Saturday 16th. This
morning Mark Chidwick was waiting at the entrance gate to Grove Ferry when I
arrived having heard 7 Tawny Owls, although I have to say the three more heard
after my arrival appeared to emanate from the same bird! Alan Ashdown followed
shortly after and we made our way to the viewing Ramp where there was no sign
of any Bewick’s Swans despite Alan having the 23 yesterday. There were 2
Shelducks on the pool and when the Lapwing flock was flushed by a passing male
Sparrowhawk there were 3 Dunlin in with them. A ‘loose’ flock of 7 Marsh
harriers passed over followed by another 4 a little later plus 4 Hen harriers
passed through Grove including 2 males. A Little Egret dropped out of sight in
to the right hand pool and another was from Marsh hide where there were also
620 Lapwings and 32 Water Pipits while at least 30 Wigeon took flight from the
Oxbow. Passing through the Alder Wood we never made it as far as the Lampen
Wall as we came across several watchers, waiting for the Penduline Tit to
appear. While we spent a good 4 hours here chatting and watching we saw 2
Chiffchaffs, 25+ Siskins, 3 Lesser Redpolls, heard 2 Water Rails and watched 3
distant Common Buzzards. The female Penduline Tit was more mobile this morning
spending time in the top of the Alders at one point as well as disappearing in
to nearby Willows for long periods. It has been reported as a male but, if you
actually watch the bird and look at it through a telescope its plain to see
that it has a rather pale brown back, a clean whitish breast and a narrow mask
just hitting the top of the eye. A male should have a deep chestnut back, russet/orangey
breast and a broad mask that widens behind the eye. On the way back to Grove
the only additions were a single Redshank and 3 or 4 singing Skylarks.
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| Penduline Tit |
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| Penduline Tit |
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| Penduline Tit |
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| Penduline Tit |
Sunday 17th. A little drive around the lanes of the
Stour Valley recording area in the early hours produced 4 Tawny Owls and 1
Little Owl. One Tawny at Fordwich, one in a tree beside the car at Trenleypark,
one near Higham Farm and one by Stodmarsh Court Farm along with the Little Owl.
It was nice to hear a few Robins and Song Thrushes singing this morning giving
an indication that spring is on its way! The pools and dykes were all frozen on
arrival this morning with just 66 Lapwings on the ice from the Ramp. From here
a barn Owl was hunting between the back pools and the ‘White House’, 8 Marsh
Harriers including 4 males left roost and 1 male Hen Harrier was seen. There
were 6 Linnets, 2 Little Egrets, 364 Cormorants streaming out from Stodmarsh
and 120 Mute Swans (114 that left the reserve). There were only 3 Tufted Ducks
from feast hide and that was it, 16 Teal from Harrison’s hide and 5 Skylarks in
the fields behind. Taking the route via the river there were a few Lapwing and
Wigeon on the Oxbow but most had left by the time I got there so no counts were
made but, on the Grazing Marsh just beyond the Oxbow there were 39 Water
Pipits, 17 Meadow Pipits and 7 Reed Buntings feeding in the short wet grass. A
Sparrowhawk flew out of the’ Jungle’ as I passed through while on the lake at
Stodmarsh there were, 27 Tufted Ducks, 4 Great-crested Grebes, 1 Little Grebe,
38 Pochards, 6 Wigeon, 2 Shelducks, 58 Shoveler, 15 Gadwall, 118 Teal, 23
Black-headed Gulls and, a Great Black-backed Gull on the (new) Tern raft
sporting a damaged wing and looking a bit sickly. Oh, and the dead Cormorant is
still hanging from the tree in the middle of the lake. Passing through the
Boardwalk to the Alder Wood the female Penduline Tit was still present while on
the rest of the journey back to Grove there were just 1 Grey Heron, 6 Greylag
Geese and several encounters with Wrens.
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| Marsh harrier |
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| Tufted Duck |
