May Sightings

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                            Sightings can be Emailed to:

      Martyn Wilson - martyn@wilson5834.freeserve.co.uk  

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

  Marc Heath    - Heathym007@aol.com   

Marc, Martyn & Brendan

Photo Gallery

  Number of species recorded in the valley this year so far = 162

31st May

What a day! After a quick look yesterday and saw so much water and no birds and then waking up late this morning, I nearly didn't bother. Arriving at 5.00am, though, and finding Marc and Steve Ray already at the ramp we found ourselves gazing aimlessly into mist and mirk with just a booming Bittern and a scruffy Garganey of any note. A walk along the river revealed several Warblers with Sedge, Reed, Whitethroat and Garden Warbler noted in good numbers and 2 Lesser Whitethroats also added. At Savi's Corner it was decided to do the circuit as not much was about and it was still early. Just after the Oxbow Marc commented on it being Starling city out on the Water Meadows and I picked up a 2nd Garganey in flight. A bit further round by Paddy's bench while trying to re-find the Garganey I picked out a Tern flying towards us and realised it was an adult Whiskered Tern, it showed well(ish) from 6.25-6.37, a little distant in the misty early morning. Although the tern was now what we were mainly looking for, other avian fruits noted at Grove this morning were, 8 Turtle Doves, 5 Grey Herons, 1 Great-crested Grebe, 8 Marsh Harriers, 1 Kingfisher, 6 Cuckoos, 2 Great-spotted Woodpeckers and 1 Yellow Wagtail. There were, 3 Bearded Tits, 1 Jay, 15 Common Terns, 4 Linnets, 4 Shelduck, 18 Hobbies (the first Marc had at 4.22), 1 Little Egret and 2 Sparrowhawks, one of which took a small bird ouit of the sky by the new (non-green) green hide only to have it stolen away by a female Marsh Harrier. No waders at all since water levels have risen above normal winter levels except 4 Lapwings plus there were 8 Tufted Ducks, 1 drake Pochard and a single Kestrel. At about 11.30ish Steve and I decided to visit Collard's, mainly to see if we could re-locate the Tern. Sure enough just as I'd set the scope up I got straight on it hawking the right hand side of Collard's with 12 Commons. With news now distibuted more eyes were arriving adding a smart female Red-footed Falcon, a first summer male Montagu's Harrier, a Red Kite and at least 3 Common Buzzards plus several Hobbies were seen. The Monty's was first reported as a female but 'record' shots of the bird point towards a first/second summer bird!

(Martyn Wilson, Marc Heath & Steve Ray)

29th May

I  made 2 visits into the valley today, one between 5 - 8am in lovely sunny conditions and later between 11.30 - 2pm in cloudy and then pouring rain, what a surprise! I managed 66 species, most at the Grove Ferry end with a couple added on the way to cow corner. Most of the common birds were noted and also 7 Cetti's Warbler, 4 Blackcap, 2 Lesser Whitethroat, 4 Shelduck, 3 Common Tern, 4 Cuckoo, 3 Marsh Harrier, 2 Hobby, 3 Great crested Grebe, all at Grove, 4 Whitethroat, 2 Turtle Dove, 2 Chiffchaff, 1 Garden Warbler, 2 Nightingale, 1 drumming Snipe, 2 Ringed Plover, 1 Little ringed Plover, 1 Ruff, 2 Little Egret, 6 Bearded Tit including some juveniles, good numbers of Swift around with lesser numbers of Swallow, House and Sand Martin. The 'new' Turf field hide is nearly complete, not sure what was ever wrong with the last one and the water continues to rise, surely this is a concern for the ground nesting birds on the reserve.

(Marc Heath)

27th May

An hour at the ramp after work this afternoon produced, 2 drake Garganey (a new bird in breeding plumage plus the eclipse bird), 1 Ringed Plover, 3 Common Terns, 1 Ruff (you can just make him out behind the Garganey in the photo!), 1 Hobby, 3 drake Pochard and 2 drake Teal. There were, 3 Common Sandpipers, 1 male Bearded Tit, 2 Linnets, 1 male Marsh Harrier, 1 Kestrel, 1 Grey Heron, 21 Gadwall, 10 Tufted Ducks, 2 Shelduck and 11 Shoveler.  Sedge Warblers were quieter than of late but still plenty singing and a scattering of hirundines had all three species plus good numbers of Swifts.

(Martyn Wilson)

After spending nearly 7 hours in the hide during the weekend because of the rain, it was nice at last to walk the circuit at Grove without getting another soaking. I arrived at 5am and stayed until 8.45am with a brief visit also made to Collards and Cow corner. With all the pools once again full up with water, it was no surprise that waders were thin on the ground. The only notable birds being 3 Ringed Plover, 1 Greenshank, 1 Common Sandpiper, 1 Redshank and 2 Lapwing. Other birds noted included 2 Turtle Dove, 3 Cuckoo, 3 Chiffchaff, 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Hobby, 1 Little Egret, 3 Shelduck, 1 Blackcap, 3 Whitethroat, 3 Marsh Harrier, 1 Garden warbler and 6 Mute Swan on the river. There was 4 calling Cetti's Warbler, 1 Nightingale, 1 Bullfinch, 3 Common Tern, 3 Grey Heron, 38 Gadwall, 2 Pochard, 6 Tufted Duck, 8 Shoveler, 3 Water Rail and 1 Lesser Whitethroat. Hirnndines were represented with only 3 Swallow, 2 Swift and 5 Sand Martin, also 1 Kingfisher, 2 Great crested Grebe, 1 Great spotted Woodpecker, lots of singing Sedge and Reed Warbler and 1 Bearded Tit. Cow Corner produced 5 Grey Heron, 1 Yellowhammer, 2 Mistle Thrush and 6 Canada Geese. Collards had 2 Common Tern and a few Tufted Duck and Great crested Grebe. I had excellent views last night of the Hepatic Cuckoo around the ramp.

(Marc Heath)

Arrived at Grove Ferry at 10.30. Surprised not to see a single wader from the ramp. Moved on to Harrison Drove, three Turtle Doves flew north and there was a Greenshank on the pool. At 11.15 noticed an Osprey to the west. It appeared to be fishing around the fish ponds. It then headed east to Grove Ferry. It circled high overhead and drifted off east. Back at the ramp, there was now a single Ruff, a drake Teal and two drake Garganey. I stopped at Collard's Lake on the way home where, as well as a few Common Terns, there was a single Sandwich Tern circling high over the lake.  

(Geoff Burton)

A brief visit to Collard's to sucessfully twitch Geoff's Sandwich Tern my first since 2000. It was hawking high in the sky with 6 Hobbies and may have drifted off towards Westbere. I called in again early eveing when there were 600 Swifts and 3 Hobbies over the lake

(Brendan Ryan)

26th May

Arriving at 6.45 in the rain this morning with Marc in Harrison's since 5.00am seemed that not a lot would make the notebook today, but a few things made it in. They were, 1 Ruff, 5 Ringed Plovers, 1 Dunlin, 6 Lapwing, 4 Herring Gulls, 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull, 2 Little Egrets and a single Snipe. There were, 3 Grey Herons, 4 Marsh Harriers, 2 Yellow Wagtails, 4 Teal (3 drakes), 4 Shelduck, 1 Redshank, 3 Cetti's Warblers and 1 Greenshank. Hirrundine numbers were down today with no more than 30 Sand Martins, 15 Hoase Martins and only 6 Swallows, there were however 50+ Swifts. A couple of Sedge Warblers were tring to brave out the wind and singing from within bramble patches or low Reeds. Also today were, 2 Bearded Tits, 9 Tufted Ducks, 37 Gadwall, 3 Common Terns, 1 Black-headed Gull, 1 Kestrel, 1 grubby drake Garganey,  and a drake Pochard. Steve Ashton added Little-ringed Plover and 2 Hobbies later. Back at home a call from Brendan had me back in the valley to try and connect with his find (see his report) and while on the way I phoned Steve to let him know and he said he was looking at a pair of Oystercatchers from the Ramp. These I saw, Brendan's I didn't. Also today there was 1 soggy Fox and the strangest sight, a 'black' Mink came up on the ramp, crossed from the right screen camer under my tripod, walked behind me between the screen and me (a gap of less than 18 inces), walked the lenght of the left screen then crossed back to the right screen and disappeared!

(Martyn Wilson)

Fed up of being in watching the rain all morning, I dragged myself out early afternoon as soon as it abated. I started at Collard’s which was alive with birds hawking low over the water. Large number of hirundines included at least 400 House Martins, 200 Sand Martins and about 50 Swallows. Around 300 Swifts were present along with a single Black Tern and 32 Common Terns. 3 Little Egrets showed intermittently from the trees on the nearside of the lake. At Stodmarsh there were a further 8 Common Terns but not a lot else. I went on to Grove thinking that no one would have checked from the ramp today given the weather conditions. I was of course wrong and found that Martyn had as usual been there from early morning. Adding 2 more Common Terns and a Little Egret, I returned to Collard’s where 6 Hobbies were new for the day. I decided to have a quick look from Cow Corner to see if there was a similar concentration of birds over Westbere and Hersden. There wasn’t but an egret was sat in the fields by the river. Something about its stance seemed not quite right so I got the scope out to discover that it was a Cattle Egret. No sooner had the boys been notified, the bird got up and flew around in the wind before disappearing off towards Fordwich. At this point Martyn phoned to tell me of 2 Oystercatchers at Grove. As Oystercatcher has been a rarer bird than Cattle Egret in the last 3 years in the valley, I quickly relocated to the ramp and duly added Oyk to the list. the only other bird of note was amazingly close views of the hepatic Cuckoo by the ramp. All in all a much better day than could have been expected given the weather

(Brendan Ryan)

25th May

2 Black Terns and 270 Swifts at Collard's late afternoon while at Grove there were 3 Common Sandpipers, 3 Greenshank, single Ruff, Redshank, Ringed Plover and Garganey

(Brendan Ryan)

Arriving again at 3.30 and Marc at the gate, we decided best course of action was to head straight for Harrison's to escape the irregular short showers (Green Hide having been removed!!). Not a lot was actually noted until the showers eased of and we made our way to the Ramp just after 8.00 with Marc having to leave soon after. Ther were at least 7 Marsh Harriers this morning and on top of the 10 Ringed Plover present another 29 dropped in just after the rain stopped, they had 7 Dunlin for company. 39  Ringed Plovers must be a record for the valley? Also at Grove today were, 2 Greenshank, 5 Common Terns, 2 Little Egrets, 5 Grey Herons,2 Redshank, 2 drake Teal, 19 Tufted Ducks and 2 Shelduck. There were, 4 Bearded Tits, 1 Great-crested Grebe, 3 Cetti's Warblers, 2 Little-ringed Plovers, 2 Common Sandpipers, 3 Pied Wagtails and 2 Cuckoo's. Despite the ever present overhead Gull pasage the only ones to actually stop off were, 1 Lesser Black-backed, 6 Herring and 5 Black-headed. Also there were, 3 Yellow Wagtails, 2 Turtle Doves, 1 drake Garganey, 1 Ruff, 2 Kestrels, 1 Kingfisher, 1 Sparroehawk and 18+ Hobbies. Saddly no sign of yesterdays Red-foot. Once again several hundred Swifts were present with small numbers of Sand Martin and even less of House Martin and Swallow. Three Foxes, 1 Noctual Bat and 2 Red Admirals were also seen.

(Martyn Wilson, Steve Ashton, Steve Ray & Marc Heath)

24th May

A 3.30am start had me walking the river bank as far as Savi's Corner up Harrison's Drove and through the middle to the Ramp where I met up with Alan. Along the river were, 5 Nightingales, 1 Whitethroat (Marc later having two plus 2 Garden Warblers), many Sedge Warblers the first of 3+ Cuckoo's (a rufous bird seen later by Keith) and a few Reed Warblers all in fine voice. Pete joined us at Harrison's where we were later met by Marc. Back at the Ramp there were, 7+ Hobbies (the first three together at 4.30), Brendan also added more from Collard's later, a report to follow i'm sure, 2 Great-crested Grebes, 9 Tufted Ducks, 3 Pochard, 5 Marsh Harriers, 4 Little Egrets, 6 Grey Herons and 4 Common Terns. There were, 9 Ringed Plovers, 1 Little-ringed Plover, 1 Ruff, 3 Black-headed Gulls, 2 Water Rails, 1 mouldy drake Garganey, 3 Pied Wagtails, 1 Wood Sandpiper and 3 Greenshank. Also seen were, 2 Great-spotted Woodpeckers, 4 Linnets, 4 Goldfinch, 1 Common Sandpiper, 1 Kingfisher, 3 Bearded Tits, 4 Shelducks and 1 Sparrowhawk. Marc had to leave at 8.20 for some floor laying at home and 2 Mistle thrushes flew over the ramp a few minutes after. I had just come of the phone to Brendan at 9.30 when I was just about to call a Hobby flying towrds us across the Green Hide pool when on raising my Bins it turned out to be a stunning adult male Red-footed Falcon that we watched for a couple of minutes hawking at distance over said pool. A call to Brendan and Marc to see if they could get down for it before putting it on the information services. We lost sight of it behind the Oxbow bushes so decided to walk the path towards Marsh Hide and were rewarded with spectacular scope views of this magnifecent bird as it perched, hawked and occasionaly hovered around the Hawthorns between the footpath and the back of the Oxbow. After 45mins watching the Falcon and a further 2 hours trying to re-find it, without sucsess, we made our way back to the Ramp, a Common Buzzard was also seen from behind the Oxbow.  At the ramp a  small group of waders dropped in at 12 o'clock consisting of 2 Bar-tailed Godwits and 4 Grey Plovers, they didn't seem to be able to settle and flew off towards Reculver at 12.13pm. A fifth Grey Plover was watched from the Ramp from 12.20 onwards. It has been an exceptional year for these Plovers as normally on the odd one or two are seen once a year, also 2 Redshank were present and 5 Stock Doves were seen. There were many hundreds of Swifts feeding very low, no doubt kept down by the strong winds. With the Swifts were a high number of Sand Martins but very little Swallow or House Martins.

(Martyn Wilson, Alan Ashdown, Pete Solly & Marc Heath)

An uncharacteristically early start for me arriving at Stodmarsh at 4.00am. The warm and calm conditions made the effort of getting up so early very worthwhile. A Woodcock flew over the alder wood as I started off down the Lampen Wall and 4 Hobbies were hawking over the reeds. The Bittern was booming at regular intervals and 2 Little Egrets were roosting in the Cormorant trees, along with 64 Cormorants a high percentage of which were juvenile birds. Other birds noted included 5 Garden Warblers, 3 Cuckoos, one Turtle Dove, 16 Common Terns, 9 Shoveler and 4 Shelduck. I only recorded a single Nightingale which is well below par for the areas covered. I stopped briefly on my way to Bockhill at Trenley Park Woods where I saw a female Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. I returned to Collard’s early afternoon where there were 18 Hobbies and a Peregrine but sadly no red-foot. Nearby at Cow Corner there were 92 Greylags and one Bar-headed Goose. Finally an evening visit to the ramp at Grove produced 10 Ringer Plovers, single Redshanks, Greenshank, Grey Plover, Ruff, Common Sandpiper and Gargeney

(Brendan Ryan)

23rd May

Called into the ramp on the way to work but I wasn’t detained long as a single Ruff was the only bird of note. Undeterred by this lack of success I called in on the way home and added 3 Ringed Plover, one LRP, 2 Greenshank plus this morning’s Ruff

(Brendan Ryan)

A couple of hours on the ramp this afternoon between 12.20 and 2.45 produced 14 Hobbies, 2 Ringed Plovers, 1 Greenshank, 4 Marsh Harriers and a Sparrowhawk. Alan joined me for the final hour where we discussed doing another all nighter in the coming weeks, Marc's already up for it!! Although a pretty quiet afternoon  we did pick up a Common Buzzard high over while a single Lessser Black-backed gull was on the main pool as were, 1 drake Teal, 2 Little Egrets, 1 Ruff, 4 Shelducks, 11 Lapwings and 2 Pied Wagtails. Several vocal Sedge Warblers were making their presence known as were 2 Cetti's Warblers. A couple of dozen Swifts were hawking overhead with 2 House Martins, 2 Sand Martins and 2 Swallows.

(Martyn Wilson)

22nd May

A brief stop over early afternoon to look at Collard's/Stodmarsh resulted in 29 Hobbies and 9 Common terns on the lake. I called in at Grove on the way from from work but it was fairly quiet with lapwing being the only wader seen although I did hear Greenshank and LRP. Apart from 2 Little Egrets and the grotty looking Garganey there wasn't a lot to report

(Brendan Ryan)

21st May

I decided that a visit to the valley was a better option than watching football on television and my decision was vindicated by 2 Avocets seen from the ramp upon my arrival. Martyn came down to see them but Marc was more committed to Manchester United than progressing his year list. I was impressed as I didn’t know he came from Manchester! Other waders included single LPR, Greenshank, Ruff, Redshank and Common Sandpiper. The drake Garganey was still present but is rapidly moulting into eclipse plumage. 4 Little Egrets flew towards Stodmarsh at dusk. A Barn Owl was hunting along Harrison’s Drove and there were 4 Yellow Wagtails together on the right hand pool. A good evening and home in time for the inevitable extra time and penalties.

18th May

Dropped in at Stodmarsh today, only a short visit, but did spot a pair of Yellow Wagtails on the road into Stodmarsh and a further pair in the field with the horses.

(Barry Woolhouse)

All back to normal birding today with a more respectable start of 4.15am through to 12.30pm. On the reserve today were, just 3 Nightingales, 25 Greylag Geese, 7 Tufted Ducks, 4 Pochard, 8 Shelduck, 2 Greenshank, 12 Great-crested Grebes, 4 Cetti's Warblers and several Reed & Sedge Warblers. There were, 6 Marsh Harriers (5 in the air together at one point), 3 Cuckoo's, 4 Hobbies, 12 Common Terns, 5 Linnets, 1 Little Egret, 2 Pied Wagtails, 3 Bearded Tits and high numbers of House Martin and Swifts. Aslo a fair few Sand Martins with a lesser number of Swallows. Other Warblers included, 2 Chiffchaff, 2 Lesser Whitethroats,, 3 Common Whitethroats, 1 Willow Warbler, 5 Blackcaps and 2 Garden Warblers. There were, 2 Sparrowhawks, 1 Temminck's Stint, 1 Little-ringed Plover, 1 Ringed Plover and 1 Common Sandpiper. The last addition to the note book was an Osprey high to the north west drifting west and at one point mobbed by a small un-identified raptor.

(Martyn Wilson, Pete Solly & Steve Ashton)

16th/17th May

A bit of an unusual one today, as Marc had us doing an all nighter from 10.00pm on the 16th. I met Marc just before 9.00pm where we had a pint (or two) in the Grove Ferry Inn with Alan meeting us there at 9.30. We met up with Steve Ashton on the Ramp just after 10.00pm. The rain held off and it was a rather mild night, nothing spectacular was heard but the highlights of this foray were, a male Bittern booming through the night and a Long-eared Owl calling near the 'Jungle'. This was not a 'Big Sit' type of excurtion but 12 hours were spent in the valley with a respectable 80 species seen or heard that included, 6 Nightingales, the usual Warblers, 5 Greenshank, 2 Tawny and 1 Long-eared Owl, 1 Bittern, the first of 5 Cuckoo's at 1.25am, 3 Turtle Doves and 4 drake Pochard. Waders included, 2 Little-ringed Plovers, 21 Ringed Plovers and 3 Dunlin but no sign today of the recent Turnstones or Grey Plover. I personally caught up with the drake Garganey (a month later than usual) but, the best bird of the day (and possibly the year) was a singing male Golden Oriole high in the trees north of the river 200yards west of the Paddock. Other highlights today were, 2 juvenile Bearded Tits, 1 Hobby, 5 Marsh Harriers and an increase in the number of hirundines, especially House Martins of which seem to be very low in numbers this year. First bird of the journey was Nightingale at 10.10pm and the 80th spp was House Sparrow in the car park at 10.15am.

(Martyn Wilson, Marc Heath, Alan Ashdown, Steve Ashton & Phil Parker)

16th May

This spring’s excellent wader passage continues for yet another day. I arrived at the ramp in a pessimistic mood having bumped into Steve and Alan on my way in. They didn’t have a lot to report other than the Grey Plover that was still present. However I soon located a Turnstone, my first at the site since 2000 and Alan and Steve were summonsed to return to the ramp. A closer inspection of the right hand pool revealed a second bird. Alan and Steve departed but before they had reached their cars, they were called back to see 3 Temminck’s Stints that had appeared in front of the ramp. Yesterday’s Garganey was still present as were 5 Ringed Plovers, 2 Greenshank, and one Wood Sandpiper. I returned after work. The Grey Plover and Wood Sandpipers were still there along with 20 Ringed Plover, 3 Greenshank plus 2 LRP and 2 Dunlin

(Brendan Ryan)

This morning, after picking up the car up after an MOT and myself off the floor on being presented with the bill for half an hour's dental work, I decided I needed cheering up.  Hence I took myself off to Grove to see the Temminck's Stints reported there earlier in the morning.  I quickly located the three Temminck's I'd been expecting on the left hand pool from the mound - then a fourth bird wandered into view and a quick check of right hand pool revealed a fifth bird. These birds quickly joined together to form a little flock whose nervousness seemed to suggest imminent to resumption of migration. They flicked from pool to pool, flew high, slipped back andoccasionally vanished altogether from view.  Also present when I arrived were 29 Ringed Plover (a flock of 27 on the left hand pool and two more on the right hand pool), a single Little Ringed Plover and 4 Dunlin.  The latter two species and most of the Ringed Plover had gone following my quick look at the Harrison's Drove pool which held nothing other than 4 (more?) Ringed Plover.  Also in view from the mound were a single a Garganey, a Yellow Wagtail, a Wood Sandpiper, a Grey Plover, two Greenshank, a Redshank, 3 Little Egret and a lone Hobby.   A Whinchat also passed through which made this by far my best visit here of the spring,
(John Cantelo)

15th May

Paid a brief visit to the ramp before work and connected with the Gargeney that Marc had seen earlier. This is my first of the year and as far as I am aware only the second in the valley this year which is rather worrying for a species that you would expect to be breeding here. Only 8 of Marc's 13 Ringed Plover remained and by the time I left none were present. They had either moved on or had relocated to an inaccessible part of the reserve. 2 Greenshank and a Little Egret were the only other birds of note. Marc phoned me late afternoon to relate tales of waders passing through so I called in on my way home late evening. In rather wet conditions I was unable to locate the Curlew Sandpiper but a Grey Plover was present. Although it was in similar plumage to yesterday’s bird, I am inclined to believe that given the passage of waders today and the lack of sightings earlier that it may have been a new bird. Other waders present included one Wood Sandpiper, one Ruff, 6 Redshank, 4 Greenshank 2 Dunlin and 3 Ringed Plover.

(Brendan Ryan)

I made two visits into the valley today, one before work from 7.15 – 8.15 and another from 3.15 – 4.30pm. I was joined by Phil after work for the afternoon shift. The following were seen: The highlight for the both of us were undoubtedly 6 Turnstone that landed on the main pool at 3.50pm for 3 minutes before flying high East towards Pegwell. This was a Valley tick for both of us and a mega of a bird in the Valley. Phil picked out a small wader on the right hand pool which turned out to be a Curlew Sandpiper coming into summer plumage, an excellent record for this time of the year. Waders seemed to be the order of the day with 13 Ringed Plover together, 2 Greenshank, 6 Redshank, 1 Wood Sandpiper, 2 summer plumaged Dunlin and 4 Lapwing. I found a drake Garganey this morning and it was still present this afternoon on the main pool. Other birds noted included 1 Little Egret, 1 Snipe, 2 Kestrel, 4 Marsh Harrier, 5 Pochard, 3 Common Tern, 1 Turtle Dove, 17 Gadwall, 5 Shelduck and 2 Grey Heron. There was 4 Tufted Duck, 1 Kingfisher, 14 Greylag Geese, 1 Bullfinch, c200 Sand Martin, 1 Swallow, 3 Swift and a few Teal remaining. Some excellent wader species seen in rainy conditions which may have helped these birds stop off for a while.
(Marc Heath & Phil Parker)

14th May

Phil Chantler and I made a nocturnal visit to the valley looking for, or rather listening for crakes, warblers and other night time activity. A quick look from the ramp in the fading light produced 16 Ringed Plover and a calling Grey Partridge which eventually did a flyby and landed in the reedbed. The weather conditions weren’t great and very little was singing. The net result was 5 Nightingales, one Cetti’s Warbler, 12 Sedge Warblers, 5 Reed Warblers, one Cuckoo, one Whimbrel, Bittern and 3 Long-eared Owls. What we learnt from this venture was 1, How to distinguish the calls of male and female Coot- thanks Jack for reading extracts from BWP over the phone at well past bed time, 2, That it would have been sensible to leave one car at Stodmarsh so we didn’t have to walk back to Grove in the rain and 3, there were no crakes or reeling warblers in the valley.

(Brendan Ryan & Phil Chantler)

Highlight of this morning's visit to the Grove ramp was yet another Grey Plover, in a much more advanced plumage than yesterday's bird.  With 4 bird in the last week plus a couple of birds seen by Martyn earlier in the year this is turning out to be a very good year for this species in the valley.  The Plover was harrassed by the resident Lapwing and eventually flew over out of view to the dowitcher pool. It makes one wonder what other waders are on the pools that can't be viewed? Other birds of note seen this morning included 3 Wood Sandpipers, 4 Greenshank and 6 Ringed Plovers

(Brendan Ryan)

13th May

A brief visit to the ramp en route to work this morning. Wader numbers were well down on previous days but did include a Grey Plover, 2 Ring Plovers and 3 lapwings. The only other entry in the note book was 4 Pochards

(Brendan Ryan)

12th May

Called into Grove late afternoon on the strength of reports on the pager. Alas there were no Wood Sandpipers to be seen but I did see 3 Greenshank, one Black-tailed Godwit, 2 RInged Plovers and 6 Lapwing

(Brendan Ryan)

A Montagu's Harrier flew West over Grove Ferry at 1.20pm, also 5 Wood Sandpiper, 25 Hobby and 1 Red Kite seen drifting over the ramp in the afternoon.

11th May

I haven't been to Stodmarsh for ages and this afternoon made me regret the long break. Heard a Bittern by the hide which overlooks a field of Yellow Iris. Saw a male Marsh Harrier, a few Hobby's, Many Cetti's singing, Cuckoos, Turtle Doves, Lesser Whitethroat, Whitethroat, Sedge Warbler, Really good day, going back next weekend.

(Nick White)

After missing yesterday's Red Kite influx, I was hoping for more of the same today. Sadly it was not to be although it was still a good day spent doing the best hobby there is. Around the Grove/Stodmarsh circuit today the first of 28 Hobbies was seen at 5.00am, there were, 4 Turtle Doves, 1 Bittern, 5 Cuckoo's, 1 Snipe, 5 Nightingales, 6 Tufted Ducks and 12 Common Terns. Warblers seen and/or heard today included, Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethoeat, Blackcap, Garden Warber, Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff, Cetti's Warbler and plenty of Reed & Sedge Warblers. There were, 3 Little Egrets, 4 Greenshank, 2 Common Sandpipers, 2 Ringed Plovers, 7 Marsh Harriers, 23 Gadwall, 9 Lapwing, 3 Grey Herons, 6 Shelduck, 6 Shovelers and a Lesser Black-backed Gull that dropped in briefly for a bathe. A few Swifts, a trickle of Swallows and 2 Sand Martins were seen and there were, 5 Long-tailed Tits, 1 Little Owl, 1 Treecreeper, 1 Water Rail, 41 Black-tailed Godwits, 7 Great-crested Grebes and 4 Sparrowhawks. The last new species for the day was a Common Buzzard with Kestrel, Jay, ! Bearded Tit and 1 Yellow Wagtail all added. There were 12+ Hairy Dragonflies on the wing plus, 6 Small White, 3 Speckled Wood, 5 Large White, 1 Orange Tip, 3 Green-veined Whites, a Peacock and 2 Holly Blue Butterflies and, 20ish Common Damselflies all around the brambles at the base of Tower Hide in Stodmarsh.

(Martyn Wilson, Alan Ashdown, Pete Solly, Marc Heath, John Cantelo & Sue Morton)

10th May

An Osprey was sitting in the dead tree at the back of Stodmarsh Lake at 8.15am and was presumably the bird later seen at Grove Ferry. Also a male Hen Harrier at at the same time and a Spotted Flycatcher along the river near the kennels

(Liz Bascal)

A Barn Owl along Middle Drove ( near the Marsh Hide) at dusk

(John Mills)

Called in at Collard's mid afternoon and met Dave Brown who had seen a Red Kite five minutes before I arrive. Having seen 5 Red Kites already today I wasn't too upset but it would have been nice to see one in the valley. 5 Hobbies were present with a further 2 over Westbere, seen from Cow Corner

(Brendan Ryan)

Two Red Kites were seen from the ramp in the afternoon, also 1 Sanderling observed from the ramp for c10 minutes before flying North.

(Graham Nicholls & Phil Saunders)

Just a couple of hours in the valley this morning due to commitments at home (fitting kitchen) but a few good birds had. Marc had already been around the valley since 2.00am recardong, 4 Tawny Owls, 1 Bittern and 24 Nightingales. The Bittern could be heard later from the ramp also. Also at Grove Ferry today were, 5 Cuckoo's, 5 Greenshank, 3 Common Sandpipers, 5 Marsh Harriers, 4 Cetti's Warblers and 5 Shelduck. There were, 8 Common Terns, 4 Tufted Ducks, 1 Grasshopper Warbler, 1 Lesser Whitethroat and plenty of Sedge & Reed Warblers, Whitethroats but just 1 Chiffchaff. Also at Grove today were, 2 Little Egrets, 1 Jay, 1 Ring-necked Parakeet, 2 Hobbies, 2 drake Pochard, 3 Grey Herons, 4 Teal, 15 Gadwall, 1 Great-spotted Woodpecker and small numbers of Swallow, House & Sand Martins moving through plus a good, but small, number of Swifts. There were, 2 Snipe, 2 Turtle Doves, 1 Green Woodpecker, 1 drake Shoveler, 1 Sparrowhawk, 2 Ringed Plovers, 3 Pied Wagtails, 1 Kestrel, 7 Lapwings an an Osprey south west over Grove at 8.55am.

(Martyn Wilson, Steve Ashton, Alan Ashdown, Phil Parker & Marc Heath)

9th May

A few hours were spent in the valley today hoping as usual for some goodies. I think the hot weather sent a few birds into the shade for wader numbers seemed to be down from yesterday. The water levels are getting rather low and if the hot weather continues we could be water-less. The highlight mid afternoon was an Osprey which I picked out near the boathouse before it flew high West over the ramp at 2.19pm. 2 other lucky observers saw this beautiful bird glide by with a fish in its talons. Other birds: 2 Whitethroat, 25+ Hobby, 5 Marsh Harrier, 2 Kestrel, 3 Common Tern, 2 Cetti's Warbler, 1 Turtle Dove, 5+ Common Sandpiper, 2 Redshank, 4 Greenshank, 3 Little Egret, 2 Grey Heron, 6 Lapwing, 1 Ringed Plover, 1 Green Woodpecker, a few Teal, Gadwall and Shoveler. 2 Wood Sandpiper were present earlier on in the day.

(Marc Heath)

Early morning a few of yesterday's waders were still presnt including single Grey Plover and Wood Sandpiper, 3 Ringed Plovers, 4 Greenshank, 2 Redshank 4 Common Sandpipers, (Brendan Ryan)

8th May

An Osprey flew over Westbere Lake at 5.30 p.m.  It flew east towards Collards/Stodmarsh.

(Sue Morton)

After hearing of a good wader arrival this morning at Grove Ferry, I decided for a visit after work to see what could be found. In glorious sunshine the following was seen. I met Malcolm Mcveil on the ramp who had earlier seen c15 Greenshank, 2 Little ringed Plover, 13 Common Sandpiper, 3 Ringed Plover and 1 summer plumaged Grey Plover, a tricky bird to connect with. The Plover was still present luckily along with most of the earlier mentioned species. John Hollyer and Pete Laslett were next to join the ramp patrol and they had seen 25 Hobby and 6 Marsh Harrier and 1 Spotted Redshank earlier in the day. Other birds seen included 1 Kingfisher, 1 Little Egret, 2 Redshank, 1 Whitethroat, a couple of Sand Martin. I last met Tim Hodge and as we left the reserve a Stoat was seen carrying a rabbit towards us along the entrance track. Some quality birds seen in great company.

(Marc Heath)

Another good day for waders in the valley. Arriving for my pre-work session at Grove I was immediately struck by the  numbers of Common Sandpipers around and finally counted 14 birds. Also present were 2 Wood Sandpipers, 9 Greenshank, 3 Lapwing, 8 Ringed Plover  and single Green Sandpiper, Ruff, Redshank, Snipe and Little Egret.  Marc rang me about the Grey Plover during the afternoon so I called in on my way home. On arriving at the ramp, Chris Cox pointed out 2 Grey Plovers one nearly in full summer plumage and the other in less advanced plumage. The 2 Wood Sandpipers were still present as was the female Ruff. Redshank had increased to 3, Greenshank to at least 11 and Little Egrets to 2. Only one Ringed Plover was seen and no LRPs or Spot Shank. news of a Red-footted Falcon on Sheppey tempted to have a look at Collard's on the grounds that I had seen one there 16 years ago. Predictably there were no falcons of any description but there were 19 Common Terns, 9 Gt-cr Grebes and 4 tufted Duck

(Brendan Ryan)

Matt Hindle had a Tree Pipit fly low over the ramp calling at Grove Ferry at about 0945.

7th May

2 Mediterranean Gulls flew through Grove Ferry tonight at 6.15pm

(Pete Laslett)

Another day of before and after work visits to Grove and Collard's. The morning session at Grove was very productive with 6 Wood Sandpipers on the right hand pool. They flew off east at about 8 o/c. Also present were 5 Ringed Plover, single Greenshank, Common Sandpiper and Black-tailed Godwit and 4 Lapwings. Returning in the evenings the picture was much the same less the Wood Sandpipers and the 5 Ringed Plover had become 4 Ringed and a Little Ringed. In my defence the light in the morning was dreadful as visitors to the ramp on a sunny morning will understand. Greenshank had increase to 9. Collard's was disappointing with 5 Gt-cr Grebes and 3 Common Terns plus a few Coot

(Brendan Ryan)

A brief visit to the ramp and Green hide at Grove Ferry after work tonight produced 5 Grey Heron, 2 Little Egret, 6 Greenshank, 2 Ringed Plover, 2 Hobby, 1 Marsh Harrier, 3 Lesser black backed Gull present, 1 Whitethroat, 2 Chiffchaff, 2 Common Tern, 1 Green Woodpecker, 7 Teal, c9 Gadwall, 2 Pochard and a couple of Shoveler and Tufted Duck. I finally managed to bump into a Common Sandpiper as one was feeding on the right hand pool from the ramp. Only 2 House Martin were seen along with a couple of Sand Martin.

(Marc Heath)

6th May

A flying visit to the ramp on the way to work produced 6 Greenshank, one LRP, 2 Ringed Plovers, one Little Egret and 6 Lapwings. At Collard's the 2 Wigeon remain in residence along with 4 Tufted Duck and 2 Gt-cr Grebes. So exciting was the experience that I repeated it on the way home from work, adding 8 Black-tailed Godwits and a Redshank at Grove while at Collard's I was able to boost the day count to 12 Tufted Duck and 5 Gt-cr Grebes. A Common Sandpiper was reported at Grove from the Green Hide

(Brendan Ryan)

5thMay

With a more normal start at 6.50 today Marc and the lads had already clocked up a good number of species by the time I arrived. Although Marc had to leave early I spent the rest of the morning in the pleasant company of Steve, Alan, Pete & John with, Rick Smith and Julie Childs met along the way. At Grove Ferry today were, one of each Tawny & Little Owls, Bittern and Little-ringed Plover as well as, 1 Grasshopper Warbler heard briefly by Marc near Marsh Hide, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 7 Nightingales, 2 Little Egrets, 3 Turtle Doves, 8 Tufted Ducks and 3 Cetti's Warblers. There were, 3 Ringed Plovers, 1 Temminck's Stint, 6 Greenshank, 11 Teal, 3 Grey Herons, 5 Marsh Harriers, 14 Common Terns, 1 Green and 2 Great-spotted Woodpeckers plus 36 Hobbies between Grove and Stodmarsh viewed from the ramp. A small number of Swifts and Swallows were seen but again only 1 House Martin (where are they all?). There were, good numbers of Reed & Sedge Warblers, Whitethroats and a couple of Chiffchaffs as well as, 5 Shelduck, 1 Bar-headed Goose, 2 Pied Wagtails, a pair of Pochard, 1 Little Grebe, 1 Yellow Wagtail, 2 Sparrowhawks and 1 Great-crested Grebe. Butterflies were in small numbers with 5 Peacocks, 3 Small Whites and 7 Green-veined Whites.

(Martyn Wilson, Marc Heath, Steve Ashton, Alan Asahdown, John Cantelo & Pete Solly)

4thMay

As well as doing an uncharacteristic early shift before going to Bockhill, I returned for a spell in the valley late afternoon. Cow Corner produced nothing noteworthy but the discovery of 8 Black Terns at Collard’s was a really bonus as it was only my 4th record since 1999. The boys were duly summonsed and added this scare valley species to their year list. The only other birds of note at Collard’s were 3 Common Terns, 4 Wigeon and a Turtle Dove. On to Grove in the hope of catching up with the Temminick’s but alas I was unsuccessful for the second day running. One of the problems of having 2 local patches! Highlights at Grove included 10 Greenshank, one Green Sandpiper, 4 Snipe, One LRP, the resident Ringed Plover, one Yellow Wagtail and 3 Common Terns.

(Brendan Ryan)

Another early start early start for the insomnia brothers from 3.45 until 12.45 with Brendan joining us from 4.15-6.10. Birding today was predominatley Grove Ferry apart from listening at Trenley, Cow Corner, Collard's & Black Barn. At Grove Ferry today were, 3 Tawny Owls, 2 Little Owls, 1 Bittern, 10 Nightingales, 4 Cuckoo's, 4 Turtle Doves, 6 Marsh Harriers and 16 Hobbies (the first at 5.12). There were, 7 Shelducks, 3 Cetti's Warblers, 1 Kingfisher, 12 Tufted ducks, 1 drake Pochard, 1 of each Little & Grteat-crested Grebes, 1 Little Egret and several Reed & Sedge Warblers. Off three Snipe seen today, one was doing an unusual upside down flying display that I had not seen before and wondered if this had witnessed by anyone else (Norman seemed Baffled). There were, 3 Long-tailed Tits, 4 Linnets, 8 Lapwing, 7 Greenshank, 5 Ringed Plovers, 1 Temminck's Stint, 2 Little-ringed Plovers, 2 Dunlin and 1 Green Sandpiper. Also at Grove today were, 2 Garden Warblers, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 11 Whitethroats, 4 Sparrowhawks, 3 Common Terns, 4 Grey Herons, 3 Bearded Tits, 1 Black-headed Gull, 1 Kestrel, 1 House Martin, 3 Pied Wagtails and a Bar-headed Goose. Several Swifts and Swallows were also noted. A call from Brendan at 5.30pm had me back at Collard's to look at 8 Black Terns, a bird i've not seen in the valley in many a year, Marc also added another Little Owl and 2 Yellow Wagtails there. Non-avian at Grove this morning were, 2 Pipistril Bats, 1 un-id'd Bat sp, 1 Hedgehog, a pair of Foxes, 5 Peacocks and 2 Green-veined White Butterflies.

(Martyn Wilson, Marc Heath, Brendan Ryan, Sue Morton & Norman McCanch)

3rdMay

Spent a few hours in the valley late afternoon until duck. Sightings included 2 Wigeon at Collard’s, and at Grove there were 9 Shelduck, 2 Greenshank, one Ringed Plover, 19 Teal, 17 Gadwall, 2 Shoveler, 7 Pied Wagtails, one White Wagtail, 2 Yellow Wagtail, one Little Grebe, 10 Swifts, 4 Nightingales, one Kingfisher and 6 House Martins. Highlight was a Curlew which flew west at 7.00pm

(Brendan Ryan)

At 4pm today I saw a Grasshopper Warbler (and heard it reeling twice) on the track to Marsh Hide from Grove, about 200m past the Stodmarsh sign.

(Ian Pritchard)

An early start, a very early start, had me in the valley at 3.30 this morning listening for all those goodies Marc gets at this un-godly hour. I met up with Marc at 3.45 along the back roads behind Stodmarsh where, we proceeded to Cow Corner and then Collard's hearing Bittern Tawny Owl, Little Owl, Nightingale and Cuckoo all singing at the same time. Oh the pleasures of insomnia! Birds in the valley today were, 5 Tawny & 2 Little Owls, 1 Bittern, 6 Cuckoo's, 9 Nightingales, 1 Green Sandpiper, 8 Turtle Doves and several Reed & Sedge Warblers. There were, 4 Little Egrets, 8 Shelduck, 1 Ringed Plover, 11 Tufted Ducks, 12 Lapwings, 5 Marsh Harriers, 18 Teal, 2 Green Woodpeckers and a Little Grebe.A small number of Swallows and Swifts were about and a couple of House Martins but no Sand Martins seen today, no sign of any Willow Warblers either but there were, 14+ Whitethroats, several Chiffchaffs, 1 Lesser Whitethroat  8+ Blackcaps and 7 Garden Wablers. There were, 2 Mistle Thrushes, 7 Great-crested Grebes, 2 Greenshank, 2 Bearded Tits, 5 Grey Herons, 1 Jay, 3 Bullfinch, 2 Great-spotted Woodpeckers, 9 Common Terns, 1 Black-headed Gull, 1 Yellow Wagtail and 3 Sparrowhawks. New bird for the year was spotted by Marc in the form a Temminck's Stint on the main pool and the Hobby count peaked at 23 today. Alarge raptor picked up by Brendan gliding northeast from Stodmarsh towards Reculver was probably a Honey Buzzard but was lost to veiw behind the ridge behind 'tits' house before id was clinched. Also 1 Kestrel and 3 Pied Wagtails today while non-avian included, 1 Weasel, 6 Peacock butterflies, 1 Large White, 2 Green-veined Whites, 1 Brimstone, 1 Orange Tip and 2 un-identified 'small' Whites plus a female White-tailed Damselfly.

(Martyn Wilson, Marc Heath & Phil Parker)

2ndMay

Called in at Grove on the way to work and met John Cantelo on the ramp. Highlights included 3 greenshank, 2 Common Sandpipers, one Wood Sandpiper, one Ringed Plover, 21 Swift, one Little Egret, 5 Shelduck , 17 Teal and 6 Marsh harriers. John later had 9 + Hobbys and a Grasshopper Warbler was reported early morning from near the ramp

(Brendan Ryan & John Cantelo)

I was fortunate to see a Whinchat in beautiful sunshine this morning on top of one of the bushes just short of the Marsh Hide.
(Richard Hills)
              

Had about 90 mins around the Stodmarsh end of the reserve this morning.  Nothing earth shattering but a max of 11 Hobby, Cuckoo, Turtle Dove, at least 4 Marsh Harrier, 2 singing Nightingale, Garden Warbler, 2 Treecreeper and 9 Common Terns made for a really interesting walk.   Saw a distant raptor that looked like  a Buzzard but too far away to be sure.   

(Mark Varley)

1st May

I made 2 visits into the valley today, one at 7.30am for an hour and another hour or so with Phil Parker at 3.30pm. In sunny but breezy conditions the following was noted. c250 Swifts were hawking all over the reserve with a few hundred Sand Martin with the odd House Martin and Swallow mixed in, 2 Whitethroat, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 1 Great crested Grebe, 2 Marsh Harrier, 3 Greenshank, 1 Ringed Plover, 2 Lesser black backed Gull present, 2 Green Woodpecker and 14 Teal. There was 6 Shelduck, 1 Cuckoo, 2 Cetti's Warbler, 2 Linnet, 3 Lapwing, 1 Mistle Thrush, 2 Grey Heron, 1 Chiffchaff, 3 Wheatear, 2 in fields behind Harrisons hide, 2 Little Egret, 1 Kestrel, 1 Pochard and a few Gadwall and Tufted Duck.

(Marc Heath & Phil Parker)