Cranes at Stodmarsh

After a report on social media that two Common Cranes were seen landing in the vicinity of the Marsh hide at Stodmarsh late afternoon, (07/04/26) I ventured down in the dark early the following morning, guessing that they would have probably roosted over night in the Marsh hide area. The two Cranes were still there, always distant and trying to get any worthwhile images proved to be very difficult given a thick blanket of mist was hanging over the marsh and the birds being out on the edge of the back pool, which is at least 100 metres away from our vantage point in the hide.

Very early morning through the thick mist

Eventually, the mist lifted and although still distant, a chance for some slightly better images to record the occasion.

After the mist lifted and a mating session between the two Cranes taking place, the birds both took off and headed off down the river Stour in the direction of Sandwich.

Well worth the early morning walk navigating the extremely deep rutted path down to the Marsh hide in darkness.

A recently watched Firecrest.

Nice when scanning Conifers and coming across a Firecrest chasing insects. It had the courtesy to come out onto the outer branches and posed for a few quick photos.

 

A New Stour Valley Tick

 Scanning the ducks on the water in front of the Reed bed hide on the morning of  the 29th (March 2026), I came across a female Red-crested Pochard keeping company with 5 Common Pochards. This is a new Stour Valley bird for me so well worth the visit. It swam around the pool before all of the Pochards took flight and headed west towards Collards.

Kent's coastal Peregrine's.

 Several pairs of Peregrines have been seen along the East Kent coastal line with one particular pair seemingly very obliging, seen perched along the cliff face on a few favoured perches and out over the sea showing off their aerial agility. All good fun with the camera trying to catch them in close and free of the seaward facing sun which given the location, is always a problem with this species. 

An obliging Black Redstart

 It's been a while, what with the weather and other events taking up my time but the sun now seems to want to shine, albeit still not regularly, so a few trips out have occurred. I came across an obliging Black Redstart, a male, that was seen catching flies on the rocks just below the towers at Reculver on the 5th of March 2026.

Merry Christmas

 Taken (without the snow) from the viewing ramp at Grove Ferry on December 30th 2008.

Merry Christmas.

A Dusky Warbler at Westbrook

 For a notoriously skulking little visitor from Siberia, the Dusky Warbler found at Westbrook near to Margate on the 8th of November, staying until the 12th, proved to be the most confiding Dusky Warbler I have seen. It had taken a liking to the scrub found below the cliff under the Sunken Gardens at Westbrook and could often be seen foraging for insects on the floor and in and around the coastal vegetation. As is usually the norm with these visiting Warbler types from the far east, they normally only offer fleeting glimpses as they work through bushes and vegetation in search of food but this one afforded superb views on several occasions and was often out in the open allowing the visiting paps to get some reasonable images. Indeed, it made a welcome change to actually get the head and tail of  of a Dusky Warbler together in the same frame.

Being so close to home I visited on a few occasions.

The local Male resident Kestrel often put on a show whilst watching the Dusky Warbler.

Pallid Swifts

 A couple of Pallid Swifts had been reported on Thanet, favouring the area between the Captain Digby at Joss Bay and the pumping station at Foreness (07/11/25). Although conditions were not favourable for photographing Swifts, i.e overcast grey skies with a small amount of drizzle throughout my stay, the one bird I saw, spent most of the day along the cliff top and was very close at times, allowing for a few reasonable record shots to mark the occasion.

It was actually quite a good session with a Drake and Duck Eider and a Yellow-legged Gull seen along the shore line below us, two Short-eared Owls and a female Hen Harrier in off the sea and three Black Redstarts along the cliff top fence line between Botany Bay and The Captain Digby.

Drake Eider

The next day (08/11/25) the weather was the complete opposite. Clear blue skies with just a gentle breeze. I retraced my footsteps and although this time there were two Pallid Swift's on show, unfortunately, they both remained distant over the housing estate behind the Botany hotel and were very high up. No images in spite of the better weather conditions but that is sometimes typical with this scenario. Poor weather and the bird dances about in front of your lens, much better conditions and the bird remains distant. I did take advantage of the sunshine and captured a few photos of the seemingly plentiful Stonechats in the area. Only one Black Redstart on the frontage of a house but thought better of pointing the lens in it's direction.

Stonechat (Male)

Stonechat (Female)

A Wren on the Rocks

 A Wren on the rocks at Reculver.

Spot the Crake

At the beginning of October, a very confiding Spotted Crake turned up on one of the small dragonfly pools between the Sandwich Bay bird observatory and the Restharrow scrape. it took a little while of waiting but eventually the bird came out into the open, foraging for food in amongst the pool vegetation. It was nice to see these normally shy birds at such close quarters, out in the open and under some warm  Autumnal sunshine.

I returned a few days later to find the Crake still on the pool and was able to get a few more images, this time without the overhead sunshine.

I called into the hide on the Restharrow scrape before returning to the obs car park and a Little Stint was feeding on one of the nearer islands. 

A very worthwhile couple of trips to the Bay.