Murky Leybourne

When I arrived at 3 p.m., there didn't seem to be much light this afternoon, and initially very few birds on the Ocean. However after we got a bit further along the path and I let Monty off the lead, things went OK, with more Tufted Duck on the main water, and interesting ideas coming to mind on the trees by the side of the path. There were one or two Wrens by the wooden swan, and later on, a party of mainly Long-tailed Tits, but with at least one Blue Tit, in the Willows on the other side of the path to the hedge-line Alders in front of the first houses.

Many of the Crack Willows, Salix x fragilis, look very orange on the young twigs, particularly the upswept ones on the lower branches nearer the ground, and these may be a form known as nothovar basfordiana basfordiana, colouring up well as the winter proceeds. These are most obvious on the South side of the Ocean Lake, and the East side of the Railway Lake.

The unknown shrubby willow by the last Leybourne Way entrance could in theory be a White Willow. There are no cracks exposing orange in the bark of its main stem indicating that it might be the Almond-leaved Willow, Salix triandra, that I hope for, but it still doesn't look quite right for a White Willow and there is little to no pubescence on the leaves and twigs, although it is admittedly late in the season. It has retained a thin but widespread covering of small lanceolate leaves, but no overall structural jizz of a White Willow. It also feels as though it is naturally comfortable as a shrub, not stretching up to a tree shape!

On the taller and more likely White Willows there are still a few leaves on many of the brushy twigs. On one or two trees there are numbers of willow catkin galls, caused by a virus or mycoplasma.

Along by the wet woodland area, the Grey Willow Carr, I did find one bush of a yellow-green barked cultivar of White Willow, identifiable as such from its leaves on regrowth shoots. It was also possible to identify many of the Grey Willows from a distance, picked out by their retention of their relatively small obovate leaves, obviously colouring up well and often a good butter yellow.

There was also a "Grey Willow type" shrub there, with much larger leaves, so possibly a Grey x Greater hybrid. On the Italian Alders there was quite a lot of leaf weevil type damage, together with
some possible Heliozela resplendella (Stainton, 1851) leaf miners, indicated by the oval cut-outs seen. The leaves are holding fairly well although a bit dulled and some yellowing as they age.

On the Roaden Island Lake there were several Black-headed and one Common Gull, Larus canus, two Canada Geese and one very close-up Greylag, quite a few Coots, a pair of Mallard and some Tufted Ducks.

On Railway Lake there were dozens of Tufted Duck and at least two male Gadwall.

Conwy RSPB

A Water Rail, Moorhen, Coot, Snipe, Curlew, Redshank, Oystercatcher, Black-tailed Godwit, Teal, Wigeon, Gadwall, Black-headed Gull. Herring Gull, Red-breasted Merganser, Pied Wagtail, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Bullfinch, Magpie, House sparrow, 

Penrhos Coastal Park

There were Black-headed and Herring Gulls, a possible Great Northern Diver, a dozen or so Wigeon, hundreds of Dunlin and Redshank, and a hundred or so Pale-bellied Brent Geese.

There were very good numbers of first winter birds, perhaps indicating a good "lemming year" to keep the Arctic Foxes happy, and reduce predation upon the goslings.

This is a group of five, the two adults and three first-winter birds, with the barring on their wings.

The population here is an offshoot of the main group of Irish over-wintering birds. These have come some from Canada but most from north to north east Greenland. There are two main flyways of the Greenland breeding birds. Some of them fly down the east coast of Greenland and then via Iceland to Ireland, being joined by fair numbers of Canadian birds. Others fly down the west coast of Greenland, some crossing the inland icecap at about the latitude of the Arctic Circle, others continuing down and around Cape Farewell, and probably bypassing Iceland. Main migration period mid-September to third week October, arriving in Ireland generally in the second half of October, occasionally shifting haunts over winter. Return occurs April to mid-May, arriving by early June, some crossing the inland ice-cap again. 

Leybourne getting rather gloomy

I shouldn't be surprised really, as I only arrived at 3.30 and the light was rapidly fading from the sky. I went up the West side of the Ocean, across to the Railway Lake and back via the oval pond, by which time it was getting too dark to see much.

There were Black-headed Gulls, one Common Gull, a Canada Goose, a Greylag Goose, several Tufted Duck, Moorhens, many Coots, Mallards, a Great Crested Grebe and Cormorants on the Ocean, but overall it was very quiet at the end of the day. Some Tits flew through the lakeside Alders and Willows, as I got to the Northern half.

On the Railway Lake there were two Great Crested Grebe, Tufted Duck and Coot. On the path I looked closely on the right hand side of the path at the willow (hybrid viminalis and cinerea?) between the lone small Alder and the clump of other bushy Willows. On the oval pond there were a female Tufted Duck, Coot and two Mute Swans.  

Leybourne late on a sunny afternoon

The light seemed to make a real difference to the birds, and there seemed to be a lot of waterbirds and passerines around. Several parties of Tits, usually mixed Blue Tits, Great Tits and Long-tailed Tits.

Many Black-headed Gulls, five Common Gulls, Larus canus, several Greylag Geeses, one Canada Goose, Great Crested Grebes, Cormorants, Coots, Moorhens.

Raptors on Sheppey

A truly great day on the Island, with leader Tony spotting amazing birds with utterly impressive regularity. Merlin, Sparrowhawk (which I missed), Common Buzzard, Marsh Harrier, Peregrine, Kestrel were the target raptor species seen. Black-headed Gull, Herring Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Curlew, Golden Plover, Lapwing, Dunlin, Carrion Crow, Magpie, a lovely Stonechat pair, a very nice Pipit, Corn Bunting, Linnet, FieldFare, Starling, Brent Geese, Greylag Goose, White-fronted Goose, Mallard, Little Egret. Bearded Reedling, Siskin and Kingfisher were heard apparently.

Continental Pear Rust in Hadlow

Here are some long shots high up in the foliage of a Pear Tree in Great Elms, Hadlow, I am sure I can see some galls caused by Pear Rust, with the strange outgrowths on the underside of the leaves.

and here is a closer crop of the gall on the right.

and here is a different picture.