Blackcaps, Chiffchaff and a Whitethroat - Shuart to Chambers Wall 09/10/20

On arrival at Shuart several Chiffchaff were active around the car park area and I saw seven by the time I started out along the track. A Great Spotted and Green Woodpecker called from the trees. A Wren scolded as I passed by and overhead a flock of 28 Siskin flew west. It was a beautifully sunny morning and Skylarks were passing by overhead heading west. A male and female Blackcap appeared to be enjoying the sunshine.

male and female Blackcap

Two Lesser Redpoll flew low over calling loudly and were a welcome addition to the mornings birds. A Wood Pigeon eyed me warily as I passed by but otherwise appeared unperturbed.

Wood Pigeon

Two vocal Cetti's Warblers were sounding off against each other. Each time the one behind me called so the one from a little further along the track responded. A flock of 8 Long-tailed Tit were moving fast through the hedgerow as they searched for food. I love watching them and one was obliging enough to pause in a gap before moving on.

Long-tailed Tit

A single Crossbill flew over heading west and calling away and the hedgerow was alive with Chiffchaff busily searching for insects.

Chiffchaff

A Brambling flew over calling and small flocks of Chaffinch were moving west. The air was filled with the calls of Skylarks as they went over and a good number of Blackcap were working their way through various sections of the hedgerow. A Red Admiral Butterfly was sunning itself on the ivy.

Red Admiral

A Cetti's Warbler came tantalisingly close to coming out into the open but at the last minute dropped out of sight again. A scruffy Whitethroat gave pause when I caught sight of it but it never changed its position and was watching warily the approach of a group of loudly chatting dog walkers. As they neared it shot through to the back of the bush and disappeared. I waited to see if it would reappear but with no sign of it I carried on. I haven't seen a Whitethroat for a couple of weeks now.

Cetti's Warbler

Whitethroat

Another Blackcap was by the railway crossing and I had enjoyed seeing the numbers of them that I had today. At the stables a feisty Dunnock was chasing a rival repeatedly before returning to a favourite perch to keep watch on its rival's movements. Otherwise it was overall quieter than my last visit.

Dunnock

As I neared the sea wall one of the Corn Bunting present was tucked into one of the nearer bushes but keeping a wary eye on passers by.

Corn Bunting

The tide was already a fair way out as I came up onto the sea wall. Sanderling and Oystercatchers were along the shore. The westerly wind that had been very light had begun to pick up. The walk to Plumpudding was fairly quiet. Small flocks of both Chaffinch and Skylark were still moving west. Just past Plumpudding a couple of White Wagtail were on the sea wall. 5 Redshank were on Coldharbour but that also was quiet otherwise. Walking was becoming very difficult so I decided to head up to Chambers Wall as it was closer for a pick up point. I did not do much counting on the way through. A Red Admiral butterfly was showing its underwing pattern well making the contrast between that and its upperwing pattern even more striking.

Red Admiral Butterfly

Red Admiral Butterfly

It was nice to come across some Goldcrests. They are beautiful little birds and it was a treat to be able to take a break and just enjoy watching their acrobatic manoeuvres as they searched for insects.

Goldcrest

Several Migrant Hawkers were on the wing and I finished the visit with a perched male soaking up the warmth from the sun.

Migrant Hawker

Birds seen this visit included: 2 Green Woodpecker, 46 Chiffchaff, Wood Pigeons, 7 Wren, 2 Great Spotted Woodpecker, Blue Tits, Great Tits, 17 Robin, 8 Dunnock, 208 Chaffinch, 31 Siskin, Skylarks, 25 Blackbird, 15 Pied Wagtail including 2 alba, 2 Jay, 1 Pheasant, 4 Mallard, 9 Magpie, 8 Cetti's Warbler, 8 Long-tailed Tit, 19 Blackcap, 4 Mute Swan, 2 Lesser Redpoll, 17 Meadow Pipit, 1 Crossbill, 1 Ring-necked Parakeet, 1 Brambling, 2 House Martin, 2 Common Buzzard, 6 Reed Bunting, House Sparrows, Starlings, 9 Linnet, 4 Corn Bunting, 24 Goldfinch, 43 Sanderling, 84 Oystercatcher, 2 Grey Heron, 15 Turnstone, 25 Ringed Plover, 5 Redshank, 4 Kestrel, 3 Goldcrest, 3 Swallow,  

Soaring Red Kites and a Supporting Cast - Garden and Broomfield Track 24/04/20

While out in the garden alarm calls from the local gulls alerted me to first one then a while later another 2 Red Kites over the garden which are always a very welcome sight. A Common Buzzard also passed high over the garden and at one point one of the Red Kites and the Buzzard were spiralling upwards high above in the same thermal.

Red Kite

Red Kite and Common Buzzard

House Sparrows were busily collecting food to take back to the nest and a male paused briefly on the fence giving some lovely views in the sunshine.

male House Sparrow

male House Sparrow

The local pair of Herring Gulls were decidedly put out by the arrival of a pair of Lesser Black-backed Gulls who settled on the roof opposite before moving off.

Lesser Black-backed Gulls

Lesser Black-backed Gull

Later on in the day I headed out for my exercise walk. An Orange-tip butterfly gave some superb views as it fed amongst the flowers of what I think is a garden escape. I have been lucky this spring to get some lovely views of a beautiful butterfly.

Orange-tip Butterfly

Orange-tip butterfly

Orange-tip butterfly

Orange-tip butterfly

A little further along the smaller of the pair of Little Owls was resting up on its usual perch. It was alert as a dog walker with a pair of barking dogs went past on the footpath but it seemed content to stay where it was. They are always a joy to see.

Little Owl

A pair of Magpie were routing about as I came past the lower paddock and gave some very good views in the sunshine, their feathers with jewelled colours as they caught the light.

Magpie

Magpie

Magpies

As I headed up to the top path a Wood Pigeon peeped out at me from its perch and the air was full of Skylark song.

Wood Pigeon

Moments later a Red Kite spiralled lazily over, giving some nice views as it did so. As I carried on I managed to see another 2 high up Red Kites passing over.

Red Kite

Red Kite

Red Kite

 As I paused along the top path and had a scan across I could see 8 Common Buzzards spiralling in a thermal high above me and another 6 spiralling in another thermal. They were very high but a pleasure to see. A pair of the local Common Buzzards were calling away and tumbling around each other in the sky.

Common Buzzards

Blackcap, Chiffchaff and Whitethroat song filled the air and a small group of Linnet were busy amongst the grasses as I came down to the lower path. Comma butterflies and Peacock butterflies were flitting around in the sunshine. I came across a Long-tailed Tit collecting food to take back to the nest and it gave some superb views as it flitted from perch to perch.

Long-tailed Tit

Long-tailed Tit

A pair of Blackcap were busily collecting nesting material and gave some nice, if brief, views as they did so. I hope that they are successful in their nesting.

male Blackcap

female Blackcap

I finished an enjoyable visit with the sound of the pair of Common Buzzards calling away.

Short-eared Owl and Grey Partridge Bonus - Reculver 05/05/19

I had a walk after work, late afternoon, from Reculver to Coldharbour. The visit started very overcast with rain threatening and a north north easterly wind. I was lucky as the rain did not materialise and sunny intervals developed. The tide was beginning to go out. A Wood Pigeon had found a small puddle of rainwater in a hollow on one of the rocks by the car park and once it had a drink it posed nicely for me before moving on. The range of colours and shades in the grey's of its plumage are beautiful.

Wood Pigeon

A lot of scum had collected on the surface of the sea and was particularly noticeable in all the areas by the rocks. I do not know what causes it. A couple of Common Tern were off shore but otherwise the sea was quiet. The dark wedge on the Common Tern's upperwing was noticeable as it came past.

Commom Tern

3 Oystercatcher flew up from the oyster farm and flew around calling like mad before the lower one peeled off whereupon the upper two returned to the oyster farm.

Oystercatcher

I saw several pairs of Stonechat during my visit and, as always, I enjoyed watching them. I tried for a photo of one of the females taking off but only just managed to get her into the shot.

male Stonechat

female Stonechat

female Stonechat

A female Wheatear popped up onto the sea wall before flying further along and a Common Seal was having a look around out to sea. A male and female Yellow Wagtail were on the oyster farm as were a pair of Shelduck while another flew east out to sea. A Grey Heron flew past heading for the oyster farm.

Grey Heron

Coldharbour itself was quiet with just a couple of Shelduck and a Little Egret on it. I caught up with the female Wheatear again and although distant I tried for a shot. A Meadow Pipit was more obliging and gave some nice close views as it perched on the fence.

female Wheatear

Meadow Pipit

A Whitethroat was singing away in a bush and a Reed Bunting popped up right by the path as I started to head back.

Whitethroat

Reed Bunting

A Grey Heron flew from the oyster farm and landed on one of the newly exposed mussel beds and was dive bombed by a Herring Gull for his troubles. It did not seem too concerned and the gull soon gave up. However once the Heron decided to move to another part of the mussel bed several Herring Gulls had a go with one particularly persistent one chasing it until it flew back to the oyster farm.

A Common Sandpiper was in his usual spot.

Common Sandpiper

I had kept my eyes open for a Short-eared Owl but without any success. I thought as the wind had died down by now that one may have flown but I hadn't seen one. As I was nearing the end of the oyster farm I did, however, see something perched on a post and I was so chuffed when I saw it was a Short-eared Owl. Now that really did make my evening. I felt very lucky to see it. It definitely makes my day when I see an owl.

Short-eared Owl

Short-eared Owl

I left the owl surveying the lay of the land and carried on towards Reculver. A pair of Mute Swan with almost perfect reflections were in one of the oyster farm dykes. I could hear a Cuckoo calling and it sounded like it was at the back of the oyster farm.

Mute Swan

Mute Swan

I finished the visit with another bonus when I saw 2 Grey Partridge feeding and working their way towards me. I stayed very still and was treated to good views until some people came along the sea wall and the partridge were off and flew into the old camping ground.

Grey Partridge

Grey Partridge

Grey Partridge

It had been good to be out for a while and had been an enjoyable visit and seeing the owl really had made my day.

Birds seen this visit include: Wood Pigeons, House Sparrows, 8 Blackbirds, 11 Linnet, 5 Little Egret, 4 Mute Swan, Black-headed Gull, Herring Gull, Meadow Pipit, 2 Common Tern, 9 Stonechat, 3 Oystercatcher, 12 Sedge Warbler, 5 Reed Bunting, 2 Yellow Wagtail, 3 Great Black-backed Gull, 5 Shelduck, 13 Oystercatcher, 4 Pied Wagtail, 13 Mallard + 4 youngsters, 1 Blackcap, 7 Whitethroat, 2 Dunnock, 2 Pheasant, 2 Meadow Pipit, Skylarks, 11 Turnstone, 5 Ringed Plover, 1 female Wheatear, 5 Sanderling, 1 Reed Warbler, 1 Moorhen, 1 Coot, 2 Swallow, 4 Grey Heron, 1 Common Sandpiper, 18 Sand Martin, 1 Cuckoo, 1 Short-eared Owl, 2 Grey Partridge