Waxwing at Roding Valley fields

After going all the way to Landguard to see a Waxwing on Sunday, I walk the few yards over my local lake & a Waxwing flies into a bush in front of me, a quick fumble to get the camera out before a couple of ladies are about to get to the bush the bird is sitting on, before I can get to the bush they spook it & it flies away right over the lenth of the field,( shame).
A nice slow walk around the lake reveils loads of activity, sill plenty of wigeon, at least 10 Gadweell, a lot of Shoveler, Mallard, Tuffed Duck, C Goose, B H Gulls everywhere.

A walk over to the cricket field & I spot 5 Fieldfare walking about with the Pied Wagtails & loads of Chaffinch. Also a Mistle Thrush.
As I walk round to the bushes that border the field a single Jay is spotted, now the local Green Woodpecker pops down in the same place as I have been seeing it most days.
Time to head home as I have been over here for a good couple of hours & I think my dog needed to go home now.
As I walk back along the side of the lake a flock of about 12 Long-Tailed Tits fly into a bush in front of me, they don't hang about long, but nice to see.

A really nice autumn walk, I think of the boys hard at work, well thats what they tell me & think how lucky am I, sorry boys.





Fieldfare






Mistle Thrush

  



Shoveler







B H Gull



Miracle at Landguard (Waxwing)

After a big debate with Brian last night about what time to meet in the morning after the clocks went back we  decide on 6 o'clock meet.
We set off to Holland Haven to see the Long Eared Owl, when we get there we ask a local birder where to see the Owl, he is a good chap & sets us in the right direction, but he tells us it was not seen yesterday.
Still we give it a go for a couple of hours but no luck today.

We do see a nice view of a Lesser Redpoll, the Green-Woodpecker lands on the telegraph post in front of us, a Sparrow hawk is seen, the Little-Owl is in his tree looking at us.

The place seems to be alive with Black Birds, also plenty of Goldfinch, a single Redwing flies over us, some Fieldfare are also seen. We have a good chat with the local birders, & thank them for the information they post on the site blog.

Off now to Landguard for the Waxwing that has just come on the pager.
It's 40 miles away but after dipping on the Owl it's worth the trip as Jimmy & I need a Waxwing for a year tick, Brian already had it ticked so it's good of him to drive us to get this tick.

We walk round the fort looking to see what they have in the nets, not to much is the answer, so we scan the bushes for the target. After a short time a miracle happens I spot the Waxwing in the bushes before Jimmy & Brian who are looking over the other side of the path, a quick call & they arrive to confirm that this miracle has really taken place, it's taken me a good 3years to be the first to see the target bird before the boys, I  think that calls for a tot of whisky tonight.
We also spot Goldcrest in the same bushes..
Then it''s the turn of  Brian to get back on track after the nasty shock I've given him, he calls out a nice Firecrest for us to see, he must of been quite relieved to get his top birder spot back off me.

 today's Waxwing

Roding Vally Meadow & lake



On the lake

 The lake is very active today,there most be 20 or more Gadwell, 12 Shoveler, over 25 Wigeon,Mallard, Tufted Duck, Coot, Moorhen,Mute Swan, Black Headed Gull,Canada Goose, everywhere you looked.Also at least 2 Great Crested Grebe, 1 Grey Heron.

Walking along the back of the lake along the river I see 8 Longtail Tits, & 3 Ring-Necked Parakeet fly across the the Meadow.
Heading home I spot a Green Woodpecker sitting in front of me, I creep up with my camera ready & start snapping,but before I can get to close my dog decides to play chase the bird.

Green woodpecker



Just a very nice walk over my local fields.
As I get near my house I spot our local Little Owl sitting out on a branch, that makes a change as we see it nearly every day on the roof over the road from my house.

The local star

Great White Egret &.Ring Ouzel Dungeness



                                                                             


Goldcrest







Jimmy & I meet up with Brian at 7am without a planned trip in mind, so a quick think by the three of us & its off to the old favourite Dungeness as we all like it there, Brian more so.



                                                                                                        





 We get there at 8.30, Brian is off to the beach to try his new scope out, Jimmy & I head for the netting area & find load's of Chiffchaff in &out of the bushes,also a few Goldcrest are seen, then I spot a Firecrest, that was nice. Brian  is back with us now & straight away find's a female Ring Ouzel, next we go & watch the bird ringing, they have only got Goldcrest, Chiffchaff, Bluetit,& 1 Jay, that they were pleased about.


Glaucous Gull

 Off to the beach now & without getting out of the car the Glaucous Gull is spotted, also a Yellow-legged Gull drops in .

Now it's time to look for the reported G W Egret that has been seen on the reserve.
We spot it within a few minutes of arrival .& get good views of it & some nice photo's.

It's time to go home now after another really nice day birding with the boy's.



Chiffchaff



.

Little & Great White Egret together





Roding Valley Lake

A nice day for a walk over my local lake, the lake is alive with birds.
A normal day I would only see Mallard, Coot, Moorhen, Mute Swans, C Geese.

But today I see at least 10 Wigeon, & 6 Gadwall, a few Shoveler ducks,Great Crested Grebe,   as well as all the other stuff.
A pleasant hour or so walking round the lake with my dog Holly.

I have just seen on Brians blog the new Swarovski scope he has brought himself at last, I am looking forward to the weekend when I will have both his & Jimmy's Swarovski scope's to pinch a look through.

Harris Hawk at Elmley

A later start today as the trip to Elmley is not to far, we are after the Long-Eared Owl that has been seen here by the orchard.
On the way in to the reserve we flush up a Marsh Harrier right in front of the car that gave us a great view of it.

As we follow the Harrier we spot a nice looking Merlin on a gate post, this turns out to be the best sighting that any of us had of a Merlin so a nice start to the day, the only downside is it is to dark to get a good photo, sod's law I suppose the nearest we have ever got & the weather is to dull to take a good photo.

Never mind, on to looking for the LEO now, but after about an hour of looking we give up as the bird has not been reported today.

We spend the next hour looking over the scrape & fields behind the toilet block, plenty of Golden Plovers, & Lapwings walking about, a number of Teal, 1 single Wigeon.
Flying from tree to tree are Goldfinch, house Sparrow, Wren.

We are heading for Capel fleet & Harty Ferry now, but on the way out we see a bird sitting on a tall post, we think it is a Buzzard, but Brian soon puts us right & calls a Harris Hawk, once again it is really near to us, but the weather stops us getting a good photo, we know this is an escapee bird but its really nice to see it up close in the wild.

Before we leave we see another 2 Merlin, & 3 Marsh Harriers.

On the way to the watch point we see a field full of Partridge runing about,  we spend the next couple of hours looking at more Marsh Harriers & a couple of Buzzards, one just a common Buzzard, but the other one could have been a Rough Legged, but not confirmed. also 60 or so Shellduck & a sprinkling of Little Egrets.

We missed out on the target bird but it was well worth the trip, another great day spent with the boys.

Oare Marsh with Jean to see Golden Plover

Out on a visit to a craft shop in Kent, I decide to take Jean to see the wonderful sight of the Golden Plovers at Oare Marsh which was only 20 miles away from where we were at the craft shop.
When we got there the Plovers were plenty, & it was just a matter of waiting for the birds to fly up & show us the beautiful change of colour that they show in flight.

I have often told Jean about this great sight, & now she knows what I am talking about, the birds twist & turn in formation showing bright gold  on one side & then all white on the other, then we see a thin line of birds flying higher up & as the sun hit them it looked like it was sparkling gold dust,just a great sight that I am glad Jean has now seen it.

Also about on the scrape we see Ringed Plover,Spotted Redshank, Teal, Lapwing, Dunlin.
A Marsh Harrier flew low over the fields.


can''t do it justice



A short trip but well worth the effort.