An early morning start at Grove Ferry where
it remained fairly grey and overcast throughout, meeting Alan by the entrance
just before 5.30am we had a brief chat before getting ready and making our way
to the Ramp. In the mean time we heard Snipe calling Blackbirds and Song
Thrushes singing as well as Dunnock, Robin and distant Water Rails making their
Hammer Horror like screams. The first of at least 7 Cetti’s Warblers was heard
as we approached the Ramp and from here we noted 5 Shelduck along with a much
depleted number of Duck species, with a lot less Gadwall, Shoveler and Teal
than of late but, also present were 8 Wigeon and 3 Tufted Duck as well as a few
Lapwing, 8 Ruff and 5 Dunlin. A look in the Feast hide added a further 7 Tufted
Duck and 4 Little Grebes together while at Harrison’s Drove hide another Ruff
was seen with many Skylarks in fine voice all around us one of 4 Green
Woodpeckers encountered today “ yaffling” away, 3 Pied Wagtails and a small
flock of 6-8 Meadow Pipits. Alan was due to meet Steve for a Peregrine hunt so
I left him at Harrison’s and met Sue Morton and carried on to Marsh hide. The
Marsh Harriers are now quite actively displaying with eight birds seen today as
well a 2 ringtail Hen Harriers, one being harassed by a Crow as it moved south
towards Seaton and a juvenile male that flew towards us before turning back on
a course for Stodmarsh. Very little of note from Marsh hide where the water
levels have risen after the rains in the week but we did add a brace of Little
Egrets, 1 Redshank and 5 Stock Doves. Alan called to say he had a Grey Wagtail
from Feast hide while we added 3 Corn Buntings to the days total while looking
for Glossy Ibis (unsuccessfully). Many Reed Buntings are now singing on the
reserve soon to be drowned out by Sedge Warblers and as we passed the lake at
Stodmarsh we added a further 30 Tufted Duck to the days total plus 5 Pochard, 3
Grey Herons and at the Water Meadows a healthy gathering of 35 Water Pipits.
Finishing the day back on the Ramp saw the 2 Glossy Ibises drop in at 1050
where they stayed for 45mins preening before taking flight and after getting to
a good height dropped down around the area of flooded fields between Marsh hide
and Newbons Farm. The interesting thing about these two is that they seem to be
a different pair, none of them bare any bling, they are both the same size and
both sport adult plumage. What are the chances of a different two turning up
less than two weeks after the long staying birds have left?
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| One of the new? Gloosy Ibises |
Also from the Ramp
before I left there was a Peregrine Falcon, 2 Common Buzzards (one dark bird to
the north and a resident bird over Collard’s), 1 Sparrowhawk and 3 Kestrels.
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| Peregrine over the Ramp today |
On
the way home I passed through Sandwich and saw the 2 Common Cranes on Worth Marshes
from beside the Clay Pigeon shoot, the same place I also saw them yesterday. By
now however the sun was shining brightly causing a heat shimmer plus the birds
were distant making photography fairly impossible.
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| Common Cranes on Worth marshes at distance in a heat haze |
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| Common Cranes on Worth marshes at distance in a heat haze |
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| Common Cranes on Worth marshes at distance in a heat haze |
