Rye Harbour Nature Reserve Mid September

Like many coastal reserves, visiting them on a hot day is not always advisable, 1. The birds are all sheltering and 2. there’s never enough shade plus of course,, the settings on your camera need changing for every direction !!

seal-rye-harbour

However, 27 degrees on 12th. September is not the norm and as it was due to get hotter still, this day seemed the best option.

Whilst walking alongside the canal going out to Sea, two Seals made their way otwards on the tide bobbing up just now and again seemingly to put the sun on their cheeks before going back down again re-appearing some 50 meters further out.

Starling gather on roof

Most birds on the Lakes were too far to get any decent shots but on my way back to the Van, the area around the Static homes was full of bird song with Buntings and Starlings happily sharing Blackberry bushes and the roofs of Static Homes !

Cormorant taking off

Bunting eating

After Rye, I popped over to Dungeness for a quick look around the Old Lighthouse Garden but nothing present there.
All in all, not a good day for any tick sheets but a beautiful September morning and early afternoon getting warm from the Sun and…….tired




Rye Harbour & Parkwood – 1st.May




Rye Harbour

A nice sunny and relatively mild day gave a good time at Rye Harbour Nature Reserve, then on to Parkwood just north of Appledore.

Sandwich Tern with Fish
Sandwich Tern in a hurry with it’s Lunch

Star attraction at Rye were the Sandwich Terns busying themselves collecting fish from the Sea, at great speed I should add. One small Island on the Pool must have had 100 or more squashed up against each other. Good thing they seem to get along with each other OK.
Nothing else happening much; a Ringed Plover strolled along the edge of the River by the fishing boats, quite a few Skylarks were hopping around the longer grass to the west of the Reserve and the usual Herons and Little Egrets strolling around the shallows without a care in the World.

Ringed Plover at Rye Harbour     Squireel in Spring!
Ringed Plover left and a Squirrel who didn’t like me very much!

Parkwood

The reason for diverting my homeward journey slightly was to investigate the Nightingales, the Woods there have been especially maintained to attract them.
It did not disappoint, as soon as I opened the car door, you could hear them all around, that loud sweet song followed often with 3 / 4 longer notes.

The challenge was to get a photo! 1. They’re hard to catch and 2. for such a beautiful song, they are quite plain birds and with the leaf rapidly growing on the trees I aimed and missed quite a few times.

Nightingale at Parkwood

Just as I was giving up, one landed on a fairly visible point nearby, a quick point and click produced a reasonably good photo.
At least I can say I got it!

The wood was also filled with magical Bluebells, Squirrels running here, there and everywhere plus many Chiffchaffs.

A lovely day, kept dry and quite successful photo wise.

Over 60 pages of Garden Wildlife on the main Web Site here Nature on our Doorstep




Winter memories

Blue Tits eating Peanuts
Blue Tits taking control !
Yellowhammer in Hedgerow    Stonechat    Siskin
Yellowhammer in Garden – Stonechat, Dungeness – Siskin, Conningbrook Lakes
Male Reed Bunting Dungeness    Seal at Warsash Hampshire    Pintails and Teals Oare Marshes
Reed Bunting, Dungeness – Seal at Warsash – Pintails & Teals, Oare Marshes
Frozen lake Oare Marshes    Nuthatch    Merganser Eastwell Lake
Oare Marshes – Nuthatch, Eastwell Lake – Merganser, Eastwell Lake
Great White Egret Rye Harbour    Long Eared Owl Dungeness    Fieldfare
Great Egret, Rye Harbour – Long Eared Owl, Dungeness – Fieldfare down the Lane
Goldcrest Sevenoaks Nature Reserve
Goldcrest at Sevenoaks Wildlife Reserve