On Monday I visited the RSPB reserve at Cliffe on the north Kent coast. I arrived just after 06:00 there was a slight chill in the air, but it was nowhere near as cold as last week. There was still some snow on the ground and most of the ditches were still frozen but the main pools were largely ice free.
The first birds of note were a pair of Scaup, they were close to the east bank of Radar Pool and were associating with a group of Tufted Ducks. Scaup are becoming a less frequent visitor to Kent in recent years, gone are the days when large rafts of them would spend the winter in this county.
As I walked along the track heading up towards Black Barns, a Dove landed on the telephone wires above my head, at first I didn’t pay much attention to it as I assumed it was just a Collared Dove which are frequently seen in the area but as I looked at it again I could see that it had a brown back. A look through my bins confirmed it was a Turtle Dove! To say I was surprised was an understatement, the bird sat on the wire for a couple of minutes before flying of hard to say for sure but I would guess that this bird has probably spent the winter in the area rather than a early migrant bird.
From the first viewing mound just a few Teal, Shoveler and Lapwings were on show, with the sun now shining brightly the song of the Skylark accompanied me on the walk up to the Thames and a male Stonechat stood on sentry atop a nearby bush.
With the tide out most of the waders had dispersed to feed along the Thames, Avocet, Dunlin, Black-tailed Godwits, Oystercatchers and Redshanks all busily feed on the exposed mud. On the edges of Flamingo Pool at least 20 Ringed Plovers could be seen, I checked through them but no Little Ringed Plovers yet. Two male Scaup preened themselves as Goldeneye dived around them and a group of about 20 Pintail dabbled on
The first birds of note were a pair of Scaup, they were close to the east bank of Radar Pool and were associating with a group of Tufted Ducks. Scaup are becoming a less frequent visitor to Kent in recent years, gone are the days when large rafts of them would spend the winter in this county.
As I walked along the track heading up towards Black Barns, a Dove landed on the telephone wires above my head, at first I didn’t pay much attention to it as I assumed it was just a Collared Dove which are frequently seen in the area but as I looked at it again I could see that it had a brown back. A look through my bins confirmed it was a Turtle Dove! To say I was surprised was an understatement, the bird sat on the wire for a couple of minutes before flying of hard to say for sure but I would guess that this bird has probably spent the winter in the area rather than a early migrant bird.
From the first viewing mound just a few Teal, Shoveler and Lapwings were on show, with the sun now shining brightly the song of the Skylark accompanied me on the walk up to the Thames and a male Stonechat stood on sentry atop a nearby bush.
With the tide out most of the waders had dispersed to feed along the Thames, Avocet, Dunlin, Black-tailed Godwits, Oystercatchers and Redshanks all busily feed on the exposed mud. On the edges of Flamingo Pool at least 20 Ringed Plovers could be seen, I checked through them but no Little Ringed Plovers yet. Two male Scaup preened themselves as Goldeneye dived around them and a group of about 20 Pintail dabbled on
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