September 2006 Sightings

Yantlet Creek - Barry Wright ©

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 west to Dartford and Tunbridge Wells (roughly...) then I would be delighted to hear from you.

Wednesday 27th September Hawden

No sign of the Stonechat this morning but a visit to Hawden at lunchtime produced 10 Egyptian Geese - a Haysden tick for me. A few Swallows flew south-west, Nuthatch, Green and Great Spotted Woodpeckers called and two Yellow Wagtails had been present earlier. Much better than of late!
(Andrew Appleton)

Tuesday 26th September Shoremead Fort

I spent a pleasant couple of hours in the sunshine around Shornemead Fort this afternoon. A few bits included a juvenile Gannet, 1 Black Tern, 1 Sandwich Tern, 2 Peregrines, 1 Hobby, 2 Sparrowhawks, 1 Whinchat, 110 Meadow Pipits NW, 1 Siskin, 2 Little Grebes, 2 Grey Herons, 6 Chaffinches, 30 Goldfinches and 60 Linnets. Four Clouded Yellows were present along the seawall. An evening count of Little Egrets at one of the north Kent roosts produced 263 birds.
(Tim Hodge)

Sunday 24th September New Hythe & Trottiscliffe

A quick visit to New Hythe in the morning - the Black Necked Grebe was still on Abbey Mead.

In the afternoon I was up near Trottiscliffe  Church and had a Red Kite go over.
(Steve Nunn)

Sunday 24th September Dartford Marshes & Greenhithe

A juvenile Hobby passed low over my head as I checked the 'flooded field'. This bird would be easily recognisable if I saw it again as it was missing two secondaries.

Greenhithe was better than usual and I immediately picked up 2 Black Terns sp circling up on the side side of the QEII bridge.  One of the birds was an adult Black whilst the other was a juvenile showing a white rump and brown mantle but was unfortunately too far away to ID conclusively. Both birds headed up until they were barely visible. They were eventually lost to view as they headed South over Dartford Town Centre.

Also present were 14 Yellow Legged Gulls with most of them being kind enough to be on the correct side of the river!  21 Ringed Plovers were on the Thames foreshore behind ASDA and three Oystercatchers and 1 Greenshank were on the Thurrock foreshore.

There was a noticebale movement of Swallows and Mipits taking place and I counted 310 Swallows and 150+ Mipits.  Interestingly they seemed to heading over South in mixed flocks. The Swallow flocks ranged from between 7 to 20 in number. 1 Yellow Wagtail also headed over.

Alex woke up so I headed down to Crossways to feed the Swans. Whilst we watched the Swans we saw a Carp with a body that was longer and broader than that of the Mute Swans! I told a couple of fisherman nearby and they instantly looked very miserable.

(Andrew Lawson)

Saturday 23rd September Dartford Marshes

The flooded field had 27 Teal, 2 Green Sandpipers and 2 Lapwing. 

The river Darent had 4 Green Sandpipers.

New Diggings had 2 Lapwing, 1 Ruddy Duck and 14 Tufted Duck.  Passerines present were 4 Reed Bunting, 2 male Stonechats fighting it out, 4 Mipits and several migrant Robins setting up their winter territories.

The bad news is that there is a new motocross track being set up down by the Thames.  However, the bright side is that all of the gates are now open right down to the river wall so I know where I'll be sitting when its blowing a easterly!

The Thames foreshore had 18 Yellow Legged Gulls, 1 juv Wheatear and 2 Common Tern.  The buddleia bushes by the Darent Barrier had 3 Reed Bunting, 1 Chiffchaff 2 Blue Tit and 1 Blackbird.  Also present were 2 Jackdaw and 10 Stock Dove.

Butterflies present were 2 Small Heath, 1 Small White, 1 Red Admiral and 2 Small Tortoiseshell.

(Andrew Lawson)

Saturday 23rd September Haysden

Fairly rubbish still - a walk around the three main lakes and the areas between them in thick mist this morning produced four Tufted Ducks (two at Hawden and two at Barden) and a single Kingfisher at Haysden.
(Andrew Appleton)

Thursday 21st September Chatham & Maidstone

A fantastic sight yesterday at 09.20 as I was driving towards London on the M2 just before the Medway Bridge. I saw a Red Kite circling overhead and drifting slowly SE. Rather dangerous trying to watch the bird in beautiful sunlight while driving on the motorway!

Also good movements of house martins over my house in Grove Green, Maidstone, C30 at about 08.45 yesterday with about 20 birds seen at 18.10 yesterday. Today another c25 birds seen in pouring rain at 11.45.
(Bill Stoneham)

Thursday 21st September Cliffe RSPB

I had not visited the Reserve for some time and so when my wife expressed a wish to pick some blackberries, before the Devil spits on them in October, it seemed a good reason to dust down my bin's and accompany her.

As we walked down the Black Path we were immediately struck by the constant hum of wasps and bees feeding on the nectar from the extensive growth of ivy flowers alongside the path. One has to be careful not to get stung! Still later on in the year the resulting berries will support several wintering Blackcaps.

The Pools were at an extremely low level, the lowest I've seen since the mid '80s. I
understand though the sluice will soon be unblocked by the RSPB allowing fresh seawater to enter the Pools. The pool edges were covered in white dots which I assumed were dead slipper mussels which explained the 33 Oystercatchers that were in the area.

Although oppressively hot there was a strong breeze from the south which forced a group of 123 Redshank to take shelter on one of the islands, they were accompanied by 2 Greenshanks.
As were picked (literally) our way along the Creek Road it became apparent that it was near high tide as evidenced by 233 Avocets, 97 Black tailed Godwits and 18 Dunlin. No sign of the Little Stint and Curlew Sandpipers that had been seen over the weekend however.

The buddleia attracted several species of butterfly including whites, a Painted Lady a couple of Clouded Yellows, Speckled Wood and many Red Admirals. These seemed to be being stalked by lots dragonflies.

Little of note was seen but we did go away with several punnets of fruit to be consumed later.
(Paul Larkin)

Wednesday 20th September New Hythe

Thanks to Jerry Warne, Flossie and I added a new bird to the list today - a female Ruddy duck was on Abbeymead. Also there still was the Black necked Grebe. Duck numbers on Abbeymead are beginning to build up: 37 Pochard and 12 Wigeon today
Overhead, 2 Hobby sightings, Kestrel and Sparrowhawk, 1 Grey Wagtail  and just a few House Martin and Swallow moving SW against the wind.
(Martin Warburton)

Sunday 17th September Broadditch pond and fields near Southfleet

A walk with Louise and the dog was surprisingly rewarding. At 1125 a dark Common Buzzard flew high over the area and drifted south whilst another bird this time a light phase individual flew south west at 1215. Other birds in the area were a migrant Yellow and a Grey Wagtail flying over, 46 very noisy Red-legged Partridge, 2 Chiffchaff, a Sparrowhawk and 2 Kestrel.

(Barry Wright)

Saturday 16th September (Afternoon) Northfield, Hartley/New Ash Green

Common Buzzard and Hobby over, both heading east.
(Linturn Hopkins)

Saturday 16th September Greenhithe & Dartford Marshes

Pintail still present on the flooded field along with 4 Teal but no sign of any Sandpipers.

75 Coot on the New Diggings is up from c.10 last week and suggests a large overall arrival of this species. A female Ruddy Duck also present and 12 Ring Necked Parakeets were just preparing to leave their roost on the other side of Bob Dunn Way.

Thames - quiet. 1 ad Yellow Leg.

Crossways held 25 Tufties and a Peregrine flew over.  1 Chiffchaff was the sole representative of anything migratory. Alex fed the Mute Swans.

(Andrew Lawson)

Saturday 16th September Cliffe and Stoke Saltings

An afternoon visit to the Savannah at Cliffe was generally very quiet bar 3 Black Terns on the river and 11 Little Egret. plus a Clouded Yellow.

At Stoke Saltings I couldn't find the Osprey though a large adult Peregrine was present together with 7 Greenshank, 6 Little Egret, 450+ Wigeon, 2 Golden Plover. It's a great site and deserves more coverage as the Waders are pushed up into the creek by the rising tide.

(Barry Wright)

Saturday 16th September Greenhithe & Dartford Marshes

The flooded field off of Bob Dunn Way had 4 Green Sandpipers and a Wood Sandpiper .  The female Pintail was still present and had been joined by 6 Teal including two eclipse drakes.  The pool on the other side of the road held an adult Little Egret. The New Diggings had 160 Lapwing.

A five minute scan of the Thames at Greenhithe revealed 2 adult Yellow Legged Gulls roosting on the jetties and an adult Sandwich Tern flew up river.  There were five Ringed Plover on the mud at Stone (at last!).

(Andrew Lawson)

Friday 15th September Greenhithe & Dartford Marshes

A quick drive down to Greenhithe after work turned up a Whimbrel, 6 Teal and 1 Yellow Legged Gull. There still aren't any terns or small waders.

The flooded field off of Bob Dunn Way had 3 Green Sandpipers.  The biggest surprise was a female Pintail amongst the Mallards and dodgy looking ducks. I've seen Pintail on the Thames in the winter and they are regular at Rainham RSPB but I've never seen one on the Marshes and especially not this close to Dartford.

(Andrew Lawson)

Friday 15th September Haysden

Six Pheasants and 73 Greenfinches counted along the lane near Haysden this morning.

(Andrew Appleton)

Thursday 14th September New Hythe

Flossie, Terry Laws and I went round the lakes today without seeing any warblers or waders. However Flossie's Mute Swan count was 47. I see from my recently received KBR that the maximum count in 2003 was 27.

Bird of the day was a Black necked Grebe on Abbeymead. Also there were 5 Wigeon  and we later had another 8 flying over by Tesco lake, obviously new arrivals.

3 Gadwall  2 Shoveler and 71 Tufted completed our duck count. Raptors were 1 Peregrine, 2 Sparrowhawk and 1 Kestrel.
(Martin Warburton)

Wednesday 13th September Haysden

A quick walk through the Shallows before work produced a dozen or so Blackcaps, a few Chiffchaff and a single Reed Warbler.

(Andrew Appleton)

Monday 11th September Cliffe RSPB and Gravesend

During a quick visit to Cliffe this afternoon I saw 350 Avocets, 70 Black-tailed Godwits, 1 Spotted Redshank, 30 Grey Plovers, 2 Golden Plovers, 70 Ringed PLovers, 100 Dunlins, 4 Curlew Sandpipers, 1 Whimbrel, 4 Widgeons and 310 Shelducks.

In the Lower Hope there were another 100 Dunlins, 8 Bar-tailed Godwits and 5 Knots flying downstream. There were also c35 Common Terns, 14 Sandwich Terns and 4 Black Terns. The best things though were 3-4 Porpoises.

As there were Terns at Cliffe I paid a flying visit to Gravesend on the way home. There was a seething mass of Terns on the Tilbury outfall  with at least 150 Common Terns and 35 Black Terns including 15 circling around high up.
(Dick Elvy)

Monday 11th September New Hythe

It has been fairly quiet at New Hythe recently (at least for those who missed the 2 Spoonbill which flew over last week). Most summer visitors have gone and hopes of passage waders have been much reduced by the high water level and lack of muddy margins or islands at Kidney lake. Only a few Lapwing and 1 or 2 Green sandpiper by the river so far.

Flossie has taken to counting the Mute Swan. Her maximum daily total during the last week is 41. Today there was a group of about 40 Sand Martin briefly over Brookland lake but they moved on almost immediately.

1 Lapwing over the sunken marsh was the only wader for the day. However 2 Rook flying over towards Burham were not only a year but a patch tick at New Hythe.
A few Lesser Whitethroat are still present, the only warblers for the day apart from the resident Cetti's. Last week near the round pond there were 3 Whinchat and today 2 more in the same area.
(Martin Warburton)

Monday 11th September Haysden

Greeted by a Hobby as I drew up this morning (my first here since 14 May) and a Grey Wagtail was on the sailing boat slip-way in the same binocular view as Kingfisher and Grey Heron - a superb start to a Monday morning.
Also there were four Cormorant roosting in the willow tree and a juvenile Willow Warbler was feeding on the boats masts. 12 Great Crested Grebes were counted on Haysden Lake.
(Andrew Appleton)

Sunday 10th September Grain

The Osprey was showing very distantly on Bees Ness Jetty, Upper Stoke between 2.00 and 2.05pm
(Andrew Appleton)

Sunday 10th September Grain

A pootle around Grain this morning after the fog lifted produced: 1F spar, 5+ blackcap, 3+ reed warbler, single willow warbler, chiffchaff, lesser whitethroat & goldcrest; 2 singing Cetti's warblers & 2 yellow wagtail S.
About a zillion dragonflies (common darter & migrant hawkers) & comma, common blue, small heath & various white butterflies.
Nothing special, but a beautiful morning, without any low-lifes to spoil the p & q.
(Gordon Allison)

Saturday 9th September Hawden & Haysden

One Spotted Flycatcher seen (101 for the year), and lots of Blackcap today, plus at least one Reed Warbler and several Chiffchaff - but no other sylvia warblers and no hirundines today.

There were two Cormorant at Haysden, a single juv. Herring Gull flew over and Kingfisher, Reed Bunting and Yellowhammer were also seen this morning.
(Andrew Appleton)

Thursday 7th September Lower Halstow and Funton Creek

A trip out to North Kent in the hope of something unusual was thwarted by the very high tide at Lower Halstow and I had to make do with 17 distant Little Egrets and a Marsh Harrier. A stop at Funton creek held a few more birds with a Hobby overhead, and a Spotted Flycatcher perched on the fence by the paddocks. Out in the creek few birds of note though a pair of Marsh Harriers were evident. Add to this the 2 Cattle Egrets at Elmley, well worth taking time off work.

(Barry Wright)

Thursday 7th September Greenhithe & Dartford

Another aerial display by a Hobby over the house as it pursued and almost caught a sparrow.

The Thames was quiet with an Oystercatcher being the only wader present.  5 adult Yellow Legged Gulls were on the foreshore and LBB Gull numbers were up to 700+ with most being adults.

(Andrew Lawson)

Wednesday 6th September Dartford Marsh

A quick look at the Marshes adjacent to Bob Dunn Way turned up 1 Snipe, 1 Green Sandpiper, 30 Lapwing and a Greenshank. Also present were 2 Kestrels, 1 Stock Dove, 3 Ring Necked Parakeet and the family of 6 Gadwall flew in.

(Andrew Lawson)

Monday 4th September Burham 11.50 - 13.20

Cormorant 6, grey heron 4; mallard 25; kestrel 2; moorhen 4, coot 1; common sandpiper 2; green sandpiper 1; BHG 9; herring gull 12; stock dove 1; woodpigeon 43; collard dove 3; little owl 1; green woodpecker 1; house martin 6; wren 1; robin 1; whitethroat 1; reed warbler 3; blue tit 9; magpie 5; jackdaw 2; carrion crow 5; starling 3; goldfinch 5; greenfinch 4.
(Bill Stoneham)

Monday 4th September Dartford & Greenhithe

A quick look at the New Diggings produced very little of note so I decided to cross over the River Darent and try the newly flooded fields that have been created due to the recent heavy rain. The pool in the North-East corner held 4 Green Sandpipers, 1 Common Sandpiper, 1 Greenshank, 1 Lapwing and 1 very young Little Egret.  Good stuff!  35 House Martin also flew through along with 5 late Swift.
I also checked the Thames at Greenhithe where I saw 6 Yellow Legged Gulls which comprised 5 adults and 1 immature. Other gulls numbered 2000 Black Headed, 6 GBB (5ad 1 1st winter) and 10 LBB. A juvenile Arctic Tern flew upriver.

Just before I left all of the gulls took to the air and a frantic scan skyward revealed a male Sparrowhawk heading high South.  Some of the gulls mobbed it so I guess it must have been the culprit.
(Andrew Lawson)

Sunday 3rd September Dartford Park

I was in Dartford park this morning with my son Alex when a House Martin made a loud 'chew-prrrrrt' alarm call.  I looked up and saw a Hobby speeding overhead before it dived towards the library.  Half a minute later it came back only this time it was travelling at a much slower speed as it was carrying a House Martin.
(Andrew Lawson)

Sunday 3rd September Haysden

About 100 hirundines - about 50% each of Swallow and House Martin and one Sand Martin noted. Several Chiffchaff but little else around Haysden.
(Andrew Appleton)

Saturday 2nd September Haysden

Garden Warbler, Blackcaps, one Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethroats, Chiffchaffs, Willow Warblers and Reed Warblers all in the Shallows this morning.
(Andrew Appleton)

Friday 1st September Hawden

Fairly bird-less at Hawden today but there were eleven adult Mute Swans, one Kingfisher was heard and a single Green Woodpecker flew over.
(Andrew Appleton)

Friday 1st September Snodland/New Hythe Area 13.40 - 15.20

GCG 10; cormorant 7; grey heron 1; mute swan 20; greylag goose 16; Canada goose 10; mallard 14; pochard 1; tufted duck 101; moorhen 17; coot 162; BHG c75; common gull 1; herring gull 4; woodpigeon14; green woodpecker 2; wren 2; robin 2; blue tit 1; long-tailed tit 1; magpie 9; jay 1; carrion crow 2; goldfinch 3; greenfinch 3; bullfinch 2.
(Bill Stoneham)