March 2010 Sightings

Please email your sightings to Andy Lawson

If you live, or for that matter visit, any site in North or West Kent then I would be delighted to hear from you! Sightings would be appreciated from Sheppey in the North to Dartford & Tunbridge Wells to the West and then back to Maidstone in the East.

Thursday 25th March Wouldham

3 Little Ringed Plover were present first thing this morning.

(Ian Shepherd)

Tuesday 23rd March Wouldham

2 Wheatear on waste ground south of the village this morning

(Ian Shepherd)

Monday 22nd March Sevenoaks KWT

One Little Ringed Plover at Sevenoaks Wildlife Reserve  yesterday pm (22 March)   (Robin Webster)

Monday 22nd March Swanscombe

1 Water Pipit flew from the northern pool to the southern pool where it then showed well.  1+ Cetti's singing too.

(Andy Lawson)

Sunday 21st March Wouldham

A short spell of raptor-watching from my bedroom balcony early this afternoon soon produced the 4 regular species including, initially, just 1 Common Buzzard.  However this bird was soon joined by a second, and then by another 2, followed by 3 more, and eventually there were no fewer than 9 birds all circling together over the downs on the west side of the valley, a splendid sight.  Shortly after this 2 more birds were seen in trees on the east side of the valley.  

(Ian Shepherd)

Sunday 21st March Otford

A pleasant walk this morning turned up 4 Buzzards, a singing Yellowhammer, a pair of displaying Peregrines and a migrant Skylark over.

(Andy Lawson)

Saturday 20th March Warden Point, Sheppey

Warden Point had a touch of spring about it this morning with 1+ Firecrest, 3 Wheatears, 6+ White Wagtails, 10+ Chiffchaff and a Swallow

(Simon Tilley)

Saturday 20th March Shorne Marshes

Spotted from Stonebridge Road Football Ground, one common buzzard circling above west end of Shorne Marshes. It headed off south-east after Luton's fifth goal!  

(Gill Porter)

Thursday 18th March Eastchurch

Had a ride around Eastchurch on my pushbike today and noticed a pair of buzzards wheeling around between kingsborough Manor and Norwood farm.

Plenty of Long tailed Tits about and they all seem to be paired up now, so should be a good breeding season for them on Sheppey. We saw our first Blackbird with a beakfull of nesting material on the 14th..which was nice and saw a Newt at the bottom of our pond the day before. Spotted a Peacock butterfly on the 1st March in the park area behind kingsborough manor and also saw a Red Admiral in our back garden ( twice) on the 15th....It's all going the right way now!

(John Janman)

Wednesday 10th March Broadwater Warren reserve

Late in the day on 10 March, I had excellent views of a male Crossbill near the car park at Broadwater Warren reserve near Tunbridge Wells

(Robin Webster)

Tuesday 9th March Sevenoaks KWT

I spent an hour at dusk waiting in the Slingsby Hide for the Bitterns. One arrived at about 5.50pm and dropped into the reeds at the far end of the hide. It virtually disappeared from view. At 6.08 2nd one arrived, and again dropped into the reeds. This time it seemed to try and climb up the reeds a little and gave the 3 of us in the hide nice views.

(David Taylor)

Tuesday 9th March Maidstone

Both male Blackcaps showing well again today!

(Bill Stoneham)

Monday 8th March Barming

2x Med Gull (adults) on lake on private site in East Malling. Occasionally feeding on ploughed fields on Research Station land viewable from public footpaths. Photos: http://dittoneastmallingbarming.blogspot.com/

(Adam Whitehouse)

Saturday 6th March Sevenoaks & Sheppey

Three generations of birder were crammed into James's car this morning with Mike Cotterill and Josh Jenkins-Shaw joining us. 

A Siskin and a Kingfisher showed well at Sevenoaks but the Bitterns were a no-show.  A Long-eared Owl showed well en route to Sheppey.

We reached Shellness an hour or so before high tide and as such we were just in time to view the many Sanderling, Knot, Turnstone, Dunlin, Ringed Plover, Grey Plover and Redshank feeding along the shoreline at close range prior to them joinng the many hundred of Oystercatchers over on the shingle spit but the two Purple Sandpipers weren't with them.  However we did locate them on the walk back along the flooded entrance track as they fed out in the flooded meadows with 500+ Dunlin.  I've never seen Purple Sandpipers feeding in this way before.

c.150 Brents dropped in as we watched the Sandpipers and amongst them was the Red Breasted X Brent hybrid.  An odd lookng bird indeed!

We spent 15 minutes scanning from the viewing mound at Capel Fleet where we added 30+ White fronted Geese, calling Bearded Tits and a Peregrine to the day total.

We ended the day the same way that we started it, ie, at Sevenoaks KWT.  Two Bitterns dropped into the reeds in front of the hides; the first at 6.02pm followed by the 2nd at 6.08pm.  A 3rd bird flew across the lake pursued by gulls at 6.25pm.  20+ Reed Bunting also dropped into the reeds and 550+ Jackdaw roosted on the other side of the main lake.

(Andrew Lawson)

Saturday 6th March Maidstone

Great sight in my garden just before 9.15 this morning – 2 male blackcaps feeding on a damson tree. I have regularly seen one bird throughout February but I cannot ever recall seeing two blackcap in such close proximity even in the summer.

(Bill Stoneham)

Thursday 4th March Sevenoaks KWT

Five Bitterns came into roost in the reed bed in front of the Slingsby hide just after 6.00pm

(Ed Tyler)