July 2006 Sightings

Please email your sightings to Andy Lawson

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

Sunday 30th July Mote Park, Maidstone

Pretty quiet today due to the timing of the walk (16:30 - 18:20).  Birds worth noting were 1 Chiff Chaff and 4 Spotted Flycatcher all catching flying insects by the entrance of the coach house.
(Simon Ginnaw)

Sunday 30th July North Kent back and forth!!

A lazy start today first stop Funton creek to check the waders on the mud. We managed to find at low tide ten Greenshank, fifteen or so Golden Plover, ten plus Little Egret, two Marsh Harrier quartering the marshes and a Whimbrel. Avocet numbered approx 300. Following a phone call we miraculously found ourselves at Bough Beech res enjoying a cracking (until it opened it's wings) White Pelican. To add to this a Hobby, Greenshank, two Garganey and several Green Sands plus a small gathering of birders it made for a pleasant hour or two. Now not ones to be beaten by a site we returned to Funton again, though the tide had beaten us and all we added were seventy or so Black-tailed Godwits.

Next stop Lower Halstow where careful scanning of the marshes towards Grain revealed a distant but superb Red Kite, (an unusual record for July!!) that flew around for a while before being lost to view. Three adult Med Gulls were amongst the Black-headed Gulls and a cracking adult Peregrine caused bedlam.

Next stop Motney Hill, just thirty Little Egret and last stop Cliffe with five Curlew Sandpiper, six Grey Plover and four Bar-tailed Godwits the best of the bunch. Not a bad day birding the North Kent marshes and well worth trying any spot for migrant waders.

(Barry Wright and John Tilbrook)

Sunday 30th July Bough Beech

A phone call whilst I was in Church this morning alerted me to the presence of a White Pelican that had just flown into Bough Beech. A quick family trip to the reservoir was soon in progress where my 'scope was somewhat hogged by my 11 year old son! The White Pelican showed well on the main reservoir.
Also seen on the North Lake were two Garganey, one Greenshank, seven Green Sandpipers, three Common Sandpipers, two Snipe and a Little Egret.
(Andrew Appleton)

Saturday 29th July Cliffe Pools RSPB

During a quick visit to Cliffe Pits in the afternoon  the most interesting things  I saw were 28 Whimbrel and 7 Bar-tailed Godwits [6 of them still in full summer plumage] roosting on the concrete blocks. Also a Clouded Yellow along the sea-wall.

(Dick Elvy)

Saturday 29th July Cliffe Pools RSPB

An early afternoon visit to Cliffe to coincide with the high tide produced a few waders though generally very quiet. Three Curlew Sandpipers were amongst the eighteen Dunlin on the ski pool, otherwise, seven Greenshank scattered around the pools, seven Whimbrel at the far end of the Flamingo pool, thirteen Ringed Plover and 287 Black-tailed Godwit. On the Black barn pool, four Ruff. There were also several Painted Ladies and Red Admirals in the area.

(Barry Wright)

Saturday 29th July Haysden & Hawden

A lone Mandarin was at Haysden Lake this morning where there were also two Common Terns (1 juvenile bird) and a Kingfisher. Also seen in the area were two Turtle Dove, four Yellowhammers, 18 Lapwing (Hawden) and my first sighting of Marsh Tit for a couple of months. A flock of 30 Greenfinches was also noteworthy.
(Andrew Appleton)

Wednesday 26th July Haysden

Lesser Whitethroat, 13 Black-headed Gulls, four Swifts, 20 Swallows and four House Martins were seen this evening. 
(Andrew Appleton)

Wednesday 26th July Gillingham

50+ Whimbrel in flight over my house calling (close to the Strand) Gillingham at 4.50pm.
They were heading south.
(Keith Cutting)

Tuesday 25th July Haysden

Four Linnets, two Yellowhammers and a few Chiffchaff in a brief visit before work.

(Andrew Appleton)

Monday 24th July Haysden

One Turtle Dove and quite a few Chiffchaff around Haysden this evening.

(Andrew Appleton)

Sunday 23rd July Yantlett creek and Binney marshes

I didn't venture out until mid afternoon once it had cooled down a bit and decided to venture out across to Yantlett creek via Binney Farm. There were three Little Egrets on Binney marshes and a few Yellow Wagtails flying over. The walk down to the creek produced stacks of Sympetrums, with Ruddy and Common. A couple of Emperor Dragonflies patrolled the path whilst a single tatty looking Black tailed Skimmer was seen. Once at the creek, eight Common Sandpiper, 1 Whimbrel, and a few Redshanks fed on the mud. Further out there were nine Greenshank, many Black-tailed Godwit and another three Little Egret. A closer look at some of the ditches produced Scarce Emerald damselfly and on the Butterfly front Red Admiral, a Painted Lady and lastly lots of Silver Y moths. A slow stroll back to the farm, a Corn Bunting was singing and more Yellow Wagtails were recorded.

(Barry Wright)

Sunday 23rd July Riverside Country Park

Biked over to Riverside Country Park on Sunday - generally quiet and not much about but at the Motney Hill end near the car park, a Turtle Dove showing well on phone wire and another in the bushes back towards the visitor centre.

Common tern fishing between shoreline and the venerable wreck and another just next to visitor centre.

Notice board in centre noted an unverified sighting of a gull-billed tern around Motney Hill. On return, what sounded like a Lesser Whitethroat in bushes by canal (Shorne Marshes).
(Alan Lean)

Sunday 23rd July New Hythe

2 Green Sandpiper on the scrape during an early morning visit today. 
Elsewhere 2 Common Tern over Abbey Mead and a Turtle Dove in the East scrub  area.
(Steve Nunn)

Saturday 22nd July Haysden & Hawden

There were two Common Terns at Haysden this morning where there was also a single Common Gull with some 20 Black-headed Gulls. 

Five Lapwing were loafing around and there were two Turtle Doves in the area.  One Sparrowhawk and one Kestrel seen today (no Hobbies for several weeks though) and a Sand Martin was at Hawden.

Several Yellowhammers and two male Reed Buntings were noted (Haysden and Hawden). A good number of juvenile birds around now, of many species, although the Linnets are still only represented by six adult birds (three pairs).

(Andrew Appleton)

ednesday 19th July Yantlett Creek, Grain

An adult Lesser Golden Plover, showing many characteristics of  the Pacific race, was found at 17.45 hrs. on the Yantlet marsh. The bird was in head &  body moult.

At TQ 856779, it was feeding in loose proximity to two lapwing,  to the south of the Yantlet sluice fleet, at the edge of the grazing marsh bordering the Yantlet  creek "fresh water " fleet which continues south towards the dam.
I was able to make notes for c. 10 minutes, when it dropped into the fringe of the fleet, out of sight. A low flying light aircraft then caused considerable  disturbance
& we could not relocate it.We can look again on Saturday, in the meantime, it may turn up  anywhere.
(Trevor Bowley)

Tuesday 18th July Cliffe RSPB

There were more waders than last week at Cliffe this morning . They included 320 Avocets, 130 Black-tailed Godwits, 24 Whimbrels, 17 Greenshanks, 1 Spotted Redshank, 17 Grey Plovers, 30 Dunlins, 6 Common Sandpipers and 7 Ruffs. One of the Ruffs was colour ringed - Red RH tibia, Yellow LH tarsus, Metal RH tarsus. If I remember correctly this is the bird that has been at Oare recently.

There was an adult Yellow-legged Gull on the jetty and I saw a Kingfisher from the fine new seat under the Radar. There is a splendid bank of Chicory through the gate nearby. I also saw my first Wall Butterflies of the year but no Marbled Whites.
(Dick Elvy)

Monday 17th July Dartford Marshes

After a quick jaunt to Essex for a Great White Egret I decided to check out the New Diggings on the way home. 

Breeding birds have done well and included two broods of Tufted Duck (seven and three young respectively), two juvenile Great Crested Grebe, numerous moorhen and coot chicks, one Lapwing chick and a female Gadwall with six young.

(Andrew Lawson)

Sunday 16th July Birling

Spotted Flyctacher around the churchyard in Birling - using gravestones from which to catch insects. Also a Nuthatch here and adult Green Woodpecker feeding a juvenille. All seen from my window.........so frustrating as i can't get out this weekend!
(Steve Nunn)

Sunday 16th July Dartford 2.20pm

Whilst playing with our kids in the back garden, Marcus and I heard a Whimbrel flying over in a North Westerly direction. The bird called four times.
(Andrew & Marcus Lawson).

Saturday 15th July Haysden

Two sightings of Sparrowhawk today, also 1+ Sand Martins and 15 or so Swallows before the Sparrowhawk pushed them off.  I Lesser Black-backed, 4 Herring and 14 Black-headed Gulls were noted at Haysden and a pair of Tufted Ducks were on Barden Lake where there were also four juvenile Coot (two families) and a single young Great Crested Grebe.

(Andrew Appleton)

Thursday 13th July Motney Hill

Getting interesting again! This week have seen lapwings, a lone curlew, lots of geese (and I know it shouldn,t be but they did look like brent geese) were too far away for a proper id. Several blackwits looking like rhode island reds!!
Also saw pair of reed bunting and she had thistledown in her beak and a pair of kestrels really low quartering the marsh, to tell you the truth they didn,t look like kestrels to me as the wings looked rounded but they were very barred across the back so I suppose they must have been.
I thought I knew what kestrels looked like, I mean everyone knows that!!
(Sheila Pettett)

Tuesday 11th July Cliffe RSPB

A rump of this body (not a pretty sight) accompanied by the faithful Sagahound walked the Cliffe perimeter today. It has become a very civilised perambulation, and although the occasional object is dumped, the area is no longer garlanded by old wrecks, apart of course from the Saganauts. Incidentally our apprentice is soon to retire. We shall not be like the Four Musketeers or Horsemen of the Apocalypse, more like the Famous Five, albeit somewhat older.
The warm cloudy conditions enabled us to be lightly clad and the results of our labours were 58 sp. inc. -:47 Dabchicks, 4 L.Egrets, 5 each of Gadwall and Teal, 190 Avocets, 7 Grey Plover, 14 Dunlin, 2 Blackwits, - showing a lot of red and presumably islandica - 6 Greenshank, 3 Ruff, a purring Turtle Dove, 12 Sand Martins moving through, 6 (5 juv.) Stonechats and 2 singing Corn Buntings.
The best wader areas are the NE corner of the Radar Pool , the Black Barn Pool and the W. end of the Flamingo Pool.
I would like to thank FIFA for staging the World Cup at a time when there were few birds of note.
Arrivederci!
(Martin Coath et al)

Sunday 9th July Vinters Park, Maidstone

Yesterday afternoon at the Vinters Park 5 aside football tournament (just off New Cut Rd, Maidstone) there was at least 1 adult Med Gull amongst the B Headed gulls scavaging on the dropped burger buns etc. Could easily have been more but with no bins and looking into the sun I only saw one that conveniently flew within 20yrds so had good views.
(David Errey)

Saturday 8th July Cliffe RSPB

Not a lot at Cliffe this morning though 5 LRPs were nice.Otherwise 3 Greenshanks, 3 Ruffs and a Whimbrel. Afew Sand Martins and Swallows were moving W. along the seawall. For what it is worth I could see a Ruddy Shelduck feeding with c200 ordinary ones on the mud at Mucking. I saw a single Marbled White - a first for me at Cliffe. I wonder where the other 317 that Mike Ellison saw are. Have they appeared naturally or has someone released some?
(Dick Elvy)

Thursday 6th July New Hythe

Although we have made frequent visits when Flossie takes me for my daily walk, there has been little new to report on the bird front during recent weeks. However, looking down not up, we noted over 30 spikes of Bee Orchid in 3 separate places but now they are over as are the Common Spotted. There was also a really good display of Pyramidal, many still in flower, in the Western scrub area.

Ordonata have included Emperor dragonfly, Hairy and Brown Hawker, Four spotted Chaser, Black tailed Skimmer, Common Darter, Blue tailed, Common blue and Red eyed damselfly. Flossie's friend Terry has seen Banded Agrion as well.
Today most warbler species were silent but a few Reed and Blackcap are still vocal. There were 2 Common Tern briefly over Brooklands lake and a Sparrowhawk by the sunken marsh but as for the rest,in cricketing parlance, they did little to trouble the scorer.

Now that wader return passage is starting we are hoping that the new scrape, Kidney lake,will produce some records although viewing is a little difficult through the surrounding vegetation.
(Martin Warburton)

Tuesday 4th July Cliffe RSPB

Cliffe was heaving with butterflies this morning; essex & small skipper, green-veined, small & large white, common blue, red admiral, comma, meadow brown, gatekeeper, small heath & a staggering 318 marbled whites!...Honest!
Plus 235 avocet, 8 little egrets, 2 ruff, 100 lapwing, 8 greenshank, 1 sum-plum dunlin, 20 black'wit & 2 singing corn buntings.
(Michael Ellison)

Sunday 2nd July Haysden

A visit to Haysden in the heat late afternoon produced eight Linnet, a couple of Stock Dove, one or two Turtle Doves and a Lesser Black-backed Gull. Six butterfly species were noted today including several Comma's.
(Andrew Appleton)

Saturday 1st July Haysden & Hawden

A single Lesser Whitethroat by Haysden Lake again this morning, also Turtle Dove and a couple of Kingfishers noted. There were three Lapwing at Hawden and a Roe Deer was seen at Haysden just before 6am today.
(Andrew Appleton)

Saturday 1st July Knole Park

Now that England have been predictably knocked out on penalties I can get back to what matters - birding!

I opted for somewhere quiet with birds (ie, at least 10 miles away from Dartford) and I headed down to Knole Park near Sevenoaks for a late afternoon/early evening stroll.

The sun had disppeared behind the trees by the time that I had arrived and the heat of the day had fortunately gone with it.  It was still pleasantly warm but with a cooling, gentle breeze.

At least seven male Yellowhammers were singing around the southern (back) entrance along with three Willow Warblers.  I also found a pair feeding two young.

Common birds are always found in good numbers here and included Great Spotted & Green Woodpeckers, two pairs of Jays, numerous Jackdaw and Stock Dove whilst finches were represented by Green and Chaffinch.

One of the highlights was a pair of Hobbies feeding off of the obscene number of Cockchafers where the main concrete path meets the golf course.

The walk back produced the other highlight; a superb roding Woodcock which flew low over my head several times in good light.  Several Tawny Owls called as I left.

(Andrew Lawson)