Dungeness

Dungeness 29th Jan - 07:15 - 13:00 - mainly cloudy with a few brighter interludes, feeling mildish, stiff SW wind

After a being stuck in the house all of last week to do some major DIY jobs around the house it was nice to get out and about yesterday. I arrived at the car park at ARC at 07:15 as I made my way to Hanson’s 2 Egyptian Geese flew over south and Cetti’s were calling from the scrub, from the hide 24 Bewick’s Swans were roosting on the water and after about ten minutes soon left for their daytime feeding areas. The juv Black-throated Diver showed well and Kingfisher was feeding close to the hide, other birds of note included Great White Egret, Marsh Harrier, Black-tailed Godwits, Goldeneye and all the usual expected wildfowl. As I left the hide 2 Firecrest were busily going about their business in the willows.

On the main reserve Curlew and Wigeon were feeding in the fields along the entrance track, from Makepeace Hide 3 Pintail roosting on the Islands and several more Goldeneye scattered about. A female Sparrowhawk flew low over the water sending all the wildfowl and Lapwings into a panic.

The door to Christmas Dell hide can’t be shut as the door handle on the inside has fallen of, allowing the wind to howl through the hide which made viewing uncomfortable, from the hide a male and 2 female Smew were on the water but no sign of the Slavonian Grebe which was no doubt tucked up out of the wind.

I then moved onto Lade GP which are home to the sound mirrors, these were built in the 1930’s as an experimental early warning system to detect incoming aircraft. They worked by concentrating sound waves to the central point of the dish where a microphone would of been located, with the invention of the radar it made these structures obsolete. 

On the water more Goldeneye, Wigeon, Teal and Shoveler were seen and a Dartford Warbler was seen briefly in the gorse south of the telephone mast, I couldn’t find the long staying Long-tailed Duck which has been in the area for some time.

On the way home a quick stop at Scotney GP saw the 2 Tundra Bean Geese asleep with a flock of Greylag’s.

                                          Kingfisher

Teal

                                                                  Sound Mirror

Smew

Goldeneye

Great Tree of London

Ladywell Fields

Heavy persistent rain clearing to sunny intervals and showers, fresh SW wind

The heavy rain finally cleared through giving me time for a quick walk around the park. Ladywell Fields is home to one of the Great Trees of London, an Elm tree, a rare sight these days due to Dutch Elm disease. The disease is caused by fungi and is spread from dead or dying Elms to healthy trees by Elm Bark Beetles.
Dutch Elm disease was first identified in Britain in 1927 although it was certainly present some years earlier, there is recent evidence that the disease may of originated in the Himalayas the name Dutch Elm disease came about from the extensive study that the Dutch did into the disease. In parts of southern England the disease at first caused widespread death of Elms but by the 1940’s the disease declined both in terms of the number trees affected and in the severity of damage caused.
In the late 1960’s a new epidemic developed causing devastation on a scale far greater than before, by 1980 it was estimated that over 20 million trees had been killed.
So to find a large mature Elm in southern England is a rare site these days, maybe because of its isolation from other Elms has helped, though it is thought that some forms of Elm trees maybe resistant to the disease. On the plaque by the tree it claims this particular tree is of the variety ‘ ‘klemmer’ though some have argued that its a European  White Elm

                                                            Great Tree of London

                                            Plaque commemorating the Elm tree

Not many birds about today probably due to the weather but a Grey Heron was trying to fish in the swollen river and a group of c60 Redwings were feeding on the sodden Fields

                                            Grey Heron 

                                          Redwing

                                           Redwing

Finches Galore

Bough Beech

07:00 - 10:30 Cloudy with some brightness later light airs

It was still dark when I arrived at the reservoir but all ready there was a cacophony of birds calling, Canada and Greylag Geese honked noisily on the water which drowned out most of the other birds calls. Gadwall could be heard and hundred Jackdaws and Crows added to this unusual dawn chorus.
As it got light enough to see 8 Egyptian Geese flew in followed by 9 Mandarin, 18 Goosanders swam out from their roost and promptly flew of.
Then it seemed almost simultaneously all the birds that use the reservoir as safe haven during the hours of darkness took to the air as they all left for their preferred feeding grounds. The sky was full of Geese, Corvids and Gulls all noisily calling as they departed, a wonderful spectacle to see. Two Wigeon, Shoveler, Teal, Pochard, Tufties, Gadwall, Great-crested Grebe and 4 Meadow Pipits were all seen from the causeway.
I then walked down the road to the now defunct visitor centre to check out the feeders that are thankfully still being topped up, 5 species of Tits including a single Marsh were all on the feeders along with Nuthatch, Great-spotted Woodpeckers and Chaffinch other birds noted here included 2 Buzzards, Kestrel and 2 Bullfinch.
I then drove about a mile Northeast of the reservoir and stopped near to Scollops Farm, an area of mixed arable fields, small woods and hedgerows. Here large flocks of finches were flying about and landing on the tops of the trees and hedges, amongst them were at least 100+ Brambling, 20+ Yellowhammers, 50+ Linnets, 200+ Chaffinch, Gold and Greenfinch, a few Reed Bunting and 2 Skylarks. A bit further along about 100 Siskins were feeding the Alders and a group of about 30 Fieldfare with a few Redwings landed briefly atop of some trees before continuing their northward journey.

Ladywell Fields

Ladywell Fields in Lewisham has been my local patch for the last 22 years, the park is made up of 3 separate fields and covers 54 acres. It was first mentioned in the Doomsday Book as meadows in the manor of Lewisham,  a medicinal well - ‘our lady’s well’ - was first recorded in 1472 . It was reputed to be an effective cure for eye complaints, the well is now under the access road to Ladywell train station.
The river Ravensbourne runs through the park and on its banks one of the last remaining Elm trees stands a Great Trees of London plaque celebrates this fact.
Most of the common urban birds you would expect to find have been recorded over the years, Kingfishers have attempted to breed on a few occasions but not sure that they have been successful, Sparrowhawk, Mistle Thrush, Nuthatch, Grey Wagtail, Great-Spotted Woodpecker and Stock Dove have all bred in the park.
Rarer birds recorded over the years include Osprey, Red Kite, Hawfinch, Common Buzzard, Spotted Flycatcher and Lesser Whitethroat, over 22 years I have seen 68 species of bird in the park.

Today’s visit was typical of the birds seen in the Park, Blue, Great and Long-tailed Tits, Chaffinch, Gold and Greenfinch, Stock Dove, Ring-necked Parakeet, Grey Wagtail, 20+ Redwings, Song Thrush and 3 Mistle Thrush. No sign of the Kingfisher today, on reaching home from collecting my daughter from school a large female Peregrine flew low over the house.

Below is a selection of photos taken in Ladywell Fields

Gulls and a White Nun

Dungeness 8/1/18

07:30 - 13:00 Grey, cold and a biting east wind

On Monday I started at the Patch in hope of finding the Glaucous Gull that had been seen recently, and the second Gull I look at is a 1st winter Glaucous Gull! Hundreds of Gulls were feeding over the boil and I counted over 500 Cormorants leaving their roost on the RSPB reserve. I moved down to the fishing boats were the 1st winter Caspian Gull was still showing and an adult Med Gull cruised up the beach. Off shore 3 Great Skuas, 2 Fulmars a dozen Red-throated Divers and hundreds of Guillemots, Razorbills, Great-crested Grebes and Gannets moving up channel.
Two Firecrest showed nicely on the walk up to Hanson’s Hide but not much of note on ARC 1 Great White Egret and a Marsh Harrier that put all the usual wildfowl up.
Tree Sparrows as normal around the farm and a large flock of Lapwings and Golden Plovers in the nearby fields.
No Sign of the LEO behind the dipping pond, from Makepeace Hide a pair of Smew were hard to find tucked right up against the bank. Spectacle of the day was the huge numbers of  Cormorants roosting on the islands, later a count (not by me) revealed that there were 5700 on the islands.
A quick walk around Lade where the Slavonian Grebe and Long-tailed Duck failed to show for me

Dodging the Poo

RSPB Cliffe Pools

07:00 - 10:00 chilly with a strong cold NE wind, sunny spells

Surprised that the gate was open to the car park so saved a walk down the road, with the strong wind blasting across the marsh most of the wildfowl were sheltering on the leeward side of the banks making viewing difficult. 3 Goldeneye were on Radar pool and 4 Bewick’s, 12+ Pintail and a distant Little Stint showed on Flamingo Pool, the usual Wigeon, Teal, Pochard, Tufties, Shelduck and Great and Little Grebes all seen in good numbers. As the tide was low there no waders expect for Redshank around the pools and no sign of the Black-necked Grebe. On the Thames foreshore, Curlew, Dunlin, Avocets and 3 Grey Plovers were noted.
Cliffe Pools is one the closest reserves to where I live being only a thirty-five minuet drive, so visit here regularly, this site is managed by the RSPB but due to various reasons it appears this is a difficult site to manage. The site has been and still is blighted by fly tipping, they have even had asbestos dumped here which you can imagine results in an expensive bill to dispose of it properly. This selfish illegal activity means that the car park is only open between 9am-5pm, which means having to park on the road outside of these times.
The other issue that blights this reserve is dog crap, it’s bloody everywhere, copious amounts of it. All colours, sizes and textures it’s bloody disgusting and even when the few who do scoop their poop, they dispose of the plastic bags by throwing it in the nearest bush polluting the environment with plastic bags for god knows how many years, some of the bushes look like Christmas trees with different coloured plastic bags adorning them each bauble filled with crap!
Don’t get me wrong I like dogs and I’m believer that the countryside is for everyone to enjoy and use, including dog walkers, but there seems to be a lot of irresponsible dog owners who use this site. Dogs are regularly not under control and are allowed to enter the water even though there are signs up stating dogs should be kept under control and not to let dogs enter the water. There is not much the RSPB can do about this problem, some of the paths that cross the reserve are public footpaths so they can not close them and it’s not practical to have a warden there 24/7 just to reprimand those irresponsible dog owners. They could however provide more bins for disposing of the poo and provide plastic bags so the dog owners have no excuse not to pick it up. Better signage explaining the reasons for keeping dogs under control and the effect it can have on breeding birds and that just because your in the countryside does not mean you do not have to scoop your poop.
I’m not knocking the RSPB as they do a great job most of the time (a post for another day) and the reserve is great for bird watching, large numbers of Nightingales, breeding Black-winged Stilts large flocks wintering wildfowl and waders but it would be nice to walk around the reserve without worrying about stepping on a poo land mine!
Rant over, I had quick walk around Sevenoaks NR in the afternoon not much to be seen here except for a Peregrine terrorising the roosting Lapwings

New Year, New lists

The day started dry with some brightness but heavy rain soon spread in and lasted most of the day, mild with  moderate SW breeze.

Grove Ferry 07:00 - 09:20

As the day dawned on a new year a Tawny Owl called from the trees north of the river and a Water Rail squealed from the reeds. Two male Hen Harriers left their roost but didn’t hang around.
At least 4 Water Pipits were seen around the reserve and a Green Sandpiper took flight from an area of cut reeds. Two Peregrines flew over calling noisily as they did, a Great White Egret was seen by other birders but I managed to miss it.

Foreness Point 10:00 - 10:30

I judged the tides wrong and the rocks that the Purple Sandpipers usually feed on were all ready covered so no chance of seeing them. A Rock Pipit was feeding on the cliffs and 2 pairs of Fulmars have all ready taken up residence. Off shore a few Red-throated Divers, Gannets, Kittywakes and a single Common Scoter passed through.

Ramsgate Harbour 10:50 - 11:15

A quick visit here soon saw the 1st Winter Iceland Gull, which with the help of some bread gave great views, shame that the light was so poor and the heavens opened up.

Reculver 11:50 - 13:45

Ŵith the rain still falling I walked up to the Lagoon looking for the Snow Buntings, on the way up 2 Stonechats were feeding by the path and couple of Corn Buntings were singing. A covey of 8 Grey Partridges was nice to see and on the way back I found a group of 7 Snow Buntings feeding close to the path

Oare Marshes 14:30 - 16:00

With the rain. finally easing I set off around reserve, which was a bit of a disappointment, no Green-winged Teal and no Dowitcher, in fact due to the high water levels there were no waders on East Flood. The last bird of the day was a hunting Barn Owl on Sheppy by Harty Ferry.

90 species seen on the day not to bad considering the awful conditions.