Blog Archive

Wednesday 25 July 2012

Grove Ferry and Reculver

Today we decided to go to Grove Ferry where we would have the opportunity of some wading birds and also hopefully utilise the hides for shade as the temperatures soared.

We took the "pretty route" as Malcolm navigated, and eventually arrived in the car park around 11.00 am, without a feather being seen!   

Grey Heron
From the viewpoint there were a few birds to see on the scrape including, grey heron, mallard, shoveler, lapwing, little egret, mute swan, and a possible garganey (the light was against us on this one but it did look suspiciously like an eclipse bird).   We could hear two bearded tits "pinging" from nearby reeds, but as the breeze consistently shifted the reeds it was impossible to see them.   A hobby flew over taking dragonflies and eating them on the wing.   We had been watching said dragonflies a few moments prior to this - brown hawkers.

From the David Feast Hide we watched a further grey heron as it preened and lazily watched the water, occasionally flicking it's head as a fish claimed attention, but it made no attempt to catch one whilst we watched.   The light feathers on the back were showing themselves off to great effect, a really handsome bird and one which we probably don't always pay enough attention to.

Grey Heron
Sedge warbler called from nearby reeds and occasionally darted from one side of a nearby ditch to another, but refused to give us anything more than a passing glimpse.   More brown hawker and an emperor dragonfly were cruising up and down the same ditch looking for prey.

The ubiquitous wood pigeon and starling were, of course, soon added to our day list - every week we joke that we should just write them in but it just wouldn't seem right.

As the day continued to warm up we carried out a butterfly count - a 15 minute survey which can then be logged on the internet and adding valuable information regarding population trends - we usually find that the butterflies disappear the minute we say "15 minutes from now . . . " but at least this time we had comma, meadow brown, gatekeeper and small white in reasonable numbers.   A female marsh harrier quartered over the reed beds ahead of us.

From the Harrisons Drove Hide there were lapwing, mallard, a flock of pure white doves, and a further two marsh harriers.   One had two red wing tags, both with the number 95.   This has been reported and we await further information.   The tagged bird successfully caught a snake and then hunched at the far end of the scrape to eat it, keeping it's back to us and warily looking around between mouthfuls.

Grey Heron's beautiful
plumage
A couple of linnet passed by and landed in a nearby tree, gave a short burst of their song and then flew off again.

Soon it was time to move on, and we had opted for a walk along the cliffs at Reculver, where we hoped that a sea breeze would cool us in the heat of the afternoon.   We walked west along the coast, away from the crowds.   The wild flowers were excellent along here.  The land has been managed with mown pathways through areas of long grass where swathes of purple, yellow, white and pink sparkled in the bright light.   There were more butterflies and some six-spot burnets newly emerged and looking particularly smart.  

Overhead the sky was full of sand martin feeding over the clifftop and chattering to each other, it was almost as if the parent birds were keeping in touch with the young and encouraging them in their aerial acrobatics, putting them through their paces before migration.   It was a fantastic sight and brought a lump to the throat when you consider the distance these birds are about to cover.

Out to sea we had cormorant, little egret, herring gull, fulmar at eye level - one of my favourite birds and great to see up close - three mediterranean gulls were heard and after a few moments we managed to pick them out from the black-headed variety.   A skylark sang high over the clifftop, and as we wandered back towards the car an adult and juvenile were feeding on the path in front of us so we stopped and watched them for a while before they moved off.


Back at the car the temptation of an ice cream from the cafe was too much and we sat and enjoyed strawberry (Malcolm) and rum & raisin cones (Sally and I) - a scrummy end to a brilliant day out.

Sunday 22 July 2012

Dungeness - an old favourite

On a butterfly count
My local RSPB Group had a walk arranged at Dungeness.   I travelled with Malcolm and Sally and we arrived at the car park by the Old Lighthouse with plenty of time to spare so decided to enjoy a cup of tea at the station cafe.   As we sat in the sunshine a hobby flew overhead.   We also spotted starling, house sparrrow and crow from the cafe garden.

Suitably refreshed we joined the rest of the group for a lovely day by the coast.   The weather was clear and the sea calm and the beach was lined with fishermen as there was presumably a competition on.   Despite the activity there were lots of gulls and terns on the beach and feeding around the "Patch".   Cormorant and gannet flew past and we found herring, great black-backed and black-headed gulls on the beach along with common terns.   A pod of porpoises entertained us for a while, and a flock of at least 15 oystercatchers flew towards us then veered off towards the reserve.

Dunlin, Little Ringed Plover and two Common Sandpiper
We decided to follow suit and made for the Hanson Hide.   From here we saw coot, pochard, tufted duck, lapwing, common sandpiper, little ringed plover, ringed plover, garganey, sedge warbler, shoveler, greylag, dunlin, common tern, great crested grebe and mute swan.   At one stage a flock of 13 golden plover flew over but decided not to land, as they circled we could see their distinctive black bellies and chests, and their golden plumage caught the sunlight beautifully as they banked around.


Cerceris wasp digging her nest
Soon, with lunch calling us we headed off to the Reserve.  From the hides I noted ringed plover, turnstone, lesser black-backed gull, canada geese, pochard, great crested grebe and mallard. With sand martin swooping over the water.    Alan spotted some wasps creating nest holes in the sand by the picnic tables.   Malcolm believes they are a species of solitary wasp called Cerceris.

Lapwing
A marsh harrier hunted over the shingle.  It looked like a juvenile, with dark plumage and a very pale head.  The shoulders were dark, so probably not an adult female.


Denge Marsh Hide gave the best views of common tern with several nests visible on the tern rafts.  On one of the rafts there was an adult minding two chicks - one a bit of an adventurer as he kept standing on the very edge of the raft giving those in the hide a few worrying moments.   After a sharp call from the adult, it resumed it's rightful place behind the parent in the corner of the raft protected from prying eyes and the heat of the sun.   Another nest had three eggs.   On a further raft there was an almost fully fledged chick, which was stretching it's wings, but did not take to the air when the other terns on that raft flew up in a panic
- so presumably it wasn't quite ready for the maiden flight yet.

Two chicks being protected

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As we continued around the reserve - ever hopeful of a bittern in flight - we had to make do with reed buntings, marsh harriers, grey heron, endless gulls and terns, until Sue G found a small toad trying


to escape into the long grass.   He was lovely . . . . well, just look for yourself . . . . 
I was going to give him a quick peck on the cheek but I was warned that that only worked with frogs - another missed opportunity!

Wednesday 18 July 2012

Oare and the Gunpowder Works

I'm now back in my Wednesday routine, and three of us were off to Oare!    The weather was lovely, the skies blue and the birds singing . . . .  tra- la-laa  . . . . I've not lost it quite yet, but it was a lovely morning.
Linnet

We decided to shake life up a little and do the circuit the "wrong way round" - how would we cope, would the world stop turning, sorry I know you don't care, but we have to get our amusement where we can!

The friendly sedge warbler was singing near the car park as usual, and wood pigeons were keen to get on Sally's list early.   We took a quick look at the mud by the slipway and found whimbrel, curlew, oystercatcher and over 40 black-headed gulls.   The skies started to cloud over and we were back to watching the dark skies keen to remain drier than on previous weeks.

As we wandered back down the road past the scrape linnet flew overhead, whilst mute swan, little egret, redshank, cormorant, avocet, common tern and black-tailed godwit were on the islands nearest the road.    Huge flocks of starling are gathering everywhere at the moment and Oare was no exception with several swarms flying about over the fields and mixing in with the waders causing some distraction on occasion.

Feeding Godwit
The godwit were in three distinct groups, one near the road sleeping, a second resting group in the far south east corner and then a more active group which were feeding in front of the hide, we decided to take some time watching them.   They were constantly moving, trawling along bringing their heads up to flick tasty morsels back into their mouths from the tip of their bills.   Amazing to watch this feeding frenzy, and also to compare their various plumages.   The majority were still in mainly breeding plumage with the beautiful russet necks and chests but amongst them some really pale birds - presumably youngsters starting out on their epic migration.   This link gives some more information on a particular bar-tailed godwit's migration www.sciencedaily.com .

Spiny Restharrow
We continued our circuit around the reserve, there were lots of coots, pochard (one with six juveniles trailing in a flotilla).   House sparrow, crow, dunlin, pied wagtail, reed bunting all found themselves on our list as we moved towards lunch.   The highlight for me though was a large number of swift feeding low over the east flood, I was thrilled to count about 20 first of all, but as the day wore on the numbers increased and eventually the sky appeared to be full of these acrobats, enjoying the insects which were obviously in high numbers here.

Kingfisher lake
After lunch in the hide, we moved off to the Gunpowder Works.   On the face of this it should be a cornucopia of wildlife, and although it was relatively quiet bird-wise, there were butterflies and flowers to be seen.   We did hear a kingfisher near one pool and then spotted one later over the fishing lake.

We did find a large number of horse chestnut trees which had been affected by horse-chestnut leaf miners - Cameraria ohridella to be precise.   These originated in Macedonia and have been spreading throughout Europe in the last 20 years or so.   It is believed that the moths are transported by lorries.  They are not believed to kill the tree although the ones that we saw must surely have been affected in some way as there was not one leaf that had not been attacked.    We opened up one of the leaves and found the caterpillar - see below.




Horse-chestnut Leaf Miner - Cameraria ohridella

Tuesday 17 July 2012

Chafford Gorges Nature Park

Goat's Rue
My local RSPB Group were off to Chafford Gorges Nature Reserve - run by the Essex Wildlife Trust - for our latest Tuesday walk.   We did a recce of the area earlier in the year and had a rather damp day, so we hoped for better on this occasion.   As a former chalk quarry, the meadow areas are incredibly diverse, and the lakes and woodland provide important habitats for a wide range of animals and birds.


Purple Loosestrife
Today Malcolm and Sally were guiding us around Warren Gorge, the main area near the visitor centre.   Several months after our first visit, we were met with a completely different scene with masses of Goat's-Rue covering both the base of the reclaimed pit and the banks around the side of it.   An species originally native of the middle east it has spread widely across Europe.  We were advised that the sap caused upset stomachs, but on doing some research on the internet, apparently it has been used to stimulate the production of milk in cattle and is also used as a herbal treatment to help stimulate the adrenal glands as a diuretic and to help some diabetics.

Sputnik Gall
As Andrew, the warden explained the history of the reserve hundreds of house martins were feeding in the gorge, taking advantage of the shelter from the breeze where presumably they could find a higher concentration of insects to feed on.   Collared dove, blue tit, mute swan, greylag geese, canada geese, coot, great crested grebe, cormorant and mallard were our first few birds.

In the meadows we found purple loosestrife, birds-foot trefoil, docks, and several butterflies, although every time we decided to do a 15 minute count they all disappeared!   Ringlet, meadow brown, holly blue and red admiral were those I spotted.   We also saw brown hawker, black-tailed skimmer, and emperor dragonfly, with a hobby deciding to join in occasionally.
Gray's Gorge

Swallow and sand martin were in the huge group of house martin, but it took a while to get everyone on to them.   In the more wooded area we found whitethroat, blackcap, greenfinch, magpie, two great spotted woodpecker, robin, kestrel, sparrowhawk, grey heron, song thrush and a pheasant.

We took our time carrying out a circuit of the gorge, and ended up back at the visitor centre in time for lunch.  Their homemade sponge cake was scrummy.

Sarsen Stone
In the afternoon Malcolm, Sally and I decided to try one of the other gorges and moved on to Grays Gorge a SSSI.   Our main hope here was to find Sarsen stones - the large sandstone blocks found on Salisbury Plain and other areas of England and used to make Stonehenge (try Wikipedia for more information) and some orchids.   We had a great time trying to find the Sarsen, lying down in the long grass it was beautifully camouflaged.

The orchids also gave us a challenge but we eventually found large numbers of pyramidal and common spotted orchid, round-leaved wintergreen and yellow bird's-nest - a strange plant which is a saprophyte, ie.  drawing its nutrients from a tangled root system (said to resemble a bird’s nest) that feeds on decaying vegetable matter in the soil.
Yellow Bird's-nest

Just to complete our list we found a shaded broad-bar moth near the end of the walk.


Monday 16 July 2012

Hayling Island

After a week at home, it was time to meet up with friends at Hayling Island for some R&R.

Little Egret
On the way down we stopped at Emsworth, a place I had been to years before and a real haven for those seeking life near the sea and motorways, but tucked away in its own quiet corner with independent shops and a great community atmosphere - not to mention lovely tea shops!

A walk along the harbour wall was a great way to start our relaxing weekend with sea air and a bracing wind.   Not many birds to be seen as the sea was out, but some great scenery.

Portsmouth from the Spinnaker Tower
On Saturday, Sunday and Monday morning I wandered along the coast near to our weekend accommodation (Warners chalets).  On the lake within the complex there were mallards, canada geese, coot and mute swan.   On the Saturday Kevin and I walked along the creek nearby where a little egret fed in the early (well 7.30) morning sunshine.   Along the stony beach we found a small nature reserve with starlings gathering in huge groups, a couple of magpie and black-headed gulls flying overhead.   Our walk was a little longer than anticipated and a rather patient Carol waited for us to return before going into breakfast to meet the others.   The day was spent in Portsmouth, exploring Gunwharf Quays and the Spinnaker Tower.

Sunrise over the creek
Sunday Kevin and I decided to go down the creek towards the sea and this was a far more productive walk with several curlew feeding in the uncovered mud.   Gulls flew overhead calling noisily.   Herring gull were the main species, with a couple of black-headed - presumably they prefer the open sea.   Few small birds were seen although house sparrow, more starling and a blackbird were identified along the way.   With warmer sun this morning we found a few butterflies including large white and marbled white.

Today we decided to explore the area near Pagham and enjoyed a great walk around Pagham Harbour North Wall Nature Reserve.   Lots of salt marsh, reed beds and mud.   Sedge warblers were singing, little egret appeared to have bred here as there were several in the trees nearby, coot had young and there were huge numbers of black-headed gulls about.   Meadow brown and gatekeeper butterflies fed on the bramble flowers.   As we returned a few lapwing were feeding near the sluice and seemed quite confident with people nearby.

Marbled White Butterfly
Monday morning and my companion was Paul who chose to blow the cobwebs away with a breezy pre-breakfast walk.   We followed a path through the woods at the north of the complex trying to keep in the protection of the trees and away from the strong wind.   This worked well although we got wet feet traipsing through long grass to get past the pitch and putt and onto the coastal path.   Once again there were several curlew, but with the wind now blowing strongly towards us and a threatening storm we decided to retreat and head back for breakfast.

A really relaxing weekend with good friends and an area which I look forward to visiting again.


Wednesday 11 July 2012

The Rain in Kent falls mainly on the Birdwatchers

Folkestone in July  . . . .
I have to laugh, as I check the time my computer is saying "British SUMMER Time" - what a misnomer that is this year!
However, I am jumping the gun slightly here.

After over a month in the neotropics, it was great to get back to my usual Wednesday wanderings with Malcolm, Sally and Irene.   The only concession to the recent inclement weather was a raincoat and my waterproof walking boots.

We started off at the clifftop cafe above Folkestone Warren Nature Reserve.   The idea was that we would wander in the "warren" but it took persistence to get to a car park which was anywhere near the footpaths.   After a couple of false starts, we were finally heading towards the beach through some great woodland which housed (amongst other flora) bee orchid, common spotted orchid and agrimony.
The clifftop view

The bird list was limited to herring gull, house sparrow, kestrel, magpie, greenfinch and chiffchaff, but we also saw ringlet butterfly.

After we had reached the beach there was a short but very sharp downpour.   We continued along the beach, and as the sun came out we picnicked on the sea defences enjoying the sunshine.

Ringlet
We kept a wary eye on the dark clouds gathering behind us, and unfortunately we were still caught out as the most tremendous storm hit, with thunder, lightning and another downpour.   After some minutes we decided to move back to the wood where there would be more cover should another storm hit.   Unfortunately the weather really did have it in for us and as soon as we moved away from the rather limited shelter offered by the tidal defences yet another deluge hit us.

Bee Orchid
After several yards walking in this storm the rain was racing down my legs, through my socks and filling my (previously impervious) walking boots - someone should tell goretex that it is pervious to wicking by socks!

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I tipped what felt like gallons of rain out of my boots, put them back on and still had to walk back with two lead weights of water sloshing around my feet.   As we moved back towards the wood, Malcolm found a sand louse, an amazing creature.   It appeared to be trying to get back up the extremely wet cliff, to we put it back near where we found it, but off the path.  I can find nothing about this creature on the internet - apart from photographs from others who are equally uninformed!   Anyone got any info out there?


We were all soaked and exhausted when we got back to the car park, so nothing else to do but have a cup of tea and celebrate Irene's up-coming birthday with homemade cakes on the seafront.

What a welcome back to blighty!


Tuesday 10 July 2012

Gravesend Canal

A few months ago, some friends and I decided to take part in the Nightingale Survey.   One of the tetrads we were allotted covered part of the Gravesend Canal.   After our initial recce visit we were kindly invited by Brian and his team of volunteers to join them for a walk along the canal, looking for species of avian and non-avian flora along the way, and carrying out an informal survey of the area.

Last week was the first opportunity we had to get together, and although the weather has recently been less than conducive to walks in the country, we were extremely lucky, and the weather held long enough for us to amass a huge number of species.   We met at the car park at the Nuralite site near Higham.

At this time of year the birds are starting to quieten a little, but we did find chiffchaff, blackcap, reed warbler, wren, green woodpecker, long-tailed tit, robin, whitethroat, chaffinch, dunnock, skylark, goldfinch and pied wagtail.    On and over the nearby fields we saw pheasant, grey heron and swift.   The find of the day was hearing a turtle dove, sadly in decline at present.

When we carried out our surveys we also found three nightingale on the site - probably the first three to be found east of London, and heard cuckoo.   We would not expect to hear these two species at this time of year, but hopefully they will have had breeding success this year.

Plants along the first mile or so of the walk were diverse and ensured our progress was slow and productive with water figwort, lesser burdock, hedge woundwort, nipplewort, spear thistle, welted thistle, smooth sowthistle, creeping thistle, common mullien, black mullien, white mullien,  herb robert, hemp agrimony, fleabane, greater willowherb . . .  the list went on and on, over 84 species in all.

The team are working hard to maintain the pathway open for walkers and cyclists (it is part of the Sustran 1 route), whilst also keeping habitat for wildlife - not an easy balancing act at the best of times, but with a limited number of volunteer enthusiasts and little funding, they are doing a great job.

Monday 9 July 2012

Back to School

Surprisingly my latest venture back to school was rather more enjoyable than previous events.   After 6th form I vowed never to darken a school door again, and the only times I have broken that rule is to take swimming lessons (probably the worst combination I can think of . . ), to listen to various talks (usually boring), and to vote (generally making the wrong choice).   So in rather apprehensive mood I joined Malcolm at the local school to carry out a survey of their wildlife area with a group of young natural history enthusiasts.

Overgrown Pond
The youngsters, led by their teacher, helped to map out an area of the school grounds which has had a pond on it for several years.   The idea is that we help them to decide how to renovate the pond so that it can provide an outdoor classroom area for various scientific and geography projects.

As we wandered around the area with the girls we decided what made up the various strategic parts of the garden.      We found a huge area behind trees and hedging which was being mown in the centre but left with broad grassy edges.   An allotment was also being developed with various vegetables and fruits being grown.    Many samples of leaves and flowers were taken which were then scanned and filed for future investigation.   We found two mallows, orchids, caterpillars, snails, many differing trees and shrubs.
Wild space

After a morning of mapping, measuring and photography, the afteroon was spent pond dipping and once again, photographing the species found which included leeches, water-boatmen, beetles, and common newt tadpoles.




Common Newt Tadpole
The plan is to track the pond area initially and then in the next few years work on the rest - hopefully leaving the school to take on this project fully after the initial input from ourselves.

Here's wishing them well






Saturday 7 July 2012

Butterfly Survey

Having been away for over a month it was time to get back into some home-land nature watching.   The invitation to go out looking for White-letter Hairstreak was too tempting to resist.

With just a couple of hours window when good weather was expected it was a close run thing, but with patience and persistence Malcolm Sally and myself managed to find at least four butterflies on and around elm trees at Northward Hill.  

As long as the elms survive the butterflies will hopefully hold on in this local patch for the future.

Thursday 5 July 2012

Just when you thought it was over . . .

Glittering-throated Emerald
Now, would I let you off that easily?    Of course not.   Although my friends had returned to the UK, I had arranged to stay on for a couple more weeks to do some voluntary work on the reserve.

Quite what this was going to involve I was not sure, but the idea was to put something back to a project that had found it's way into my heart and become extremely important to me over the last six years or so.   Apologies to all those who have to put up with me going on and on about how great this place is - blame Phil for introducing me to it in the first place!

Armed with Nicholas' SLR camera, I decided that some serious photography was called for - unfortunately whilst the mind is willing the ability does not quite keep pace, so apologies for the dodgy photos.

The largest moth seen this year at 7 inches across
As with all my stays we had been running a daily moth trap, so that had to continue and each morning was spent taking photographs to add to the reserve data base of species seen and then moving all the moths before the birds came in for a free takeaway!   Southern House Wren and Kiskadee seemed to be the most persistent offenders, although I managed to beat them most times.

We did have a few hawkmoths, but a lot less than previous years - probably down to the cold evenings and the increasing moon.

Red-eyed Thornbird
The other interesting development to plot was a human activity and the building of the new "Sunset Viewing Platform".   This is being erected just below the Lodge at canopy height so that you will get a superb overview of the wetland, with the cattle egrets coming into roost at eye-level.   It looks as if it will be a fantastic spot to watch the sunsetting over the mountains and enjoy a Caipirinha.  Each day I watched as Rui and his team built the height of the concrete pillars, all by hand and with great attention to detail, it won't be long before it's completed - can't wait to test it out next year.


My main responsibilities were to ensure that the guests staying at the lodge had a great time - not really that hard given the venue!   But there are times when expectations need to be managed and changes to itineraries made at the last minute.   Having the Rio +20 Conference didn't help with our Airport transfers - the usual 1hr 45 mins transfer took anything up to 4 hours on some occasions.

On other days I was able to either join birding groups on their off-site visits or take new visitors on a recce around the wetland.   There were a couple of new bird watching sites to view and evaluate and trails to walk.   Hard work, as I am sure you can tell.
Handsome Frog

The area for biggest impact was in the lodge where we had already had some good ideas to improve the library area and provide extra facilities for the guests.   This involved a trip to Nova Friburgo for some furniture.   Shopping in Brazil is an amazing experience, the easy part is making the decision to buy, then comes the need for extreme patience as there is paperwork to complete, federal and state tax papers to complete and then the payment - usually in cash - which needs three members of staff and a cast of thousands to sort out.   One settee took over an hour to order (not to mention the three hours it took to find!).   All in all, though, a great day out where Raquel and I had a great time around the shops - lunch was good too - thank you Nicholas.
An area highlighted for re-forestation in the future

So, a big "Thank You" to all the team at Regua who made it possible for me to have such a great experience and without whom this fragile environment would not continue to improve and flourish.

Can't wait to go back . . . . . .