31st March 2022 : Cliffe Rspb
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Temminck's Stint.
I have to say Cliffe is not my favourite destination as everything always seems so distant to view there, no doubt it's a wonderful haven for birds and has a superb track record for turning up many scarce & rare birds over the years.
On the 31st March a trip there was made to try and see the Temminck's Stint and a scan from the aptly named ' Hope Mound ' proved successful, the Temminck's Stint was always distant and the above Digi photo was taken through my scope on x70 magnification !!
We also saw a single Little Stint which offered great comparisons next to the TS, we also saw 2 splendid Spotted Redshanks.
2nd April 2022 : Worth Marshes
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White Stork (photo taken in 2021)
A trip to Worth Marshes on the 2nd April started of with distant views of the unringed White Stork near Willow farm.
We walked around to the Great wood and heard 2+ Chiffchaff & 1 Blackcap in full song, we continued our walk checking the pools and were lucky enough to see 2 Little ringed Plovers quite close to the path in one of the pools.
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1 of 2 Little Ringed Plovers.
5 Glossy Ibis
I remember the time when lots of birders would use to congregate along the Lampen wall at Stodmarsh in the winter for the Harrier roost and also await the 2 Glossy Ibis coming into roost.
Back then in my very early days of birding i was awestruck watching these prehistoric looking birds coming out of the sky in almost darkness to land in the reedbed for the night, nowadays Glossy Ibis are seen on a almost weekly basis in several different sites .
However on the 7th April i was once again left awestruck by seeing my personal record count of 5 Glossy Ibis along the Dungeness Rspb track.
All 5 in flight.
From Dungeness we called into Oare Marshes and watched a Marsh Harrier quartering low over the reedbed in the hope it might flush up a Bittern however we were very lucky indeed as the Marsh Harrier flushed up a Jack Snipe giving us a really great view before it flew straight back into the reeds again, there was also 2 Common Snipe flushed as well.
9th April 2022
Stodmarsh
We started of at Stodmarsh where we saw a male Garganey near the Marsh hide plus 4 superb Cattle Egrets feeding out on the marsh, they are coming into a superb plumage now.
We also managed to see at least 3 Water Pipits which are also showing a superb pink flush to their plumage.
I also saw & heard my first Sedge Warbler of the spring just before the Marsh hide, it was great as ever to catch up with MW & gang , whilst we were chatting an adult Med Gull flew over our heads.
Conningbrook
Ring Ouzel
Conningbrook is not somewhere i visit very often however it's always a very pleasant walk around the Lake and news of a Ring Ouzel (Great find by Kev Ellse) near the sports stadium made our minds up where to go after Stodmarsh this morning.
With some local info from Neil.B. (thanks Neil) we soon found ourselves watching the fantastic Ring Ouzel, it showed well at times but was quite flighty which is typical of this species.
Broad white breast band.
Ring Ouzel.
9th & 10th April : Swalecliffe
Whilst walking around Godmersham church yard news came through that a Hooded Crow had been seen at Swalecliffe, well without haste we headed there in the hope of seeing it. well to cut along story short we missed the Hooded Crow by approx 5 mins !!!!
Sadly it had been flushed which is not that surprising considering the location, however we had more than compensation with fantastic views of a Water Vole near the Brook.
Water Vole.
We also saw 2 Swallows and a male Eider on the shingle.
Male Eider
On the 10th news that the Hooded Crow had been seen again had us heading to Swalecliffe once more and this time we had superb views as the Hooded Crow was keeping company with 25+ Carrion Crows in the nearby bushes before eventually flying back towards the shingle.
Hooded Crow with Carrion Crows.
Hooded Crow.
Of Note : This Hooded Crow (Great find by Geoff Burton) is only the 2nd site record , the first one was seen in 2003 !!!
