Birding in Kent

A recent trip to stay for a few days in Canterbury gave the opportunity to try birding in some different areas. However, I wasn't very adventurous and ended up visiting a lot of places that I am already familiar with. Cliffe Pools twice, to see the Lesser Yellowlegs which I missed by about ten minutes on both occasions. Stodmarsh and Grove Ferry, where I hardly saw a bird all day, although I did have a fly by from a Marsh Harrier, so close that I had no chance of getting a picture. Folkstone and Dover Cliffs, looking for Ring Ouzels, which was a total waste of time despite all the reported sightings.

In the end it all came down to Dungeness, five Great White Egrets, a Spoonbill, and a small supporting cast. Even here there were some missed opportunities, A Pectoral Sandpiper that kept relocating every time I got near it and a Rare Bird Alert that reported Ring Ouzels within fifty metres of where I was standing but which were gone by the time I got there.

It all sounds a bit depressing but actually I had a great time wandering around the sites. I am just trying to convince the wife that I need to do this more often.

So, pictures taken at a rather drab and over cast Dungeness.

Spoonbill

Little Egret with fish

Great White Egret

Taking to the air - Five to six foot wingspan

Two of the five Great White Egrets present

Bar-tailed Godwit and Curlew Sandpiper

Greenshanks

 and one picture taken at Grove Ferry

Snipe hiding in amongst the Ducks

The most exiting spectacle of the day was a feeding frenzy of about thirty Cormorants on a shoal of fish, with an even larger flock of gulls trying to poach fish out of the Cormorants mouths. I must read up on how to use the video mode on the camera.

Autumn Cuckoo

Ring Ouzels were seen on Blackdown today but unfortunately they were not seen by Dave or me. We had spent the morning searching the area where they had been seen but without any luck. We did, however, get onto a mystery raptor which we watched from a distance. Initially it looked like a female Sparrowhawk but it was moving about the trees as if catching flying insects. Hobby and Merlin came to mind but when we eventually got close enough to get decent views it turned out to be a Cuckoo.

Juvenile Cuckoo

Great bird but not what we were expecting. We also saw Stonechats, Kestrels, and had distant views of something that could have been a Ring Ouzel but which disappeared into the bushes before we could confirm the sighting.

After lunch we headed off to Church Norton. Sometimes it's great there but today we had  one of those completely dead afternoons where nothing is moving. The Ferry Pool was similar and the North Wall not much better although we did find a Ruff and the usual Godwits, Snipe, Teal, etc.

Teal - no shortage of food here

I don't like Herons as a bird but they always look class and they do take a good picture.

Grey Heron - Top Predator

A bit of a disappointing day as far as birds go but it was good to be out and about. There was also a final Kestrel, perched up in the tree, as we left the North Wall. A good way to finish off the day.

Kestrel

Spotted Crake

Wednesday saw myself and Dave heading off to North Kent in search of the Lesser Yellowlegs reported at Cliffe Pools and the Spotted Crake at Oare Marshes. They were both new sites for us and the first, Cliffe Pools, did give us a few problems, both in the location of the entrance and car parking areas. Take a good map if you decide to go there. We ended up walking a couple of miles to get to the location of the bird, only to find that we could have driven to within a few yards of the viewing point.

There were three birders there when we arrived including Mick Davis and John Stanton. Although the Yellowlegs had been giving good views it had just been spooked and had flown to the back of the pool which was a bit of a disappointment. You could just about make out the bird looking through the binoculars but even with a telescope I could not really make out the distinguishing features. All I could say was that it was something like a Redshank but with lighter coloured legs.

It's always a bit difficult when you hit this situation. I know it was the Yellowlegs that I was looking at and Mick and John had "kindly" shown me pictures of what I had just missed, but my criteria is - see and identify the bird on the spot or take away suitable pictures for later identification. Given the lighting conditions and the distance involved there was no chance of a picture and at the moment I am not good enough to make the identification. So I dipped on this one. Disappointing as the same thing happened to me recently with the Sykes's/Booted Warbler at Climping.

Other than the Yellowlegs and a lot of Great Crested Grebes there was little else to look at on the site. I am sure it will be a great location in the winter but there seemed little point in spending much time there now.

Our second location was Oare Marshes. Easier to find and bird-wise a totally different prospect. If I had been wondering why there were few waders on the south coast I now had the answer, they were all roosting at Oare Marshes. It was difficult to take a picture that conveys the sight and sounds and we spent some time just looking at the roosting birds and various flocks as they circled over the marsh pools.

A small selection of the birds present

Some of the hundred or so Avocets on the marsh pools

No landing space for the Black-tailed Godwits - I decided not to count them

After a time we remembered why we had come to the site and set off for the East hide to see if the Spotted Crake was around. We spoke to a couple of birders who had been waiting an hour or so for a sighting. Fortunately we had timed it just right and the Crake made an appearance albeit very much hidden by the reeds.

Spotted Crake

In its usual reed bed habitat

The other birders all moved on and we were left waiting for the next picture opportunity. You always believe that the next picture will be better and this time we were proved to be right as the Spotted Crake made its way out onto the bank and disappeared under a thick bramble.

Emerging onto the grass bank

Out in the open

 We stood around feeling pleased with ourselves and thinking that we would not see it again. We started packing to leave and then it stepped out onto the path in front of us and stood looking at us for a few seconds. Do you reach for the camera and risk scaring it away or do you just enjoy the moment? In practice we did something in-between the two and managed to scare the bird away without getting the photograph. Still a great moment.

A final few minutes looking at the birds as the sun started to go down finished of what had turned out to be a great day.

Ruff

Golden Plover

Golden Plover

Ruff

A mixed bag of birds, locations and weather today. We started out in overcast conditions with a visit to Cissbury Ring and a stakeout on the Yew tree that Ring Ouzels stop over in
each year. The climb up the hill probably did us good and we had a pleasant hour or so looking at the view but there was no sign of the Ring Ouzels or of any other birds apart from a few crows.

Next stop was Pagham North Wall to see if I could improve on my Curlew Sandpiper pictures. No luck again as they had moved further down the creek on the rising tide but there was a Ruff on the Breech Pool and the usual collection of Black-tailed Godwits along with a couple of Spotted Redshanks and a few Snipe that were showing well.

Ruff in amongst the Godwits

on alert

and feeding

The Snipe were more active than usual, feeding, running around, aggressive behaviour, and tail fanning. Perhaps practising courtship techniques for next year!

Snipe

Snipe

With the weather improving we decided to move on to Church Norton to have another look for the Pied Flycatcher. It had been seen just before we arrived but as with the previous day it had gone into hiding when I arrived. There were even more Spotted Flycatchers about today. It was difficult to do an accurate count but probably ten or more just in the area outside of the church grounds.

So yet more pictures of Spotties:-

Spotted Flycatcher

Likes butterflies as well as Flies

So we dipped out on our three targets for the day but we still had a good days birding and enjoyed the Autumn sunshine.

Spotted Flycatchers

The title should really have said Pied Flycatcher. I spent yet another session chasing around after a reported sighting of a Pied Flycatcher without getting even a glimpse of it and, in the end, not even being sure that it was ever there. The consolation, there were four or five Spotted Flycatchers and they were showing well.

The location was Church Norton and today for a change the birds were really showing well. There were the Spotties, Blackcap, Wheatear, Redstart, Kestrel, Wood Warbler which I did not manage to see, various Finches, Hirundines, and even a Red-legged Partridge in the field next to the Church. The downside, the lighting was really poor. Most of my pictures were at ISO800, f8, and around 1/80 sec, so most were failures. But, as always, there are a couple of reasonable shots amongst them.

Spotted Flycatcher

The Spotties seem to come down out of the tree tops towards the end of the day and use lower perches, in this case the gravestones, for their feeding forays. I assume they are just following the food.

Spotted Flycatcher and prey

Always interested to see what the photographers are doing

There were not many other birds in range of a photograph in the low light levels but this Wheatear did come down into the church yard and seemed to be copying the Spotted Flycatchers feeding techniques.

Wheatear.

Perhaps I should give up on the Pied Flycatcher for this year and head off to Wales next spring to get a male in full breeding plumage.