Oare Marshes Latest Sightings

August 2007

Kent Wildlife Trust

KWT has an unmissable opportunity to achieve huge gains for wildlife by purchasing a 35 acre extension to this popular reserve. Click here to find out how you can help.

Reporting Your Sightings

To help keep this page as up-to-date and informative as possible, please send your sightings and any pictures taken onsite (please see 'Guidelines for submissions' on the KOS Photo Gallery for details of how to resize your pics etc.) to Geoff Burton at geoff.burton@btinternet.com or Chris Abrams at chris@chrisabrams.plus.com.    Thank you.

Other Wildlife

Mammals: there were at least ten Common Seals on Horse Sands and a Fox west of Dan's Dock on 2nd. 16 Common Seals on Horse Sands on 17th. Worryingly, Mink have been reported on 20th and 21st (up to three).

Insects: Ordonata:

Butterflies: a single Painted Lady on 2nd. Clouded Yellow on 24th.

Moths: a Ground Lackey caterpillar, a local speciality, was seen near Dan's Dock on 4th.

164 species have been recorded in the area so far this year

August 30th

The Spoonbill was reported again today.

August 29th

A short visit in the morning. The Spoonbill was on the west flood. Two Curlew Sandpipers and a Spotted Redshank were on the east flood whilst opposite the cottages there were two Great Spotted Woodpeckers, two Blackcaps and a Jay, whilst a Kingfisher flew across the track down to the fish ponds and there was a Wheatear in the paddocks. In addition, at high tide there were three Knot and three Greenshank on the east flood.

On the South Swale reserve, a juvenile Aquatic Warbler was trapped in the morning.

(Jan Pritchard, Ian Pritchard, Mike Stevens)

August 28th

An early afternoon visit at high tide. The bright hazy light was appalling but on the east flood there were 165 Golden Plovers, one Knot, two adult Curlew Sandpipers, 500 Black-tailed Godwits, a Greenshank and a Common Sandpiper. Very few Dunlin or other small waders were present. Non waders included four Garganey, six Sandwich Terns, a juvenile Black Tern hawking all afternoon and two Water Rail showing on the far bank directly opposite the east hide. The Spoonbill seemed restless being on the main west dyke, then the new west scrape and later in the NW arm of the east flood. On the wires over the fields SW of the cottages there were ten Collared Doves (a good number) and four Turtle Doves but in the brisk NE wind and in poor light little was seen in the scrub. Later in the afternoon a Swale watch revealed two Arctic Skuas circling high and heading west at 4 p.m., ten Whimbrel also circling overhead, an Osprey off Castle Coote which flew up the Swale at 4.15, two Brent Geese on Horse Island and three Mediterranean Gulls heading down the Swale.

(Geoff Burton, Rob Clements, Mick Sinden)

August 27th

A visit at high tide. On the east flood, there was one Little Ringed Plover, one Ringed Plover, 370 Golden Plovers, six Knot, a juvenile Little Stint, two adult Curlew Sandpipers, 12 Ruff, two Snipe, 450 Black-tailed Godwits, two adult Spotted Redshanks and two Garganey. Also seen were one-two Hobbies, a Sparrowhawk, two Sandwich Terns and 30 Little Egrets on the Swale. And the Spoonbill was

still present.

(Mike Buckland)

August 26th

The Spoonbill was seen on the east flood in the afternoon.

(Mike Harrison)

August 25th

The Spoonbill was reported again.

August 24th

A visit on the falling tide. The juvenile Spoonbill was on the new west scrape again. On the east flood, there was a pristine juvenile Little Gull, three Garganey, five Curlew Sandpipers (and on the mudflats at times), Knot, a Common Sandpiper and up to five Green Sandpipers. A Spotted Redshank was heard. A flock of 13 "Whimbrel flew over and another four were on the mudflats. A Chiffchaff and a Sedge Warbler were in the car park bushes as well as a number of Reed Warblers. A Greenshank was on the west side and a Little Owl on its favourite concrete slab near Dan's Dock. The scrub was alive with Whitethroats, at least four Lesser Whitethroats and a Spotted Flycatcher. There were also two Long-tailed Tits, a female Sparrowhawk flew low over the scrub, and there and 12 Turtle Doves on the wires across the fields. A Wheatear was in the field where the "new" east scrape is now completely invisible. Two Turnstones were in Faversham Creek and a Hobby, having caught a Starling, was buzzed by a Peregrine, dropped its prey which flew off successfully evading both of them.

(Geoff Burton, Jerry Warne, Saganauts)

August 23rd

An Osprey flew west up the Swale at 9 a.m. Other birds recorded included seven Arctic Skuas, four Little Gulls (three adults and a juvenile), a Black Tern and two Guillemots sheltering in the creek.

(Rob Clements)

August 22nd

With strong northerly winds, seawatching was the order of the day. Information was received for periods between 0830-0930, 1045-1445 and 1530-1700. During these the following counts were made of birds, predominantly, moving west up the Swale: one Pomarine Skua, 77 Arctic Skuas, 64 Great Skuas, a Juvenile Little Gull, 44 Kittiwakes, 500+ Common Terns and 109 Black Terns. In the earlier morning session, an adult Roseate Tern was reported on the east flood ( a great rarity here) and a Mediterranean Gull was also noted. From mid-morning at least, the Spoonbill was still present on the new west scrape, when seven Curlew Sandpipers and four Whimbrel were on the foreshore whilst 12 Wigeon and a Peregrine flew over. One Little Stint was on the east flood and 12 Turtle Doves were in the area of the paddocks. Later in the afternoon, on the east flood, there were five adult Curlew Sandpipers, a Garganey and three Wigeon and a Black Tern and a Swift was seen near the cottages. A flock of 100 Canada Geese were on Horse Island and the adjacent Sheppey shore and seven Wigeon flew towards Sheppey.

(Robert Brooks, Geoff Burton, Peter Heathcote, David Johnson, Bob Lamoon,

Mike Roser, Tony Sayers)

August 21st

A visit this afternoon on the incoming tide. With northerly winds made a check on the Swale where there were a single Great Crested Grebe, three Brent Geese on the Sheppey side below Sayes Court, three Arctic Skuas lingering off the mouth of the creek and a group of seven resting adult Kittiwakes. The Spoonbill was showing well on the new west scrape. On the east flood, which was attracting the attention of a large female Sparrowhawk, there were the first two Wigeon of the autumn, five Garganey, a summer plumage Grey Plover, a juvenile Knot, two Little Stints, eight Whimbrel overhead, three Spotted Redshanks, five Greenshanks, one Green Sandpiper, two Common Sandpipers, a Turnstone, a juvenile Mediterranean Gull and a Sandwich Tern. Three Turtle Doves were seen near the cottages. An adult Hobby was feeding over the fields south of the reserve.

(Chris Abrams, Geoff Burton, Frank Cackett)

August 20th

A couple of hours this morning on the falling tide but , on the east flood, there were over 200 Black-tailed Godwits (also gathering on the new west scrape and on the mudflats), 15 Ruff, one Little Stint, three Dunlin, one Greenshank, two Snipe, two Curlew Sandpipers and a group of five Green Sandpipers in flight. One Garganey was noted. In front of the sea hide, there were 25 Grey Plovers and 100+ Ringed Plovers. There was a significant passage of terns up the Swale, including 18 Little Terns and two Black Terns and four Arctic Skuas (at 10.15). Three Swifts drifted west, a Buzzard disputed aerial rights with the Harris Hawk, and a male Hen Harrier flew south from Sheppey. Finally, the Spoonbill was on the new west scrape late morning. A brief afternoon visit at high tide revealed three Garganey, 52 Ringed Plovers, two Little Stints, two Curlew Sandpipers and seven Greenshank on the east flood, three Swifts flew low over the road, 14 Turtle Doves were on the wires over the fields and a single Sandwich Tern rested on the slipway poles.

(Geoff Burton, Rob Clements, Mike Roser)

August  19th

A low tide visit between 9 and 11 a.m. On the east flood there were two adult Curlew Sandpipers, two adult Little Stints, an adult Spotted Redshank, one Common Sandpiper, two Green Sandpipers, c25 Ruff and 150 Black-tailed Godwits. There were ten Turtle Doves on the wires over the fields, two Swifts flew over the cottages and c12 Whitethroats in the paddocks. A juvenile Marsh Harrier flew over the west flood flushing two Snipe as it went. There were two Peregrines on the pylons, three Little Egrets and eight Black-tailed Godwits on the new west pool.

(Dick Bailey, Steve Clinch, Keith Privett, Murray Wright)

August 18th

On the afternoon high tide, amongst the waders there were 980 Black-tailed Godwits, one Curlew Sandpiper and four Greenshank and a flock of 21 Whimbrel flew west. Also, a ringtail Hen Harrier flew west over the fields behind the cottages. The Spoonbill was reported in the evening on the east flood.

(Brendan Ryan)

August 17th

Early morning on the falling tide. The Spoonbill was on the back of the east flood. There was also four adult Curlew Sandpipers on the flood. Over the west flood, a flock of at least 40 Little Egrets were circling. Two Green Sandpipers and a Common Sandpiper occasionally flew up from pools on the west flood and a juvenile Water Rail was seen on one of these pools. A Little Owl perched on various concrete blocks in the sheepfields. Warblers in the scrub area included a Cetti's in sub-song, a Sedge Warbler, two Lesser Whitethroats and a Blackcap. There was a Green Woodpecker, two Great Spotted Woodpeckers and a Jay in the scrub. Other birds seen were two Peregrines over Nagden Marshes, a Hobby over the east flood and a Wheatear on the west side seen from the road. 500 Black-tailed Godwits were already on the flood three hours before high tide and a return visit at high tide in the afternoon added two Avocets, 35 Ringed Plovers, a juvenile Knot, 30 Dunlin and five Greenshank, whilst a flock of 10 Whimbrel circled overhead and two juvenile Mediterranean Gulls headed off south inland. There were also about 400 Black-headed Gulls , 30 Cormorants and two Garganey on the flood.

(Geoff Burton, Chris Abrams, Mike Gould, Mike Stevens)

August 16th

A brief early morning visit revealed a Spoonbill on the new west pool. Also noted were one Curlew Sandpiper, six Turtle Doves and a Wheatear. Later in the morning the Spoonbill had disappeared but there were three Little Stints, three Greenshank, five Knot, 25 Ruff, three Garganey, four Curlew Sandpipers, five Dunlin and 77 Golden Plovers on the east flood at low tide. In addition, there were 25 Dunlin and 91 Ringed PLovers on the mudflats. A Hobby was also seen over the fields behind the scrub. Later, the Spoonbill was on the islands in the pool in front of the west hide at 4 p.m., on the east flood at 6.30, and again on the new west pool at 7.15 p.m.

(David Freeman, Mike Harrison, Julian Russell, Mike Stevens, Murray Wright)

August 15th

We visited at high tide. There was a very fresh South-westerly breeze. Light conditions were perfect as the earler rain had cleared leaving a beautifully clear afternoon perfect for photography.

On our arrival a Little Tern was fishing on the East Flood but it soon departed. Wader numbers were high with c700 Black-tailed Godwits, 3 adult Curlew Sandpipers, 5 Dunlin and 55 Golden Plovers, mostly in flight but 15 were on the flood. There were 10 Greenshank, 2 Knot, c150 Redshank, c30 Ruff, a Snipe, a Common Sandpiper and a single Avocet. The usual assortment of ducks included 3 Garganey. About 10 Swifts passed through in the few hours that we were present.There were 2 Little Egrets on the West flood. (Chris Abrams, Mike Gould, Terry Laws and Mike Stevens)

August 14th

Dull cloudy conditions with a fresh southerly wind, no Sharpie and not even a handful of birders. What a contrast to three days ago. Still, we carry on. On the east flood at low tide, there were four adult Curlew Sandpipers in the SE corner. Two Garganey, three Snipe and a Greenshank were also present. At the mouth of the creek, there were about 50 Ringed Plovers, 26 Grey Plovers and two Turnstones. As the tide rose, waders on the flood included a single Avocet, 65 Golden Plovers and the first juvenile Knot of the autumn. 10 Swifts were also hawking over the floods. 12 Turtle Doves in the copse opposite the cottages and on the telegraph wires were mostly juveniles, a Great Spotted Woodpecker and a Lesser Whitethroat were present and a Hobby was seen over the fishponds. Finally, a Corn Bunting was on the west side near the road. Later at high tide, there were counts of three Little Stints, five Curlew Sandpipers, 30 Dunlin, 25 Ruff, 500 Black-tailed Godwits, 200+ Redshank, seven Greenshank and also two Sandwich Terns and 14 Common Terns. Eight Swifts were seen and a Hobby caused much alarm but had no success hunting over the flood. Also, Spotted Redshank and Green Sandpiper were reported.

(Geoff Burton, Mike Stevens)

August 12th

The glorious twelfth is proving not so glorious for anyone wishing to catch up belatedly with the Sharp-tailed Sandpiper. No sign of the bird this morning but the two Little Stints, Curlew Sandpiper and three Garganey are still present.

This evening a solitary Spotted Redshank circled the reserve before flying off east down The Swale. Oare doesn't get too many of these - they seem to prefer Elmley. There was a flock of 100 Sand Martins and at least a dozen Yellow Wagtails. There were still 11 Ruff, 1 Common Sandpiper, 1 Green Sandpiper and 2 Snipe. (Chris Abrams, Geoff Burton)

August 11th

The adult Sharp-tailed Sandpiper is still on the East Flood this morning. Two Little Stints, a Curlew Sandpiper, about 120 Golden Plovers and three Garganey have also been reported on the east flood.

The Sharp-tailed Sandpiper has been the occasion of the biggest twitch ever seen at Oare Marshes. At 11 a.m. there were cars parked as far back as the double bend in the road (Corn Bunting bend) just north of Oare village.

(Geoff Burton)

August 10th

Sometimes mega rarities are found by the dedicated patch watchers and sometimes, especially at the most popular sites, they are not. Today the self-proclaimed saganauts (in the guise of Terry Laws, Peter Lloyd and Martin Warburton and ably shepherded by Flossie) paid a visit to Oare Marshes. After about three hours of diligent birding (counting this, eating that), they found an adult Sharp-tailed Sandpiper on the east flood. This appears to be the first British record for three years, the 27th in total, and only the 4th for Kent (last at Grove Ferry in 2001). The other main event of the day was the numbers of Whimbrel circling over the floods and then, for the most part, heading off inland. A total of 375 were counted which included one flock of 130 birds.

Finders' account:

The Saganauts were not at full strength today (we were down in numbers as well). Howevever, 3 plus Flossie were able to visit Oare marshes in time for the high tide which fortunately was not too early and coincided with our arrival and elevenses. We hoped we might improve on the 16 species of wader seen on last week's outing.
The west flood held good numbers of birds, including Black tailed Godwits, too many for us to count but probably at least 200, 1 Curlew Sandpiper, 1 Little Stint (we later saw 2 more), 1Golden Plover, 5 Greenshank and at least 15 Ruff.
Luncheon was taken in the hide where the table d'hote specialty today was corned beef sandwich. As we left replete, we had a flight overhead of 18 Whimbrel with further larger flights later totalling 219 .We stopped by the road where a Turnstone and 2 Knot took the wader species to 18 when Terry drew our attention to a bird which had appeared from behind an "island". Its rufous crown, supercilium, streaked breast, sides and undertail coverts etc. soon convinced us that we were looking at a Sharp-tailed Sandpiper. We put the news out and soon many others arrived to view the bird which showed well for the rest of the day.
By way of celebration Flossie took us for a walk along the sea wall; 15+ Yellow Wagtail, 3 Wheatear and 1 Whinchat were added and finally 1 Curlew brought the wader list to 20.
We had intended to go on to Grove Ferry for more wader species but didn't as we decided that was enough excitement in one day for old folk. (Martin Warburton)

Waders not mentioned in the Saganaut account included three Avocets and a Green Sandpiper whilst a juvenile Mediterranean Gull was present on the flood towards the end of the day

(Geoff Burton, John Hinton, Paul King, Martin Warburton, Jerry Warne)

August 9th

A high tide visit this morning concentrating on the east flood where there was one adult Curlew Sandpiper, nine Dunlin (including one juvenile), five Greenshank, 11 Ruff, two Ringed Plovers, a flock of c250 Golden Plovers circling around of which 23 landed on the flood, c600 Black-tailed Godwits, c200 Redshank, four Avocets and two Curlews. Only two Little Egrets were present at this time, there were three Garganey, c200 Black-headed Gulls and two pairs of Little Grebes each with four young. Away from the flood, there were three Brent Geese on the Sheppey side below Sayes Court, four Common Terns flew west along the Swale and two Turtle Doves were opposite the cottages. Later sightings, between 13.00 and 15.00, again focused on the east flood and included one Curlew Sandpiper, one Green Sandpiper, three Common Sandpipers, 400+ Black-tailed Godwits,   15 Dunlin, c.15 Ruff, two Greenshank, one Hobby and a Kingfisher. (Malcolm McVail, Murray Wright).

August 8th
Early morning, a light NW wind and incoming tide. The early morning gathering of Little Egrets on the east flood numbered 41. Waders included three Avocets, two Knot, one Curlew Sandpiper and a Green Sandpiper. Six Ringed Plovers were seen flying around over the flood. There were also 11 Gadwall and a drake Garganey there. Two Kingfishers were seen flying over the flood. The pair of Oystercatchers by the new west scrape appeared to have only one young. In the paddock/scrub area, a Sparrowhawk was hunting, a juvenile Turtle Dove, a Little Owl, an adult and juvenile Great Spotted Woodpecker and two juvenile Bullfinches were in the copse and single Lesser Whitethroat and Blackcap were in the scrub behind. Later, on a very pleasant afternoon but with a low tide, there were far fewer birds on the flood . However, 55 Whimbrel circled the reserve calling for some time( a flock of 80 was also reported), Redshank numbers were in excess of 75 birds, only three Ruff revealed themselves and there was one Greenshank. A Kingfisher was reported again but more interesting news concerns a sighting of an Osprey sometime this morning apparently carrying a fish. Sadly, the observer is not known. In the evening, as the tide came in again, there were three adult Curlew Sandpipers, a Green Sandpiper, the drake Garganey was still there and a flock of 12 Shelduck flew over. There was a Peregrine on the Nagden pylons and, last but not least, a party of four Black Terns flew hurriedly east out of the Swale (Chris Abrams, Geoff Burton)

August 7th

On the east flood early in the morning, the now expected gathering of Little Egrets numbered 44. Other birds counted at high tide were 440 Black-tailed Godwits, six Greenshank eight Ruff, five Snipe, six Avocets, a Curlew Sandpiper, two Dunlin and two Knot. Later in the morning, although the tide was low, there were still plenty of birds on the east flood including 400 Black-tailed Godwits, the adult Curlew Sandpiper (two were claimed by another birder), two Dunlin, two Green Sandpipers (also one at Ham Road Pits), 55 Redshank, one Greenshank, 12 Ruff, four Avocets, two Snipe, 65 Lapwing whilst a flock of 17 Whimbrel headed west up the Swale. Also present were seven Grey Herons, two Little Egrets, seven Little Grebes, five Cormorants, 242 Coots, a Kingfisher (two at Ham Road Pits), nine Shoveler, 16 Teal and a Garganey. There was a scattering of Yellow Wagtails and one Bearded Tit was seen. The Harris Hawk was seen again over Harty. There were three Green Sandpipers on the west side and at least 40 Yellow Wagtails between the slipway and Uplees. Single Wheatear and Whinchat were at Dan's Dock, and near the copse, a female Grey Partridge had four well-grown chicks. In the creek, an adult Little Tern was taking fish to a young bird sitting on the mud. [Little Terns will migrate with their dependent but fully-fledged young. I've noticed this before at Swalecliffe and at Bough Beech (GJAB) (Chris Abrams, Mike Gould, Mike Roser)

August 6th

An afternoon visit to catch the high tide. The water level on the east flood was at its lowest so far this autumn and the level of activity at its highest. Amongst the waders on the east flood were three adult Ringed Plovers, a juvenile Little Ringed Plover, ten mostly summer plumage Golden Plovers, eight adult Knot, c30 Dunlin, c500 Black-tailed Godwits, three Whimbrel overhead, eight Greenshank, including a party of six which flew off south inland, and a Common Sandpiper. An adult and a juvenile Garganey were also on the flood and there was also a lot of tern activity; parties of 65 and 90 Common Terns circled overhead, three Sandwich Terns flew south and another dropped down to the flood and a flock of 42 Little Terns flew up and down the creek before heading west up the Swale.

(Geoff Burton)

In addition to the above they were 30+ Yellow Wagtails (20 in the bushes/reeds and 10 on the path) on the seawall alongside Faversham Creek at 20:45.  Large numbers of Swallows (50+) skimming across the creek and a single Swift.  A Peregrine was perched on the pylon by the creek. (Adam Whitehouse)

August 5th

A morning visit produced one Curlew Sandpiper, 41 Little Egrets, a Cuckoo perched on a gate and a Hobby. Returning in the afternoon, there were four Curlew Sandpipers, two Garganey and a Green Sandpiper.

(Mike Gould)

August 4th

There were 48 Little Egrets on the east flood this morning

(Julian Russell)

August 3rd

A Little Stint, the first this autumn, was reported on the east flood.

August 2nd

An early morning visit on the falling tide. There were 26 Little Egrets on the east flood before they dispersed early on. There were a few Black-tailed Godwits, six Ruff, a Greenshank and two Green Sandpipers. Redshank numbers built up to 140 whilst the tide was still low. A Garganey was also there. A Spotted Redshank was heard calling several times, probably as it flew west up the Swale. The pair of Oystercatchers were actively feeding their two young on worms from the foreshore and a Snipe was present on the edge of the main dyke. From Dan's Dock looking towards the Uplees copse, two Whinchats, a singing Corn Bunting, a cock Grey Partridge and a Little Owl could be seen. At the mouth of the creek, two Grey Plovers and a Ringed Plover were present. A Turtle Dove was in song opposite the cottages and at least four juvenile Green Woodpeckers were in the area.

(Geoff Burton)

August 1st

A short late evening visit prior to attending moth evening thanks to Mike Enfield, the KWT warden. A calm, clear evening and low tide. Very little on the east flood save 15 Ruff, a Greenshank and, surprisingly, a part of four Canada Geese. Green and Common Sandpipers could be heard calling (seven of the former had been reported). Two Little  Owls were hunting from telegraph poles on the track to the fish ponds and a Sparrowhawk flew west across the road when it was almost dark. The pair of Oystercatchers still had two chicks by the new west scrape.

(Geoff Burton)