Meet by the visitor centre, TQ526638 (DA4 0JF). Possible birds include warblers, wagtails, raptors, tits & kingfisher.

The meeting starts at 10am and will finish around 1pm.

Leaders: Malcolm & Sally Jennings.

Eventually we decided that with windy (potentially wet) weather we needed hides and also somewhere close by, so off to Oare we went.

Oare

It was very blowy when we arrived and we were rather reluctant to get out of the car, but with the windows wound down I could hear Whitethroat.   By the slipway there were very few birds as the tide was extremely low, but we did find a couple of Ringed Plover, some Shelduck, and Black-headed Gull.   Swifts flew overhead, I find it amazing that they can control their flight in such strong gusty wind.

Along the seawall we were virtually blown off the top by the big gusts of southerly winds, and the only bird we could hear was Skylark – again it was bewildering that they could still manage to control their flight in these unstable conditions.   We decided that we wouldn’t be able to see anything well from here so moved back towards the scrape and some shelter.   At the start of the path which leads west we found Chaffinch, Greenfinch and House Sparrow.   A Grey Heron flew in the distance, a Little Egret was in a reed-bed having it’s long head plumes blown about.

A female Marsh Harrier battled against the wind and was mobbed by a pair of Lapwing.   Unfortunately we later saw a Carrion Crow take a Lapwing chick, some time later it went back for more but the adult birds appeared to fend it off the second time.   Nature can be very cruel sometimes, but survival is the only instinct every other species has.

From the road Malcolm spotted House Martin, and there were several mixed in with a huge flock of Swifts and Swallows.  They were all being pushed down low over the water to find insects, as they tried to seek some shelter from the wind.

In front of the Hide south of the East Flood we could see four Coot nests, Tufted Duck, over 150 Black-tailed Godwit, Mallard, Starling, a single Avocet (usually there are many to be seen in the area even at low tide) and several Gadwall were also found here.

We decided to move to the other side of the road and try the hide in the grazing land as the tide was still quite a way out and we needed to stay in a sheltered area.   We added Reed Warbler, Reed Bunting, Linnet, Blackbird, Moorhen, Peregrine, Hobby, Little Grebe, Shoveler, a pair of displaying Oystercatcher, Redshank, Great Black-backed Gull, Herring Gull, Cormorant, Canada Geese, Pheasant and the find of the day – a pair of Yellow Wagtail.   Not the greatest of views – they shot past us twice whilst we were in the hide, both times they were moving at high speed, but their yellow plumage and call immediately identified them.

Water Works at Milton Creek Park

Whilst we had lunch the Hobby gave us several fly-pasts and Swallow, Swift and House Martin were also feeding close in to the hide giving us remarkably close views.   The rain started, and we decided that it was time to move on, so as soon as the rain stopped we went back to the car park, and on to a new site for us – Milton Creek Country Park.

After an abortive parking up we finally found somewhere to park the car near the main part of the park.  This is an area which has been reclaimed from a landfill site, gravel pit and brick works.   Although very new the idea is to create a safe green space in the middle of an urban area in Kent.   The signage is still to be installed and we needed to use our GPS to get to the creek viewpoint areas, but we still managed to get an impressive list which included Magpie, Starling, Swallow, Meadow Pipit, Whitethroat, Linnet, Collared Dove, a pair of Kestrel, Avocet, Oystercatcher, Wren, Dunnock, Blackcap, Green Woodpecker and Reed Warbler.   The highlight of the park came in a thrilling ten minutes when we heard Cuckoo – which Sally and I managed to see as it left a nearby tree – and two Nightingale, the first was signing well close to the path, the second was further in some deep scrub, but still distinctly recognisable.

Milton Creek

The Park needs to mature but there is great potential for the wilder areas as it grows.   The Saxon Shore Way passes through part of the park along the creekside.

Sue

We arrived around 10.45 am, and after our briefing from the warden we were ready for our first species of the day – a Nightingale singing nearby and easily heard from the car park.   A great start.

Looking West over the Scrape

By the feeders outside reception we had Chaffinch, Robin, House Sparrow, Dunnock and Marsh Tit.   There was no activity around the sand martin bank sadly, but we did see lots of them around the reserve, especially feeding low over the reedbeds and scrapes.   A group of us did the usual circuit (down to the sea along the coast and then back inland to the woodland), others chose different routes.   As we moved towards the North Hide we heard Willow Warbler, Blackcap, Cetti’s Warbler and saw Blue Tit and Swift flying overhead.   From the hide  there were Greylag Geese and some feral Barnacle Geese, Shelduck, Avocet, Lapwing, Tufted Duck, Mallard and many Black-headed Gulls.   There was a Redshank on a nest from here too, along with several feeding Black-tailed Godwit, a Common Sandpiper and Gadwall.

On our return to the main path a Garden Warbler was heard, but again remained unseen.   We had been briefed that there was a Stone-curlew nest nearby so we moved off to track down the spot.  The directions were that it was near a yellow post, and how right they were!   Nestled on the ground a bird sat peacefully on the nest – really hard to see until the second bird came along and they swapped positions.   The heat haze didn’t help, but we managed to get several telescopes on the birds and all those present had views, however blurry.

Stone-curlew by Paul

Bearded Tit and Reed Bunting were flitting around in the reed beds, and more Swift and Swallow fed overhead.   During our picnic lunch on the beach Malcolm spotted a group of eight Kittiwake, flying towards Southwold.   A Cormorant followed them several minutes later.

From the East Hide we had nesting Oystercatcher, Avocet and Black-headed Gulls.   Over the distant reedbeds, Hobby and Marsh Harrier hunted.   A group of Common Gull were resting on one of the islands in front of the West Hide until they were spooked by something which showed us there were more present than we had counted.   Along the seawall the only bird added to our list was Linnet – just one bird, where previously I have seen many Linnet, Stonechat and Yellowhammer along this path.   Malcolm also found a Drinker Caterpillar.     At the sluice Swallows were feeding and nesting flying low, just over our heads and giving a delightful show.

Beyond the sluice a Spoonbill was visible – just!   Only when it started to preen could you make out the “spoon” on the bill against the white plumage.   Others went further along the coastal path and had better views with more birds seen – three in total I believe.   Little Egret and Mute Swan were also enjoying the peace and quite of the scrape some way off the reserve.

Drinker Moth Caterpillar

West Hide gave us more views of the same birds found from the East with the addition of Moorhen, Herring Gull, Great Black-backed Gull,  Canada Geese, Teal, Wigeon and Pied Wagtail.   We moved on towards the wooded area as we still had a lot to do and time was marching on apace.

Ian met us at the crossing of the paths and took us to see a Tawny Owl.    It was roosting high up in a conifer tree and looked like a rugby ball of feathers.   In the telescope you could just about make out some of the plumage patterns, and knowing what it was helped a lot.   Without Ian’s help we wouldn’t have had a clue!   More luck followed as we continued towards the Bittern Hide – a group of bird-watchers – including our own Jim and Claire –  were waiting for the reappearance of a Spotted Flycatcher.   After a few moments, it appeared on one of its favourite perches at the top of a nearby tree.   As we watched the bird made swoops out for flies working its way in a circle around us using the uppermost branches as lookout perches.   A great surprise to find this bird, and brilliant to see it feeding so close to us.

Our final stop was at the Bittern Hide.   From here we traditionally see Marsh Harriers, and today was no exception, a male and two females, one with green wing tags, but too far away to get any numbers or letters on it.   More plentiful however were Hobby.   Being kept low over the reedbeds as the wind blew in off the land, they were feeding on the wing right in front of the hide, giving great views.

Male Marsh Harrier

Back at the centre Pheasant, Dunnock and Robin picked up food which had been dislodged from the feeders by Blue Tit, Great Tit and Chaffinch.

A great day out, with good weather and great birds – we saw 90 different species this time – 13 more than on our last visit.

Huge thanks to Sally for organising another brilliant Coach Trip, and to Neil our patient driver who coped with the back-seat drivers.

Meet outside Gravesend Railway Station, on Clive Road, TQ646740 (DA11 0RS).

The coach will leave at 08am SHARP!

Minsmere is famous for its nesting avocets, marsh harriers, bitterns and bearded tits. There is a good visitor centre, restaurant, toilets and shop and the reserve has a number of excellent hides for viewing the birds.

Organiser: Sally Jennings.

Have you seen swifts near your home yet?

Paul

A short AGM will be followed by a talk entitled “A NATURALIST IN KENT” by John Buckingham.

John is one of Kent’s most popular wildlife speakers and none better at imparting a wealth of knowledge in an entertaining and stimulating way.

The meeting will start at 07:45pm and finishes around 10pm.

So we headed off to Arundel WWT, which I have to say is one of my favourite reserves, set in the dramatic rolling hills of West Sussex and tucked below Arundel Castle , which is spectacular anyway.

On arrival, we were surprised to see that the wetland is going through some extensive changes, with the wetland area directly behind the visitors centre, being reprofiled and extended. It looks a bit of a mess at the moment with mud in place of water but what is being done is to benefit the birds and people alike, as another hide has been erected and looks like it will take in the best views over the wetland area. I shall be interested to see how it develops this year.

Onto the reserve and it’s always good to see the natural wildlife making itself firmly at home with the resident birds in the collection.  The cacophony of different squeaks, whistles, quacks and chirrups going on around, gave us plenty to hear and find. The ducks, ever eager for the contents contained inside the little brown bags of grain that visitors carried, jostled for position along the walkways. It’s such a pleasing sight to see children enjoying the birds at close quarters. There seems to be a sort of gravitation between children and ducks and as we went around, we saw several watching in wonderment as a female mallard proudly lead her ducklings out of the water and across the pathway to another body of water, seeing them all off, bobbing along on the surface in a line; definitely a scene to put a smile on your face.

Around the reedbed, we have views of Sedge Warblers and Reed Warblers, and although difficult to find at first, we used our peripheral vision to catch them moving amongst the reeds before homing in on these delightful birds, giving it their all in repetitive songs.

What did please us was the sudden appearance of a Cetti’s Warbler, which perched just long enough for Chris to get a reasonably decent shot . A first for Chris and a bird pretty hard to see anyway.

Cettis Warbler

The reserve was heaving with birdlife and at the scrapes near the outer hides,   the sound of Black-headed Gulls, Oystercatchers and a spectacular flotilla of ducks of varying species kept us watching for half an hour.

We watched no less than eight Common Buzzards, riding the thermals, higher and higher above the reserve, against the backdrop of a perfectly blue sky. It was quite breath-taking!

After most of the morning and part of the afternoon here, we decided to take the scenic coastal drive home, dropping in at Peacehaven, where we caught up with Common Scoter and Water Pipit.

We rounded off our day with the obligatory fish and chips by the seaside having had a brilliant day out with nature on a very sunny and special St Georges Day treat.

I would recommend Arundel and if you’re ok with little boat rides, there are trips in almost silent dive boats which drift slowly through the reeds, sometimes giving very close-up views of water voles.

Julie

Wood anemones in Blean Woods (closed up following a down pour of hail)

We kicked off with a drumming greater spotted woodpecker (this was to be a day when more was heard than seen), a distant nightingale rather hesitantly starting up and a sulky chiffchaff. Blue tits, wrens and robins seemed to be the only birds singing much. Then the dark clouds moved in and dropped their payload of hailstones – at least we did not get too wet!

Eventually the sun came out and so did some more birds – a very noisy and colourful nuthatch was a delight to watch, a single blackcap singing out of view, green woodpeckers yaffling about us but remaining out of sight. Between the group we managed to see chaffinch, blue tit (lots), great tit, long tailed tit, coal tit (single), treecreeper, g-s woodpecker, robin, blackbird, woodpigeon, jackdaw, crow and a sparrowhawk, (the latter was missed by most of us as it flew over our heads).

No butterflies were out, but some nice plants; the recent clearing of parts of the wood had given rise to carpets of wood anemones, there were a few bluebells starting to appear and following the rain, the hue of the moss took on a particularly intense green.

An intense green moss seen in Blean Woods

Having gone round the ‘red trail’ we were grateful for our lunch and a warm drink back at the car park. Hopefully, by the time of our dawn chorus on 25 May, spring should be in full swing and we will catch up with the warblers that were missing today.