Turtle Dove & Hobby at Grove Ferry

Common Tern from the Feast hide.

I took advantage of the great weather and called into Grove Ferry in the hope of seeing Turtle Dove , on my way along the path towards the Ramp i could hear one bird " Purring " from deep inside the paddock but remaining unseen , i continued to the Ramp just to check out the pool but over than half a dozen Pochard it was quite , i then looked around the paddock area and i saw a single Turtle Dove fly quickly deep into a bush , great to see it , there were approx 4 birds calling in the area .

Very vocal Common Tern.

I then popped into the Feast hide and saw 2 close Common Terns on the nearby raft , one bird was very vocal trying to get its mate to bring it a fish . There were lots of Hobby in the sky and i spent a couple of hours trying to get some pics , here are a selection of them.

Hobby.

There were approx 15 birds present and were great to watch catching dragonflies on the wing , other birds of note were Common Swift , Reed Warbler , Bearded Tit and Cetti's Warbler.

Just a Bit of Fun Quiz Week 42 answer plus new " Mystery Bird "

Week 42 answer is Spotted Crake.

Last weeks " Mystery Bird " was indeed a Spotted Crake that i saw in 2011 in front of the Feast Hide at Grove Ferry . 

Well done to all the correct entries this week who are : Ellis L , Mark L , Ben M,  Mark Lewis , Dave Dowell , Steve Ashton , Mike .H . , Chidders and Martyn Wilson ( i think you prob found this bird ..lol ) .

Unlucky to those with the incorrect answer , great try and many thanks to everyone who took part . Here is this week's " Mystery Bird ".

Week 43 " Mystery Bird " ?????????

If you fancy ago just leave your answer in the comments or DM on twitter @RobsBirding , i will reveal the correct answer and entries next weekend , Good luck .

Short trip to Oare Marshes

Flyover Oystercatcher.

I spent a very enjoyable couple of hours at Oare today , i bumped into Murray and Richard on arrival and they gave me the local gen , good to catch up with them they are always very helpful and informative . I then had a quick look over the West side of the reserve but didn't really add much and proceeded to head back along the East flood behind the hide where i had close views of an Oystercatcher which had a bit of a fly around , i also had a couple of Swallows over the flood .

Silhouetted Swallow.

I then checked through the Black Tailed Godwits and located the 2 Bar Tailed Godwits which Murray had told me about , there were plenty of Lapwing and Redshank but generally the wader list was rather small on this visit , i heard but could not locate a Lesser Whitethroat behind the hide and i then carried on my walk towards the sluice adding several butterflies including Orange Tip , Green Veined White and Peacock. I also saw the usual Peregine on one of the Pylon's.

A very vocal Sedge Warbler.

I walked along the sea wall towards the sea hide  and heard and saw several Sedge and Reed Warblers all along the sea wall plus approx half a dozen Bearded Tits showed themselves every so often.

Another pic of the Sedge Warbler.

I continued my walk back along the road towards my car and enjoyed a very close view of a drake Mallard by my car plus a family gathering of Greylag Geese opposite.

Very close drake Mallard.

Family party of Greylag Geese.

There was a good count of Avocet's on the East flood including some on nests.

Avocets.

Just a Bit of Fun Quiz Week 41 answer plus new " Mystery Bird "

Week 41 " Mystery Bird " is a Hawfinch.

Last weeks " Mystery Bird " was indeed a Hawfinch that i saw in Denge wood in Kent in 2012 , very well done to all the correct entries who were : Ellis Lucas ,  Ben M , Martyn Wilson , Steve Ashton , Chidders , Mark Lewis and Mike.H. 

Unlucky to those with the incorrect answer , great try and many thanks to everyone who took part.

Here is this weeks " Mystery Bird " :

Week 42 " Mystery Bird " ???????

If you want to take part just leave your answer in the comments or you can DM on twitter 

@RobsBirding , i will  reveal the correct answer and entries next weekend . Good luck and many thanks for taking part.

Poms with Spoon's............At Dungeness

Light Phase Pomarine Skua.

Checking the forecast last night had me thinking it could be a good day for Pomarine Skuas off Dungeness today so a very early start had me arriving by the sea watching hide at 5.20am , the first Pom Skua went east at approx : 5.37 am so my timing was pretty good and i spent a productive 3 hours there til 8.20 am , I then went of for a toilet break and coffee to warm myself up and i also had a quick look over the Arc pit before i headed back to the sea for another 2 hour session from 10.30 am to 12.30pm  here are my joint totals for both sessions:

All birds were moving East unless otherwise stated.

            Pomarine Skua : 23   (4 in first session)

Great Skua : 3

Arctic Skua : 3

Black Throated Diver : 1

Red Throated Diver : 3

Common Scoter : 375

Pintail : 5

Shelduck : 2

Shoveler : 2

Fulmar : 3

                    Gannet : 20  (east & west)

Little Tern : 7

Arctic Tern : 3

Sandwich Tern : 10

                          Common Tern : 150 + (east & west)

Kittiwake : 5

Oystercatcher : 50 +

Whimbrel : 15

Bar Tailed Godwit : 7

Sanderling : 18

Dunlin : 1

       Auk sp : 22 (east & west)

Guillemot : 3

Yellow Wagtail : 2 (in off)

Swallow : 3 (in off)

Harbour Porpoise :  2

Note the full " Spoons ".

Drake Garganey on ARC Pits.

One of many Common Terns .

Other birds of note were Black Redstart calling from inside the power station grounds plus a distant Sparrowhawk circling over the Bird Obs.

Just a Bit of Fun Quiz Week 40 answer plus new " Mystery Bird "

1 of 3 White Stork's  seen in 2012.

Last weeks " Mystery Bird " was in fact 1 of 3 White Storks that i saw in West Sussex in 2012 , there has been a great response to the Quiz this week  and all the time there is interest i will keep the quiz going so a big thank you to everyone who has taken part .

The correct entries this week are : Ellis Lucas ,  Ben M , Martyn Wilson , Mike.H. , Mark Lewis , Marc Heath , Matthew B , Steve Ashton , Chidders and Gideon K .

Here is this weeks " Mystery Bird "  :

Week 41 " Mystery Bird " ??????

If you fancy ago just leave your answer in the comments or you can DM me on twitter @RobsBirding ,  i will reveal the correct answer and entries next weekend , good luck and thanks again for taking part.