December Sightings

Sightings can be Emailed to:

      Martyn Wilson - martynwilson@talktalk.net

  Brendan Ryan -  brendan.ryan@yahoo.co.uk

  Marc Heath - Heathym007@aol.com   

For more of Marc Heath's Photographs, please click here

31st December

Driving the Stodmarsh road to Grove Ferry this morning I managed to see 3 Tawny Owls but, heard none. One was in a road side tree by Trenleypark Wood and 2 together just before Collie Corner. At Grove 218 Greylag Geese left as light rose, there were 1800 Lapwings, 460 Teal, a good procession of Fieldfares moving out, 5 Redshanks, 8 Marsh Harriers and 368 Cormorants out. Also there were 3 Shoveler and 2 Hen Harriers, an adult male that took the same route out as last winters bird, behind the Alder Wood and over Undetrees fish pools towards Seaton and, the regular juvenile male quartering the boundary edge near Newbons Farm. A move on to Westbere produced very little just, 10 Tufted Ducks, 56 Pochards, 8 Mallards and 2 Great-crested Grebes. A few blue Tits were there as well as 504 Black-headed Gulls, 72 Herring Gulls, 3 Common Gulls, 1 Great Black-backed Gull and a Great-spotted Woodpecker. Passing Cow Corner on the way to Collards there was a Little Egret in the Little Owl Field while at Collard's there were,3 Pintail (2 drakes), 75 Pochard 1 Great-crested Grebe, 7 Goldeneye, (1 drake), 1 Bittern and 2 Marsh Harriers. No proper counts of the Tufted Duck, Wigeon Shoveler and Gadwall were made due to very dark lighting conditions and the distance viewed. Brendan and I made our way back to Collie Corner to get a closer look at the Gulls on Westbere marshes (Cow Corner side) where nothing stand outish was noted but, there was 3 adult White-fronted Geese with the flock of Greylags. As I passed Stodmarsh Court Farm to end the day at Stodmarsh the Little Owl was in his usual spot. Meeting up with Alan Ashdown in the Reedbed Hide where he had seen 20 Masrh Harriers out of roost, 5 sightings of 3 Bitterns, another two sepaerate Bitterns were seen just after Brendan had left plus also, 1 Little Grebe, 8 Golden Plover, 2 Pochards, 10 Black-headed Gulls and 1 Common Gull. Alan had seen a Little Owl by Stodmarsh cemetry on his way in this morning and heard the regular Tawny Owl from near or in the Alder Wood.

(Martyn Wilson, Brendan Ryan & Alan Ashdown)

30th December

More birding at Grove Ferry for a while, with Pete Solly on a rather grey damp Wednesday morning. Here there was 1 Tawny Owl calling and on the pool were, 6 Redshanks, 1906 Teal, 1 drake Tufted Duck, 9 Shoveler and 1800 Lapwing with a total of 3700 Lapwing around the area. Several Fieldfares were passing through and many more were in the surrounding orchards with a few Redwings. There were 9 Common Snipe, 6 Wigeon, 8 Marsh harriers, 2 Grey Herons, 7 Golden Plovers, 1 Little Egret, 1 Water Pipit and 1 Water Rail. At 10.00am I moved on to Stodmarsh where Alan Ashdown, Steve Ray & Robin Blyth had seen 8 sightings of 3 Bitterns. Richard Bartlett had arrived just before me and there was one more Bittern sighting. Here 2 Green Sandpipers flew in front of the hide and over the Lampen Wall with, presumebly, one coming back 15 minutes later. A Woodcock flew up from beside the hide at 11.30 and disappeared into the reedbed near the river by the slag heap. There were 2 Pochards on the lake, a Sparrowhawk flew towards us and over the hide and, at bang on 12.30 the spectacle of the month saw 18 Marsh Harriers all up together in a fairly tight flock just to the left of the hide, superb, and the Little Owl was holding court in it's usual tree at Stodmarsh Court Farm.

(Martyn Wilson et al.)

I made my last visit of 2009 into the valley this afternoon in murky and rainy conditions. I spent a few hours at Grove Ferry, mostly in the hides and noted 1 ring tail Hen Harrier, 14 Snipe, 7 Mute Swan, 5 Redshank, 1 Marsh Harrier, c20 Shoveler, c400 Teal, 1 Kingfisher, 1 Green Sandpiper, 2 Bearded Tit, 4 Cetti's Warbler, c200 Fieldfare behind Harrisons, 1 Grey Heron and 1 Pintail. 3 Water Pipit were seen flying over Harrisons and landing in a newly cut area to the right of the hide where there were c20 Pipits which occasionally flew up. I suspect the majority were Water Pipits. Also 3 Wigeon, 1 Little Owl calling near the White house and c 2000 Lapwing.

Its been another good year in the valley with 9 Valley ticks for me, this taking my Valley list to 220 species. Birds added were Egyptian Goose, Black winged Pratincole, Sanderling, Stone Curlew, Quail, Glossy Ibis, Great Grey Shrike, Snow Bunting and Slavonian Grebe. I hope 2010 brings some goodies, I'm sure it will.

(Marc Heath)

28th December

Birding at Grove Ferry for a few hours with Pete Solly this morning produced, 1 Tawny Owl calling along the river at first light and a Snipe calling in the dark. There was a single drake Tufted Duck that flew towards Green Hide pool plus, 2 Grey Herons, 345 Lapwings, 247 Teal, 1 Cetti's Warbler, 486 Cormorants out towards Reculver, 1 Kestrel, 2 more Snipe and 1 Little Egret north. A couple of Water Rails squealed amongst the reeds, 5 Marsh Harriers out, 4 Shelducks left the back pools and flew towards Stodmarsh as did 28 Shoveler. In the trees bordering Newbons Farm there were at least 800 Fieldfares with a scattering of Redwings with them. Two Hen Harriers flew out over Preston/Seaton  at too great a distance to age but were both ringtails and there were 3 Stonechats near Harrison's Hide as were 5 Water Pipits and 12 Meadow Pipits. A single Redshank on the main pool, 1 Little Owl in the Oak by the boats plus 1 Sparrowhawk and several Blue, Great and Long-tailed Tits, 3 Goldfinch and many Chaffinches. A Kingfisher flew down river as we were leaving. As Pete went home I made my way to Westbere where a pleasant couple of hours was spent in warm sunshine. Not a great deal on the lake but managed to record, 10 Great-crested Grebes, 52 Tufted Ducks, 10 Pochards, 23 Gadwall, 1 Grey Heron, 3 Jays, 2 Water Rails, 2 Great-spotted Woodpeckers, 1 Cetti's Warbler, 4 Mallards and a Bittern. A Fox was on Westbere marshes and several hundred Gulls were passing over. After Westbere I finished the day at Collard's where a Bittern was seen twice in prolonged flight plus 51 Tufted Ducks, 5 Goldeneye, 101 Pochards, 668 Teal, 465 Wigeon, 72 Shoveler, 17 Gadwall and 1 Marsh Harrier.

(Martyn Wilson)

Not much different from recent days at Collard’s today with 72 Pochard, 72 Tufted Duck, 5 Goldeneye, one Pintail and 85 Shoveler

(Brendan Ryan)

27th December

A very different day today and a full contingent of photo persons as well. The hide soon filled up with Mark chillybricks, Paddy Ashdown and myself (dipstick) joined by, Sting Ray, Aston-gardner&Dyke, Telphone Bill and Steve Ryanair and others to boot. On the bird front Four Tawny Owls were heard with 2 near Higham Farm, 1 Stodmarsh carpark and another behind the Alder Wood. A Woodcock flew low across the front of the hide in the early morning semi-darkness and 5 showy Water Rails were far to quick to capture on film. One Cettis Warbler called, a pair of Pintail flew west, at least 1700 Lapwings seen and out of roost were 500+ Cormorants but only 9 Marsh Harriers today. A Kingfisher was seen again and duck included 75 flyover Gadwall 2500 Teal (as counted by Brendan) and many Mallards plus the 70ish Golden Plovers seen again over the A28. Once again there was three sightings of 2 Bitterns but, less prolonged and at a more greater distance. A single Sparrowhawk flew north and 2 Peregrines (male & female judging by size difference) flew in from the west and went back out from the direction they arrived.

(Martyn Wilson et al.)

After dropping my wife at work, I had planned to have a quick look at Collards to see if any new ticks were to be had. I had  only been looking for 5 minutes when I heard the dreaded words coming from the car, "daddy, I need a poo!" I had one more quick scan before leaving at pace and noted a few hundred Wigeon, 2 Goldeneye, 1 Marsh Harrier, 1 Little Owl at Stodmarsh Court Farm and c40 Fieldfare. Just outside the boundary, 1 Bewick's Swan was again in the fields at Marshside with c90 Mute Swans.

(Marc Heath)

Clearly the Teal had moved back to Stodmarsh from Collard’s where there were at least 2,460 on the main lagoon, along with 3 Wigeon, 58 Gadwall, 5 Pochard and a single Tufted Duck.   The Stodmarsh-Grove circuit was very unproductive with little of note other than 19 Meadow Pipits and a single Little Egret. Earlier at Collard’s there were 59 Tufted Duck. 10 Pochard, 2 Goldeneye and a single Pintail. There were three Little Egrets near Stodmarsh Court Farm wandering around with the cows pretending to be Cattle Egrets

(Brendan Ryan)

26th December

A 6.30am start at Stodmarsh found Mark Whichstick playing games on his mobile before we made our way to a familiar spot of late, the Reedbed hide, where we stayed until 11.30. from here at least 3 Water Rails were heard but remained hidden, over 600 Fieldfares left their overnight roosts and a count of 22 Marsh Harriers out of roost was the highest this winter. A single Dunlin was seen flying around witha 30 Lapwings on several occasions and  later 700 Lapwings and 70 Golden Plover were seen. A Kingfisher almost flew in through a hide window but veered of at the last minute and a single Cetti's Warbler called. Three sightings of 2 Bitterns were had with, the final sightin seeing it walk through the reed edge for a couple of minutes. Five Black-headed Gulls came in close on several occasions, as eight slices of bread were laying on the ice attracting them in and several, large Gulls passed over, 1 Little Egret flew south over the hide and a Grey Heron sat motionless to our right for near-on two hours. A Peregrine made one fly through heading out and over the A28 and  there was a pair of showy Stonechats, 1 Sparrowhawk, 9 Gadwall, 400+ Teal and the Little Owl showing well at Stodmarsh Court Farm.

(Martyn Wilson & Mark Chidwick)

Teal rarely occur at Collard’s in big numbers so a count of 1,370 was note worthy. 2 Goldeneye and 58 Tufted Duck and 4 Marsh Harriers were more routine. There were good numbers of Wigeon but they were mostly obscured by the trees and impossible to count

(Brendan Ryan)

24th December

I decided to pay Grove Ferry a visit this morning to see if any wild Swans had made it into the valley, but no they hadn't, although I did see 1 Bewick's Swan at nearby Marshside in a field with 92 Mute Swans. I walked the Grove circuit and noted 1 Tawny Owl calling, 6 Cetti's Warbler, 1 Woodcock flew past the ramp, 2 Grey Heron, 13 Marsh Harrier, 4 Bearded Tit, 16 Redwing, c200 Lapwing, c150 Fieldfare, 2 Kestrel and 1 Green woodpecker. The highlight of the visit were 3 Hen Harriers including 2 males in the air together near Harrisons, a lovely site that used to be seen more frequently in the past. There were 10 Snipe, 3 Water Rail, 2 Redshank, 1 Kingfisher, 33 Mallard, 11 Mute Swan, 1 Peregrine, 1 Great spotted Woodpecker, 1 Sparrowhawk and c150 Teal.

(Marc Heath)

22nd December

I was out again early this morning Owling at 5.45pm seeing a Barn Owl on a post near Stodmarsh and hearing 5 Tawny Owls calling and later, 1 Little Owl at Stodmarsh court farm. I met Martyn again who was also out early listening for Owls and we decided to walk the footpath at Fordwich to Westbere to see what was about. Birds noted here were 17 Redwing, 1 Snipe, 1 Woodcock flushed, 2 Bullfinch, 1 Kingfisher, 83 Pochard on the main lake which was frozen in parts, 1 Goldeneye, 9 Great crested Grebe, 3 Water Rail, 4 Siskin, 2 Redpoll, 17 Fieldfare, 44 Tufted Duck, 2 Cetti's Warbler, 1 Great spotted Woodpecker, 1 Green Woodpecker, 1 Jay, 2 Little Egret and 1 Grey Heron. Next stop was a mostly frozen Collards which held 53 Skylark, c400 Wigeon, 3 Pintail, 1 drake, 3 Goldeneye, 4 Yellowhammer, 4 Marsh Harrier, 1 ring tail Hen Harrier and 1 brief Bittern sighting. Last stop of the day was a frozen Stodmarsh where we noted 3 Woodcock, 3 Bullfinch, 2 Cetti's Warbler, c700 Teal,1 Great crested Grebe and 2 Marsh Harrier.

(Marc Heath & Martyn Wilson)

20th December

Just before sunset an adult Great Northern Diver flew upstream and disappeared low over Collards.

(Tom Robertson)

At Collard’s today highlights included a pair of Goosander, 61 Pochard and a single drake Pochard, while a Bittern was the only bird of note seen at Stodmarsh

(Brendan Ryan)

19th December

Yet another morning spent in the reedbed hide at Stodmarsh. Arriving a little earlier than expected, 6.00am, as I thought the roads would be snowed up and travel would be slow but, all roads were clear. I was joined by Alan Ashdown from 6.30 until we left at 12.30pm. We managed to see or hear, 3 Water Rails, 1 Sparrowhawk 14 Marsh Harriers a few Fieldfares and 2 Hen Harriers (1 adult male and the 1st year male). There were 2 Green Woodpeckers, 300ish Teal, 3 Grey Herons, 1 breif Bittern spotted by Rob McEwan, 1 Cetti's Warbler, 3 Common Snipe and 45 Wigeon west with another 4 on the lake. Ten Pintail flew over and dropped in the area of the fish ponds by Undertrees Farm plus a single Pintail flew west and 4 more came onto the lake, 1 Kestrel, 5? Greylag Geese and a second winter Yellow-legged Gull for five minutes on the lake before flying off west, this may have been the same bird as I saw last week, looked very similar!!. Other Gulls included, 1 Common, 2 juvenile Great Black-backs, 1 juvenile Lesser Black-back, around 30 Black-headed and lots of other Herring and others passing over. There were 19 Pochards, 8 Gadwall, 2 Shelduck, 5 Great-crested Grebes and a Tit flock with 8 of each Blue and Long-tailed plus 2 Greats. Also had a chance to look at the 'white' duck presumed to be a plastic ayelsbury type but on closer inspection it would seem it is a pure leucistic drake Mallard, although the photo is rubbish there is a fair bit of yellow tones in the plumage, quacks the same as a Mallard and exactly the same shape and structure.

(Martyn Wilson & Alan Ashdown)

I was out at 5.30am this morning listening for Owls in the valley, meeting another nutter (Martyn) out early as well. I birded Grove Ferry this morning with a brief look at Collards in heavy driving snow. Birds noted at Grove were 1 Tawny Owl, 13 Snipe, 2 Grey Heron, 2 Woodcock flushed along the entrance track as I walked down the path, 3 Cetti's Warbler, 4 Water Rail, 11 Mute Swan, 342 Cormorant out over Grove, probably my highest count, 4 Bearded Tit, 2 Little Egret, 4 Linnet, 82 Lapwing, 1 Yellowhammer, 2 ring tail Hen Harrier out of Grove, 1 Kestrel, 1 Sparrowhawk and 2 Green Woodpecker. A look at Collards in heavy snow making visibility hard produced 1 'white' birder, 2 Marsh Harrier, c500 Wigeon, 3 Goldeneye, 5 Great crested Grebe, 2 Yellowhammer but no sign of the Slavonian Grebe or Goosanders.

(Marc Heath)

18th December

A look at Collard's on my way home from work between 12.30 and 1.45pm revealed 3 Goosanders, 2 drakes, amongst the large gathering of Wigeon (700+) plus the usual Tufted Ducks, Shoveler, increasing Pochards and a good number of Teal. Moving on from the Goosanders I soon came across a small Grebe amongst a couple of Tufted Duck, this was in fact a smart Slavonian Grebe, a new valley species for me and, for Marc Heath whom I called and was soon by my side watching this scarce valley visitor (anual at nearby Seaton). A Bittern made a brief 15 yard stumbling flight in the nearest Reed bed and one of the drake Goosanders took flight, circled the lake once before heading strongly north towards Hersden then turning east and disappearing west over Westbere. Also there were 3 Goldeneye all red/brownheads, 3 Marsh Harriers and several large Gulls plus at least 8 Yellowhammers, many Skylarks a passing flock of Long-tailed Tits and a flyover of 12 Fieldfares with 2 Redwing.

(Martyn Wilson)

14th December

As part of the pupil’s outdoor education modules, I had a 3 hour walk around Westbere lakes this morning and back with 20 pupils which was a good way of getting some birding in or so I thought. I think most birds heard us coming along way off but I did manage to see or hear 3 Cetti’s Warbler, 1 Great spotted Woodpecker, 2 Grey Wagtail, c18 Canada Geese, c50 Greylag Geese, 1 Kingfisher, 1 Grey Heron, c8 Great crested Grebe, 1 Bullfinch, 2 Mistle Thrush, 6 Mute Swan, 2 Jay and hundreds of Gulls loafing around on the main lake but no time to go through any of them. I then made another visit into the valley after work, visiting the ramp at Grove for 30 minutes. Birds noted were 27 Corn Bunting, 3 Marsh Harrier, 5 Cetti's Warbler, c150 Fieldfare, 2 Redshank, 4 Meadow Pipit, 2 Water Rail, c150 Teal and c400 Lapwing.

(Marc Heath)

12th December

A morning spent in the Reedbed Hide at Stodmarsh fom 6.30am until midday, mind you it was farily heavy rain showers until about 9.30/10ish, with Mark slipdisk and later Robin Blyth and a couple of others. First to make the note book was a Barn Owl hunting outside the hide over the reeds at 6.55, watched for  two-three minutes in semi-darkness before it drifted behind the bushes to the west. A couple of Cetti's Warblers were heard and a few Fieldfares also heard leaving roost. There were 4 Shelducks on the lake and 21 Marsh Harriers were in the air at one time with a 'loose' flock of 14 over the lake, 1 Little egret flew out and over the industrial estate and 2 Snipe were seen flying behind a party of Shoveler. A Water Rail called from within the reeds and there were, about 300 Teal seen mainly in flight, 8 Great-crested Grebes, 26 Gadwall, 30+ Shoveler and a male Stonechat along the reed fringe. A Bittern flew in high over the bushes on the left and dropped into the reeds between the hide and the Lampen Wall at 9.36 and was seen again at 11.20, 11.28 and 11.57. A Common Buzzard was over the fields on the far side being mobbed by Crows and a male Marsh Harrier plus Hen Harrier flew east past the hide showing different plumage to the 1/cy male I normally see, again a juvenile but possible a female. Two Kestrels seen and a Bullfinch calling near the carpark on my way out. A stop at Collard's saw 4 Little Egrets in with cattle opposite Stodmarsh Court Farm, 8+ Yellowhammers near the lone Oak, several Chaffinches and Blackbirds and a couple of Fieldfares. On the lake were a large number of Gulls plus, 1 Grey Heron, 2 Goldeneye, 718 Wigeon, 74 Shoveler, 60 Tufted Duck, 18 Pochard and 14 Gadwall. Also a male and a female Marsh Harrier here. Alan Ashdown had 5 Marsh Harriers from the Green Hide at Grove Ferry and a Kingfisher that at one point had caught two roach in one dive!

(Martyn Wilson & Mark Chidwick)

9th December

Two Bewick's Swans on the main lake at Stodmarsh this afternoon.

(Robin Blyth)

8th December

I spent a few hours in the valley today at various times, visiting Stodmarsh, Collards and Grove Ferry late afternoon. I spent a while in the reedbed hide at Stodmarsh with Steve Ray, Steve Ashton and Mike Gould where some good camera banter was the order of the morning with exception of a ringtail Hen Harrier which made a few passes and showed well. Other birds here were 55 Greylag Geese, 5 Cetti's Warbler, 3 Siskin, 1 Great spotted Woodpecker, 6 Marsh Harrier, c1000 Lapwing, 3 Water Pipit, 1 Water Rail, 14 Wigeon, 2 Jay, 1 Stonechat, 21 Golden Plover, 1 Kestrel, 2 Great crested Grebe and 1 Sparrowhawk. Collards held 1 Little Owl near Stodmarsh Court Farm, 45 Tufted Duck, 3 Goldeneye, 2 Grey Heron, 4 Yellowhammer, 110 Fieldfare, 5 Great crested Grebe, 3 Little Grebe, 22 Pochard, 3 Little Egret and 1 Sparrowhawk. Late afternoon at Grove produced 5 Marsh Harrier, 2 ring tail Hen Harrier towards Stodmarsh, 21 Mute Swan, 32 Corn Bunting, 5 Golden Plover, 1 Kingfisher, 10 Greylag Geese, 4 Water Rail, 1 Barn Owl and c250 Fieldfare.

(Marc Heath)

6th December

I arrived at Stodmarsh at 7.00am to find Mr Chiddycrappics in the Reed Bed Hide and, this is where we stayed until 11.30am while it rained almost non stop and at times extremely heavy. Birds nored from the hide were, 17 Marsh Harriers, 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 first year male Hen Harrier, 1 Kestrel and a small number of Fieldfares leaving roost. The Ducks included Shoveler, Teal Mallard, Gadwall, 2 Pochard and 2 Shelduck, with 1 Little Grebe and 3 Great-crested Grebes. A Tit flock was foraging in the adjacent bushes that held Blue, Great and Long-tailed plus 1 Chiffchaff. A female Stonechat was behind the hide and Reed Buntings and 5+ Water Pipits were seen as well as a few Meadow Pipits. The only waders noted were fly over Lapwings with a large flock rising and resettling on the Water Meadows several times. On leaving the reserve to have a scan of Collard's I noticed a sizeable flock of large Gulls in a field beside Stodmarsh Court Farm and amongst the mostly Great Black-backs and Herrings there were 5 Lesser Black-backed and smart second winter Yellow-legged Gull. Collard's held nothing other than the 2 Goldeneye (a juvenile drake and a duck) still plus the usual Wigeon, Tufted, Pochards, Gadwall, Shoveler and Coots. One Grey Heron seen here plus 2 Marsh Harriers.

(Martyn Wilson & Mark Chidwick)

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1st December

A fleeting visit was made to Grove tonight as it was getting dark. I spent about 30 minutes on the ramp noting 1 Marsh Harrier, 4 Cetti's Warbler, c80 Greylag Geese into roost, 11 Mute Swan, 1 Grey Heron, c150 Lapwing, 2 Bearded Tit, 32 Fieldfare, 2 Water Rail, 1 Green Woodpecker, 1 Bullfinch and 1 Snipe.

(Marc Heath)