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.

A windy Oare Marshes

Excellent to be seeing fair numbers of Pintail on the East Flood,

There were reasonable numbers of Pintail all around, often giving good views as they upended or just ducked their heads down feeding, or just rested on the bank.



and here is a closer  view of the same photo, showing the beautiful grey vermiculations on the flank and back



There were four or five Common Gulls, Larus canus, close to the road, some with really dark head blotching,

The Black-headed Gulls are quite rapidly developing their breeding plumage now.

There was a Great Crested Grebe on the Swale off the mouth of Faversham Creek, and Wigeon flighted in the distance. No other birds were braving the off-shore winds perhaps?

There were dozens of Black-tailed Godwits on the East Flood, some feeding and some asleep.

Leybourne Lakes

Slavonian Grebe at Dungeness

Wandered down to Dungeness in the late afternoon, largely to have an afternoon away from the house.

At the Visitors' Centre the kind volunteer lady let me in without my membership card, on my word alone. What very nice people in the RSPB.

I went to have a brief look at the feeders, but there were only some very tidy Great Tits there, no Tree Sparrows that I could see! I then went over to Dennis' hide where there were plenty of Tufted Duck and Pochard in front of the hide, with some Coot, Shoveller and one Great Crested Grebe as well. There were Great Black-backed and Herring Gulls off to the right. At the back in the distance and to the left was the Slavonian Grebe, nice and tidy!

I could see the white breast and cheek, with the red eye very obvious when struck by the light. It was similar to a Little Grebe, but with a tidy shape, with the rear less fluffed up, a slightly greyish lower side, and a very clear demarcation between the black of the cap and the white of the cheek. The head shape was relatively flat, with the beak reasonably level, so not quite as would be expected from a Black-necked Grebe, which has a "peaked cap" above the eye.

Importantly I couldn't see any brown on the bird, so rather unlike most views of the Little Grebe in winter, and thus the monochrome colouring suggesting Slavonian, Black-necked or Red-necked Grebe. The features I didn't really see were the narrowness of the rear neck-stripe as seen from the rear, and the patterning of the smudging on the neck.

At one point all the duck just underneath the hide windows took off as one, and then a lady in the hide pointed out the female-type Marsh Harrier on the other side of Burrowes Pit, which steadily flew left to the right over the far shore.

The grebe swam about quite actively, then had a dive, starting with a very small jump (Helm has it as "tends to spring forward with a quick dapper action", and when I left it was "asleep", resting its head and beak on its back, in amongst a small raft of Tufted Duck.  A lovely bird, even in its somewhat monochrome winter plumage!

I went over to the ARC pits, but saw little more apart from more Coots and Gulls, although as I was leaving I thought I saw a Raven fly over the track.

The winter plumage description states that the cap is glossy black while the back of the neck is really actually a dark grey, as opposed to black, and it may be broken up with pale feathers. The cheek,sides of nape, foreneck and breast obviously white. Flanks a mottled dusky colour, and the back should be a matt black.

The habitat is said to be a bit more northerly than other species, properly holearctic boreal in fact. Generally prefers eutrophic well vegetated waters, but can be found on quite oligotrophic "naked" waters in Iceland for example. Can be at higher altitude than the other species, but rarely higher than 300 m. Prefers depths of water generally 2.5 m or less, with submerged vegetation. If nesting on very small ponds, may fly to feed on larger water bodies. It flies quite readily. Tolerates quite close human presence. It first bred in Scotland in 1908 and has increased slowly since then. The Scottish Lochs are generally occupied from March to September, failed breeders leaving first.

Overwinters either inshore on the coast or sometimes large lowland lakes. The (large-billed form) Scottish birds probably winter in the North Sea or the Atlantic Coast of Ireland. The birds in the Southeast appear to be the (small-billed form) birds from Northern Europe eastwards from Sweden across northern Russia.

Food chiefly arthropods (such as insects and larvae) and small fish, occasionally crustacea, mollusca, annelids and plant material, obtained mainly by diving with the average dive lasting about 30 seconds, depending on density of prey. Feathers generally also eaten. Can also feed on surface. Feeds mainly by daylight, usually solitary.  

Monogamous pair-bond for the season, generally initiated on migration or in winter quarters, so most paired on arrival. Various posture displays and dances. Nest well hidden, spread out as breeding pairs are quite territorial. Often floating but anchored to the substrate. Usually one pair per small pool, or per bay of a large lake. Both parents incubate, eggs covered with down if sitting parent disturbed. Hatching asynchronous, egg-shell removed. Usually one brood, occasionally two. Young carried on back of parents after second day. Fledging period 55 - 60 days. Young become independent at 45 days or less. After departure of the parents, the siblings and perhaps other young may form small groups. Outside the season generally found as singles, or pairs or small groups on the wintering grounds. Age of maturity probably two.