Feb2007NWKent

If you live, or for that matter visit, any site west of the A249 between the Sheppey bridge and Maidstone and then west to Dartford and Tunbridge Wells (roughly...) then I would be delighted to hear from you.

Had a drive around the Laddingford area (near Paddock Wood) in search of any Yellowhammer and Reed Bunting which had been present in a large flock a couple of winters ago, no joy unfortunately but I did come accross a field of sweetcorn at TQ695475 which had gone over and contained 650 Fieldfare, 120 Redwing, 800+ Starling, Chaffinch 20.

Later on I walked from from my house in Paddock Wood north over the railway line towards the sewage works and Little Rhoden Farm, not much to report other than 20+ Pied Wagtail. The small reservoir at Rhoden Farm held c30 danglers but no birds, crossing south over the railway line I encountered 14 Yellowhammer and half a dozen Skylark. Next up were a couple of GSW drumming near the road just south of the cemetery as well as 3 Bullfinch. Lastly a small rushy pool at TQ676447 held 6 roosting Reed Bunting.

At Pembury waterworks there was a single Green Sandpiper and two Little Grebe are now present.

A visit between 7.10 and 9.45 today. Nice to find a Newt and a Toad (see pictures on my blog) whilst looking for early Slow Worm and Grass Snakes.

Best birds of the day however were the Firecrest that showed really well at the North End of Abbey Mead and the Ferruginous Duck giving brilliant views in the middle of Brooklands Lake.
(Steve Nunn)

Little Egret was roosting on the 'New Diggings' and the 1st winter Yellow Legged Gull was still in the 'flooded field' off of Bob Dunn Way (but not later in the afternoon).
Littlebrook was very quiet with 19 adult Lesser Black Backed Gulls, 17 presumed Argenteus Herring Gulls including 14 1st winters and 1 very large and dark Argentatus Herring Gull. A 2nd winter Yellow Legged Gull was also present and a Peregrine flew over
(Andrew Lawson)

Saturday 24th February Mote Park, Maidstone

Lesser Spotted Woodpecker called by the main car park, several Med. Gulls were spotted on lake and on fields, a Chiff Chaff sang by the footbridge whilst a Kingfisher flew down river, and during a heavy shower a Little Owl called from one of the yews behind Mote House.
(Simon Ginnaw)

Dropped in early at Trosley on the way to Dungeness,and Mike Cotterill and I immediately had 4 Hawfinches just inside the park entrance at about 8.30 am.
If anyone is needing Bramblings for the winter there are good numbers in the Beechwoods South of Brasted at Octavia Hill just by the turn off to Ide Hill.
(John Tilbrook)

At Hawden the Shelduck was present on my arrival but flew off east soon afterwards. The Redshank was still present and a Green Sandpiper showed well. There were also a few Wigeon behind the island. About 80 Fieldfare were at Haysden with a few Redwing and as it got dark 13 Little Egret roosted. On the way back to the car a Little Owl was calling and it sounded as if the Wigeon had come in to roost at Haysden again.
(Andy Appleton)

Few gulls again but 4 2nd winter/summer Yellow Legged Gulls gave me something to look at as did two almost fully summer plumaged Meditteranean Gulls (see pics below).

The flooded field had the usual 1st winter Yellow Legged Gull that has been present since at least the 2nd December 2006.
(Andrew Lawson)

Wednesday 21st at around 3.00 p.m. at Cliffe. In the North Quarry, the usual large numbers of pochard and tufted duck and in a central position in the quarry no fewer than 31 Ruddy Ducks of which 17 were drakes.
(Alan Lean)

Sevenoaks WR showed further indications of departure. Tufted are down from a peak of 100 - itself well below the usual peak of 3-400 - to 42. Pochard are down from a high peak of 60 to only 1 and Gadwall are down from 70 to 24. We do have 8 Shoveler and there was 1 Little Egret, but gull numbers have plummeted. A loud clap of thunder put up all the dabbling ducks.
Song came from 3 Treecreepers and a Pied Wagtail as well as the usual choristers. By contrast 80 Fieldfares reminded me that it is still February. If there are any potential summer migrants logging on under assumed names let me remind you that, whereas your early arrival would be most welcome, March can be very cold and windy.
(Martin Coath)

After recording a single Med Gull on Mote Park Lake in late December, numbers have gradually increased to 11 birds yesterday - all adults. As I walked home yesterday, another bird flew over Bearsted calling, heading towards the Park.
(David Blakesley)

I paid a casual visit to Trosley Country Park and saw 6 Hawfinches not far from the entrance to the park.

On entering the park turn left immedately on a made footpath and walk for 100 yards or so. The birds were calling and showing on and off in the treetops. I suspect that they are also feeding in nearby gardens.I was there between 12 and 2 o'clock.
(John Tilbrook)

Today I decided to make my monthly pilgrimage to New Hythe on a dull but mild day. The Ferruginous Duck showed well, but duck nos. were well down cf. 3 weeks ago: Gadwall 32 (71) Shoveler 25 (44) Pochard 55(87) Tufted 245 (320). Coot were down from 530 to 390. All this is no doubt due to demob happiness at the end of a mild winter. In contrast GCGrebes were up from 19 to 29 perhaps because birds are moving back to their breeding areas. Gull nos. were well down, but an indignant, fretful call heralded my first Med Gull for the area. Wrens, Robins, Dunnocks, Woodpeckers, Blue and Great Tits were much in evidence. Cetti's at 7 were as last month. I also saw Little Egret, heard water Rail, and best of all a Marsh Harrier flew over Abbey Meads. Altogether a very fruitful morning with 55 species, despite the absence of 9 recorded last month.
Unlike one member I recorded no species on my trousers. Does he have trouser list?
(Martin Coath)

The Redshank was still at Hawden this afternoon where there were also 20 Wigeon but no sign of the Shelduck that had seen earlier.
A brief visit to Bough Beech Reservoir after leaving Hawden produced the Red-throated Diver, two drake Goosander and twelve Shelduck.

WEBs count. 09.15 to 12.00 hrs. 8/8 cloud, calm to ne 1, 7 oC. at 09.00 hrs. very dull with poor offshore visibility. Rather cold as breeze picked up. HT: 13.10 hrs. Poor conditions enlightened by the discovery of a Black Brant at the Yantlet beach.
Little Grebe - 1 singing at sea wall fleet to west of stones. 1 singing at Yantlet sluice fleet, gives an indication of the improved water levels this month, & return to breeding sites here after a few years absence.
Little Egret - 3 Ym.
Mute Swan - 2 Y. fleet.
Brent Goose - 69 Yb. & later Y. s/m , inc. 1 imm.
Black Brant - 1 ad. feeding Yb. loosely associating with the Brent flock. See notes below.
Shelduck - 62 Y. est.
Teal - 2 Y. creek.
Pintail - 6 offshore on Thames.
Peregrine - 1 arrived from nw. into Y. est. flew on to south.
Marsh Harrier - Group of 4 ff. soaring together above NTY. area at 12.00 hrs. gaining height & dispersing. May have left the NTY. reed bed area ( roost ) as the
breeze picked up.
Oystercatcher - 325 Yb.
Ringed Plover - 22 Yb., inc. 3 displaying .
Grey Plover - 65 Y. est. of which 33 flew nw. to Essex & 32 south to Y. s/m.
Lapwing - 12 n. across Thames.
Dunlin - 1250 Yb.
Knot - 2000 Y. est. to Yb. later nw. to Essex.
Redshank - 80 Yb. & Y. s/m.
Curlew - 130 Yb. & Y. s/m. Also 80 at roost Gm. ( e ).
Turnstone - 22 Yb.
Stonechat - 1 very dark f. at Ym. near stones.

I managed to escape for 30 minutes this afternoon and so I headed to Littlebrook and I passed a Little Egret on the 'New Diggings' on my way.

Littlebrook was quiet with just a few gulls including 1 2nd winter Yellow Legged Gull (a new bird), a Green Sandpiper and a singing Chiffchaff.

The Thames at Greenhithe made up with quality what it lacked in quantity. A chap was feeding the gulls bread and this had attracted a near full summer plumaged Meditteranean Gull. However, this came second to an adult Shag which flew up the river. I watched it fly up the river in front of me and under the bridge and noted the crest, small rounded head, shorter wings, lack of flank patch, and shorter neck. At one point a Cormorant came into view and the wingbeats of the shag could be seen to be much faster and deeper. The bird eventually pitched down right next to the RSPB visitor centre at Rainham.

09.40 to 10.50 hrs. 6/8 cloud, calm to sw.   warm sun, 10 oC. at 09.30
hrs.
   Great Crested Grebe - 1 in WP. MP.
   Little Grebe - 11 MP. 4 SLP.
   Little Egret - 1 MP.
   Brent Goose - 4 SLP.
   Mute Swan - 4 SLP.
   Mallard - 2 MP.
   Pochard - 86 MP.
   Tufted - 22 MP. 2 SLP.
   Coot - 2 MP. 4 SLP.
   Water Rail - 1 calling from reeds to north of MP.
   Merlin - 1 f. perched on concrete wall at MP.
   Long Tailed Tit - 1 MP.
   Stonechat - 2 prs. MP. 1 pr. to north of SLP.
   Reed Bunting - 1 pr. MP. 1 f. to n. of SLP.   This sp. seems to be returning to breeding   areas after absence during the winter period.

A 9am start produced 1 1st winter Caspian Gull and 5 Yellow Legged Gulls; 1 3rd summer, 2 2nd summers and 2 1st winters. Also 2 Green Sandpiper over and a Chiffchaff singing.

1st winter Caspian Gull - Richard Bonser ©

This bird was previously seen on the 23rd & 26th December; where do these birds go?

An easy individual to identify as it shows all the classic features including the double wing-bar (and 'venetian blind' effect), the long narrow (pink-based) bill, the moon crescent on the tips of the tertials, the 'four-coloured' appearance (black, grey, brown & white) unlike the grubby looking Herring Gulls and the less contrasting Yellow Legged Gulls. Also note the incredibly spindly legs which, unlike other similar species, are longer above the knee. The grey boa is very prominent on this bird and the scapulars are unlike any other similar gull species as the feathers on this bird are nearly all (adult-like) grey with many feathers only having a thin, dark, streak which also lack the single or double headed anchors (transverse bars) which other species of gull show to a varying degree - AL.

Stars of the show this morning were 3 adult Mediterranean Gulls seen drifting gently up-river on the incoming tide, 2 of them looking very smart in full summer plumage. The supporting cast included 1 Little Egret, 1 Peregrine, 2 Common Sandpipers and 1 Water Pipit along the river shore, but no sign today of the 2 Common Buzzards seen south of the village yesterday morning (15th).
(Ian Sheperd)

Friday 16th February Abbotts Court, Kingfisher Lakes, North Medway
11.30 to 14.00 hrs. 8/8 cloud, s 1 - 2,   later calm. 10 oC. at 11.15 hrs. HT. 11.45 hrs.
   Great Crested Grebe - 5 NM.
   Little Grebe - 2 KL. 2 ACM.
   Little Egret - 1 KL. 3 ACM.
   Mute Swan - 4 KL.
   Brent Goose - 200 ACM.
   Grey Lag Goose - 7 KL. 93 ACM.
   Canada Goose - 3 KL. 28 ACM.
   Shelduck - 50 ACM. 30 NM.
   Mallard - 2 KL. 2 ACM.
   Teal - 2 NM.
   Wigeon - 40 ACM.
   Pochard - 1 dr. KL.
   Tufted - 4 KL.
   Ruddy duck - 1 pr. KL.
   Coot - 48.
   Moorhen - 91.
   Collared Dove - 20 KL.
   Woodpigeon - 700 on ploughed   fields to nw.
   Stonechat - 1 pr. KL. 1 pr. ACM.
   Green Wooodpecker - 1.
   Long Tailed Tit - 10 KL.
   Linnet - 30 ACM.

Thursday 15th February - Mote Park, Maidstone

Whilst birding the park this morning a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker called from the Alders along the Len, and 4 Mediterranean Gulls were amongst the a large flock of Common and Black-headed Gulls on the Lake, 3 of them were nearly in full summer plumage.
(Simon Ginnaw)

I snatched an hour at New Hythe today between 2 and 3pm. No sign of the Ferruginous Duck no Brooklands in a brief search but I did at last come face to face with the Firecrest in the scrub near the Medway inlet on the raised path that runs between Brooklands Lake and the sunken marsh area at the north end of Abbey Mead. It gave superb views down to about 15 feet.
(Steve Nunn)

Visit to Riverside CP at Gillingham on 14th Feb produced a pair of RB merganser off Horrid Hill and a Greenshank and nearby an adult MED GULL starting to moult into breeding plumage from Sharps Green car park.
Yesterday in a very brief look at Radar Lake at Cliffe found a Black-necked Grebe, Kingfisher and c400 Avocet in flight.(2.30pm)

The Waxwing continues to haunt the gardens in Grain village, feeding on black berries in a garden opposite the Hogarth PH.

A visit to Haysden between 3.15pm and 5.45pm today started off with three Little Egrets in flooded fields, lots of geese (just Greylag and Canada, one hybrid between the two and one other disgusting looking thing) and then a single Yellowhammer which briefly visited the patch for less than a minute before flying off again! At 4.30pm my first Mandarin of the year flew in - three birds (two drakes) and swum around for ten minutes before hiding themselves in the vegetation. Also on the main lake was a single Little Grebe, a pair of Goosander (mostly asleep), two Kingfishers and five Tufted Ducks. A walk around the back of Longfield produced a couple of Reed Buntings (again my first this year) and the Little Egret roost was non existent. Finally in fading light, whilst searching for Little Owl I obtained fairly rubbish views of a Barn Owl as it flew alongside the swollen River Medway back towards Longfield - this was only my second record of Barn Owl at Haysden, just a shame there was half a wood between me and it. Despite a brief search I didn't see it again but an excellent visit really with four new birds for the year and bringing the patch year list to 73.
(Andy Appleton)

Managed to get a couple of hours in at Cliffe this morning. Time 09:00 - 11:30 Weather: WIndy and mainly overcast. Two short showers.
Walked down from the farm, along left hand side of Radar pool and up to flamingo pool and then returned the same way. List as follows:
Avocet (1) Black-headed Gull Blackbird Blue Tit Carrion Crow Chaffinch Coot Cormorant Gadwall (4) Goldeneye (15) Goldfinch Great Crested Grebe (2) Great Tit Greenfinch Greenshank (1) Herring Gull House Sparrow Jackdaw Kestrel Lapwing Lesser Black-backed Gull Linnet Little Egret (2) Little Grebe Long-tailed Tit Magpie Mallard Meadow Pipit (3) Moorhen Pheasant Pied Wagtail Pintail (11) Redshank 2) Reed Bunting Robin Shelduck Shoveler (2) Skylark Starling Teal (15) Tufted Duck (27) Wigeon Woodpigeon Wren.
(Jim Willet)

Just one LBB on Littlebrook suggested that something had disturbed the gulls. The flooded field at the west end of University/Bob Dunn Way had many black heads and a few larger gulls including 3 1st winter Yellow Legged.

A 1st winter Med Gull could be seen wheeling above the Grosvenor Recycling Centre in Crayford. This latter site is no longer the best spot for gull-watching as the workmen now 'beep' their horns as soon as the gulls start to settle! One Little Egret flew up from the New Diggings.
(Andrew Lawson)

A couple of sorties to Littlebrook produced a record day count of 4 Caspian Gulls with 3 2nd winter birds and the regular 1st winter. Also 12+ Yellow Legged Gulls present with a near adult, 3 3rd winter/summer, 6 2nd winter/summer birds and 2 1st winters.
(Andrew Lawson)

This afternoon at Haysden one drake Goosander flew around presumably looking for somewhere quiet to settle (no chance) and was never seen again. Also a couple of Little Egret, two sightings each of Sparrowhawk and Kestrel, a couple of Meadow Pipits at Ensfield Bridge and four Bullfinches.

At Hawden a little later on there were 31 Wigeon, two drake Teal and a single drake Pochard. A Redshank and a Green Sandpiper were lurking along the edge of the lake and 100 Lapwing were in the fields behind. At 4.40pm the four White-fronted Geese took off and flew towards Haysden.

It was getting dark by the time I got back to Haysden where although present I didn't see the geese nor the two Mandarin that had arrived in my absence. Little Egret numbers had built up to about 10.
(Andy Appleton)

A superb Peregrine dive-bombing a group of Woodpigeons over East Malling Research Station site yesterday afternoon, along 2 large (50+) flocks of Lapwing overhead and the first Brambling of the winter.....amazing what the snow brings out! 49 species to date on this site.
(Adam Whitehouse)

Walked from Chatham to Rochester for a meeting this morning and saw Kingfisher below Rats Bay pumping station(8.30am)plus 2 Little Grebes and 35 minutes later enjoyed superb views of Common Sandpiper from Rochester Pier-off Esplanade.
(Keith Cutting)

I parked up at Ensfield Bridge and walked back to Longfield (minus 6 according to the car thermometer!) - no sign of the four White-fronted Geese, but there were three Goosander and a couple of Little Egret. And
as I walked back to the car I could hear Siskins - surely not, but there were at least 10 birds in alders on the other side of the river - at last, and number 69 for the year.
(Andrew Appleton)

A pleasant walk in the morning sunshine around the marshes north of the village produced the following: 2 Little Egret, 1 Peregrine perched on its favourite pylon, 1 Greenshank and 1 Common Sandpiper feeding along the river shore, 4 Stonechat, 1 singing Cetti's Warbler and 1 Blackcap.
(Ian Shepherd)

A quick walk round Haysden Lake before work in search of the four White-fronted Geese seen the previous evening with no luck. Five Goosander though (three drakes), 10 Little Egrets and a Kingfisher, so not all bad news. News that the White-fronts had been seen a little later on sent me scurrying back at lunch-time where I found them actually on the River Medway about 300yds from Ensfield Bridge, with a few Canada Geese.
Elsewhere today a single Little Egret fed in the River Darent just outside Westerham this afternoon and the Red-throated Diver was still at Bough Beech this evening where a Chiffchaff was heard calling near the causeway - no sign of the Ring-necked Duck though, which apparently hasn't been seen since the week-end.
(Andy Appleton)

Well, after a couple of telephone calls to alert me to the fact that there were four White-fronted Geese and some Mandarin at Haysden late this afternoon, for some mad reason I thought it would be a good idea to try and see them. Strangely enough I couldn't find the Mandarin when I arrived at 5.30pm but did count 20 (possibly 27) Wigeon in the dark. As I couldn't be sure whether some other shapes were birds, bushes or something else I decided to leave the Whitefront's until another day!
(Andy Appleton)

10 Yellow Legged Gulls were present on Littlebrook today: 1 3rd winter, 7 2nd winters/summers & 2 1st winters. Also 1 Chiffchaff, 25 Tufted Duck, 3 Pochard & 2 Little Grebe. A large arrival of Lapwings has also taken place with 100 at Greenhithe, 700 on the Thurrock foreshore, 600 at Crayford and about 2000 across the river at Rainham. 3400(ish) in total.

Sunday 4th February Haysden

Three drake Goosanders and four Little Egrets were on Haysden Lake this afternoon. A Grey Wagtail flew over. No birds on Longfield - but one dog splashing about in the middle of the lake. The owner kindly told me her dog had probably frightened them all off - wow, how clever. She clearly didn't see anything wrong with that, or simply couldn't care less.
Three Pochard and about 18 Wigeon were at Hawden, and nearby about 15 Fieldfare and a few Redwings.
This is the first year I haven't seen Siskin or Redpoll in January, and amazingly I haven't recorded Reed Bunting yet this year.
A Badger was seen nearby at about 2.45am last Thursday morning (en route to Yorkshire) trying to get his back-side through a hedge - but no sound of Tawny Owls.

Not such as nice a day as Saturday, but the lack of wind prompted a visit to Motney as high tide approached.

Lots of duck out in Rainham Creek & on the saltmarsh of the reserve (until some bearded goon in a kayak flushed them..) - 514 shelduck, 180 wigeon, 100+ teal & shoveler, 90 mallard & 21 pintail. There were 7 red-breasted mergansers & a goldeneye in Bartlett Creek, together with 12 great crested grebes. 46 brents flew in from Otterham.
Most of the waders were roosting out at Nor & beyond, but those roosting on the reserve included 54 ringed plover, 415 lapwing, 120 dunlin, 50 redshank, 29 turnstone & 16 black-wits. c200 avocets flew past off-shore.

I went to Haysden this morning a short produced 7 Little Egret and 4 Goosander all on the Long Lake the one behind the sailing lake. Three were cracking males showing very well in the sunshine. A pleasant stroll indeed.
(Colin Firman)

2 2nd winter Caspian Gulls were present on Littlebrook today along with 12 Yellow Legged Gulls: 7 2nd winters/summers and 5 1st winters.

Time 08:15 - 13:30.
Weather bright and reasonably calm. Overcast for short spells.
Alot of birds ealy morning as I walked the path down to radar pool including a Water Rail in the ditch at the begining of the path opposite the farm. Many birds singing and moving along the path all the way to the sea wall.

Walked along the sea wall back to the creek and then back along the path to the corner of radar pool. List for the morning as follows:
Little Grebe (many) Great Crested Grebe (3) Black-necked Grebe (2) Cormorant, Little Egret (3) Grey Heron (1) Mute Swan (2) Canada Goose (flew over) Common Shelduck (5) Eurasian Wigeon, (20) Gadwall (17) Common Teal (Many) Mallard(Many) Northern Pintail (45) Northern Shoveler (Many) Tufted Duck (Many) Common Goldeneye (34) Marsh-harrier (1 male hunting) Common Kestrel (1) Common Pheasant, Water Rail (1) Common Moorhen, Eurasian Coot (Many) Eurasian Oystercatcher (3) Grey Plover (3) Common Ringed Plover (1) Northern Lapwing (many) Eurasian Curlew (2) Common Redshank (5) Common Greenshank (1) Little Stint (2) Dunlin (Many) Common Gull (1) Great Black-backed Gull, Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Black-headed Gull, Stock Dove, Wood Pigeon, Eurasian Collared-dove, Little Owl (1) Common Kingfisher(1) Great Spotted Woodpecker (1) Green Woodpecker (1) Eurasian Skylark (7) Meadow Pipit (13) Rock Pipit (2) Pied Wagtail, Eurasian Wren, Dunnock, European Robin, Common Stonechat (2) Eurasian Blackbird, Fieldfare (3) Redwing (2) Song Thrush (1) Cetti's Warbler (heard) Goldcrest (2) Long-tailed Tit (7) Great Tit, Blue Tit, Magpie,Eurasian Jackdaw (23) Carrion Crow, Common Starling, House Sparrow, Chaffinch, Brambling (3) European Greenfinch, European Goldfinch, Eurasian Linnet, Reed Bunting.
(Jim Willett)

A late afternoon visit between 3.30 an 5.30. A few Bearded Tits calling in the sunken marsh remained, as usual for me, frustratingly elusive. A Little Egret over was scant consolation. The Firecrest gave very brief views as it shot through to roost - following it's usual late afternoon pattern.

Walking back around Brooklands at around 5pm a Bittern showed very well through the back of the reeds near the fisherman's building. Along the Millstream 2 more Bittern were sitting high up in the reeds. 3 Bittern in total is my best number for the year.
(Steve Nunn) www.newhythe.blogspot.com

Visited Bedgebury Pinetum on the afternoon of Friday 5th Feb and stuck to the area of mixed pine and oak on top of the hill. There were small flocks of Siskin flitting about and feeding in the larch. Later on (after 3 pm), small flocks of Greenfinch arrived in the tops of the mature oaks and shortly after this I found 2 Hawfinch, the first seen only briefly but the second gave good views, being stationery for at least 10 minutes in the top of a pine.

Towards dusk bird numbers began to build with larger numbers of Greenfinch and Chaffinch and smaller numbers of Fieldfare coming into roost in the oaks. Mixed in with a flock of Chaffinch I also found 14 Brambling.
(Stephen Lemon)

Brief visit to Cliffe yesterday was quite rewarding - on Radar Pool, some 300 lapwing at the back, at least four pairs of Goldeneye, Pochards in excess of 200 and similar numbers of Tufted. One Little Egret. Later, two sparrowhawks flew overhead as we passed the Pinnacle. Following a "tip off" went in search of falcated duck on Quarry Pool - no clear view, may have been hiding amongst mallards. However, excellent views of a female smew, a bird I have rarely seen.
(Alan Lean)

Thursday 1st February Cliffe RSPB

The time of sunset at this time of year makes it ideal for some after work owling and as it was a beautiful mild evening, more reminiscent of April, little further inducement was needed.

Over the last few years it was possible to see/hear 5 species of owls in the area although over the last 12 months Little and Barn Owl numbers seem to have crashed and Long-eared have been hard to find. Tawny Owl was always a rarity in the area but there has been a resident pair for a few years now.

The black and white of the two Black-necked Grebes stood out as they preened on
the Radar as did the two drake Goldeneyes that were there. There had been up to thirty with a dozen drakes but very few others were visible. They do tend to move around a lot this time of year so perhaps they had left the Radar, possibly in pursuit of females.

I made my way to the Creek with Venus shining ahead of me in the west, Mercury just below it in the sunset afterglow and a full moon in the east. Out across the River I estimated at least 5000 gulls leaving Mucking Tip and moving east down the River.

As I reached the Creek the mud shimmered like satin in the moonlight but it was not yet dark and so a male Sparrowhawk that flew across the Creek was easily identifiable as it skimmed the bushes on the other side, much to the consternation of the roosting Blackbirds.
My attention turned to the Coastguards area where a Barn Owl was patrolling its usual beat. Night met day for a few moments as it saw off a lingering Carrion Crow and continued to quarter. It is quite a pale bird so possibly a male and hopefully it will attract a mate before too long. A Short-eared Owl joined the Barn, the latter sitting on a post to watch the former for a short while, before both continued on their way.
As I returned to the car I paused several times at likely spots to listen for the low moan of Long-eared but to no avail. I waited near the Tawny site but there was no sign and even a little coaxing did not attract a hooted response. This is the third time this winter I have drawn a blank with this species so perhaps Tawny Owl is destined to become a Cliffe rarity again. As I walked on I heard an unfamiliar sound, no not unfamiliar but familiar although not in these circumstances. It was a Skylark singing high up in the darkness perhaps encouraged by the mild weather to believe it was spring.
(Paul Larkin)