Happy Birthday Sally!

Oare

As it was a significant birthday for Sally (but then aren't all birthdays) we decided to treat her to yet another day out birding - so the Wednesday wags convened on a Monday!

The weather was grey, wet and windy, but we didn't let that dampen our spirits.   Our initial venue was to be Conyer Creek, but as the weather was so inclement we decided to change to Oare, always a good option, and with the benefit of hides to give shelter.

Waders Galore

With a rapidly rising tide we did the usual clockwise circuit, and along the shoreline were dunlin, curlew, redshank and black-tailed godwit.  A kestrel hovered overhead, and a cetti's warbler sang in a nearby bush - just audible over the wind!   Great crested grebes were feeding in the river and as we watched a cormorant flying down river Sally spotted a swift flying past in the opposite direction.  

Near the first hide were large numbers of waders, and we added avocet, knot and oystercatcher to our day's tally.   Huge numbers of black-tailed godwit were flying into the reserve as the tide rose, and in one group we noticed birds with no wing bar, so we had definite bar-tailed godwit to look for when we got to the second hide.

Golden Plover

We still had some birds to see and lapwing, herring gull and turnstone were spotted as we started along the creek.   A sandwich tern was spotted flying over towards the scrape, and the distinctive "ping" of a bearded tit led us to several short glimpses of the bird which was struggling to fly in the strong wind.    There were several hundred starling flying around, one a distinctive "blonde" colour which stood out among its more usual coloured flock.  

Sea Aster

The sky started to brighten a tad as we reached the second hide, and we took the opportunity to enjoy the respite offered from the battering gale outside.   Three yellow wagtails, several ringed plover, large number of coot, a few teal, were seen.   The large flocks of waders were scanned with telescopes and binoculars, black- and bar-tailed godwit, redshank, ruff, made up the majority of the raft, and a few grey plover added into the mix.   Malcolm noticed two waders fly in and realised they were golden plover, they landed near to the sandwich tern which had flown in earlier.

Along the Creek

By now we were all hungry, and we made our way to the Shipwrights Arms on the other side of the creek.   After a hearty lunch and a toast to the birthday girl, we decided to take a short walk along the creek from the pub garden.   The sun shone and although it was still windy, at least it wasn't cold, we noticed sea aster sheltered from the wind in the lee of the seawall, and a small bee laden with pollen.

Wheatear

Several yellow wagtails and a wheatear flew along the path ahead of us.   We stopped to watch the wheatear then realised that there were another two birds further away from us.   All three were sitting up in their usual habit, watchful of their surroundings.  

One rather sad note is that there is a proposal to extract 2 million tonnes of ballast from Hollowshore and Ham marshes over the next 15 years as part of the KCC Mineral and Waste Development Plan.   The Shipwrights Arms are collecting signatures to object against this proposal.   If you want to add your name please go to www.kent.gov.uk/mwdf

We did try to see as many species as Sally's years but we were a few short!