Kent Tick at Cliffe plus RB Fly at Reculver

A very enjoyable birding session at both Cliffe and Reculver today resulted in me getting a new species for Kent in the form of a Lesser Yellowlegs at Cliffe , i had missed it by a few minutes earlier in the morning as it was spooked by a Peregrine and despite spending about 45 minutes looking over the Radar Pool it never reappeared , a single juv Little Stint plus Golden Plover , Ruff , Black Tailed Godwit and several Lapwing , Dunlin and a couple of Ringed Plovers was still good to see .

I teamed up with Martyn W & Steve A   in the search to relocate the Lesser Yellowlegs , and a short look over the Black Barn pools proved unsuccessful so we headed around to the Rspb side of Cliffe and whilst walking up to the Flamingo Pool Martyn located loads of Redshanks which were very distant , we spent a bit of time scanning through these and rather frustratingly we could not see all of the waders that were there, Martyn and crew headed of to check out some pools further around the reserve and i stayed put in the hope the waders would wake up and have a walk around .

Well my patience paid off as after a few minutes the Lesser Yellowlegs walked into view , i quickly got some other birders onto it and Martyn & Steve  soon joined us and enjoyed distant but pleasing views . Sorry for lack of pictures it was just to distant.

Comma at Reculver.

From Cliffe we headed off to Reculver and within a few minutes of getting there the 1st w Red Breasted Flycatcher showed out in the open for only a few seconds but was good enough to see all the features .

 

Just a Bit of Fun Quiz Week 14 Answer plus new " Mystery Bird "

Male Surf Scoter on Shetland in 2011.

Last weeks mystery bird was indeed a male Surf Scoter on Shetland in 2011 , once again only 2 correct answers this week and very big well done to Martyn Wilson and Ben M for getting the correct answer.

Week 15 " Mystery Bird " ??????

Here is this weeks mystery bird ( above ) , if you fancy ago just leave your answer in the comments and i will post correct entries and answer next Sunday , good luck and many thanks for having ago .

Spotted Crake revisited at Oare.

Spotted Crake.

I paid another visit to Oare yesterday 21st September in the hope of seeing the Red Necked Grebe but despite all my efforts i was unlucky this time , however i did connect again with the delightful Spotted Crake which for the briefest moment appeared very close out in the open , this was appreciated by all the assembled birders and i never tire of seeing Crakes .

Golden Plover.

I had a enjoyable session looking over the East Flood where there was huge numbers of waders . Golden Plover , Black Tailed Godwit , Dunlin , Avocet and Redshank were very well represented and i also saw a single juv Little Stint and several juv Curlew Sandpipers .

Juv Little Stint.

There was a good passage of House Martins and Swallows over the reserve the whole time i was there , also a single Yellow Wagtail dropped into the East Flood .

Huge numbers of Waders on East Flood.

Just a bit of Fun Quiz week 13 Answer plus new " Mystery Bird "

Little Gull from Dennis hide Dungeness 2013.

Last weeks " Mystery Bird " was indeed one of two Little Gulls seen close in from the Dennis hide at Dungeness earlier this year , there were only 2 correct answers this week and they were Martyn Wilson and Ellis Lucas. Well done on getting the correct answer .

As ever unlucky to those with the wrong answer and many thanks for having ago , here is this weeks " Mystery Bird " .

Week 14 " Mystery Bird " ????

Good luck to everyone , just leave your answer in the comments and i will reveal correct answer and entries next weekend .

Spotted Crake at Oare Marshes.

Spotted Crake out in the open.

I spent several hours trying to see this stunning Spotted Crake and finally got my reward last Saturday  14th September .  Here are a few pics i managed to get .

Red based bill.

Note buff under tail coverts.

The Spotted Crake showed really well however apart from when it first appeared it was always behind reeds , i always think the white spotting on crakes looks like it has been added by tipex , this was a new patch bird for me at Oare .

Semipalmated Sandpiper at Dungeness on 10th September

Semipalmated Sandpiper juv. Dungeness rspb.

An afternoon visit to Dungeness rspb reserve on 10th September was very productive in having excellent views of a juvenile Semipalmated Sandpiper which showed very well at times , i have now seen 2 Semipalmated Sandpipers however this was the first one i have seen in Kent and by far the best views i have ever had of one . Here are a selection of photos i took of this bird , all taken from the Firth hide .

Note clear cut supercillum .

Flight shot.

The Semipalmated Sandpiper was constantly feeding in a very fast action and almost non stop in and reminded me of a tiny Sanderling in its actions , there was also a Black Tern which landed at one point in front of the hide .

Black Tern.

Just a bit of Fun Quiz week 12 answer plus new " Mystery Bird "

Daurian Shrike at Gosport in 2010.

Indeed last weeks Mystery Bird was a Daurian Shrike seen in Gosport in 2010 , this bird proved to be very tricky and to be honest i never got a decent photo of it , so very well done to Scott Haugie and Ellis L who all got the correct answer .

Unlucky to those with the wrong answer , believe me i didn't think anyone would get this one , many thanks for everyone who had a go and as last weeks bird was so tricky this one is a bit easier , if you fancy ago just leave your answer in the comments and i will reveal and answer and correct entries next weekend , good luck to all.

Mystery bird week 13 ??????.

Just to let you know i have had 3 good birding trips over the last week and will be catching up with them on this blog next weekend , just got tons of pics to sort through first .

Just for Fun Quiz week 11 answer Plus " New Mystery Bird "

Temminck's Stint at Restharrow scrape Sandwich Bay.

 Only 2 correct answers for last weeks Mystery Bird which was indeed a Temminck's Stint which showed really well at Restharrow  scrape in Sandwich , very well done to Ben M  and Martyn Wilson for all getting the right answer.

Unlucky to those with the wrong answer as always its only a bit of fun and many thanks to everyone who took part .

Here is this weeks " Mystery Bird " good luck with this one , i think this might catch a few people out , you can have as many guesses as you like just leave your answer in the comments and i will reveal the correct answer next Saturday and don't worry i will only mention names of correct entries .

" Mystery Bird " week 12.

Oare Marshes Waders Bonanza

Thousands of Waders .

The above sight greeted me on the East Flood at Oare Marshes yesterday 31st August , i met up with Adam .F. along the road side and as we scanned through the waders we could see at least 4 Curlew Sandpipers in the distance , the sun was at the wrong angle for us so we decided to walk around to Faversham creek with the sun behind us , we noted a single Sandwich Tern near the lay by as we walked past.

Sandwich Tern near lay-by.

We bumped into Neil  and Angela , ( nice to meet you ) on our way around and eventually we all met up with Murray along Faversham creek , Murray informed us he had made a count of approx 36 Curlew Sandpipers including 1 moulting adult , i managed a count of 30 fresh juv. birds which was an amazing sight to see in their fresh looking plumage , sadly i never managed a photo of these , we did add hundreds of Redshank , Black Tailed Godwit and Golden Plover , plus lesser numbers of Dunlin . A Hobby flew over the flood spooking all the waders and i managed a record shot of the Golden Plover in flight.

Golden Plover in flight.

Murray picked out a Garganey on the flood and kindly let me look through his scope and then Neil picked out a fast flying Clouded Yellow zipping by us . We decided to head off around past the sluice and back along the road and on route Adam picked out a Yellow Wagtail walking through the fresh marsh and then Neil found a smart looking Wheatear .

Golden Plover near the lay-by.

We only added Linnet and Goldfinch on our walk back and a quick look from the road at the waders produced nearly 300 Golden Plovers . Adam and myself had a quick look past the watch house and other than adding 2 more Clouded Yellows and a single Little Grebe we did not see much else , good couple of hours again at Oare .