Monday 21 November 2011

Herons Galore

Lade - 0800hrs - mild, dry, sunny, e1 - When Michael Fish forecast on BBC South-east that, "the weather across Kent will be dull and dreary all day", I just knew we were in for a fine, sunny day...
Not much happening over the pits apart from a few Skylarks and Mipits drifting over; the finch passage seems to have finally ground to a halt.
Greatstone - 1230hrs - Two dead Harbour Porpoises in the car park were about to be removed by a representative from the Natural History Museum for examination. They were washed up on the beach yesterday, probably as a result of drowning in fishing nets. Sadly this is not an uncommon occurrence along the Marsh coastline.
RSPB - 1345hrs - A scoot around the bird reserve this afternoon resulted in a heron fest. First off the two Great White Egrets were cosying up together on Burrowes (could this be a sign of things to come...) alongside 3 Little Egrets and 2 Grey Herons. The leaucistic Grey Heron showed in the hayfields and the Glossy Ibis flew over the corral. From Hanson had stunning views of a Bittern flying past the hide and probably a 3rd Great White Egret on the islands. Phew!
Also, 2 Goosanders on ARC, 3 Smews on New Diggings and an influx of Pintails with birds on all pits. Couldnt find the Long-tailed Duck on ARC or the Pec Sand on Dengemarsh, while the Pallas`s Warbler  also eluded me, although it was seen in the Christmas Dell/New Ex scrub area late on.
At St Mary`s-in-the-Marsh, CP reported a flock of `kyu-yu-yuing` White-fronts overhead in the gloaming. Could this be the arrival of the wintering hoards...


                                 Harbour Porpoises, Greatstone and Pintail, Burrowes

No comments:

Post a Comment