Arriving at the Grove Ferry entrance gate a
tad early on Saturday I sat in the car and had a cup of tea and waited for the
light to improve. As I was putting my boots on I could hear footsteps
approaching and out of the darkness Alan Ashdown appeared and together we
headed to the Ramp. While on the Ramp a huge flock of Starlings took to the air
on the far side over the un-accessible back pools being harassed by a female
Marsh Harrier. Amongst the 4500-5000 Starlings whirling around over the reeds a
very pale looking bird stood out, and viewing through the scope is was plain to
see it was a Starling species. To my mind it appeared to be a juvenile
Rose-coloured Starling with its grey-white body with darker flight feathers and
darker tail. As it was only a little after 7.00am the light was working against
us and the distance made picking out crucial features impossible so, I couldn’t
rule out the chance that it was a Leucistic or albino Common Starling. After
ten minutes of swirling around and settling on Brambles and bushes the flock
broke up and dispersed, a small amount passing over us and up the valley while
the bulk flew out towards the Little Stour Valley alighting on telegraph wires
by ‘Blue Bridge’. A decision to get back to the car and drive round was fruitless
because on arrival there was only a couple dozen left and no sign of the pale
bird. Back to birding the valley and we added 2 Ruff, 1 at the Ramp and 1 at
Marsh Hide, 9 Cetti’s Warblers, 1200+ Teal, 90 Lapwings, 10 Marsh Harriers, 3
Pintail (2 Ramp, 1 Marsh Hide), 2 Little Egrets and 3 Sparrowhawks. There was a
Wheatear from Marsh Hide and we noted at least 6 Grey Herons around the reserve
but, there was no sign of any Great-white Egrets this weekend. A stop in the
Reedbed Hide had us photographing the Kingfisher along with Tim Gutsel, sadly
as it was rather cloudy and the rain was imminent the pictures were a little disappointing
and, the Kingfisher hovered just feet away giving superb chance of grabbing a
shot of this behaviour.
 |
| Hovering in the rain from Reedbed Hide |
 |
| Hovering in the rain from Reedbed Hide |
 |
| Hovering in the rain from Reedbed Hide |
 |
| Hovering in the rain from Reedbed Hide |
 |
| On the Reedbed Hide post in the Saturday gloom |
Alan and I left
and carried on along the Lampen Wall and on the main lake were 68 Pochard, 1
Tufted Duck and 14 Great-crested Grebes. Also noted were 3-400 Swallows moving
west, 2 Stonechats, 1 Kestrel, 12 Meadow Pipits and 5 Jays. On Sunday morning I
positioned myself along the roadside behind the ‘back pools’ which is much
closer than viewing from the Ramp. As the light improved I waited for the Starlings
to leave roost and almost on cue, just after 7.00am the/a female Marsh Harrier
flew in and put the 5000 odd flock of Starlings to the air. Despite a good thorough
couple of scans the pale/Rose-coloured Starling could not be located and in brighter
clear morning the flock dispersed much quicker and the true identity of my
possible/probable/90% Rosy remained un clinched. Rom here I drove round to Stodmarsh
and made my way to Reedbed where Steve Ashton, Tim Gutsel, Andy Hills et al.
were all in situ and the Black-necked Grebe first seen yesterday afternoon was
still present plus the Kingfisher was performing well and………….yes, it was sunny,
also a Grey Wagtail dropped in for a few seconds.
 |
| On Sunday in the Sun |
 |
| On Sunday in the Sun |
 |
| On Sunday in the Sun |
 |
| Black-necked Grebe from Reedbed Hide |
 |
| Black-necked Grebe from Reedbed Hide |
 |
| Black-necked Grebe from Reedbed Hide |
Photos of both Grebe and
Kingfisher in the back I had a quick look around the Alder Wood where I encountered
a nice flock of 60 Siskins that were spooked of by a Sparrowhawk. I drove up to
Collard’s where the duck numbers are starting to increase with 2 Pintail, 67
Tufted Duck and 280 Wigeon. On the way home I called in at Kingsdown and was
able to catch up with the Yellow-browed Warbler Steve Reynaert. Also while
there I located a Brambling plus several Goldcrests and Chiffchaffs were
flitting about.
 |
| Poor, very poor record shot of the Yellow-browed Warbler in Kingsdown |
