Thursday 14th. November 2013

Despite having jobs to do around the house and garden , the sunshine and blue skies yesterday were enough to leave them for another day and head off for Elmley Reserve on the Isle of Sheppey . As I started down the track , ice on the ditches and scrapes was just starting to give up it's hold as the warmth of the sun could begin to be felt . A pair of Mute Swan and a juvenile were helping the

process in the first ditch and nearby a pair of Skylark were busily searching for their breakfast . A group of Lapwing , still huddled together , a distant Marsh Harrier , the first of several seen on the

day , a couple of distant Little Egret and a Grey Heron getting a better view of the area , were all that was seen until I approached the two bends before the car park . From a distance I could see a large bird on the fence post at the second bend , and hoping for a raptor , slowly moved closer . But the

raptor turned out to be a cock Pheasant , which held it's ground till I was quite close . The belt of sunflowers , now gone to seed and general weeds along the right hand side of the track towards the car park was holding a good mix of small birds , avidly feeding . They included Goldfinch ,

Chaffinch , Reed Bunting , Yellowhammer and Greenfinch , and probably a couple more unseen species too . Arriving at the car park with just Starlings , House Sparrows and Pied Wagtails about , a look out from the back of the toilet block found the scrape dominated by Teal , a single Lt.Egret and

a few BTGodwit , still to rouse from their slumber . In the nearby Oaks , one of the Barn Owls was

still in similar mode . Having seen that the tide was full as I crossed the bridge onto the island , I decided to return down the track and check out Leysdown and Shellness before the falling tide reduced any birds to mere specks at the waters edge . On the way back down the track , I did manage

a quick couple of shots of a female Marsh Harrier , when she settled briefly on a gate post , a single

Reed Bunting in one of the few trees by the track side , and , although a common bird , couldn't resist

snapping a Lapwing , especially as I was better positioned for the sun . Further down the track ,

another Marsh Harrier sighting , this time a male . The front at Leysdown towards the Shellness track only held the usual BHGulls , so I headed down the rough track , hoping for a SEOwl or even a RLBuzzard . Unfortunately my hopes were not fulfilled as just Corvids and Gulls were seen along it's length . Reaching the car park at the end , mine was the only car there , so I knew there wasn't a rarity

about . On the beach in front of the hamlet in warm conditions , just a few Turnstones feeding amongst the outgoing tide . As I made my way towards the end of the hamlet , good numbers of Oystercatchers were flying noisily right to left along the beach , no doubt heading to their feeding

grounds that were becoming available . Some came past in small groups , some in long drawn out

groups . By the time I got to the point and looked right towards the mouth of The Swale , I could see a large roost of the birds on the shingle beach in the distance , and the groups leaving the roost at regular intervals . Difficult to identify species on the water line there because of the distance , but mainly because the low sun was directly behind , but did pick out just two Brent Geese . No hoped for SEOwl over the saltings , just Curlew , Gulls and two more Lt.Egrets . As I returned on the

saltings side of the hamlet , a Pipit flew up and perched on a post . It was bulkier and darker than a Meadow , and my thoughts at the time were for Water , but the lack of the prominent eyebrow leaves me unsure . The return along the rough track was uneventful , but a look around the Grey Barn area

produced a very noisy House Sparrow colony , which is always nice to hear . From Leysdown I made my way to Capel Fleet and Harty Ferry . A couple of long distance Marsh Harrier sightings and lots of Starlings but not much else until a Green Sandpiper flew out of the recently cleared roadside ditch , just before the Raptor Viewpoint . About 12/15 Red-legged Partridge scurried away as I passed one field gate on the way down to the Ferryboat Inn , and slipway beyond produced a large number of Shellduck in the distance to the left , a few Redshank and a couple of Curlew , the

latter departing low over the water , whilst still at distance under an already milky looking sun , and a small flock of Dunlin , constantly on the move near the water's edge . As I returned to the Inn , a juvenile Common Buzzard , reminding me very much of the one that over-wintered locally last year ,

sat on a distant fence post , whilst rabbits ran around in the field in front . I remember the only food that the local one was interested in last Winter , was worms , perhaps this one was the same . Heading away from the Inn , a male Kestrel played 'catch-me-if-you-can' , flying from one telegraph post to the next , just as I poked the camera out of the window . Eventually , I did manage to get a couple of

shots , surprising him as I slowly rounded a bend . A few more Reed , but no Corn Buntings on the wires on the way back to the Fleet , but another couple of Marsh Harrier sightings and a female

Kestrel did show up in the fading sunlight and cooling temperature . Just after cresting Capel hill I spotted a bird on top of a telegraph pole , which through binoculars turned out to be a Little Owl . I approached slowly with camera ready , and as I stopped , it flew off . I parked up in a nearby field entrance for 10 minutes , but it didn't return to the post .
Two unusual sightings , both at Harty , a Migrant Hawker and a butterfly , probably a Peacock but not sure as it flew right out of the sun and disappeared into a hedge .