Tuesday 20th. September 2011

This morning , I ran Carol down to a friend's at Ashford , and after the visit , offered Carol a detour off the motorway on the way back , which she accepted . Half an hour later , we were pulling into the car park at Oare Marshes , a Kent Wildlife Trust reserve near Faversham . Quite cloudy conditions with occasional sunny spells with a strong breeze were the order of the day . I happened to look in the back of the car , and found my camera bag and binoculars , so whilst Carol got stuck into her book , which just happened to be in the car as well , I set off to see what was about .
From the small number of cars around , it was obvious that the Long-billed Dowitcher wasn't around , but given that it was still some time till high tide , there were quite a few waders on the

flood .The majority turned out to be Black-tailed Godwits , some still showing their summer plumage like the one in front , and many sporting their drab , by comparison winter plumage . Some were

feeding like the two above , but the majority formed a large flock , sheltering on the leeward side of one of the islands on the flood . Large numbers of Lapwing and a few Redshank were also seen ,

along witha few Ruff , the one pictured I believe is a juvenile . Just a few Avocets , busily feeding all

 the time , but probably many more were out on the Swale , frantically feeding , before the rising tide stopped the feast . At least 10 Little Egrets , a couple of Grey Heron , a Cetti's Warbler calling from the bushes between the car park and the sea wall , a distant view of a Marsh Harrier and a couple of Curlew flying along the water line near the Swale hide all added interest .Near the East Hide , it was

good to see , and hear , a good sized flock of House Sparrows , some of which pictured here . By far the largest numbers in the air , were several large flocks of Starlings , nosily swirling around before all landing together for a short while before all taking off again together . It was in one of those brief

sessions on the ground , that I spotted this unusual light brown , almost beige coloured individual .

Several Cormorants were roosting on the islands , and the odd one gave a fly past over the road . also over head was a constant stream of Swallows and House Martins , all battling against that strong breeze . Coot , Moorhen , Pied Wagtail and Little Grebe were seen and probably several other species went undetected ,due to the noise of the breeze , especially near the reedbeds in areas out in the open , and no sign of a Yellow Wagtail or Wheatear , which I hoped might have turned up . Very

little colour to be found apart from Haws and Rosehips , but the odd stand of Golden Samphire / Inula crithmoides did it's best to cheer things up , but eventually , heavy grey clouds rolled in , and it was time to head back home .