Monday 16 February 2015

Richard's Pipit showing well .................Sheppey !!!

Richard's Pipit Swale nnr photo by Chiddy. 


My  destination was Swale nnr on Sheppey and my target bird was the Richard's Pipit that has been there for a few weeks now , the general consensus of this bird is it's loyal to a favoured area but very elusive , well i parked up then walked approx 200 yards along the raised footpath on the reserve and would you believe it i flushed the Richards Pipit which was in the long grass just below the footpath more or less straight away , i was expecting along wait to see this bird .

Flight shot of the Richard's Pipit.

The Pipit only flew a few feet further ahead of me and i saw it really well on & off for a few minutes , it then flew over a dyke into the ploughed field where i saw it distantly , really upright stance , pot bellied and long legged are the main features that stood out on this bird.




There were approx 200 Dark Bellied Brent Geese in the adjacent fields and they were flushed by a really smart Short Eared Owl ,i managed a few pics but sadly only record shots as the light was poor and it was quite distant , that's my excuse and i am sticking to it ...lol


Short Eared Owl.

Coming into land.

Looking at us before it disappeared.

We spent a couple of hours here trying to get better views of the Richard's Pipit however as time went on it became more elusive , there were 2 Black Swans among the Mute Swan herd, quite an exotic bird for this area .

2 Black Swans among the Mute Swans.

I then headed to Elmley to check out a report of a roosting Long Eared Owl however i could not locate it , on my return journey from Elmley i was treated to a superb female Merlin flying at full speed flushing all the Lapwings as she went by , several Kestrels and a couple of Marsh Harriers were also added to our mornings totals .








4 comments:

  1. Great blog Rob. Richard's Pipit a perfect example of a bird I'd either miss completely or have to ask you what it was. Isn't Sheppey wonderful! :-))

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    1. Thanks Sue , yes Sheppey in winter is very wild and magical :)

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  2. That pipet is a very gawky specimen! I've seen a black swan round here, mixing with mutes. Beautiful birds, especially on the wing

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    1. Hi Simon , i agree about the Pipit , nice one with the Swans , these are the first Black Swans i have seen around these parts

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