Lucky? Disorganised? I'll leave you to decide. A request from Paul for us to go to Oare last Wednesday coupled with a meeting there with my local RSPB Group meant that I had the delights of this KWT site twice in four days.
Always good value, but even I struggled to find enough to make two separate blogs, but here goes.
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Knot with Redshank, Black-tailed Godwit,
Dunlin and Greenshank |
We saw Black-tailed Godwit, Swallow, Wood Pigeon, Little Egret and Grey Heron before we had got to the car park. After Malcolm, Sally, Irene and I had met up Paul and Gill we decided to do the usual circuit starting from the slipway. On the mud there were large numbers of Black-headed Gull and a further scan of the slipway revealed four Curlew, a couple of Whimbrel, two Turnstone, two Little Egret and 22 Ringed Plover.
Cormorant flew over the Swale towards the scrape, then our attention was taken by a small bird which flew into a nearby bush. We had a female Wheatear, a lovely clean bird looking very smart and ready for her long journey south. We all had great views in the telescopes before it was time to move on.
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| Gatekeeper |
In the reeds along the sea wall were several Bearded Tit, we could hear them "pinging" from within the reeds, and after waiting patiently we were rewarded with several fleeting views. It appeared to be a family party with lots of contact calls enabling them to keep in touch. Although it was windy, it seemed that the juveniles were practising their flight skills taking long forays across the reeds but staying within range of the adults.
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| Golden Plover |
From the hide at the end of the creek were the usual Avocet group, joined today by a few Oystercatchers.
As we moved up the creek, a Skylark was spotted on the track ahead of us. Three Yellow Wagtails were feeding along the edge of the creek in the marsh plants and sea lavender.
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| Ruff |
From the hide overlooking the scrape there were several Greenshank, many Redshank, a huge flock of Golden Plover (over 100), some Dunlin, a lovely Knot still with some summer plumage showing and Common Sandpiper. Ruff completed our wader list, one of them bearing some colour rings and a flag, which have been reported in to the relevant authorities.
We also added Moorhen, Coot, Mallard, a male eclipse Wigeon, a couple of Teal and a Garganey. The latter was not in anywhere near full plumage, and actually flew off before all of us managed to see it well enough to identify. Malcolm got the best views, I managed to spot it just before it flew, and there were some white markings on the head, but not the usual handsome plumage we would prefer.
Goldfinch flocks flew overhead, with their lovely tinkling calls. Green Woodpecker, Pheasant, Stock Dove, House Sparrow, Greenfinch, Linnet, Kestrel and Greylag Geese completed our day's list.
So back at Oare in a couple of days - let's see if it is any different . . . .
