading off round the three mile circuit. This took us past the Alder wood again and this time we were lucky enough to see the Wood Warbler. It was mostly in the canopy of a large tree, where it flitted restlessly and sang it's soft, trilling song. We both had fairly good views but it was out of reasonable camera range for me. Never mind, it was very nice to see it. I like twitching.

As with most places, Blackcap and Chiffchaff seem to be the dominant singers, but they were ably assisted to day by Wrens, Cetti's and a few Common Whitethroats among others.

The main lake was very quiet, just the usual Swans, Mallards, Coots and GC Grebes, as well as a few left over Shovelers. The ever present Marsh Harriers, the males looking superb in their breeding plumage, patrolled the margins and sometimes treated us to a spectacular display dive over the reed beds. Sparrowhawk and Kestrel were the only other raptors seen, no early Hobby to harass the Hirundines which came and went in flocks during the day. It was mostly too cold for butterflies, but in a welcome burst of milky sun we did find an Orange Tip, pictured above and a couple of Peacocks. But the sun soon lost it's influence and allowed the cold wind to regain it's hold and the butterflies disappeared as quickly as they had arrived.

The water in front of the viewing ramp was very high and there was nothing much to hold our attention. But soon after leaving it a pinging call from the adjacent reedbed resulted in a very welcome sighting of a Bearded Tit. This is a species which is apparently in decline at Stodmarsh with numbers dropping quite considerably over the last few years. The David Feast hide was deserted inside and nearly so outside, with just a single Shelduck, a Swan, a Greylag and a Moorhen to watch while we munched our lunch.

On the way to the Marsh hide we had a single Skylark which sung in true summer fashion, hanging almost motionless in the grey sky above Harrisons Drove. I thought it was a law of nature that when a Skylark sang the sun had to come out. That's what it seemed like when I was a kid, but not today. In fact it started to rain, not much, but enough to hurry our pace towards the hide, pausing only to note a small flock of Linnets and some frogs in the stream along with a single newt.

From the Marsh hide we watched the Konik ponies, listened to Reed Warblers and saw two Stock Doves and surprisingly five Yellow Wagtails which flew up unexpectedly from the wet margins.

If you can 'twitch' a single bird and then have the pleasure of finding another 53 species of your own, as we did today, you can't really knock it can you.

NEW HYTHE TUESDAY 4TH JAN

Although it brightened up a bit this afternoon, my walk around the lakes this morning was almost always in semi darkness. I apologise for another Robin picture but apart from ice bound Coots, they are the only thing that stops flitting long enough for a picture at the moment and personally I think they look nicer than the poor old Coots.

Talking of ice bound, the eastern side of Brooklands lake had refrozen this morning, a bit of a bummer for the three or four fisherman who had woken up to find their line stuck in the ice I should think. Still, much of the lake was unfrozen, so life must be a bit easier for some of the birds now, including the two Goldeneyes which were still in residence today.

Other nice sightings included 26 Lapwings lazily heading south along the river and a Redshank making the most of the last piece of muddy bank as the tide rose quickly. A Kestrel, not seen for a while, which swooped down from it's pylon perch in the sunken marsh. Four or five Bullfinches who's doleful calls accompanied me, almost always out of sight, as I walked the river path. A total of three Goldcrests and three Great Spotted Woodpeckers scattered across the site. Two Green Woodpeckers, and a Bittern which was seen flying across the top end of Streamside lake and landing in the 'usual' Bittern reedbed. A single Fieldfare down the Brook house track along with the usual flock of Siskins, calling noisily and only quietening down when stopping to feed on the Alder seeds. But probably best of all were two Treecreepers who revealed their presence in the west scrub with their short high pitched trill. I haven't seen them in the scrub before and I enjoyed watching them chase each other around through the trees for a while, accompanied by singing Great Tits which gave the scene an almost Spring like atmosphere, apart from the fact that it was still nearly dark of course, which is why there's no photo's of the event.

A total of 46 species recorded today which included four that were new for the NH year/month list, Redshank, Kestrel, Wren and Treecreeper. A couple of Jackdaws and some House Sparrows were also added from the garden this afternoon which brings the total so far to 56. I suspect it's going to slow down somewhat now!

THE WAXWINGS ARE HERE (SOMEWHERE)!!

I had a call from Dennis Capeling this afternoon about 2 o'clock to say he'd just seen a Waxwing at New Hythe along the Brook House entrance track. Alan Woodcock also saw a flock in Snodland , just along the road. How could I resist? I drove to Brook House but couldn't find anywhere to park, I wasn't sure what was private and I didn't fancy getting clamped or towed this close to Christmas. Only one thing for it, park at Tesco's and walk, which I did.

It was absolutely freezing, with the Northerly wind whipping across the East scrub straight off the North Downs, I was even forced to put my hat on!

By 2.30 the light was fading fast and all I could make out were Redwings and Goldfinches, most birds seemed to be flying off to roost out of the bitter cold. If there was a Waxwing there I couldn't find it and I don't know now when I can get back down there.

I walked back to the car park via the lakeside path where I was accompanied by a flock of Long tailed Tits and a few small parties of Chaffinches. The lake is still solidly frozen and I could make out a few Coots standing hunched on the ice, their lot is not a happy one at the moment. The highlight of my very short trip was a close fly past by the local Whooper Swan, such an elegant bird and a real treat to see at any time. He circled a couple of times trying to find somewhere to touch down but without success, last seen heading for Johnson's lake. So, no Waxwings for me today, there's still time, I just don't know when yet.

In the meantime, I wish all fellow bloggers and all readers of this blog, a very merry and warm Christmas and a happy new year.

New Hythe Monday 29th November

I left the car in the drive today and walked from home to Brooklands lake and back via the country park. These are some of the good bits.

The Goldeneye, pictured above is still on the smaller of the two Alders Lakes, aka the Trout lake. It's very difficult to get close to but I managed to sneak up a bit nearer today. There was a flock of about twelve Siskins feeding in the first Alder tree down the towpath between the two Alders lakes along with some Goldfinches. On the big lake were plenty of Pochard, Shoveler and Gadwall alongside the regular species, but strangely no Gt. Crested Grebes as far as I could see. Probably due to a lack of small prey fish in this lake since it was given over to monster Carp.

I accidentally flushed a Common Snipe from the Bittern viewing spot, one of two seen today, unfortunately though, despite my best efforts, I didn't see the Bittern. But after i'd seen it a couple of weeks ago, Eddie Denson spoke to some contacts at SE Water and I believe Mid Kent Fisheries and the Country Park and asked for some extra protection for the birds. Today I saw this sign which refers to the fishing swim directly alongside the reed bed that the Bitterns use. This could have been a major disturbance for them if it had been occupied by fishermen for days and nights on end. Nice one Eddie.

Still good numbers of Little Grebes on the river, where I saw the second Snipe of the morning along with three Redshanks, a single Lapwing and one of two Kingfishers seen today. There were literally hundreds of Redwings in and around the sunken marsh as well as three Bullfinches, a Green Woodpecker and a single Fieldfare.

And finally, i'm pleased to say that the Slavonian Grebe is still with us on Brookland lake, although it took me about half an hour to find it. There was also a Goosander at some point in the morning but I managed to miss that. Grrrrh!!

No new additions to the New Hythe November list today, which looks like staying at 56 species.

Reculver and a Hoodie, Tuesday 16th November

Carol and I went to Reculver yesterday and it was glorious. Sunny, calm and mild, the sea was like a millpond, the reflection of the winter sky giving it a milky appearance and blurring the horizon.





One of the first things you notice at Reculver at the moment are the Brent Geese, small skeins flying sometimes just above the sea with their white rumps flashing in the sunlight and bigger flocks moving to and from the farmland grazing areas. Their voice, much less strident than some geese sounding almost duck like to me and quite pleasant.

We walked along the sea wall to Coldharbour seeing a single Wheatear which absolutely refused to turn around to be photographed. Two Stonechats which were desperate to get their picture taken but kept getting spooked by cyclists. Various Skylarks, Meadow Pipits, Reed Buntings and Goldfinches, not to mention Little Egrets and the ever vocal Redshanks. But try as we might we still couldn't find the Hooded Crow which eluded me last week.

On the shingle were the even more vocal Oystercatchers, Ringed Plovers running daintily along the water's edge along with Turnstones, a couple of Curlew on the small island exposed by the receding tide and ten Snow Buntings which accompanied us for the last couple of hundred yards before we reached the path to take us inland. Strangely they were reluctant to venture out into the bright sunshine, preferring to stay in the cold shadow of the sea wall except when they made small flights, their wings then flashing white in the sun.

Our walk back alongside the railway line wasn't without excitement. We found three different birds of prey, the first being a Kestrel which sat on a graffiti ridden sign alongside the railway line, what a contrast. A distant Marsh Harrier checking out the reed lined ditches and best of all a Merlin, which we first saw twisting and turning in the distance before suddenly diving down towards some low bushes, probably in pursuit of unseen prey, and then streaking across the fields in front of us and landing on a small mound of soil alongside a ditch. Fantastic stuff!

We checked out every Crow and Rook that we saw in the fields or in flight in the hope that we still might find the elusive 'Hoodie' and finally on a small causeway in the oyster lagoons, just before we reached the end of the walk Carol spotted it, hanging out with it's mates, or cousins, the Carrion Crows. As ever it was difficult to get a reasonable shot of it due to distance and vegetation but the pictures below at least show the grey front and mantle that gives it it's name. It seemed really odd to see one of these birds in Kent having only seen them in the north and Scotland before.

And finally, I know I keep posting pictures of Robins but I can't help it, this one was in the bushes up against what I believe is the Roman wall near the Reculver towers.

New Hythe Friday 12th November

I noticed Terry Laws' car in Brooklands car park this morning when I arrived for a pre lunch wander. I met Terry on the path between Brookland lake and Abbey Mead and he'd already seen Common and Green Sandpiper on the river as well as a Redshank, a nice little trio for New Hythe. I would have liked those myself but i'll hopefully get them before the month ends. We watched the sunken marsh for a while hoping for something unexpected to appear and it did, two late Martins turned up! No, not Sand and House but Warburton and Coath and very welcome additions they were.

Some of the birds seen included Redwings scattered around the site in small groups and a couple of small flocks of Fieldfare. A Great Black -backed Gull cruising over the river. A single Goldcrest, spotted by Terry near the SE corner of the sunken marsh, with at least three others heard calling in various places but not seen, as was the case with the local Bullfinches. A kestrel balanced precariously on the pylon in the sunken marsh and a Sparrowhawk which performed a spectacular sky dive from high over the river path, disappearing from our view and no doubt causing pandemonium among the many Wood Pigeons which reside in the riverside trees.

On the river were at least three Little Grebes which still seem to favour it over the still water at the moment. Various small groups of Teal and a Grey Wagtail were all seen at the far southern end of the river as was a splendid Kingfisher which flew fast and low across to the far bank. This superb bird seems to be on the up at New Hythe, I see them regularly now in three or four separate locations, despite the fears of decimation from last winter's severe cold. This might be the case in some areas but maybe the proximity of the river helped these birds when the lakes were ice bound.

There were a few Pochard on Abbey Mead and several more, plus a couple of Gadwall on the Railway lake, but generally duck numbers remain low, especially on Abbey Mead where the Tufties, coots and Great Crested Grebes look particularly lonely at the moment being spread over such a large area.

Having bumped into Dennis and Doreen, who later reported another Goldcrest and the elusive Bullfinches, we arrived at the divers' car park alongside Streamside. While scanning the lake Martin (Coath) heard a short burst of Siskin call nearby, shortly followed by a small flock which arrived in the Alder tree which we were standing under, we weren't sure at that point how many there were but we later saw five flying out of the same tree. My last recorded sighting of these at New Hythe was on 6th January 2009 and this takes my NH year list to 99!! The champagne is in the fridge ready for the surely imminent 100. But with just 49 days of the year left i'd better get my skates on.

Along the Millstream on the way back to the car park we spotted three Pied Wagtails and these, together with a Collared Dove seen earlier on the paper mill, the GBB Gull and of course the Siskins bought my November NH total to 51 species.

By the way, I didn't get any pictures today so for decoration i've posted the Robin above which I took on 9th January 2009 at New Hythe in the big freeze up of that year, just to remind you of what's to come........

Dungeness RSPB Wednesday 10th November

After a couple of days of horrendously wet weather even the bitingly cold wind at Dungeness made a welcome change today.

Nothing startling to report i'm afraid but here are some of the minor highlights.

Tree Sparrow, Reed Bunting and Moorhen on the feeders in the car park. Well actually the Moorhen was under the feeders but even that looked a bit bizarre.

Two Shelducks, Gadwall, Shoveler, Pochard, Lapwing, Little Egret, and Wigeon plus the usual crew on Burrows pit.

Kestrel, Marsh Harrier, Green Woodpecker, two Skylarks over, Goldfinch and two Goldcrests on the way to Christmas Dell hide. Also two Common Darters and a probable Migrant Hawker, amazingly on the wing in the icy wind! Peregrine Falcon seen from the Christmas hide flying along the far side of the lake alongside a Marsh Harrier.

Two Snipe over, Little Grebe and a couple more Marsh Harriers joined me for coffee from the Denge Marsh hide.

Female Goldeneye, Grey Heron, Teal, two more Little Egrets, at least three more Marsh Harriers and all the usual Gulls species on the ARC pit. That was about it really, 43 species seen in about four hours, by which time I was cold and the wind didn't seem quite such a welcome change!

Although the light was much better today I still struggled to find birds willing to stick their heads up over the parapet for a picture. Most, not surprisingly electing to stay buried in the undergrowth or hunkered down in the reeds for shelter. Only the Marsh Harriers appeared to relish the wind which seemed to help them fly even slower over the reedbeds in their attempt to surprise their lunch. It's an ill wind that blows nobody any good.

Anyway, the Robin, Goldfinch and Dunnock below were the best I could do to brighten up today's offering.

Dungeness RSPB Friday 29th October

With a forecast of 20 mph southerly winds, which would probably be more like 30 mph across Romney Marsh I thought it would be far too windy to visit Dungeness on friday and the best and most sensible thing to do would be to stay local.



So I arrived at the ARC Hanson hide at Dungie at about 10 o'clock in the morning because I never learn! And it was windy, very windy. The only surprise on this side of the reserve was two Swallows which flew past as I walked to the hide. From there I watched a Marsh Harrier terrorising the occupants of the reedbeds on the far side of the lake, and on the lake I saw Wigeon, Teal, Mallard, Gt Crested Grebe, Gadwall, Tufted Duck, Pochard and a male Goldeneye, all among the usual assortment of Gulls and Cormorants. The water level seemed higher to me than the last visit so no waders present that I could see.

Very few birds were able to make themselves heard above the strong winds on the main reserve, but as ever the Robins managed it giving full blast from the tops of the bushes like the one pictured above.

Surprisingly the Goldcrests, pictured below, managed to make their high pitched call heard from deep within the undergrowth. I saw six in all and heard quite a few more. Great to see but hard to photograph them as they search relentlessly for whatever tiny morsels they can find. I always think they must burn energy faster than they can replace it but they seem to manage, except in the very hardest conditions.





It was nice to see a hunting Kestrel and a single Stonechat along the path near Christmas hide. I managed to get this less than stunning shot of the Stonechat as it waved around in the wind. Is it me or does this bird have a seriously bad attitude?

CHATTITUDE

Other birds seen in the vicinity included a Sparrowhawk which glided across the path putting up a Common Snipe from the watery meadow, half a dozen Meadow Pipits, a couple of Little Egrets, two Lapwings, and a couple of Marsh Harriers which unlike me seemed to relish the blustery conditions, sometimes hanging like Kestrels above the reeds, head on to the wind as they searched for a meal.

I was pleased to seek shelter in the Denge Marsh hide and was surprised to find it completely empty. So I took the prime position and while there was nothing much to see I amused myself trying to get a few pictures despite the greyness and lack of light. First to oblige was the Little Grebe below. I was really pleased to get a couple of shots of this super little bird, something i've not managed to do before. They are so incredibly shy I can never get near enough.

Next up was this female Ruddy Duck, one of two which showed up and stayed long enough for me to capture a few poses. They are of course superb divers so I wound up the elastic band in the camera to full speed and spent a bit of time trying to capture the action. They are very quick and you get no real warning when they are about to dive but dozens of shots later I managed to get it nearly right hopefully.

The only other notable bird seen from the hide was a distant Kingfisher so I decided it was time to call it a day and head back to the visitor centre. On the way I added Chaffinch, Gt. Spotted Woodpecker and another Kestrel, or more likely the same one I saw earlier. Anyway this one had a tasty morsel in it's sights and hovered just long enough for a couple of quick shots before diving to the ground, unfortunately lifting back up empty handed a few seconds later.

When I reached the car park I sat in the car and had a late lunch while watching the feeders. This paid off when I saw a Reed Bunting, surprisingly scarce at the moment and two Tree Sparrows bringing the species list to 46. Excellent reward for a bit of an uncomfortable few hours
at Dungie.

New Hythe 1st February

I ended January with 65 species seen at New Hythe throughout the month, not a bad count, but I think it was probably helped by the really cold weather which brought a few of the less common species such as Snipe, Jack Snipe and Woodcock to the area. I don't think i'll be adding many new birds during this month but out of interest I am going to count the species seen for February to see what changes.

I arrived at 09.20 this morning in bright sunshine and headed off towards Brookland lake after logging my first eight species of the morning in the car park, including Starling, Redwing and Goldfinch among others. The lake itself produced the usual wildfowl species including Pochard, Moorhen, Tufted Duck, Coot and a female Goldeneye in the SW quarter of the lake. Also around the lake were good numbers of Song Thrush, Robin, and the ever present flock of Long Tailed Tits moving urgently through the trees and bushes in their never ending search for food, their high pitched contact call confirming their presence as usual before they were seen.

The tide was low on the river and I picked up the first of many Little Grebes here as well as a single Lapwing, some Teal, a Redshank, lots of Grey Herons and best of all two Shelduck at last, which is year tick 66. Further upstream were two Lesser Black-Backed Gulls and a Common Gull standing together in the shallows and the first of several Kestrels made it's way slowly downstream. The sunken marsh was practically deserted today, all I noted was a Dunnock, a couple of Magpies and two Mute Swans flying over low, which I belive landed on Abbey Mead where I also found a single Canada Goose and another seven Little Grebe.

After walking across a seemingly deserted East Scrub I walked up the Brook House track in the hope of finding some Siskin or Redpoll but neither showed so I had to be content with a Gt Spotted Woodpecker and Gt Crested Grebe on Johnson's lake, Shoveler also made the list here.

I added Greenfinch while crossing the West Scrub, and then went to the Bittern area of Streamside more in the hope of a Kingfisher than a Bittern but the lake was frozen and all that I added in this area was a Wren along The Millstream. On the way back past Railway lake I saw another six Little Grebes which bought my tally to 14 of these delightful little birds, one more on Brookland lake on the way back made it 15. The final part of the walk took me along the southern edge of Brooklands and back to the river where I had a quick cup of coffee, during which time I added Cock Pheasant and Sparrowhawk to my list and although a last minute 'rummage' round the edge of the lake produced a fleeting glimpse of a Water Rails rear end disappearing into the reeds, I wouldn't exactly call that a bum note to end on!!

My final list included 44 species and I was very happy with that, but where were the Bullfinches? Not one heard or seen today, likewise Green Woodpecker, just goes to show you can't take anything for granted. Hopefully they and others will turn up in episode two, although that won't be for a little while because I am off to Tobago in the sunny Caribbean sea on thursday morning, well someone's got to do it. I'll be looking forward to catching up with all the latest when I get back.