Winter’s day birdwatching at Godmersham

Posted on 19th January 2018 by Richard

As I said in my previous post, the small village of Godmersham is only two miles from my place and I seldom go there bird watching.
I’ve certainly, up to the last week, missed out this winter, beside the wonderful appearance of Hawfinches, there’s an array of small birds about with a constant chorus of song.

Goldcrest

The busiest day this week was Wednesday, no sooner had I got out of the Van did I see three Goldcrests jumping between a Yew Tree and the Graveyard wall, then looking upwards, a Grey Wagtail sitting on the roof of the Church.

Goldfinch – Long Tailed Tit – Grey Wagtail

Mistle Thrush – Treecreeper – Greenfinch

Walking along the Lane I encounted two Nuthatches and 4 Treecreepers which although not rare, not often seen so much in the open, if seen at all !

Long Tailed Tits and Goldcrests were most in number, never seen so many in one area.
Add to that 4 Greenfinches and two Mistle Thrushes, you just couldn’t find anything negative on a beautifully sunny Winter’s day.
One Lady arrived from further down the Lane and said she was watching a Blackbird foraging when a Sparrowhawk came down and took it away in one foul swoop.

Nuthatch

One thing which did surprise me was a few of the Birders remarking on Coal Tits. I never knew they are maybe one of the lesser seen birds. Without sounding too much of a show off I told them I have about a dozen in my Garden every day!

Male Chaffinch

Little Egret in River next to Church

All in all, a special morning out and with the Hawfinches as well has to go down as one of the best days as well.
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Blue Tit roosting in Bird Box

Posted on 11th December 2017 by Richard

Garden Birds surviving the Winter weather

The weather we usually get in January appears to have brought itself forward to early and mid December.
A few evenings ago I wanted to use the webcam and in error clicked on the Nest Box Camera only to find a Blue Tit had found it’s way in there for night time shelter!

Whether or not he or she has claimed it as territory I’m unsure about, but every evening since, just as it’s getting dark, it will pay about three or four visits looking around I guess, to make sure there hasn’t been another bird take over, then finally settling down and with a few twitches, fluffs up the feathers and settles down for the night !

Around the Feeders

Just see the Goldfinch on the Nyger Seed Feeder top left

These are over busy at present with birds present all day long; Blackbirds, House Sparrows, all the Tit family, Dunnocks, Goldfinches and the ever present Great Spotted Woodpecker.
It’s not only a joy to watch but a masterclass in how these tiny creatures can get through the rain, sleet, cold and wind to survive.

Good news about Coal Tits

An article recently in the Telegraph was saying how Coal Tit numbers are increasing.

Having observed this bird, one of my favourites, I agree with the Journalist who wrote how they are bullied off Feeders by their cousins the Great and Blue Tits.
I’ve found they tend to sit on my Acer Tree and wait their chance to swoop in, take a couple of bits in a well timed manner and always just avoiding the chase off!

Apparently, becuause of this, they store their takings in Moss or other suitable ‘containers’.

Seems to me the smaller the bird, the more clever they are in survival pursuits !
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Fieldfares return down the Lane

Posted on 18th November 2017 by Richard

It’s always good indication that winter is upon us when the Fieldfares along with their pals the Redwings return, always about the same time, 10th – 15th. November.
This year is no exception, it started with a trickle around the 8th and has now built up to more than 200 who jump from tree to tree along the edge of the field here.
If you have a Camera, you can put a bet on them always being two trees ahead of you though, they’re pretty well camouflaged against the branches and remaining few leaves, the first sign you get of them is when they all take flight leaving you to curse that you should have looked sooner!

Thus far Winter has been good in the Garden; a huge and pleasing amount of House Sparrows, Dunnocks, Robins, a few Goldfinches, Blackbirds, Long Tailed, Coal, Blue and Great Tits.
Plus the occasional Meadow Pipit, Reed Bunting and Yellowhammer, it’s looking good.
Overhead, four Buzzards and the Sparrowhawk are frequently seen.

Quick trip to Dungeness

I only had a couple of hours to spare so popped down to the Old Lighthouse, the 4 closest Hides in the Reserve and Scotney Farm where I hoped to get another glimpse of the Little Owl. Needless to say the latter obviously heard I was coming and wasn’t there.

Although a really pleasant day with no wind, not much about.
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Garden Wildlife early June

Posted on 11th June 2017 by Richard

I’m unsure how much wildlife and nature watching I’ll be doing in June. On the 13th (hopefully not unlucky) I’m in Hospital for an operation and by what I hear, June will be a month where I’m confined to Barracks.
However, a good opportunity to really watch what’s what around the Garden, so all is not lost.

Painted LadyAt present it’s the time of new birth; Sparrows, Tits, Wrens and Blackbirds, the Garden is heaving with youngsters getting to know the ropes of survival, busying themselves fetching food with the occasional punch up on the way!

Fledged Wren – Young Blue Tit – Young Long Tailed TitHighlights thus far have been finding a Grass Snake under one of the rubber mats I put down plus an enormous Painted Lady which sat and posed rather nicely for me.
Last year I only saw one Painted Lady, that being at Samphire Hoe, so I’m hoping for more. Magical Butterflies and a wonder they fly from North Africa to here.

Parent and young Greater Spotted Woodpecker

Parent and recently fledged Greater Spotted WoodpeckersOur Fox is still visiting daily and has had four Cubs. Regretably she hasn’t brought them up to show us yet, but they have been observed playing on the field below early mornings.
Being she has had a dodgy rear leg for quite some time we’re still feeding her. The Jam Sandwiches and Cat Food seem to be the winners for her, she’ll pick up a few and march off to give to her young, returning some minutes later for some more.
Interestingly, she feeds them first.

Speckled Wood – Ladybird Larvae – SparrowhawkA bit worrying when I was just outside the door and a huge pannicky rustle came from the nearby Laurel Bush, a Sparrowhawk.
Always a pity when a small bird gets snatched but it’s the old ‘I know an old lady who swallowed a fly’ scenario. Every creature has to live and all part of the chain.

The only other slightly worrying thing is the Invasive Ladybird and there’s quite a few Larvae in amongst the Stinging Nettles. The only good thing I suppose is they may eat any Aphids around my Vegetable Plants !

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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’ !

New year down the Lane

Posted on 1st January 2017 by Richard

Due to a heavy cold and an unwanted episode with my herniated disc, I got myself into action today for the first time in 2 weeks.
That’s to say, no further than a 50 meter distance of my Garden, but it was nice to get outdoors, brush the dust off both myself and the Camera and look to see what’s going on.

This Blue Tit has certainly taken a liking to my Carved Cat on top of the Feeders. Good job it’s not a real Cat!!

Around the Garden Bird Feeders were the usual visitors; Blue Tits, Coal Tits, Great Tits, Robins, loads of Blackbirds, House Sparrows Starlings and Dunnocks with the occasional visit of the Great Spotted Woodpecker, Long Tailed Tits, Goldfinches and the ever watching Collared Doves.
One surprise of the Winter thus far is the lack of the ‘Shoplifter’ Squirrels, because not much has been cut back here and abouts, they appear to have ample natural food sources.
I have no doubt I’ve given it the kiss of death and they’ll be all over the place tomorrow! There’s enough of them to break the Bank!

One Squirrel running off with a Walnut from the tree over the Lane

For some reason ‘Daphne’ our visiting Fox is coming in the middle of the night nowadays, up to a few weeks ago it was before dark, often early afternoon and sitting patiently for Luncheon to be served.
In the early hours about 10 days ago I heard foxes fighting in the front garden and noticed the following day she had a limp. Having been away for a while I’m yet to pick her up on the Camera to see if she’s OK now. If not I’ll contact the RSPCA and see if they can do anything.

A lucky photo of a Goldfinch coming in to perch

Other than the above, life is pretty much the same, but at the back of my mind is it’s now only a matter of weeks before the action starts taking place, then Spring will be upon us and it all starts all over again.

Would we have it any other way !

Bearded Tit, Cattle Egret, Ring Necked Duck

Posted on 21st November 2016 by Richard

Regular readers will know I’ve been trying to get a photo of a Bearded Tit for about a year. I managed a Female at Minsmere last month but the male has escaped me.
Last Friday, Bingo !!
Looking at the forecast it was the one day in about 10 where there was to be sunshine and relatively light winds for some days, so off I went to Dungeness early morning and after about 45 minutes of sitting at the View Point somewhat cold, one appeared on the Scrape Board opposite.

Having heard of the Cattle Egret for my last four visits I then went off in search of that and for once the Cows in the field at Boulderwall were close to the Reserve track and after a few varying positions got a reasonable shot off it.

Then, to my surprise I noticed the Ring Necked Duck, another which had escaped me for the last three weeks, appeared mixing with three Coots, again fairly close to the Track.
It seems that both Cattle and any Ducks, Waders etc. probably start off close to the track early morning but upon more cars and Birders going past, move over to the far side.

By this time it was about 10.45am so I popped down to the Old Lighthouse in hope of spotting anything else interesting, but the rain came down and feeling it was a morning fulfilled I made my way home.

Wildlife Diary

Recording wild life through the year around Hampshire, Kent and elsewhere

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