This weekend just gone 20th/21st was a rather jejune
one with very little bird life and not much to point the camera at however, on
Tuesday (16th) I finished work early and took the short trip to South Swale
Nature Reserve at Seasalter near Whitstable to have a look at the adult
Red-breasted Goose that had been found on Sunday. A 1.5 mile walk and I was
watching my second Kent Red-breast in glorious sunshine. There were a couple of
thousand Dark-bellied Brent Geese around, 15 or so Little Egrets a few Wigeon
and a scattering of Waders. A few photos of the Goose in the bag and I was
heading for home.
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Grey Plover enroute to Red-breasted Goose |
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Adult Red-breasted Goose South Swale |
On Saturday I met Alan Ashdown at the Grove entrance gate and
we pitched ourselves on the Ramp and waiting for the light to break through
while watching the comings and goings of a pair of Pipestril Bats. Not much to
worry the note book except for 5 Pintail amongst the 872 Teal, 5 female Marsh
harriers out of roost and the 5000 strong flock of Starlings still present but,
again no sign of the pale one. We had a quick look in Feast hide and moved on
to Harrison’s where there was not a single bird. While in the hide we got
talking about the Red-breasted Goose and as Alan had never seen one before we
went up to add it to Alan’s life list. Very good views of it despite the gloomy
weather plus a dozen Bearded Tits and a couple of Stonechats to add to the
day’s highlights.
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Red-breasted Goose in the gloom |
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Red-breasted Goose in the gloom |
After spending some time with the Goose we headed back to
Stodmarsh where a stop in the Reedbed hide revealed virtually nothing so we
wandered around the Alder Wood for a spell where along the footpath near
Undertrees Farm a Tit flock had with it a beautiful Firecrest.
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Firecrest in the Alder Wood at Stodmarsh |
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Firecrest in the Alder Wood at Stodmarsh |
On the way out
we walked through the Nature Trail back to the car park where we had the first
5 Fieldfares of the Autumn just before we got back to the car. Sunday was a
right washout and I gave up before 8.30 but was back out again late afternoon
when Marc Heath called to inform me of an Olive-backed Pipit, also known as
Indian Tree Pipit, at Chambers Wall Reculver. This being a British first for me
and a Kent tick meant some hair raising speeds that a greying diesel Volvo
driver shouldn’t really be doing but, it meant a good hour plus was spent
watching this super bird. It certainly makes up for not being able to see the
week long staying one that was supressed at Sandwich Bay a year or two back.
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Olive-backed Pipit at 2500 ISO in the evening gloom and drizzle at Reculver |
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Olive-backed Pipit at 2500 ISO in the evening gloom and drizzle at Reculver |