September 2008 Sightings
Please email your sightings to Andy Lawson
If you live, or for that matter visit, any site in North or West Kent then I would be delighted to hear from you! Sightings would be appreciated from Sheppey in the North to Dartford & Tunbridge Wells to the West and then back to Maidstone in the East.
Monday 29th September Hartley
Sightings over garden, Hartley An interesting morning, with Sparrowhawk 3, Common Buzzard 1, Crossbill heard calling overhead but not seen, and siskin also heard. Also several skylark, pied wagtail and a party of 5 Jays!
(Linturn Hopkins)
Monday 29th September Haysden
A male Stonechat was new in this morning - also Meadow Pipit, Yellowhammer and Kestrel noted on the way to work today. A knowledgeable dog-walker said he had a couple of Chiffchaff (presumably singing) and lots more Goldcrest than usual.
(Andy Appleton)
Saturday 27th September Crossness
Arrived at high tide today so there was little to show on the river, just a couple of redshanks, teal, great crested grebe, and the usual gulls on show though there was one adult yellow legged gull present. On the marshes the highlight was a common buzzard showing well, both in the trees and circling above the sewage works. Other birds of note included chiffchaff (6+), goldcrest (2), black cap, grey wagtail (2) and a flock of ring neck parakeets.
(P Grin)
Saturday 27th September Haysden
Not a lot - six Tufted Duck and 30 Mute Swan at Barden, one Chiffchaff in the Shallows and four Rook at Hawden. The following day produced a flock of 30 Goldfinches at Haysden, a couple of Chiffchaff and a single Kingfisher.
(Andy Appleton)
Friday 26th September Pembury
A short visit this evening to Hawkwell Farm produced 4 Redwing in one of the orchards, 1 fem Sparrowhawk and c200 House martins of note.
(Josh Jenkins Shaw)
Thursday 25th September Wouldham
Once again all 5 species of raptor were seen from the house this morning, although 'only' 3 Common Buzzard were present today! A visit to Peters Pit reserve produced 2 Wheatear and numerous Chiffchaff, presumably passing through, whilst late in the afternoon there was a second-year Little Gull along the river, the first here since May 2004.
(Ian Shepherd)
Tuesday 23rd September Shellness, Sheppey
These are the results of six pairs of eyes:-
212 Great Skuas, 42 Arctic Skuas,4 Pomarine Skuas [2 ads],4 Sabines
Gulls [all juvs] [these would be different to the one seen at Oare], 1
Kittiwake, 42 Little Gulls, 1 Med. Gull, 162 Gannets, 2 Manx
Shearwaters. 40 Brent Geese and 30 Scoter.
(Dick Elvy)
Monday 22nd September Shellness, Sheppey
I didn't see a great deal moving at Shellness today. Visibility in the
morning was poor and the wind not as strong as I expected. I saw c 60
Gannets, c200 Common Scoters, 7 Brent Geese, 10 Little Gulls[8 ads.],2
Med. Gulls [ads.], 9 Arctic Skuas, 1 Great Skua and 1 Pomarine Skua.
The only passerines were c50 Siskins.
The best thing was at 1430 I saw a very distant falcon swooping and
chasing low over the water, as it got closer I could see that it was a
Merlin and later still that it was trying to catch a Leach's Petrel. The
Petrel avoided all attacks and eventually the falcon gave up and came
in over the Hamlet and the Petrel went back out to sea.
(Dick Elvy)
Sunday 21st September Crossness
A brief walk along the Thames, from the golf club to the sewage works produced the following of note; common sandpiper, grey wagtail, blacktailed godwit (10), redshank (c50), common tern (c20), chiff chaff, linnet (12), teal (too many to count) and a good sized flock of goldfinch (c50).
(P Grin)
Sunday 21st September Dartford
A bit of viz-migging from the garden whilst eating my toast produced a male Yellow Wagtail over, 9 Jackdaws, a couple of invisible groups of Siskin, a few Mipits, a Skylark and a young Hobby.
(Andrew Lawson)
Saturday 20th September Wouldham
Late this morning an hour or so spent at my local raptor watch-point (my bedroom balcony) produced all 5 regular species, including 2-3 Sparrowhawk, single Kestrel and Peregrine, and a Hobby catching dragonflies over the river directly in front of the house. However the main highlight was a group of at least 7 Common Buzzard riding the thermals and performing aerobatics together over the downs west of the valley. In fact I think there may actually have been more than this, but most of the time they were flying relatively low and it was difficult keeping track of them against the background of trees. Anyway this was certainly the largest gathering I have yet seen locally, and spectacular to watch.
Meanwhile, on the river shore, an adult Yellow-legged Gull spent half an hour or more trying to swallow, whole, a largish eel which it had presumably stolen from one of the local Cormorants, and which I estimated to be 15-18 inches long. At least once it was forced to regurgitate the whole thing and have a bit of a rest before resuming the struggle, with the eel now liberally coated with mud. In the end I think it succeeded, but it was a pretty revolting spectacle to watch and almost put me off my lunch!
(Ian Shepherd)
Saturday 20th September Haysden
Three hours walking around Haysden today produced a not all that incredible 45 species - these did include what was only my second Common Buzzard of the year as well as a couple of Meadow Pipit flying around, three Grey Wagtails, small numbers of Swallows moving south, lots of Chiffchaff, one male Blackcap, Lesser Black-backed Gull and three Lapwing. Mistle Thrush, Nuthatch, a couple of Treecreeper and 10 Stock Dove were at the Powdermills
(Andy Appleton)
Saturday 20th September Knockholt
This morning whilst out birding I found a female REDSTART at New Stables Farm, Knockholt, it showed well but briefly before flying east into a wood.
(Josh Jenkins Shaw)
Friday 19th September Conyer Creek
We're just back from walking along Conyer Creek, a favourite place. Today was a bit boring, which is unusual for that spot, until about 11.45 a.m. Looking across the water towards Elmley, we saw an Osprey fishing. It was flying West, dived 3 times and the third time, after some struggles in the water, it came up with what we think was a large bass. Absolutely no doubt about the bird though! It then flew off East, following the water, but we were not near enough to the mouth of the creek to see where it landed. Apart from that, the usual Avocets, Egrets, Redshank, etc and 2 model aircraft!
(Rod & Margaret Brown)
Friday 19th September Herne Bay
I’ve now seen a little egret feeding among the gulls between the shore line and Neptune’s Arm at Herne Bay on 3 separate occasions. Quite unmistakable, and a wonderful sight!
(David Hornsby)
Thursday 18th September Kemsley, Iwade & Warden Point, Sheppey
A Buzzard seen distantly from Kemsley turned out to be a Common Buzzard when refound veiwing from Iwade, also a Juv marsh harrier seen.
From 11:00 to 13:00 at Stangate creek near Iwade I saw an adult Yellow-legged gull, 17 Greenshank, Spotshank, c400 Avocet, c 50 Blackwit, c 200 Grey plover, a drake Gargeney in eclipse and a femal Marsh harrier.
Late PM at Warden point there was female Redstart along Cliff drive, Spot fly, Pied fly, Lesser whitethroat, 3 Blackcap at the end of Warden road.
(Gareth Blockley)
Wednesday 17th September Sheerness, Sheppey
Two Med Gulls seen at the seafront today (ad + juv) early afternoon.
(Gareth Blockley)
 |
Med Gull © Gareth Blockley |
Wednesday 17th September Bees Ness Jetty, Medway
Two Ospreys on Bee Ness Jetty this afternoon between 3- 4pm viewed from sea wall west of Upper Stoke village.
(Keith Cutting)
Monday 15th September East Malling
A couple 'out of the ordinary' sightings: Osprey from East Malling Research Station at 12:45, high and distant heading south over West Malling. Also a Stonechat nearby at Kiln Barn Farm, Ditton.
Wheatear on East Malling Research Station on Saturday 13th September.
(Adam Whitehouse)
http://dittoneastmallingbarming.blogspot.com/
Sunday 13th September Bough Beech
Of note today were:
2 Sparrowhawk ( M and F), 2 Hobby, 2 Buzzard, 1 Kestrel, 3 Little grebe, 1 Kingfisher, 8 Little egret, 1 Black swan, 1 G S Woodpecker, 1 Grn Woodpecker, 8+ Meadow pipit, 5 Siskin, 2 Green sandpiper, 5 Wigeon, 35+ Teal, 6 Mandarin, 1 Grey wagtail and 2 L B B Gull.
(Josh Jenkins Shaw)
Saturday 13th September Swanscombe & Dartford
Did a dawn run on Swanscombe this morning between 6am and 9am. The pools held 23 teal and 1 Little Ringed Plover.
I walked to the point and noted 7 Cetti's Warbler, 2 Chiffchaff, 2 Willow Warbler, 2 Reed Warbler and 1 Whitethroat. 9 Reed Buntings were heard or seen and 5 Yellow and 2 Grey Wagtails flew over.
Upon reaching the point I found 4 Yellow Legged Gulls on the shore and 15 Common Tern flew upriver whilst an adult Peregrine was playing with the feral pigeons across the river at the old cement works. A young Whinchat showed well in the grass.
Later in the day, at 5.10pm, I scanned the sky from our loft extension in the hope of finding one of the many Honey Buzzards that have been seen heading south and so I was rather surprised when I spotted 2 Ospreys circling over Dartford Marsh. The birds continued south and I was able to scope them from the garden for 10-15 minutes as they passed slowly overhead. Superb.
(Andrew Lawson)
Friday 12th September Pembury Waterworks
A quick visit late this afternoon produced 2 Cormorant which soon flew off, 7 Tufted duck, 4 Mandarin duck, 1 Mute swan, 2 Moorhen, 2 Grey wagtail and 1 Green sandpiper.
(Josh Jenkins Shaw)
Thursday 11th September Bough Beech
After seeing that a Grey phalarope was at bough beech, I just had to go and see it! It was a adult winter plumaged bird showing well north of the Causeway.
Also 1 Common sandpiper, 1 Hobby and 1 Sparrowhawk.
Photos on my blog
www.josh-birdbrain.blogspot.com
(Josh Jenkins-Shaw)
Thursday 11th September Greenhithe
With pager reports of a tern passage going on, I quickly headed down to Greenhithe after work to see what was occurring. Between 5.30pm and 6.15pm I logged 152 Common Tern, 7+ Arctic Tern, a small flock of 6 Black Tern and best of all, 3 juvenile Little Terns.
The largest flock was of 66 birds of which 65 were Common Tern in loose formation with one adult Arctic Tern still in summer plumage. Another flock of 37 birds held 2 more adult Arctic Tern, 32 Common Tern and the 3 Little Tern. I reckon that Little Tern could be a Dartford tick for me so I made sure that I saw them drop down over the other side of the QEII bridge.
A couple of the adult Arctic Terns had white foreheads and darker bills but their unmoulted silvery-grey wings easily told them apart from the ragged looking Common Terns.
I can't remember the last time that the tern passage has been this good and for so long.
11+ Yellow Legged Gulls were noted and the Ringed Plover flock has risen to 32 birds and they were accompanied by 1 Dunlin. Most bizarre record was of a female Tufted Duck heading up river which was then followed by a female Teal. 6 Swallows headed east.
Good stuff.
(Andrew Lawson)
Tuesday 9th September Wouldham
There was a variety of raptors over the downs this morning, including several Sparrowhawk, 3 Common Buzzard circling together, and 2 Hobby hawking insects, but sadly still no Red Kite. Surely it can only be a question of time before one finds its way into the Medway Gap? Meanwhile along the river shore there were 4 Common Sandpiper and 2 Mediterranean Gull (1 adult and 1 2nd-winter), whilst a single Wheatear on the bank was, surprisingly, the first I have recorded in the parish this year.
(Ian Shepherd)
Tuesday 9th September Grain
09.20 to 13.00 hrs. 7/8 cloud, later 4/8. S 2, a dull start, later warm & sunny. 16 oC. at 08.30 hrs. HT. 07.20 hrs. Exceptional visibility during periods of sunshine. Dull with showers pm.
Little Egret 10 - 4 feeding at rock pools below cliff at ebb tide, 6 feeding around nearby barge wreck.
Shelduck - flock of 32 arrived from north to rest offshore.
Oystercatcher - 2012 along tideline, I thought there seemed to be a lot out there.
Common Tern - 6 feeding offshore.
Sandwich Tern - 6 south.
Little Tern - flock 17 feeding & resting near tideline.
Arctic Skua - 13, all west into Thames , usually high, on migration, typical in fine weather conditions. - 1 DP. at 09.30 hrs. 2 DP. at 09.40 hrs. 1 juv. at 10.50 hrs. - 4 DP. at 11.10 hrs. 4 at 12.15 hrs. inc. 2 DP. 1 LP. 1 juv. - 1 DP. at 12.20 hrs.
Pomarine Skua - 1 3rd. Summer, west into Thames at 11.00 hrs.
White belly with blotchy fringes, cream neck, brown breast band, lacking spoon on long tail. Steady direct flight with broad wing base & large body.
Med. Gull - 1 juv along tideline.
Swallow - 286, inc. 170 west & flocks of 86 & 30 south. Steady movement during morning but we could not count all of them.
Sand Martin - 4 west.
Yellow Wagtail - flock 8 south along tideline with flock of 86 Swallows.
Wheatear - 1 on nearby concrete blocks below cliff all morning.
Grey Seal - 1 on ebb tideline at ne. Roas.
(Trevor & Janet Bowley)
Monday 8th September Knockholt
2 Whinchats, females, in a field at News stables farm cottage, Rushmore hill, Knockholt. Also 1 Kestrel, Swallows, House martins, Green woodpecker, Stock dove and Mistle thrush.
(Josh J Shaw)
Sunday 7th September Paddock Wood
I'd just received a text from Warren over at Hadlow with the only word being "Osprey!" - not too hard to work out that he had just added this magnificent species to his patch list. I then went upstairs to get something and looked out of the window and noticed a few gulls circling so I retrieved my binoculars and went back upstairs. There was now a closer bird which I looked at first and was amazed to see it was an Osprey! A bit of a tatty individual so probably an adult - this was about 3 o'clock and it headed south quite quickly.A minute or so later a Sparrowhawk appeared and then a Peregrine took the same flight path with the former attacking the latter. I then had to take my son to a party so sadly couldn't add to the raptor fest!
As I was loading the kids into the car a group of 4 1st winter Great Black-backed Gull flew over. At Pembury Waterworks there was a Green Sandpiper and 2 Sand Martin with good numbers of House Martin. Earlier in the day I had another Osprey fly south over my patch at midday as well as two Tree Pipit.
(Marcus Lawson)
Sunday 7th September Haysden & Bough Beech
A telephone call earlier in the day saw me watching a superb adult Arctic Tern late this afternoon over at Haysden Lake (there had been two earlier) but little else in a fairly brief visit apart from hirundines and four Herring Gulls.
An hour at Bough Beech produced two juvenile Arctic Terns, one Black Tern and several Common Terns as well as Green and Common Sandpiper, two Dunlin, one Kingfisher and four Little Egrets. Two Osprey had gone through earlier in the day. (Andy Appleton)
Sunday 7th September Bough Beech
A very busy day today, I managed 5 and a bit hours which produced: 2 Sand martin, c40 House martin, 3 Chiffchaff, 2 Jay, 2 Grey wagtail, 2 G S Woodpecker, c10 Linnet, 1 Hobby, 1 Kestrel, 1 Mandarin, 35+ Teal, 8 Gadwall, 7 Wigeon, 1 Shoveler, c40 Lapwing, 10 Tufted duck, c90 G C Grebe, 2 Little grebe, 4 Common sandpiper, 3 Green sandpiper, 23+ Herring gull, 3 L B B Gull, 9 Little egret, 1 Common gull, 25+ Common tern, but the quality came with 1 Black tern, 2 Arctic tern, 1 Tawny owl ( heard calling briefly in woods), 1 Greenshank ( heard calling over head) and the best were 2 Osprey ( 1 flew south at 12:45 and the other south at 14:30)
(Josh J Shaw)
Sunday 7th September Greenhithe & Swanscombe
A trip to Rainham RSPB with the Alex & the Hunter clan alerted me to the fact that a lot of terns were heading up river during the one brief moment that I scanned the river (a Black Tern plus many commons could be seen).
An early evening trip to Greenhithe was therefore my best bet (without Alex) and as soon as I turned up at 5.45pm, 12 Common Terns flew up river and by the time I had left at 6.30pm I had seen 54 Common Tern, 3 adult Arctic Terns and a Sandwich Tern. Most of the terns are able to fly up and over the QE11 bridge but one group of 17 birds failed to do so and instead turned back east and continued to circle up until they were lost to view. Whilst watching the group of 17 Common Terns, 5 Black Tailed Godwits successfully flew over the centre of the bridge and continued east. 19 Sand Martin hugged the water as they flew west.
Other waders included a group of 25 Ringed Plover; a welcome return to form for this species. 2 Curlew & an Oystercatcher were also noted.
The tide was up so gulls were scarce with the highlight being 5 Yellow Legged Gulls with 4 adults and 1 2nd winter being present. All of the adults had lost P10 and possibly P9 so they looked uncharacteristically shorter winged than the 1 adult Herring Gull present.
Greenhithe held no surprises but was pleasant nonetheless with 1 Green Sandpiper, 2 Little Egrets, 1 Cetti's, 20 Teal, 150+ Sand Martin, many House Martin and 1 Swift.
(Andrew Lawson)
Saturday 6th September Bough Beech
A quiet day today with the constant showers! Of note were: 1 Hobby, 2 Green sandpiper, 3 Common sandpiper, 4 Wigeon, 8+ Common tern, 1 Kingfisher, c20 Teal, 8 Gadwall, 1 Grey wagtail, 6+ Little egret, c95 G C Grebe, 1 Little grebe, c60 Lapwing, 30+ Cormorant and 1 L B B Gull.
(Josh J Shaw)
Saturday 6th September Crossness
A wander along the river between the golf club and the viewing screen produced the following; cormorant, black tern, common tern, black headed gull, lesser black backed gull, greater black backed gull, herring gull, yellow legged gull (juv), grey heron, teal, mallard, shelduck, great crested grebe, redshank, common sandpiper, lapwing, knot, house martin, sand martin, grey wagtail, pied wagtail, chiff chaff, spotted flycatcher, robin, great tit, carrion crow.
The wind seemed to be keeping the passerines well hidden, however an hour on the marshes adjacent to the incinerator revealed; kestrel, sparrowhawk, goldfinch (c50), blackbird, gadwall, teal, Canada goose, magpie, moorhen, coot, little grebe, wood pigeon, stock dove.
An enjoyable morning and a patch ticks with the flycatcher and knot!
('Perry Grin')
Saturday 6th September Gravesend
When I arrived at Gravesend this morning I could see c35 Common Terns
and c40 Black Terns feeding over the outfall at Tilbury. I stayed for an
hour but there were very few Terns moving, only about 15 Common and 1
Sandwich up and 10 Common down. However by then most of the Black Terns
had gone, only 10 were left. I saw 17 go upstream but had a restricted
view in that direction and must have missed the others.
A Sparrowhawk also flew upstream.
(Dick
Elvy)
Friday 5th September Cliffe
A rare visit to Cliffe these days produced a Wood and 12 Green Sandpipers and 3 Greenshank in the ditch near the Coastguards. There were several Wheatears and Whinchats in the area along with a Peregrine and a Marsh Harrier.
At the North end of the flamingo pool 150+ ringed plover a single ad. Curlew Sand and a Black Necked Grebe of note.
(Frank.C)
Thursday 4th September Sevenoaks WR
My lunchtime visit to SWR on Thursday 04-09-08: Hobby, 3 Common Sandpiper and 100+ Sand Martin were the birds of note...
(Alan Nottage)