Adult Common Crane.
After hearing about the influx of Common Cranes near the raptor viewing watch point yesterday i could not resist the chance to see them this morning , i arrived on site at approx 10.15 am and the first birds i saw were two Green Sandpipers flying around the nearby reed bed then another birder picked out a distant female Merlin on a fence post , blimey i had only just set up my scope and had 2 year ticks in the bag , however there had been no news on the pager before i got there and as everyone was looking at other birds i thought perhaps they have moved on and then another birder asked if they were still around and we were informed yes they are in the distant field behind us and sure enough i soon picked them out , 4 adults and 3 1st winters all together .
Another record shot of one of the adult Common Cranes.
Really pleased to see these , shame they were a bit distant and sorry about the quality of the digi scoped photos , whilst watching the Cranes a distant ringtail Hen Harrier drifted by in the back ground , it was bitterly cold standing on top of the viewing ramp so i decided to go looking for some geese , i found a large number of Grey Geese which were mostly Greylags however after a close scan through i picked out 2 Pink Footed Geese , now these are fairly scarce in Kent compared to the thousands they get in Norfolk , so i was pleased to see these , smaller than Greylags with much darker heads and neck with only a small amount of pink on the bill also with pink legs and feet .
Pink Footed Goose with an upturned Bewicks Swan in front.
There were 2 Bewicks Swans near by plus 2 White Fronted Geese showed very briefly before disappearing around the bend and out of sight , i always set a target of reaching 100 species in January and after this mornings birding session i am on 103 so very pleased with some top quality birds seen and all in Kent so far .
