September 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 = 179

30th September

I made two visits into the valley today, spending an hour before and after work at Grove, mostly in cloudy and occasionally heavy rain. Birds noted included 11 Ruff, 8 Meadow Pipit, c30 Snipe, 8 Wigeon, 4 Pintail, 1 Kingfisher, 1 Siskin over calling, 8 Golden Plover, c60 Black headed Gull, 4 Bearded Tit and 1 Chiffchaff. There were 6 Spotted Redshank, c400 Teal, 2 Cetti's Warbler, 1 Grey Heron, 1 Marsh Harrier, 3 Garganey, 1 Kestrel and 1 Black tailed Godwit. Small groups of Swallow, Sand and House Martin were passing through.

(Marc Heath)

An Osprey flew low over Westbere Lake at 5.45 p.m. this afternoon, heading towards Fordwich.

(Sue Morton)

28th September

Yet another weekend spent getting bored silly looking at distant specks of common orintological fayre while, as mentioned yesterday, sensible birders were scanning through hordes of migrants at coastal localities. Nevertheless, enduring at least two and half hours of freezing fog payed of as usual with a big fat nothing with, once again Steve leaving for better rewards although he did return for the last couple of hours. Today was much as yesterday with, 1 Tawny Owl, 2 Grey Herons, 2 Water Rails, 4 Cetti's Warblers, 4 Marsh harriers, 39 Common Snipe, 5 Chiffchaffs, 4 Reed Warblers and 6 Long-tailed Tits. There were, 7 Ruff, 13 Bearded Tits, 2 Pochards, 4 Spotted Redshanks, 3 Green Sandpipers, 2 Garganey, 1 Sedge Warbler and 8 Wigeon (1 drake). Also today were, 2 Wheatears, 2 Whinchats, 8 Stonechats, 30+ Meadow Pipits, 3 Grey Partridges, 1 male Blackcap, 1 Jay and 1 Kestrel. Completing the line up today were, 123 Black-headed Gulls, 1 Common Gull, 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Common Buzzard, 1 Hobby, 3 Green Woodpeckers and a flock of 34 House Martins over the ramp.

(Martyn Wilson, Alan Ashdown & Steve Ashton)

27th September

While most sensible birders were on the coast picking up easterly migrants, some fool hardy idiots ventured into the valley for a mornings birding. It started of badly with a thick fog from 6.00am onwards that although clear sky could be seen straight up, 50 odd yards out was impossible, in fact little droplets of fog could be seen swirling between us as we chatted. Steve Ashton & Phil Parker had had enough by 8.30am and moved on to pastures new (Bockhill for Dusky?), while just Pete and I stayed stringing it out until midday with the fog never really clearing completely. Birds we managed to note were, 1 Tawny Owl at 6.00am, 5 Marsh Harriers, 4 Cetti's Warblers, 6 Ruff, 1 Peregrine, 4 Grey Herons, 29 Common Snipe and 1 Little Egret. A bash around the bushes in the paddock revealed, 11 Blackcaps, and the first 8 Redwings of the Autumn plus  many Song Thrushes, Blue & Great Tits, Greenfinch & Chaffinches. A Greenshank was heard and there were, 4 Spotted Redshanks, 2 Pochards, 3 Water Rails, 3 Green Sandpipers, 1 Hobby, 1 Sedge Warbler and 2 Reed Warblers. In the fields behind Harrison's and up Middle Drove were 5 Wheatears, 4 Whinchats, 1 Stonechat, 1 Little Owl and several Meadow Pipits plus more Song Thrush & Chaffinch. There were 3 Jays, a couple of Bearded Tits and a very small number of hirrundines (Sand & House Martins) passing through.

(Martyn Wilson & Pete Solly)

23rd September

I was planning a brief seawatch at Reculver for an hour before going to work but at the last moment I decided to call into Grove Ferry in case anything good was around. This proved to be a very good decision as one of the first birds that I saw from the ramp was a Knot, see record digiscoped effort. This is a rare bird in the valley and only my second bird in the 10 years of recording in the area. I called Brendan who by luck was driving by and a few minutes later he had added it to his valley year list. Other birds noted before work included 4 Ruff, 1 Dunlin, 6 Pintail, c108 Black headed Gull, 1 Common Gull present, 2 Herring Gull present, 2 juvenile Curlew Sandpiper, 2 Spotted Redshank, 2 Marsh Harrier and 1 Grey Heron. There was 1 Cetti's Warbler, 2 Pochard, 1 Little Egret, c20 Snipe, 1 Golden Plover, 3 Tufted Duck, c10 Swallow, c400 Teal, c250 Lapwing and 1 Bearded Tit. A brief visit after work produced 3 Garganey and 1 Green Sandpiper but more noticeably was that the heavy rain had covered over all the exposed muddy feeding areas where the waders have been congregating recently.

(Marc Heath)

21st September

Grove Ferry this morning was shrouded in a fog that bearly lifted by 2.00pm, but those of us that made it out persevered to record the following. A Little Owl calling from Grove Ferry Inn at 5.50 was first on the list then, while waiting for fog to lift while on the Ramp a small flock of 7 Cormorants flew right over our heads at 6.35 and on towards Reculver with a noticeably much smaller bird with them, this turned out to be a Shag, a very rare bird in the valley with only four previous records and the last in 1992. Marc had to leave at 8.30 leaving the two Steve's , Pete and me to carry on but enough fog had lifted for Marc to see most things before leaving. Also in the Valley today were, 2 Siskins south over the ramp at 6.48, 4 Little Egrets, 60+ Wigeon west, 58 Pintail west, 1 Kestrel, 2 Ring-necked Parakeets, 5 Cetti's Warblers and again 50 odd Common Snipe. There were, 6 Green Sandpipers, 7 Ruff, 4 Spotted Redshanks, 2 juvenile Curlew Sandpipers, 2 Garganey, 1 Whinchat, 4 Water Rail and a female Tufted Duck. There were, 4+ Sparrowhawks, 1 Kingfisher, 15+ Bearded Tits, 1 Greenshank, only 4 Reed Warblers, 3 Chiffchaffs, 1 Hobby, 18+ Long-tailed Tits and a very small number of Swallows (4 or so).

As no raptors were being seen Steve R and I went to Collard's to watch from there and although we did see 6 Common Buzzards, 5 Marsh Harriers, 3 Sparrowhawks and a Hobby none of these multitudes of Honey Buzzards passed us (do they really exist, ha ha). Not much lake scanning was undertaken but 80-90 Wigeon were present with more behind the tree line, 27 Great-crested Grebes, 1 Little Egret and 18 Siskins.

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

20th September

After hearing the reports of massive falls of Wheater's Redstarts and various specie of Flycatcher hitting East Kent during the week as well as the hordes of Honey Buzzards passing through the country, it was a relief to not have to go to work and spend the weekend birding. Unfortunately the fall eased of before today plus, none of the fall species made it into the valley. Still a good day with some half decent birds to look at, so at Grove ferry today were, 9 Marsh Harriers, 1 fly over Grey Wagtail, 3 Little Egrets, 5 Green Sandpipers, 14 Ruff, 4 Cetti's Warblers, 10 Pintail west and large numbers of Meadow Pipits on the move, mainly NW. There were, 3 Sedge Warblers, 2 juvenile Curlew Sandpipers, 3 Ring-necked Parakeets, 1 Garganey, 57 Common Snipe, 3 Kingfishers, 4 Water Rails, at least 5 Sparrowhawks and "super lugs" Marc heard an unknown number of Siskins (he also had 20 of these at Collard's later). Also today were, 8 Bearded Tits, 11 Reed Warblers, 14+ Chiffchaffs, 2 Wheatears, 4 Kestrels, a pair of Stonechats, 6 Jays, 16 Long-tailed Tits and a Cuckoo (I also had a Cuckoo near my house in Deal this afternoon?). There were 3 Hobbies, 20 Canada Geese, 6 Spotted Redshanks, 1 Bar-headed Goose, 2 Whinchats, 7+ Common Buzzards (or the same 3 seen more than once), 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 7 Wigeon and on the main pool 262 Black-headed Gulls with more arriving, 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull, 1 Common Gull and a small showing of House Martin and Swallows.

(Martyn Wilson, Marc Heath & Steve Ray)

18th September

I spent three hours at Grove Ferry from midday, viewing conditions were not easy because of the sunshine, makes a change this autumn. From the new hide 3 Spotted Redshank and 2 Water Rail, a walk round produced 10+ Green Sandpiper, 15 Ruff, 20+Snipe, 1 Little Stint, 2 Dunlin, big numbers of Teal and Lapwing, mixed bag of Hirundine, 2 Little Egret but still a dearth of passerines, where are they!!! 1 Hobby seen by other birders.

(Malcolm McVail)

16th September

2 visits were made into the valley today, both before and after work for a few hours. I spent most of my morning visit wandering around the outskirts of the paddock in search of Flycatchers and Redstarts but drew a blank on both species. the following were logged during both visits: 10 Ruff, 2 Green Sandpiper, 1 Cetti's warbler, 4 Chiffchaff, 1 Wheatear, 29 Snipe, 2 Canada Geese, 1 juvenile Shelduck, my first for months, 4 Jay, 1 Blackcap, 2 Goldcrest, 1 Grey Wagtail over the ramp and 87 Greylag Geese. Collards held c24 Great crested Grebe, 2 Hobby, 1 Sparrowhawk, c50 Wigeon, 1 Green Woodpecker and 2 Common Buzzards including 1 juvenile were soaring and hovering high over the lake. 40 Black headed Gull were present from the ramp, 1 Golden Plover, 3 Greenshank, 1 Pochard, 1 Kingfisher, 4 Spotted Redshank from the Green hide, 1 Little Egret, 2 Bearded Tit and small flocks of Sand Martin and Swallow at both Grove and Collards.

(Marc Heath)

15th September

I made a brief visit to Grove Ferry after work tonight in the hope of a fly over Honey Buzzard, everywhere else seems to be getting them. Despite scanning no Buzzard but I managed to log the following: 10 Ruff, 2 Green Sandpiper, 3 Spotted Redshank, 1 Kingfisher showing well and occasionally landing on the island floor, a weird spectacle to see. Other bits included 2 Little Egret, 2 Chiffchaff, 1 Hobby, 1 Marsh Harrier, c400 Greylag Geese, c250 Lapwing and growing numbers of Teal present.

(Marc Heath)

14th September

After yesterdays excitement, and being an off patch "twitch", it was back to the more mundane. Marc could only manage a couple of hours and left at 8.30 while, Steve arrived shortly after and spent the morning in Green Hide (lens testing). At Grove Ferry today were an incredible 82 Canada Geese, the most Marc and I have seen here, 7 Ruff, 3 Grey Herons, 1 Little-ringed Plover, 8 Marsh Harriers, 3 Cetti's Warblers, 5 + Chiffchaffs, several Sedge Warblers and a few Reed Warblers. There were 2 Wigeon, 5 Green Sandpipers, 9 Yellow Wagtails, 2 Greenshank, 34 Common Snipe, 2 Little Egrets, 2 Spotted Redshanks, 17 Stock Doves, 1 Pochard and 2 Water Rails. There appeared to be abit of Jay migration with a total of 23 birds seen. There were, 150+ Swallows, 1 Kestrel, 1 Black-tailed Godwit, 1 Kingfisher, 1 Mistle Thrush, 1 Peregrine, a duck Pintail, and 1 of each Green & Great-spotted Woodpeckers. Also today were, 1 Curlew, 3 Sparrowhawks, 1 Bar-headed Goose, 1 Hobby, an Osprey SE at 9.30, a ring-tail Harrier spp lost to view behind the tree line and a large dark raptor in the distance towards Thanet over Manston at 10.50. A small party of 7 Crossbills flew along the river stopping in the tops of a couple of Pines before carrying on westwards and there were, 850+ Greylag Geese on the main pool with the rising number of Teal, Shoveler and Lapwings. A drive up to Collard's where I was joined by Brendan where we had 1 Black-necked Grebe, 3 Hobbies, 150 Wigeon (new arrivals), 30 Gret-crested Grebes, 1 Common Buzzard, 1 Peregrine, 1 Sparrowhawk, 27 Stock Doves, 38 Tufted Ducks and 10 Pochards.

(Martyn Wilson)

13th September

Birding at Grove didn't last that long today as news of Kents second Zitting Cisticola had been found at Swalecliffe had us leaving in haste, although we did record a few bits beforehand. They were, 1 Tawny Owl, 2 Grey Herons, 8 Canada Geese, 2 Greenshank, 14 Yellow Wagtails, 7 Marsh Harriers, 3 Spotted Redshanks, 2 Cetti's Warblers, 2 Ruff, 15+ Chiffchaffs and a few Reed, Sedge and Whitethroats. There were, 2 Little Egrets, 1 Kingfisher, 2 Pintail, 3 Pochard, 3 Tufted Duck, 3 Golden Plover, 1 Water Rail, 11 Bearded Tits (largest count this year???), 1 Whinchat and 1 Green Sandpiper. Other bits included, Swallow, House & Sand Martins, severasl Snipe and 5 Stock Doves.

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

12th September

A walk round Grove in light rain this morning produced relatively little - three Pintail, a handful of Wigeon, c350 Teal, a similar number of Lapwing, a Greenshank, A Dunlin, 6 Ruff, two Green Sandpiper and a Spotted Redshank.  The reeds were full of Sedge Wablers although there were few Reed Warblers.  Two or  three Swallows passed by and the bushes held both Lesser and a Commn Whitethroat,
(John Cantelo)

Although not quite in the valley, about 50 yards, I noticed whilst out teaching today numerous Chiffchaff calls from the wood beside the school. After school I took a wander over the disused quarry and in one small area there was at least 10 Chiffchaff, 1 Willow Warbler, c5 Long tailed Tit, c20 Siskin were seen twice in a tight flock flying over and best of all, 2 Spotted Flycatcher. If only they were the other side of the road! In the sunshine there were c5 Comma, 1 Red Admiral and a few Small and Large White on the wing. Hopefully this will be a taste of things to come tomorrow in the valley.

(Marc Heath)

7th September

Another grey damp morning with less brightness and more frequent, although less heavy, showers still with a strong south westerly. At Grove Ferry this morning were, 28 Canada Geese, 1 Bar-headed Goose, 6 Grey Herons, 5 Little Egrets, 1 Green Sandpiper, 3 Water Rails, 11 Ruff, 4 Marsh Harriers and in the fields along the fence line east of the ramp were 7 Whinchats, 1 Stonechat and a Wheatear. THere were, 3 Pochards, 1 Little-ringed Plover, 1 Spotted Redshank, 2 Cetti's Warblers, 68 Common Snipe, 1 adult Common Tern and 5 duck Pintail. An Arctic Tern visited for a short while before heading up the valley at 7.00am that appeared to be a moulting adult. Teal are starting to build up with at least 200 birds present plus the Greylag population is swelling with 400+ squeazing most residents of the two main pools. Steve Ashton joined us for an hour or so to test his returned camera body and jest about this brilliant British summer. There was only 1 Sedge Warbler seen along with a couple of Reed Warblers, 1 Chiffchaff, 1 Kingfisher, 1 Garganey, 3 Greenshanks, 1 of each Green & Great-spotted Woodpeckers, and 100's of Hirrundines moving west. A lot less Gulls today with just 67 Black-heads, 3 juvenile Herrings and 4 adult Lesser Black-backs. There were 7 Ring-necked Parakeets, 1 Kestrel and a single Hobby. A visit to Collard's at midday where I was met by Brendan produced, 1 Swift several hundred Hirrundines, 1 juvenile Black Tern, 1, presumed same as Grove, adult Arctic Tern, the 2 Black-necked Grebes still, 4 Hobbies and a Sparrowhawk.

(Martyn Wilson, Marc Heath & Alan Ashdown)

6th September

This morning at Grove Ferry dodging heavy rain showers and sheltering from the strong south westerlies we managed to record, 29 Canada Geese, 11 Ruff, 875 Lapwings, 1+ Little Egret, 2 Grey Herons, 3 Marsh Harriers, 1 Kingfisher and a dozen or so Yellow Wagtails. There were, 3 duck Pintail, 1 Greenshank, 2 Spotted Redshanks, 1 Green Sandpiper, 2 Kestrels, 4 Whinchats and a male Stonechat. Also today were, 3 Pochards, 7 Snipe, 1 Hobby, 3 Cetti's Warblers, 1 or 2 Chiffchaffs, a male Sparrowhawk, and a couple of Reed Warblers. A steady trickle of hirrundines were mainly House Martins but good quantity of Sand Martins and a few Swallows. We had a brief visit by Brendan before he moved up to Collard's where the 2 Black-necked Grebes are still present. There were, 4 Pied Wagtails, 1 Little-ringed Plover, 1 Common Tern and, on the Gull front, on the main pool, were, 186 Black-headed, 11 Herring (various ages), 2 Lesser Black-backed (adult & 3rd winter) and 1 Common. Also a smallish Gull that at first seemed to be a Little Gull was possibly a Bonaparte's that flew low over the main pool, at 11.50, and on towards Stodmarsh/Collard's with it's two-tone like appearance, white underwing, black trailing edge and black and white upper plus grey nape mantle and back with a slender black bill???. Only a small number of insects today, just a couple of Common Darters 1+ Hawker spp and a Small White Butterfly.

(Martyn Wilson, Marc Heath & Steve Ray)

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31st August

Spent a few hours in the valley this afternoon checking bushes and hedges in peripheral locations in the hope of teasing out the odd Redstart or flycatcher. Inevitably this proved to be a fruitless venture and I was only able to manage 3 Whinchats, a single Sedge Warbler, several Chiffchaffs and the odd Willow Warblers.  Grove produced 3 Spotted Redshanks, 2 Greenshanks, 2 Green Sandpipers, 4 Ruff and 2 Golden Plover while Collard’s held 30 Gt-cr Grebes, a single Wigeon plus over 100 Gadwall.

Another pea-souper this morning and what appears to be a clear-out with, virtually nothing in the bushes and the Crake still avoiding detection. No sign of any Wood Sands or Spot Reds and no sign of either Alan, Marc, Pete or Steve Ray, although I did meet up with Steve Ashton for half an hour. Birding at Grove Ferry today produced, 4 Greenshanks, 5 Water Rails, 5 Cetti's Warblers, 4 Grey Herons, 2 Little Egrets, 8 Ruff, 3 Dunlin and 5 Green Sandpipers. Extensive searches on a very overgrown Baillon's pool and on the very difficult to view Savi's pool (these being the only suitble areas) revealed no Crakes and very little else in fact, there were however still several Reed and Sedge Warblers, mostly around the bushes at Green Hide (this is where I agree with Ben Young se his excellent blog on the latest sightings page, it's been known to long as Green or Turf Fields Hide). Only 2 Marsh Harriers today and 1 Kestrel on the raptor front and not much around the bushes except a couple of Whitethroats. There were, 3 Stock Doves, 11 Snipe, 1 Golden Plover, 1 Black-tailed Godwit,, 2 Kingfishers, 7 Pied Wagtails and 54 Yellow Wagtails (47 in a field with Cows at the top of Harrison's Drove just before the White House. Around the White House were a good number of Swallows and House Martins with a single Chiffchaff in the Garden, little else to report. Steve had a Little Owl at Cow Corner on his way in and 50 Canada Geese flew in and took over the main pool where there were 52 Black-headed Gulls and 1 juvenile Herring Gull plus 678 Lapwings. A single Whinchat was on the fence line left of the ramp with a Yellow Wagtail.

(Martyn Wilson)