Capel Fleet and Restharrow Scrape

Adult Lesser Grey Shrike.

A trip to Capel Fleet on the Isle of Sheppey this morning produced good views of the recently found Lesser Grey Shrike , this is the 2nd one of these i have seen in Kent the first being at Sandwich bay many years ago ,  it spent most  of its time in the hedge row and although some what distant great scope views were obtained , every so often the Lesser Grey Shrike would fly into the field and forage and then fly back to its favored bushes , really smart bird .

Grey Heron at Restharrow.

I didn't have a lot of time spare today so after approx half an hour i left the Shrike and headed to Sandwich Bay in the hope of seeing the Jack Snipe which had been showing on and off from the hide , i duly arrived at Restharrow and was pleased to met up with Martyn Wilson and Steve Ashton , Martyn very kindly got my scope on the Jack Snipe for me as for love nor money could i pick it out with my bins.

 It was much closer than i thought but was very well hidden , i did manage a quick glimpse of its small bill on one occasion , and you could just about see its back and side of its face , it often " bobbed up and down " however despite how close it was i never managed a photo , there were several Teal , Moorhen and single Grey Heron and Little Egret, i spent about 40 minutes here before time call up with me and headed of home with two very good birds on the year list .

Another pic of the Grey Heron.

150 UP at Oare marshes

Male Bearded Tit.

I have never considered myself an avid patch watcher and to be honest i still don't however Oare Marshes is the closest i have been to having a local patch , i often find myself here when i am not out and about twitching .

2 male Bearded Tits.

I had two target birds in mind this morning and both would be patch ticks , i parked up by the slipway and walked along the sea wall towards the sea watching hide and scanned the Swale as i went hoping to see my target birds , i was distracted by some very noisy Bearded Tits , i counted 10 birds in total and although not great i was very pleased with my photos of them. i eventually reached the hide and met up with Murray Wright and Richard . 

There were lots of waders out on the mud flats including good numbers of Grey Plover , Avocet and Redshank , it was not long until Murray picked out my first target bird , Red Necked Grebe , and this brought my Oare Marsh patch list to 150 , although distant you could clearly see the dark neck and the general jizz of the bird was very evident , there were several Brent Geese flying up and down the Swale and after a short while we were saying our goodbyes when Richard very impressively had found my second target bird Eider and this made 151 for my Oare Marshes patch list , great start to the morning .

Spotted Crake.

I carried on along Faversham Creek and a scan over the East flood produced hundreds of Black Tailed Godwits , Dunlin  and, Redshank , I also noticed a Yellow Wagtail walking around the fringes of the main island , i eventually arrived behind the hide on the flood in the hope of connecting with the Spotted Crake and after a short while it was picked out in the reeds and eventually gave us some decent views .

Spotted Crake out in the open.

The Spotted Crake was not as active as the last time i saw it and sadly it has a very noticeable limp , it stayed mainly in cover most of the time and even flew across from one side to another at one point , hope it is not in to much discomfort .

I watched the Spotted Crake on and off for approx an hour then decided to head back along the road checking out the East Flood on route , there approx 500 Golden Plover close to the road plus a Ruff with rings on its legs.

Ringed Ruff.

I also saw a juv Little Stint amongst the masses of Dunlin , i then headed back to my car and headed home very happy .

Just a bit of Fun Quiz week 15 answer Plus " New Mystery Bird "

Great Grey Shrike in the New Forest 2011.

Last weeks Mystery Bird was in fact a Great Grey Shrike , there were 3 correct answers this week and a big well done to Ben M , Ellis L and Martyn Wilson who all got the correct answer .

Here is this weeks Mystery Bird , if you fancy a go just leave your answer in the comments and i will reveal the answer and correct entries next weekend , good luck to all and many thanks for having a go .

Week 16 " Mystery Bird " ??????

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.