Saturday, 4 January 2020

Sheppey visit

0740 - 1630 chilly to cold, clear to cloudy/overcast, W-SW f1-3

A full day on Sheppey....has to be done this time of year with whats on offer...or potentially on offer as its hard to get it all done and be everywhere for out and in to roost for some birds....especially when you miss them....

A great days birding though starting at Funton in hope of the Rough-legged Buzzard....lucked out though a couple of Buzzards went out from roost the light wasn't brilliant and they were silhouttes without colour....it wasn't a waste of time though as the tide was beginning to drop and there were plenty of other birds to see....

Curlew, Brent Geese, Shelduck, Wren, Wigeon, Chaffinch, Cormorant, Green Woodpecker, Redshank, Marsh Harrier, Blackbird, Woodpigeon, Stock Dove, Great Tit, Teal, Magpie, Buzzard, Pied Wagtail, Dunlin, Common Gull, Oystercatcher...a highlight here was 4 Ravens....Mute Swan, Mallard, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, Black-headed Gull, Black-tailed Godwit.....

Off to Elmley….by now everyone knows that it holds 3 Long-eared Owls roosting near the car park....DH and I ended up taking the morning visit choice due to likely numbers of people present, arriving early meant fewer...whereas the later pm visit would have been crowded (car park reported as full yesterday afternoon!) though of course this would have also provided Short-eared Owl hunting in the nearby fields....still, I would rather give the whole 'big crowd' thing a miss......

Long-eared Owl, Stonechat, Starling, Goldfinch, Moorhen, Skylark, Great Black-backed Gull....bird of the moment here though was a Merlin perched on the far side of the field from the Owl roost.....

Long-eared Owl

.....the Owls are a given here, Merlins are more elusive and we met several people searching for them during the day....

On to Harty Ferry Road.....we stopped as usual just past the farm in the tight layby to take advantage of the higher view across the fleet.....the usual place to find a good number of Swans....and indeed Swans we found...but they were soooooooooooo distant....DH and I decided to pop over to Greenwich to see if we could borrow one of their Telescopes...even then it was a big ask to identify what was there....no....actually what we decided to do was drive down to Capel corner and walk along the footpath/bridleway a little way.....this paid great dividends, we passed the bale stack and had much better views...we could finally make out the 2 Bewicks Swans amongst the Mutes....

….yesterday it had been reported that the 5 Pink-footed Geese were located with the Swans....we found 5 geese and im reasonably sure they were the Pink-foots....being a bit closer some of the markings were easier to detect....but....still...they were in quite long grass so definitely no feet to be seen!....we decided that it wasn't really viable to count them...a shame....but you have to be true to yourself rather than just bang out the numbers....

Bewicks Swan, Kestrel, Meadow Pipit, Fieldfare, Little Egret, Rook, Feral Pigeon....

Along at the raptor viewpoint we learned that 2 Hen Harriers had been seen hunting along the distant brighter yellow field....we scanned for some time but didn't find one....there were plenty of Marsh Harrier action...wonderful birds to see singularly, in numbers they are quite the spectacle....we also found a dead Barn Owl, which I don't think I will be counting....

Linnet, Cettis Warbler.....

And so to 'the walk'....from Harty Church we headed out to the sea wall hide on the NNR....and its a good walk....and a long walk...one I personally find mostly pointless....many of the birds can be found elsewhere for less energy expended...on one side the sea with a vast swathe of salt marsh, making anything on the water tiny....on the land side theres usually little to see...in my opinion...for the distance travelled....im not against a walk but there has to be repayment (birds)….so if there hadn't been an adequate reward I wouldn't have bothered....an excellent Bean Goose...

Bean Goose, White-fronted Goose, Greylag Goose, Jackdaw





above pictures.....Bean, White-fronted, Greylag, Brent

We stopped at the Harty Ferry Inn...not for refreshment but its a good place to park by the Clay Pigeon Shooting hut, theres a small grass area that provides great views across the Swale to Oare Marshes (a great reserve in itself)….we added a few more species mostly along the shore and out on the mud/sand bar....

Ringed Plover, Grey Plover, Golden Plover, Knot, Red-legged Partridge....

We stopped at the viewpoint again but didn't find anything new....though on the way there we found 2 Collared Doves....

Time was ticking away....so we went off to find a roost and hope.....to see the 'must see bird' of the island over the winter period.....

Hen Harrier.....

Sunset....

….back to the car to head for home but one last bird that hadn't made it to the list for the day was by the car waiting for us....

Robin

57 for the day isn't too bad....

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