Patch Watch 1st May 2008

After all the rain of recent days, the broken high cloud and starry conditions, as I park my car by the reservoir shortly before 3.30am, seem promising. A few baas, aircraft and the hum of traffic on the Staplehurst road is all I hear, until I reach the Greensand Ridge near the Badger sett at 3.45am, when a Coot calls from the Deer Park lake, from which a Moorhen also calls, but neither competes with the amazingly loud, penetrating calls from a fox. I can see headlights from Bob's car, as he parks in the bend on Peen's Lane. More cloud is now obscuring the stars, as the eastern horizon begins to brighten. The first of four or more Little Owls calls at 4.12am, followed by the growling calls from the lake of a Tufted Duck . A Carrion Crow caws at 4.15am and a Pheasant then makes its presence known. The eerie screech of a Barn Owl emanates from the Deer Park, where the male of the presumed breeding pair is roosting, and within five minutes a Tawny Owl hoots – three owl species represents a good start to the day. As I'm walking down towards the barn, I'm surprised to hear song from a Skylark over the wheat fields, there had been no sign of ones presence there. A Song Thrush (number 10 at 4.35am) starts to sing and another Tawny Owl hoots from the direction of the poplar wood, with a third from north of the old orchard. A Cuckoo calls at 4.40am and both Blackbird and Robin become members of the dawn chorus. I see Bob silhouetted in the gateway and he confirms that the female Barn Owl is sitting, having heard her ‘snoring'.

As we start walking down by the Spindlewood orchard, a Mallard quacks, a Woodpigeon flies noisily from its roost, both Wren and a Blackcap sing from the bottom of the rarity hedge and the calls of a Herring Gull ring out clearly as it flies over and we hear the Bar-headed Goose calling but can't include it in our species total. The first fishermen are already present as we reached the reservoir, where several more species sing or call, including a Chaffinch and a Common Whitethroat (number 20 at 5.05am), followed by both Great and Blue Tits . A Green Woodpecker ‘yaffles' as we walk round the reservoir for the first time. A Collared Dove coos from the southern border, a Chiffchaff sings from the alder coppice and a LBB Gull flies SE, followed by a flock of 29 Herring Gulls – the beginning of an exceptionally large passage that eventually totals at least 163 birds. While watching one flock of gulls a Pied Wagtail flies through our binocular visions. The Canada Goose gander swims across the reservoir, a Stock Dove coos from the poplar wood and another flies over. A flock of five Cormorants flies S (number 30 at 5.31am) and the first of three lone Grey Herons flies N, as we wait patiently for a Bullfinch to call or appear.

The first Jackdaw calls and a Swallow flies towards Gravitt's Cottage, probably one of a returning pair. A male Kestrel flies by, a Rook caws as it flies over, the first of four lone BH Gulls flies S and we first hear the calls from and then see three adult GBB Gulls , a totally unexpected addition, though not unprecedented for May, the first on a Patch Watch. A distant GS Woodpecker drums, a Dunnock sings and a female Sparrowhawk (number 40 at 6.14am) flies by as I look forward to my breakfast. A female Reed Bunting flies from beside the reservoir and we return to my car by 6.30am.

During breakfast another Cormorant flies S, a Common Whitethroat continues to sing, a BH Gull visits the reservoir but the only addition is Magpie , as two fly over the oat field north of the reservoir. As we commence a walk around the southern stubble, we soon come across a flock of at least 12 Yellowhammers , some perching on the power lines, where a Mistle Thrush joins them and a Greenfinch sings. A Jay appears in Bishop's Wood as we join Peen's Lane and walk north. Two Starlings fly S but the Lesser Whitethroat doesn't perform while we are in the vicinity of one of the regular breeding territories. We've been commenting on the way dark rain clouds have been dropping their showers east and west of us and we are impressed by the brightness of a short rainbow to the northwest. We reach the lake by 7.25am, where both the Bar-headed Goose and Barnacle Goose are being chased by the resident Canada Goose gander – the latter is another addition to the Patch Watch list, following its recent British List category change. One of the Little Grebes is visible, three Canada Geese fly over, a Goldfinch sings (number 50 at 7.31am) and flies into the top of an oak, as a Treecreeper sings from a tree beside the lake.

Bob drives us up to Boughton Place and we walk into the Deer Park just after 7.40am, when a Nuthatch calls and another feeds on the peanuts in the feeder hanging on a lime tree branch; a Coal Tit also calls from the lime trees. A second Swallow flies towards the church and another male Kestrel is present near the spruce coppice, where a couple of LT Tits are feeding but we fail to find a Goldcrest and nothing more is added in the Deer Park or by the marsh. We walk by the spinney towards the rarity hedge and see a Treecreeper exploring oak bark for food, shortly after 9am. A Kestrel hovers and a Sparrowhawk flies nearby, as a Pied Wagtail calls, while we walk up the Wierton Hill hedgerow. A hoped for Bullfinch calls and the anticipated House Sparrows are present near Spindlewood.

A shower passes overhead as we walk onto the Greensand Ridge and we shelter for a few minutes before walking around the old orchard, where a smart male Sparrowhawk flies W just over the treetops and a cock Bullfinch shows well in the northeast corner, as more rain falls. While walking round the field north of the Greensand Way the skies open and a heavy hailstorm that lasts for nearly thirty minutes from around 10am absolutely drenches us, at least our trousers are soaked by the water running off our waterproofs and we decide we'll each need to return home to change. At home, just after 11am, I put on some dry jeans, enjoy a cup of hot coffee and make a quick analysis of the progress. There are 56 species already on the list, with the following possible additions: Hobby, Turtle Dove, Swift, LS Woodpecker, House Martin, Lesser Whitethroat, Garden Warbler, Goldcrest and maybe Linnet.

I decide to stop in the churchyard around 11.20am, to see if I can find a Goldcrest there in the sunshine but the wind feels stronger. No joy, but as I stop briefly in Peen's Lane the Lesser Whitethroat deigns to utter one burst of song from within its territory. I return to the reservoir by 11.40am with every hope of exceeding the mean figure of 60 species. There is time for another circuit of the reservoir before having a ‘skywatching' lunchbreak – is it a Turtle Dove that streaks behind an oak as it flies towards Darnold's Wood? I guess I'll never know. With a dozen fishermen now spread around the reservoir, no self-respecting wader, that might have considered dropping down would now do so – it is sad that the new season commences on May 1st – maybe I should ask the club to postpone it for one day.

Lunch is certainly an appealing thought and I start to enjoy my egg rolls at 12.15pm, sitting by my car and wishing that the increasingly strong, cold wind would drop. Yet another Herring Gull flies S, a male Kestrel hovers over the Greensand Ridge, along which I hope a different raptor may fly, and suddenly two House Martins appear over the alder coppice, dive low towards the southern stubble and equally quickly disappear. Jackdaws keep appearing in the sky, tumbling in the wind, momentarily taking on different shapes and looking more raptor-like. Shortly before 1pm as I'm completing my lunch, two Swallows fly NE and high in the sky beyond them I glimpse my first Swift of the year (number 59).

With a scattering of cumulus, the weather looks more promising, as I commence another circuit of the reservoir, aiming to return to the spruce coppice to find a Goldcrest, but maybe a 60th species will appear before then. Walking around the western edge of the oat field I find a group of four LT Tits, all adults sadly, I was hoping to find the missing newly fledged young. I'm back in the spruce coppice by 2.15pm, will the ‘crest oblige, I wonder? I think I hear a Spotted Flycatcher calling but the wind is distorting sounds and there is no confirmation that I'm right. I sit patiently staring into the spruce tops and two LT Tits reappear. Further over I think I hear a Goldcrest calling but again no confirmation. I'm sure I glimpse one and elsewhere a Coal Tit appears and a second bird flies into the same tree, high among dense spruce needles……..I glimpse it again……..at last, a clear view confirms that it is a Goldcrest (number 60 at 2.52pm – the mean figure for the sixteen years of Patch Watches).

I sit on the nearby fallen oak, with the sun on my back and scan the sky to the north and east for a while. Two more Herring Gulls fly S and another Treecreeper sings. At 3.15pm I decide to check the possible Spotted Flycatcher call before walking around the northern edge of the Deer Park and visiting the old orchard again. No sign and I walk slowly across the Deer Park, as eight more Herring Gulls fly S. A Little Owl is perching on the remaining wall of the old gamekeeper's cottage, as I leave the park at 3.40pm, appreciating the warmth of the sun but still cursing the strength of the wind. Another BH Gull flies S towards the reservoir, where Bob is making a brief visit, not adding anything new, apart from the first Green-veined White of the year.

I'm back at the reservoir just after 5pm and it is very warm out of the wind by the alder coppice. I looks glimpse a possible Sand Martin flying SW but it disappears behind the coppice trees before I can confirm it. Back at the car at 5.30pm I seem to be lacking energy for anything other than skywatching. As I sit by the car, a Pied Wagtail calls and flies up from the nearby rainwater pools. With a little refreshment inside me, my energy level has increased and I walk round the reservoir again, when a BH Gull flies down to feed and four more Herring Gulls fly S – can I expect a Mediterranean Gull, I wonder? It would be good to exceed the mean total. Standing on the west bank again provides far better viewing and another House Martin shows more clearly than the earlier two as it flies S, followed shortly by a graellsii LBB Gull. Another Swallow flies towards Gravitt's Cottage but there is still no sound from the local Garden Warbler and it doesn't look as though I'm going to add anything new. I meander slowly back to the car thinking that I might call it a day in about half-an-hour at 7pm, though I'm tempted to stop now. With nothing new since before 3pm I decide to head for home at 6.50pm, the end of a successful fifteen-and-a-half-hour day in the field, that might have proved better.