KWT- Oare, Kent

Oare

Having enjoyed my day at the Bird Fair yesterday, it was good to be back out in the field today with my local RSPB Group at Oare.

Golden Plover

Unfortunately for those attending, I was leading today, and it was a relief to see that I had some stalwart experts with me today.   As we met up in the car park, we exchanged windfall eating apples for toffee, fudge and werther's originals!   After this important business had been completed, we moved off to see which birds were feeding at the waters edge.  Although it was low tide, there were lots of black-headed gull, redshank, black-tailed godwit, ringed plover and a few knot and dunlin in the mix.   Along the sea wall there were three yellow wagtails, several linnet, cetti's warbler, goldfinch and a couple of young reed warbler.

From the hide at the end of the creek we watched 109 avocets (yes I did count them), and further away on the other side of the creek were a further 80 or so (too far away to count!).   Sandwich and common tern were feeding at the mouth of the creek and further along the wall in the reeds were saw three bearded tit, a couple of reed bunting, and a young sedge warbler.

Black-tailed Godwit

On the main pool we watched hundreds of black-tailed godwit, ruff with their bright orange legs, oystercatcher, redshank, greenshank, little egret and little grebre.   Cormorants were stationed on several of the islands.   Overhead two curlew flew past, sand martin, swallow and house martin were also seen.   In the fields jackdaw, rook and crow strutted about, and on the islands and the edge of the pool were hundreds of starling, some of them in their rather strange caramel coloured plumage. 

On my usual quest for colour rings, there were two birds with them, a ruff and a black-tailed godwit, so hopefully I will be able to find out more about these birds.  

Neil took charge of the butterfly list and had large and small white, meadow brown and common blue.