Monday 10th. June 2013

An early morning email scuppered my plans for today , and with another cloudy day in prospect , I decided to head for Elmley on the Isle of Sheppey , the RSPB prefix having now been removed from the reserve sign . I started down the track as usual with both windows open and my first thought was ' is this really Summer ?' , as a cool wind blew in , and although I had thrown in a light fleece , which was quickly donned , I wish I had made it the quilted Winter one . Taking Starlings out of the

equation , there wasn't that much to see . A few Lapwing , and the odd Redshank then a mini flock of Little Egret , as they flew up from one ditch , looking as if there was an argument going on , and

settling back down in another ditch , but this time more spread out . On the track itself , a few

Skylarks were taking dust baths , one actually singing as it did so . But none let me get too close , if I

did so , they were off . The best species on the track was a male Yellow Wagtail , with head down and looking as if he was wishing that he hadn't bothered making the journey , and I knew exactly

what he meant . In the area of the two bends before the car park , there was an amazing number of Swifts feeding overhead , and there were plenty of insects for them . Every time I stopped the car , it was engulfed by a swarm of them . The grass is too long now to spot any Hares , but I'm sure they were watching me go past . I was the only car in the car park , which tells it's own story , and a usually busy area was very subdued , with just a couple of Swallow overhead , more Starlings and a

 pair of House Sparrows feeding their young in the communal nest box . Given that the tide was out as I crossed the bridge , I decided not to go down to the hides , so headed back down the track , seeing a single Marsh Harrier on the way . No Yellow Wagtail on the return , but heard one in the grass alongside . Reaching the newly installed 'predator control gate' , I found a male Kestrel using it

as a perch . The new gate is positioned on one of the cattle grids , and reading the notice , will be closed between dusk and dawn . with a fence either side in the middle of the ditch , it looks quite formidable defence against foxes , which I assume is the object , as long as the fox leaves before dusk of course . A pair of Oystercatchers were looking interested in an area , just inside the new 'secure

zone' , let's hope it works . A pair of Shellduck obviously hadn't read the notice , as they seemed to be

interested in an area , on the other side of the ditch . Lots of young rabbits about , especially around

the entrance , where I also saw this animal . It might be just the way it was sitting , and I never saw

it's hind legs , but it just looked wrong for rabbit at the time , and I wondered if it could be a leveret , a young hare , as I have never seen one before . Any thoughts ?
I moved on to have a look at the beach at Leysdown , but the tide was almost right in , so I headed back towards the raptor viewpoint at Capel Fleet . On the way , at the bend in the road , two Mute

Swans were showing off their single offspring , and keeping everything well away . 5-7 is the usual brood , so perhaps their nest was predated . From the viewpoint , I watched a male Marsh Harrier

flying backwards and forwards with sticks for it's nest . I thought he was doing a good job , but on one occasion when he returned , the female came hurtling up at him and flew off , leaving him at the

nest . Ten minutes later , she reappeared . Obviously size isn't everything in the Marsh Harrier world , or was it just a case of the 'wrong sort of stick' . The sky did lighten a bit , but the sun never came out , nor did that wind drop . When I got home , Carol was complaining of lack of wind to dry her washing , funny old world .