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.
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| Teal |
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Smew
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