...well...mostly wrong....
A visit to Sheppey today so arrived at the raptor viewing point at 0700 as the light was getting light enough to see things....on the way along Harty Ferry Road I had moved a Barn Owl off a fence post....two more were at the viewing point.....
Initially there was a decided lack of Harrier activity....eventually some Marsh Harriers appeared and a Kestrel obliged. A Buzzard was sitting on a post at some distance....this would constitute my four raptors for the day! Being repeated several times over. This reflects back to my last post....at Whetsted this would have been a good raptor day....at Sheppey its not really....!
Whilst there I met the 'Owl Man' who spends many hours, mostly in the dark, looking for Short Eared Owl. He informed me there was plenty around though just about all but one or two were 'night time birds'.....
I also had my one new bird for the year list....Red-legged Partridge....and I saw quite a number of them here and at the farm near the church.
Plenty of smaller birds were milling around, Chaffinches in good numbers, Goldfinch, Pied Wagtails, Stonechats...a Cettis Warbler sang occasionally.
Eventually I moved on to the reserve where I was told how quiet it had been. Not really the news you want to hear having just got there....doh! Never mind.
I meandered to the sea wall hide...plenty of Reed Buntings, Meadow Pipits and Skylark keeping me company.
It was indeed quiet, with occasional Marsh Harrier activity.....when I reached the hide a few Greylag Geese were present....I waited for a while and was rewarded with the splendid site of about 150 White-fronted Geese coming to land....
I returned to the viewpoint to learn that the SEO had been seen at the Leysdown end....so I drove round but couldn't find it...though it did allow me to add Turnstone to the day list.
A bonus bird on the way home was my 3rd Red Kite of the year....located just north of East Peckham...
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