Little Owl on the Marshes

Posted on 21st December 2017 by Richard

Little Owl

I read through a tweet by my good Birdwatcher friend Neil the whereabouts of a Little Owl south of Warehorne on the Romney Marshes.
As I had to pop down to the RSPB Shop at Dungeness I detoured around the Marshes and was lucky enough to get a good pose whilst the beautiful bird was sunning him or herself on a derelict Shed Roof.
I’ve seen three now, the other times at Hook-With-Warsash and the regular resident at Scotney Farm near Lydd.

A Heron landing in one of the Dykes in the Romney Marshes

The beauty of bleak at Dungeness

Old Lighthouse at Dungeness with Cormorants

Being in a bit of a rush (or panic!!) to get my Christmas shopping done and dusted I didn’t have much time at the Reserve, just a pop along to Firth Hide and the ARC.
Burrowes from Firth was pretty much iced over with just a huge amount of Cormorants in their usual position on a small Island and in the trees to the west, a number of Shelduck and an assortment of Gulls.

The ARC was pretty quiet although, according to another Birdwatcher in the Hide, I’d just missed the Kingfisher !
I also spotted a Bittern landing in the Reeds opposite, but not spotted quick enough to get a photo.
I don’t have a problem with missing things, I go on the ‘if they’re there they’re there’ and ‘right place, right time’.
However, as always, the bleakness of Dungeness is always special

Saying all that, there was much activity by Tree Sparrows at Boulderwall Farm. With numbers continuously dropping, it’s good to see them there – and being well fed to boot !
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Hummingbird Hawk Moth

Posted on 30th August 2017 by Richard

Rare visit for the Hummingbird Hawk Moth

The last time I saw the Hummingbird Hawk Moth was at Nagergot in the Himalayan Foothills ! I’d heard from several people this year who said they’ve had them in and around their Gardens, so I was especially pleased to see this one hopping on and off the Buddle1a Plant sucking out the pollen with it’s proboscis.

Great Summer for House Sparrows

Out of all the species I’ve seen in the Garden this year, the House Sparrow is right up there with excitement.
At present and as I write, a quick run round the front and back Garden has shown 8 in the front, 11 in the back and 6 on the Roof !

This way outnumbering previous years, it seems that not many places either around the guttering or the outhouses has been left undone for nests.
I know of at least 5 nests.
With it’s fair share of nooks, gaps and crannies, the Mill House opposite has also entertained many nests.

In fact, it seems that all birds down the Lane have done well this year. The only one for which there seems fewer are Dunnocks, but I’ve noticed they tend to appear a lot more as Autumn and Winter sets in.

A Red Admiral Butterfly surprisingly all in one piece still for this time of the Summer

The end of Summer is nigh

Slowly but surely the leaves on the trees are getting heavier, my massive Virginia Creeper is starting to get more bronze and red in many places and the wildlife is having a good time foraging around the Blackberries and other productive Autumnal fruits and berries.

The Squirrels are active gathering (stealing) the Hazelnuts for winter storage and a Tawny Owl is giving the Lane a friendly spookiness in the middle of the night
The Tawny is now the only mainline Owl I haven’t a photo of so I’ve been scouring the wood opposite in an attempt to see it. Alas, they’re extremley good at their elusiveness !
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Spotted Flycatchers Fledged

Posted on 31st July 2017 by Richard

Spotted Flycatcher

Great news to close off July is that at least two of the Spotted Flycatchers have fledged.
I say this as the Parents are still taking food into the nest, the two which have fledged are ‘talking’ to each other, one of either side of the Lane.

Our resident Fox

Her four Cubs must be around the 4 / 5 month old mark now (Video to follow shortly) although she is still taking some of the food away with her so I presume they’re still about.

Her poorly back leg still gives her a bit of jip now and again, for that reason we still feed her a bit which hopefully has taken the strain off her searching for food for the Cubs.
Saying that I notice there are a few Hazelnuts and pips in the poos scattered her and there so I hope the Cubs are now well enough trained to survive on their own when and if they have to.

A short trip to Conningbrook Lakes

Normally I will walk from my home over the fields and along the Great Stour to Conningbrook Lakes, but not quite up to that yet, so it was nice that someone said they’d come with me if I drove to the far side where there’s a shorter walk to the Eco and Northern Lakes.

Besides a good selection of Buterflies and Damselflies, there wasn’t much about but two pf three Herons put on a good display and it was nice just to get out for once, I normally go there twice a week, I haven’t been at all for eight !

August is upon us and time gets nearer and nearer to weather change and migration. Summer is great of course, but you can’t see the birds you hear and coastal climes are pretty thin.
Late Summer though brings about deepening colour, heavier leaf with many changes taking place. I always think it’s not about 4 seasons, it’s about 365 days, every day something new happens, something stops and something turns up.
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End of May down the Lane

Posted on 31st May 2017 by Richard

The second part of May continued to be good for wildlife down the Lane and the fields below; the House Sparrows nesting above the back door fledged and no sooner had they and a second lot started !
Also fledged were the Blue Tits in the Box at the top of the Garden and all around young Wrens and more were appearing.

The fields were just as busy; Yellowhammers, Reed Warblers and Whitethroats numbering more than anything else

Young Jay – Just fledged Blue Tit – Ladybirds in Spring!

Female Reed Bunting – Female Yellowhammer – WhitethroatA trip to Dungeness proved very good to see the Damselflies and Dragon Flies coming to life.
The Scrapes were pretty quiet though, just many Common Terns, Avocets and the usual. Two pairs of Egyptian Geese gave birth on the Islands, nice to see but some avid Dungeness Birders not too happy about the invasion. All Gods creatures !

Four Spotted Chaser – Blue Damselfly – Green Damselfly

Avocet Dungeness – Trout in Stream down the Lane – House Sparrow approaching nest above back doorOur passing Hedgehog found a friend and from the noise was successful in it’s mission. However, soon after this we didn’t see them again. Good news is they seem to have taken up home in the Mill House opposite.
I miss them but they’re still around and will hopefully produce young shortly.

Whitethroat with a pretty good Breakfast I’d say !With 5 days in Pembrokeshire and the weather being quite good since, wildlife and nature is rolling along nicely.

Birdsong in the Garden again

Posted on 3rd February 2017 by Richard

Birdsong around the Feeders

It was as if the Birds around here knew it was February, the end of Winter is nigh and in the garden we have birdsong and much activity. Already the Blackbirds are pretty frisky and busy flirting with each other in combat style all over the place !

Blue Tit

With rain expected within a couple of hours of getting up I decided not to go out anywhere but just put a chair in the Lan-To and watch out for what came along.
Needless to say nothing special did, but I was entertained for a good hour by our regular visitors such as the Tit family, Blackbirds, House Sparrows, Dunnocks, Collared Doves, Greater Spotted Woodpecker, Wrens, the sound of an unseen Chiffchaff and a quick glimpse of a female Chaffinch.

Great Tit

It’s when you find time to actually observe rather than seeing something, taking a photo and moving on that you notice more the characters and personalities of them.
It seems to me that Robins aren’t always fighting claiming their territories, I’ve seen as many as six quite happily mixing together. I guess I put enough out for everyone!

With the Tit family it would appear to be the Great Tit at the top of the pecking order and Coal Tits at the bottom. Many a time I’ve seen a poor little Coal Tit trying to get as much food in the mouth before a Blue or Great Tit comes and pushes it off.

Male House Sparrow – Coal Tit – Great Spotted Woodpecker

Dunnocks are all pretty much ‘street cred’, they seem to never care what else is about and if they can’t get space on the Feeders they’re quite happy to forage around below for all the bits and pieces.

An hour just watching is a delight.

Great White and Little Egret at Conningbrook

Little and Great White Egret

I did venture out for an hour, a quick drive around to Conningbrook Lakes to see what was happening.
Luckily it seemed I was about the first person there as the Great White and a Little Egret were in a good position on the main Lake.

As it happened, nothing much else was around, 70 or so Greylags with a few Canada’s mixed in plus the usual Gadwalls, Tufted Ducks, Coots, Shovelers and Great Crested Grebes.
But they were all sufficient for a good few hours, especially the wonderful sound of birdsong.

New year Dungeness RSPB Reserve – Bearded Tits

Posted on 4th January 2017 by Richard

My first proper day out of the year and indeed, for two weeks so it was off to RSPB Dungeness on a sunny bright morning all be it only barely above freezing at 9am.

Male Bearded Tit

Female Bearded Tit

It’s strange, I’d been hoping to photograph Bearded Tits for over a year, I’d go to the Reserve Viewpoint where everyone see’s them, but never did.
Suddenly, in October I saw a female at Minsmere, then a male at Dungeness, this morning I saw a pair, not on the Scrapeboard but flitting around the Reeds for a more natural photograph.
In fact, they were there for a good 10 minutes. A fine start to the day.

Ringed Male Reed Bunting and Funghi, name I don’t know

There wasn’t a lot around the main Reserve so I ventured off, parked my Van at the Old Lighthouse and had a walk along the Beach. It seems that many birds enjoy a nap when the sun comes out, but the brisk walk helped to shake of the remainders of my Cold a bit.
After some lunch in the Camper I drove along to the ARC thinking the Bearded Tits would be my one and only ‘nice’ highlight, would stroll around and head off home.

Chiffchaff enjoying the early afternoon sun

As luck would have it (luck is the big word in birdwatching I’ve found), although fairly common birds, a Chiffchaff posed well in the Reeds by ‘The Pines’, some Reed Buntings were flying around here and there then upon a short walk accross to Boulderwood Farm at the RSPB Entrance, some Tree Sparrows were making good use of the Bird Feeders.

Tree Sparrow sharing Feeder with female Reed Bunting

It’s interesting speaking to people around and about, so many are very much like me, theyve become Pensioners and looked for something that’s going to interest them, get them out, keep relatively fit by walking at their own pace, in genral, a purpose.
You also find that some take it up simply for something to do and not convinced they’ll enjoy it, but they do, then before they know it, it’s out almost every day and venturing beyond the local area to see more and more.

Retirement I guess is a big reminder of age, but all the more reason to live the life and not, as the old TV Series suggested, ‘waiting for God’ !

House Sparrows on the increase

Posted on 14th November 2016 by Richard

My Garden population of House Sparrows seemed to diminish during the Summer and Autumn months, in Spring there were 4 Nests around the guttering of the house and three of them seemed to survive.

I noticed that babies were taken from the nest above my back door and as I’d seen it lurking around for a number of days, I put this down to the Jay.
One day they were there, the next day they had gone with no sign of any youngsters about.

In the last two weeks they have returned in numbers and happily feeding from the seed left out on the Bird Table.
Looking around they seem to be taking shelter in the Ivy growing up the wall next to the back door, almost everytime I walk past in a hurry a few will fly out.

Being on the RSPB Red List it’s so encouraging to see them here, probably due to the house being of the older design with overhanging eaves and lots of little corners.

Here’s to 2017 and more to come along. Nothing better than watching them from my Office window plus they give the Dunnocks a run for their money!!

Sometimes it pays to stay at home and bird watch

Posted on 14th November 2016 by Richard

Yesterday I went for ‘the long walk’ around my patch, down the Lane, over the fields to the River and back. Besides the Fieldfares there was very little about either with Birds or other wildlife.

I got home and thought I’d wrap up, pull out my Garden Chair and see what comes along – it was quite delightful.

Observation of the back garden bird feeder seems the Tits have a kind of rota system; the Great Tits, Blue Tits and Coal Tits all seem to come at different times right after each other.
All of them mix well with the resident House Sparrows and Dunnocks and take little notice of the invading Starlings and Great Spotted Woodpecker.

Also visiting were a Green Woodpecker, Grey Wagtails and a Jay, all of which were camera shy and seemed to avoid the lens at all costs.
However, a Yellowhammer did sit on the Clothes Line for just enough time for me to get a shot.

Pride of place though was a Male Common Buzzard perching on the Electricity Cables above the back hedge. I was especially pleased with this as it’s usually only the female which I see gliding about.

Some Lapwings on the wasteland, overall upwards of 200

Everyday it seems will spring up at least one surprise, but even if it doesn’t it’s a joy and a great learning curve to just sit and observe who’s where and what’s what.

Birds all action down the Lane!

Posted on 11th July 2016 by Richard

There was much happening with the birds down the Lane this morning, it seems that many are now on their second hatching’s of the Summer, loud high note tweets coming from everywhere!

The young Wren takes a break on the Greenhouse roof

Luckily I was in the Garden when I heard something hit the Kitchen window and upon searching around the bush below I found a stranded and somewhat dazed young Blue Tit.

First reaction is not to touch it until you’re pretty sure it’s not just going to adjust itself and fly away, handling them at a very young age can lead to them being unwanted by the parents making life much more of a struggle for them. This one however looked pretty much out of it and if you leave them, they’ll often just give up.
After holding it for a few minutes it climbed on to my fingers and perched there for a good 15 minutes before flying off into a nearby bush where it took another 15 minute rest before flying off down the Lane. Success!

Meanwhile in the back Garden there were some horrendous panic / warning cries from some Wrens who had obviously caught sight of my Ginger Cat lurking around. They didn’t know it, but Ginger takes no notice of Birds, he’ll sit there and just watch them stroll by, saw him being chased by a Magpie once!

It helps to wear a hat when you leave the door though!!

One nice thing about stepping out of the back door is that it’s right below a House Sparrows nest and this again is a noisy place to be at present. From the tone and pitch of them I’d say they’re not far off fledging, so my Camera awaits.

Until then it’s quite a joy watching the Parents flying in and out with food goodies for them. Also nice is the fact they have built the nest well into the eaves so this should stop the Crows and Jays from getting them whilst still there.

Beside that, mostly quiet but still getting visits from the young Rabbits who, thankfully, don’t seem to be after my Vegetables.
There are definitely more about this year compared to last, but last year we had ‘Big Ron’ the cat, who at i stone 4lbs would demolish 2 or 3 Rabbits a week.
Sadly he passed away in early Spring.

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