Spring in the Stour Valley

 A fairly productive couple of weeks at Stodmarsh with the first arrival of migrants, accompanied with some half decent Spring weather. Four Garganey were seen on the pool in front of the Reed bed hide at the Stodmarsh end of the reserve with another pair seen at the Marsh hide and a single Drake on the Oxbow although the Marsh hide and the Oxbow birds could be part of the four at the Reed bed hide.

There is a lot of Bittern activity around the reserve at the moment with three booming males that I have heard and several sightings as they take to flight to get to another part of the reed bed.

Other bits caught with the camera include a drake Garganey flying into the Feast hide pool at Grove

Little Grebes, also on the pool in front of the Feast hide

A fairly low Common Buzzard by the metal bridge on the way down to the Marsh hide from the Grove end

and finally, Marsh Harriers, with a pair nest building in the reed bed both from the Reed bed hide and the Feast hide, giving superb photo opportunities.

Kentish Coastal Peregrine Falcons

 A few stops along the east Kent coast line recently, searching for Peregrine Falcons. I found a few but they were mostly static, perched up along the cliff face enjoying the early Spring sunshine.

There were plenty of singing Skylarks and Corn Buntings, also enjoying the morning sunshine, hopefully a sign of better conditions in the near future.

Skylark

Corn Bunting

Oare Marshes for a change

A visit to Oare Marshes and the first for a while (02/03/25) was cut short due to a thick sea mist rolling in from the Swale and limiting the view out over the East flood. A Barn Owl was seen quartering the Western side of the reserve on arrival and there was at least 20 Pintails on the East flood.

Drake Pintail on the Eastern flood before the mist rolled in

Female Pintail

A solitary Spoonbill, a juvenile, slept for mostly all of my visit but awoke and took flight, crossing the Swale and touching down on the Sheppey side by the Harty ferry pub.

A few recent photos from Stodmarsh

 A few photos from Stodmarsh and Grove ferry over the past few weeks whilst awaiting the influx of arriving migrants which will not be long now.

White-fronted Goose

Gadwall

Teal

Tufted Duck

Marsh Harrier

Bullfinch

Sandwich Bay's Owls.

I have paid a couple of visits to Sandwich Bay over the past two weeks, trying to coincide my visits with some decent weather which has proved a little difficult with the constant dull weather patterns of late. I did manage a few images of both Short-eared and Barn Owl but although I never got any worthwhile images, the highlight for me was connecting with the three visiting Serin's, on both of my visits, that were favouring an area just short of the new hide on the Restharrow scrape. There was mention of there being 4 Serin's present but I only saw 3 at any one given time. Chatted with a few visiting birders that I have not seen for a while whilst watching for the Serin's before joining the Owl fest a little way along the Ancient Highway by Dickson's corner. I have to say, there is one Short-eared Owl in particular that has a liking for the rough grassland around the cattle feeding trough by the entrance gate to the path up to Sandilands and puts on a super show for the gathered photographers that all seem to be filling their boots with Owl images. A more obliging Short-eared Owl I have yet to see. 

A Barn Owl appeared quartering the same grassy field that the Short-eared Owl was favouring and although the Barn Owl kept it's distance, the light had now improved and allowed for a few images albeit with a large crop.

A young Sparrowhawk landed on a fence post alongside the Sandilands track whilst I was waiting for the Owls to put in an appearance, a Sandwich Bay regular I gather.

A stroll around Godmersham Park

A few trips to Godmersham park over the past couple of weeks resulted in some good birds albeit a little difficult to pin down through the camera view finder. The reason for going was to try and get a few Hawfinch sightings, which I did but they on all occasions were high up in the tree tops and only present for a few seconds before moving on.  

There was a pair of Grey Wagtails seen on the church roof and the Little Owl was seen hidden away in a distant tree looking over the church wall boundary.

A walk up to the feeders along the track behind the estate was fairly successful, seeing at least 5 Red Kites, 20 plus Common Buzzards with 14 seen in one kettle, high above the A28 and at least 3 and probably a few more Tree Sparrows making use of the seed put out by the local farmer. There was a single female Brambling seen but I was not quick enough with the camera but at least half a dozen Yellowhammers were a lot more obliging. Another pair of Little Owls were heard calling to each other but unseen.

Red Kite

Yellowhammer

A great place to spend a few hours in the Kentish countryside.