When I arrived on site there was Andy (Kent Birding Facebook)....within a few minutes there were good numbers of finches....many Chaffinches....but occasionally one or two Brambling would mingle with them....they were quite fidgety and flighty compared to the Chaffinches that would sit for reasonable periods...we remained there for some time as they would come and go quite regularly and at one point there was a group of 6 Brambling sitting in one of the Beech trees a short distance away....excellent....a nice bird to get on the list...hard to estimate the total number present as they were flighty and came along in small numbers....at least 12 if not 20+....
We meandered to the nearby church and searched the grounds for the Owl of Littleness....but failed...though it was seen later apparently....
Finally, Andy found a couple of Waxwing in the local Medical Centre car park....and quite the opposite to the Brambling...they were happy to sit tight whilst we danced around the tree finding the right camera angle....
Waxwings....
We hadn't been there for more than a couple of minutes when a Red Kite gave spectacular views as it passed overhead very low....what a grand visit to Harrietsham!!
Having spent longer than I was expecting there, no complaints!, I decided to head for Whetsted to do a quick visit....
The melted snow has made 'the puddles'
very much back in to 'the puddles'...
1130 - 1330 Overcast, cold, light rain NW f2-3
Again very few passerines to speak of to be found....so I concentrated mainly on the water and decided to do a count..
66 Greylag Geese, 57 Tufted Duck, 6 Great Crested Grebe, 9 Cormorant, 78 Coot, 61 Shoveler (probably the most I have seen here), 2 Grey Heron, 56 Black-headed Gull, 2 Common Gull, 1 Herring Gull, 93 Gadwall, 27 Pochard (the most I have seen here), 6 Little Grebe, 8 Wigeon, 1 Goldeneye (male), 3 Mute Swan, 1 Snipe, 7 Teal.
No comments:
Post a Comment