Sheppey...the return...thsi time....armed with DH....lets just say....it was cold....but at least it wasnt too windy....
A slow drive down the hill provided plenty of Fieldfares and a few Redwing....always entertaining....
A stop on the corner as usual...on the way to the raptor viewing point....spent a fruitful 20-30 minutes here....good for ducks on the water and always near for good views....picked up a few species whilst standing there, Raven always good to get...best result was a Whooper Swan flying in to land on the water....result indeed!!
On to the raptor viewing point.....the usual suspects located....Marsh Harrier, Buzzard, Kestrel....and a few small birds flying through....
At Mocketts there is a definite lack of finches, though we did manage to pick up Siskin....the place has been tidied and very little food dropped as it has been in past years....mostly just Chaffinch and House Sparrows.....theres a fine view across the Swale Nature Reserve from the farm and a good place to try to get Hen Harrier.....so we spent quite some time waiting and ticking off a few more species....thankfully a marvelous male Hen Harrier appeared swooping away from us, across the field and to the next one where it was joined by....another male Hen Harrier....we watched as they fle off to our left and out of site...what a treat!!....a short wait provided a number of geese flying on to the reserve....looking through them we eventually found 2 White-fronted Geese....there is usually a big flock but this winter very few birds have turned up.....
A bit of time spent down by the shooting club looking for waders again provided lots of thrushes and several wader species...
Then....off to Elmley...
A grand couple of hours was psent driving slowly in to the reserve...Short-eared Owl..
....luckily they owls did come much closer...
.....then having a look round the school house area....Barn Owl one side, Short-eared Owl the other, lucky to watch the Barn Owl catch some prey only for a Kestrel to bully it in to giving it up...
....in the car park good views were to be had of Long-eared Owl....on the way out Shorties were not really playing....but over all a great visit....
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