A Little Catch up ....... Bee-eaters & Spring Migrants

Bee-eater on Isle of Wight 2014.

Here's a little catch up from my recent birding exploits starting with a brief visit to the cemetary along Old Charlton Road in Dover last Sunday the 19th April , news broke early of 5 Bee-eaters in the cemetary , normally they are just fly overs but when there came a second report of them still being present i made up my mind and headed there , 30 mins later i was walking up the hill behind two other birders and i could hear the Bee-eaters calling then i saw them circling around above the cemetary then heading high off and out of sight , 20 seconds later and i would have missed them 1 min earlier i would have had them perched in a tree .

That's birding for you , they were to quick for a photo so the above photo is from the breeding birds from the Isle of Wight from last year.

Cuckoo near the Marsh hide.

Yesterday the 20th i went to Grove ferry and  had a decent mornings birding session with lots of spring  migrants including my first Cuckoo of the year , there were plenty of Sedge Warblers calling and briefly giving  glimpses plus a few Reed Warblers were also making their presence known .

Superb Little Owl.

On my walk towards Stodmarsh i added both Common Whitethroat & Garden Warbler which were new birds for the year for me plus i en-counted a superb Little Owl near one of the barns , plenty of Marsh Harriers were on the wing with most birds carrying deceased Marsh Frogs in their talons.

Two of the three Green Sandpipers.

I eventually ended up at the Reed bed hide and saw 3 Green Sandpipers , i also added 2 Common Terns over the main lake .

As i was checking out another Cuckoo which was flying over the back of the reeds another bird caught my eye and i soon recognized my first Hobby of the year we ended up seeing a further 4 birds as the morning went on .

Hobby .

I eventually ended back at the ramp having seen and heard plenty of birds and as i was heading back to my car i saw a fledgling Mistle Thrush by the entrance track.

Fledgling Mistle Thrush.

Today i paid a quick visit to Oare Marshes in the hope of seeing the Ring Ouzels ( i know i am being greedy lol ) but sadly missed out on them but was pleased to see the pair of Garganey in the south east corner of the East flood.

Male & Female Garganey.

Busy feeding.

I also saw a really close Grey Heron feeding very well in the dyke near the pull in.

Grey Heron.