Wednesday 7th. September 2011

It seemed again that the morning was going to be the better part of the day , so after breakfast I headed for Bough Beech reservoir , a Kent Wildlife Trust site , near Ide Hill .Just one car was parked along the causeway , so I guessed that the recent bad weather hadn't dropped anything special . I parked up and scanned the North lake with binoculars and very soon found a long legged and billed wader feeding in the shallows . It turned out to be a Black-tailed Godwit , a species

that I personally haven't seen at the site before , and in the same area were at least 8 Green 

Sandpipers , one of which joined the Godwit for breakfast . No sign though of any Common Sandpipers . I was so engaged in watching these waders , that it was some time before I looked over

towards the island and spotted  two Avocets feeding over in front of the island . Soon after , I had my first look over the main reservoir , with the strong wind blowing straight down it from the dam .

There was not a lot to be seen , but it did give an opportunity of a size comparison between a juvenile

Grey Heron and one of the Little Egrets that could be seen around the waters edge . A few Cormorants , Mallard and Teal , Black-headed Gulls , a single Pied Wagtail and a good number of GCGrebes were all the interest that could be found on this side . Moving back to the North Lake and out of the wind a bit , I noticed that the Godwit was no longer where it was feeding , but after a scan 

found it , snoozing on one leg , in the lea of the wind , only to be rudely awakened by a squalking Heron that sent the Godwit into a crazed zig-zag flight , before settling down to start feeding again .

In the meantime , one of the Green Sandpipers came as close to the road as any did whilst I was there . Just a single Kestrel and Corvids hung on the wind , no sign of a passing Osprey , which would have been nice . There was a constant stream of Martins , both Sand and House , coming in over the North Lake , feeding avidly over the water , then heading off South , but I only saw just the odd Swallow amongst them .

To get to Bough Beech , I had to cross the Greensand Ridge , and on my way home , stopped off for a quick look around . The wind was even stronger up on the Ridge , and the sunny intervals were becoming few and far between . The first few sets of refugia lifted failed to produce any reptiles

the only species found were Violet Ground Beetles/Carabus violaceus , like this one . Slowly

things started to improve , with this juvenile being the first of six Grass Snakes found . The only

Adder found , was this large female , that was found with a large Grass Snake , on the edge of a brash pile , left after we cleared the glade a few years ago . I attempted to get a shot of the pair of them , but before I got into position , the Grass Snake shot off , fortunately the Adder moved off slower .

Two Slow Worms were also found , one being this very gravid looking specimen .

Heading back towards the car , across a meadow , two things caught my eye , a very fresh looking

Small Copper of the form aberration caeruleopunctata , having blue spots above the copper band on the hindwing , and several small patches of Tormentil/Potentilla erecta , a member of the Rose

 family . I also found my first Fly Agaric/Amanita muscaria of the year , but unfortunately , someone

 else had already found it , and had most of it for a meal .