Saturday 24th. November 2012

Before getting absolutely soaked whilst hedgelaying today , I took advantage of yesterday's dryer weather , and headed off for the Isle of Sheppey .
Arriving at RSPB Elmley in still cloudy conditions , but with the hope of better to come , I started the track from the road to the car park . From the start , it was obvious that it was going to be hard going , with very few species other than Lapwing , Starling and Mute Swan being found . By the time I reached the car park , apart from the odd Corvid and Gull , just a small flock of Curlew , a few Meadow Pipits , and a flock of Linnet  was all that was added . Pied Wagtail in the car park and small numbers of Wigeon and Teal on the pool behind , and that was it . Until a male Marsh Harrier

appeared from nowhere and put everything up . Just Goldfinch and House Sparrows around the feeders in the orchard made my decision not to walk the mile or so to the hides , so I returned back down the track , finding nothing different , but added a female Marsh Harrier in the distance , in front of the new bridge . My next stop was Harty Ferry Road and the raptor viewpoint , which turned out to be just as quiet apart from a single Kestrel and a Grey Heron flushed from the roadside ditch . I decided to head down to the Ferry Inn , in the hope of finding something of interest . Along the lane I found a small covey of Red-legged Partridge and slowed , but at the same time a van wanted by , and

that flushed the group , but I managed a shot of some of them in the roadside field before they took flight for good . The odd Winter Thrush , mainly Fieldfares , flew out from the heavily ladened Hawthorn bushes as I passed , making themselves almost un-photographable , if there is such a

word , but a bit further down I found three , sitting , digesting their last foray onto the bushes . Apart from lots of Woodpigeon , the trip to the Inn and back to the raptor viewpoint was hardly exciting . Between the viewpoint and the corner at Capel Fleet , a dark raptor was seen approaching from the right , but , once again , I had a vehicle behind and needed a layby to let it pass . By the time I did so , the bird was heading into the distance and I had all the camera settings wrong , but am posting a very

bad shot of the Common Buzzard to show a very hearty breakfast has obviously been had . A look at the front at Leysdown , with the tide already well out , showed the usual good number of Oystercatcher , a few Curlew and mixed Gulls feeding . The track down towards Shellness has been patched up with road planings , but with all the recent rain , there is still plenty of standing water to negotiate to get to the car park at the end . Having reached the car park , very little had been seen ,

but in the bushes nearby , House Sparrows , Reed Buntings ( male pictured ) and Goldfinches , vied for the best perches after bathing in the plentiful puddles . The return trip was equally quiet , apart from several Meadow Pipits on the wires , Corvids on almost every fence post and another flock of

Linnets in the stubble fields . On the local football pitch , one of the Curlew decided to feed there rather than down on the mud , whilst down on the front , the local Pied Wagtails were hanging around

for any bits and pieces that might have been dropped by passers by . I next went to see if I could locate the small flock of Waxwings that were reported the day before around the creek at Lower Halstow , not too far from the new bridge over to Sheppey . Not only did I not find the Waxwings , I didn't even find Lower Halstow , mainly due to road closures , so I gave up and headed the short distance back to Elmley for a return visit before heading home . Unfortunately the track to the car park was even quieter than in the morning and with no cars parked , once again I did not walk down to the hides . Heading back down the track , a flock of small birds landed in the two bushes ,

halfway to the first gate , but flew off as I approached , that was all but one , who was prepared to pose in the afternoon sunshine , a winter plumage cock Linnet , showing a 'lark-like' rear toe , but he too flew off with the approach of a tractor and trailer full of cattle coming along the track . No more

than 20 metres further on , I was stopping again to photograph a very colourful Fox , just the other

side of the ditch . It took no notice of me or the camera , but , when a second tractor and trailer appeared , I had to move , and so did the Fox . My last shot , just before reaching the road , was a

Starling , looking very smart with the now low sun catching it's plumage .