Stratospheric warming makes Oare too cold for me!

A stiff cold breeze from the North East was whipping up the waves on The Swale, where dozens of Black-headed Gulls and at least two Mediterranean Gulls in summer plumage were bouncing about on the chop. There were hundreds of dark-bellied Brent Geeese on the far side of Horse Sands. About three dozen Common Redshanks were making the most of the foreshore mud, with one Curlew and one Shelduck down at the waters edge. They seemed to me to be in loose flocks with fairly even spacing between the individuals, moving quite fast, but I wasn't clear on overall patterns.

I tried to find birds out on The Swale, but my eyes kept on tearing up, and I could only find one Great Crested Grebe, in breeding plumage. So I copped out and went and explored the route to Conyer for future reference.

Sunny but cold Broadwater Warren

A pair of Ravens were heard calling to each other several times today, and there were occasional distant glimpses of the birds.

One Woodlark was seen perching on one of the posts of a no-grazing enclosure. It was quite far away, and the only distinctive characteristics seen for certain were the general dumpiness, and the white supercilium stretching round to the nape of the neck. 

Leybourne

A second winter Herring Gull I would say. Note the pattern of the scapulars, the inner wing, the trailing edge, the primaries, and the tail pattern.

An early spring at Leybourne?

It was a lovely afternoon at Leybourne Lakes, still and quite warm. Many of the trees are getting going, while the birds appear to be keener and more forthcoming all round.

I was fooled initially by the size of this Gull - on first sight it looked certainly big enough to be a Herring Gull, but with its dark eye, dark hood and relatively dark back, of course it turned out to be a Common Gull, Larus canus.

Here you can see the broad white trailing edge on the inner portion of the wing, as the bird flies away.

A still Cliffe

One Greenshank at the back of Ski Pool and another or the same seen later at the seaward end of Flamingo. One Barn Owl hunting over by Black Barn. A male Marsh Harrier on the far side of Hidden Pool and Flamingo. Both birds of prey also reported by Russel Brockett.

Between one and two thousand Black-tailed Godwits, about 500 Dunlin and 350 Grey Plover. Must have been a hundred plus Lapwings. A few Oystercatcher split between Radar and Flamingo and two plus Curlew, both on Flamingo. Three Ringed Plover on Flamingo. A couple of dozen Redshank feeding on Flamingo.

Thousands of Wigeon spread across Radar to Flamingo Pools. A hundred or so Tufted Duck. A handful of Teal and up to a score of Pintail, Thirty or so Mallard, maybe a few more Pochard. Shovellers at the back, mainly on the Black Barn Pools. About eight Goldeneye, maybe the same number of Shelduck. A dozen Greylag on the Radar islands, half a dozen Canada Geese on the Conoco Pool.

Only about seventy Coot, mainly on Flamingo. About 50 Little Grebe, but only a few Little Grebes

Black-headed Gulls still taking up their territories on all the islands.

Great views of a Kingfisher by the path along the side of Radar. A few Magpies and Crows on the margins, and a small flock of Starlings.

A wonderful if slightly chilly afternoon with lots of waders at high tide!

Walking around Nagden

I walked all the way around the South Swale National Nature Reserve today, past Castle Coote and around Nagden Marshes, a nice long walk.

At Castle Coote itself there were many Wigeon, a few Teal and groups of Redshanks. A Little Egret was scooting about looking for food, and a Curlew was seen.

The whole marsh was alive with the sound of Skylarks, but looking closely there were also quite a lot of Meadow Pipits.

On Castle Coote itself there were also a couple of Linnets, this male singing its heart out!

Looking from Castle Coote on the South Swale NNR towards Shellness on the Isle of Sheppey with the turbines of the London Array in the background was quite a cheery sight.

And there was a great Thames Barge moored up off the mouth of Faversham Creek, gorgeous in its majesty.

At the far end of the walk (it was a long one!) at Nagden Marshes there were a few bushes, which contained Meadow Pipits, a Blackbird - and a Corn Bunting! Such a "fat" bird, very streaky, with a large pinky bill and pink legs and a very obvious dark eye.

and a view to show a streaky crown to the head,






On the way back, to my intense surprise I came across a Short-eared Owl, Asio flammeus, very suddenly, as I breasted the seawall, over by Castle Coote, and was quite sure of it just by eye. I didn't really get the telescope on to it properly as it see-sawed off over the marsh and pools seaward of the wall, but I did manage to get some flaky shots as it zigged off along the borrow dyke. I think you could agree the long, narrow, but distinct white trailing edge to the wings, very obvious in these lighting conditions towards the sun, and even possibly the head collar darker than the underside behind, even in this heavily cropped photo.

These owls tend to rely largely on small mammals such as voles, and may eat about three a day on average. However they also eat other mammals, such as rabbits and even stoats, and may often take birds such as waders or passerines. Insects are eaten, but do not appear to be their preference!

Just as I got to The Sportsman, blow me down if there wasn't another sighting, possibly the same bird of course, which might have been sitting down on the seawall just by the kissing gate by the back of The Sportsman as Monty and I approached, but it quickly wandered off to have a rest on some posts down the track leading from the back of the pub, actually fairly near the Graveney Road.

I sneaked up the road to catch a closer view - but I don't think I was fooling this wise old bird!

A small bird of prey flew past in a straight line. Wings not particularly broad, or pointed, and a bulging chest. I know its a bit fanciful, but from this highly cropped picture, I do wonder whether it might have been a female Merlin??

And all throughout this remarkable afternoon, Monty was taking care of me, what a great companion he is!

Cliffe gets amorous!

A male and female marsh harrier, two barn owls, a kestrel, four greenshank.