Rye Harbour.

A change of scenery this morning with a trip to Rye Harbour for the Buff Breasted Sandpiper. A spur of the moment decision had myself,  Mike Gould and Steve Ashton setting off about 08.30.  Its a good hour drive from Canterbury via Ashford and across Romney Marsh,  a pleasant drive  taking in some of Kents lovely countryside before crossing in to East Sussex   .It was a very warm bright morning which encouraged lots of people out to make the most of the summer.  We made our way through the caravan park towards the scrapes where we had hoped the Sandpiper would be and on spotting a crowd ahead with scopes and binoculars we soon were enjoying close views .Photography was to be a challenge as the sun was in the wrong location, ( Late pm would be best.) so we decided to have a wander and see what else was about. We bumped into Mike Hook who joined us noting  Linnet, Wheatear, Marsh Harrier, Kestrel and  Little Egret  as we made our way to one of the hides.  Not much from the hide and with the sun beating down it was decided that refreshments were needed.  After tea ( and ice creams ) we made our way back to the scrapes as a couple of hours had passed along with most people and we were able to position ourselves allowing a few photos. Also on the scrape were Curlew Sandpiper Ringed Plover and  Dunlin all coming close. its a shame that we were not here for the evening as i feel we would have nailed the photos.We didn't see many different species throughout our stay, spending nearly all our time with the Sandpipers but all in all a very enjoyable visit............... Photos 1 and 5 are Curlew Sandpiper 2-4 Buff  Breasted Sandpiper.

The Stodmarsh Bitterns

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Its been a long long time since a pair of Bitterns have reared a successful brood at Stodmarsh. There has been lots of work behind the scene to encourage a pair to stay for the spring and the last few years a booming male has been heard and so hopes were high . A wonderful achievement  occurred this year when a successful  brood of three albeit at the second attempt   occurred giving hours of pleasure for those who have made a visit to see them. I spend a lot of time watching Bitterns in the winter from the Reedbed hide enduring the cold weather waiting for a fleeting view of a bird on the ice or in the air,  so to be able to watch four birds ( three juveniles and a female ) in a warm climate has been a pleasure. The camera was snapping away with lots of opportunities for all however the wind blowing the reeds about mucked up a lot of  photos. I watched on a few occasions the female arrive with food and the youngsters scrambling to be first to meet her, this was comical  as the birds were not very good at flying. They showed all the normal mannerisms of a fully fledged bird skypointing etc and i could clearly see them moving their loose throat feathers to blend in with the reeds. It was  a change to watch these birds amongst the green foliage with lots still in summer bloom adding welcome colour from the winter setting that i am used to. These birds will probably move on soon and we will have the wintering birds from Holland etc coming in to boost the numbers again. Here is a few photos from todays visit.

Oare marshes

With a few spare hours today i thought i would pay Oare Marshes a visit, the time slot i had did not fare well for the tide nor for photography however i saw a good few birds. Most of the time i was looking towards the East flood. Here Yellow Wagtail showed well along with a pair of linnet, there were single little Egret and Heron with many Black Tailed Godwit, Avocet, Ruff, Golden Plover, Redshank, Lapwing and the odd Greenshank. Moving on to the Raines hide a pair of Green Sandpiper was all that was on offer although along the path there were Reed Warbler, Chiffchaff, Long Tailed Tit and Whitethroat. I did not see any Wheatear. A pair of Common Tern and a single Kestrel completed the list. All in all lots to look at although i do wish we could see the birds closer. On a final note its a shame some

birds have to have so much bling on them, this Ruff being an example, perhaps its time to back off from this dated way of tracking birds

Backsands

I've been trying hard to find time to get out to Backsands scrape at Sandwich for a while. Working in London makes the week days difficult so i was pleased to meet Steve Ashton at the polly tunnels for a morning visit today. Its a fair walk to the scrape and with a mid day high tide we were pleased on arrival to find we were the only two there. We sat in the photographers hide and awaited the birds to come near. First was a Green Sandpiper, followed by one of four Wood Sandpipers and then Greenshank. we took lots of photos as the birds came near, there were Common Sandpiper Ruff and then a party of Redshank. A Perigrine made a few sorties along with a Sparrowhawk, all these with the local residents made for a great morning. With high tide approaching we awaited with great anticipation,  bear in mind we were the only two there we could not believe it when we were greeted by a couple with three dogs. They let the dogs run riot through the amassing birds in front of us and made their way round to where we were sitting. I asked if they would put the dogs on a lead but was greeted with defiance. So there we are  , even when you are on your own in the middle of nowhere there is always some one to piss on your firework!

Rain stops play

I was looking forward to the weekend , with spare time on both days to play with the camera, however the good old english summer put paid to this mornings outing so i thought i would post a picture of the first Cirl Bunting picture i took whilst in Devon earlier this year. Charming birds, very tolerant, allowing me to get close. This one was on a telephone wire, very characteristic although not pleasing for the photo. I was lucky to see them a few times, theres more pictures on my flickr site which you can see via the link.

Restharrow Respite

I spent the weekend and Monday in our caravan at a lovely location near Throwley Forstal Ashford Kent. Away from tv,radio and mobile phones it was a tranquil break. We walked around Kingswood, Wye on Saturday and Sunday morning making a pleasent change from my normal stomping ground. Excellent views of Buzzard,  young Green Woodpeckers,  Blackcap,  Willow warbler and Chiffchaff were to be had, although bird song was conspicuous by its absence we were greeted with Goldcrest and Coal Tits as we turned in to the evergreen section. The walk was a good five miles and very enjoyable. Along the lanes near the site many Linnet, Yellowhammer,  Greenfinch,  Dunnock,  Goldfinch and House Sparrows, a lovely free weekend with no pressure from everyday tasks. I returned home having to do a night shift in London. I work on the telephone system running along the roads and yes you have guessed it, right in the trouble zone. We lasted an hour before making a run for it home, madness or what. I went back on days today and there was a lot of unrest, however a safer option. This evening after work i visited restharrow hoping to see Wood sandpiper, i was pleased to catch up with this lovely wader

A Positive Start.

Theres no better way to put things right than to talk. So i will kick off my new blogg with a positive note  A  meeting was arranged  with  English Nature  represented by Becky, Steve,and Ben which was attended by many regulars and a chance was given for us to air our concerns about the lack of maintenance etc  they were keen to listen to all the concerns  that we had, and indeed made many understandable as to why we had them in the first place.I look forward  to their approach and hope we can get this wonderful area back to its former glory.Today  i arrived at the car park Stodmarsh,  making my way along the track to the reedbed hide,Turtle Dove,Chiffchaff, Blackcap, and a young Green Woodpecker were seen on route.From the hide not much to be seen,Grey Heron Carrion Crow, two Water Rail was about as good as it got.I left and walked along the path leading on to the Lampern Wall ,there are not many places to look across the marsh here due to the tall trees, something  hopefully to be put right soon, i did see three young Marsh harrier over the marsh hide.Further along i spent some time with the camera with Reed Warbler that were camera shy so after a while a rumbling stomach got the better of me and i headed home for a bacon sandwich.  .July is hard going both watching and photographing birds however the coming weeks should give me more to look forward to with autumn migration fast approaching.