A FROG HE DID A WOOING GO

My little pond is full of amorous frogs,and masses of spawn,so my breeding programme is working well,if you want some spawn come and get it.

LOVE ON A LILY PAD

WHERE DID SHE GO?

While watching the amphibious antics a sparrowhawk cruised over the garden and judging by the reddish breast it is an adult male.

Sunday morning went to Langdon cliffs again,it was sunny but bitterly cold in the brisk northerly wind.I was greeted by the song of the corn bunting and skylark as I emerged from the car,and it was soon evident that the first tentative chaffinch movement was underway with several groups of male birds bouncing along the clifftop,calling as they went.A pair of stonechats were seen,but no sign of raven activity today.I counted a small raft of 88 kittiwakes on the sea but the highlight of the morning was when first one then three then four buzzards came in off the sea.The first one was so pale with white rump that it was mistaken for a rough legged buzzard but a quick check of Collins against the photos confirmed a juvenile pale phase common,so digital photography comes to my aid once more.

COMMON BUZZARD (VERY PALE)
This was at the lighthouse,and after meeting up with Pete Wells walked back to the car via Wanstone,flushing a woodcock and a pair of grey partridge on the way,
Spent the rest of the day watching cricket football and rugby on tv juggling the remote can be very trying when watching three channels simultaneously.

SOMETHING TO CROW ABOUT

Afternoon on thursday found me on my local patch of Langdon Cliffs,winter  can be a barren time here and it was only my second visit of the year.Pleasantly warm and sunny, skylarks were singing,but little else on the passerine front as yet.Nearing the cliff edge the first thing to catch the eye was my first butterfly of the year,a peacock which I assume had overwintered in a cliff crevice.

PEACOCK

Sitting alertly on the cliff face this PEREGRINE FALCON was on the look out for lunch.

Fulmar petrels were doing the usual wheeling and dealing along the cliff top and the resident herring gulls have taken up their territories once more,what beautiful birds they are in the right setting.

FULMAR PETREL

This pair of HERRING GULLS have held this outcrop of chalk for several years.

There are several colonies of JACKDAWS along the cliffs and they are very active and vociferous at this time of year.

The new jewels in the crown at the moment are the RAVENS which have returned for the third year to hopefully breed successfully again.

BACKLIT RAVEN

LIVING ON THE EDGE

Another new jewel in another crown is the SPIRIT OF BRITAIN, P&O Ferries new flagship.

SPIRIT OF BRITAIN leaving Dover for Calais,certainly large and functional but not particularly pleasing aesthetically!

GOING DUTCH(part2)

Wednesday morning went to a town called Veere,where there is an amazing spire on the town church, and a large expanse of water where several slavonian and black necked grebes could be seen fishing.

VEERE SPIRE

After that we made our way to a nearby reserve in the dunes,but it was almost a bird free zone with only 4 crossbills and a buzzard seen,there was an interesting raptor watch point up a tower,but sadly no raptors.There were quite a few ponies grazing here they were squat chunky and black I wondered later if they were descended from pit ponies?On the way back to HQ a short eared owl was spotted hunting over a grassy field,the highlight of the day.

PONY EXPRESS

PONY EXPRESSION

LIGHTHOUSE IN THE DUNES

RAPTOR WATCH

Back to the hostel for meat balls and pasta,bavarian lager and an evening of unadulterated cribbage.


Thursday a day of rest for the drivers,we split into three groups of six and set off on foot  in different directions around the local woodland.My group went last and went down the road to the east,within minutes a flock of small birds was located in the top of the pines and included goldcrest,coal tit,crested tit,long tailed tit,treecreeper and blue tit.A few yards further on and a lesser spotted woodpecker was seen sitting in a silver birch and its mate drumming nearby.Great spotted was seen and then a large dark woodpecker was seen briefly flying away calling, the mythical Black Woodpecker!Great tit and nuthatch followed and a wood lark was seen flying over,at the road junction ?left or right?luckily left won ans soon another black woodpecker was seen,this time it was just visible through the undergrowth on a tree trunk,before disappearing from view again,however at this point a buzzard started wheeling overhead,which must have spooked the woodpecker and it flew right over our heads into the woods the other side of the road!I must now discover a new mythical bird to find.What a superb morning and only a short distance from the hostel.
During the walk we had met an english birder living there who told us there were two pairs of BWs in the area,so we may have seen one of each pair,he also told us of a nearby area of pools and reedbeds where great egrets could be found,before dinner a few of us had a quick reccy and found a single great white egret.

NUTHATCH

NUTHATCH collecting moss

One of a million coot in Holland,strangely I didn`t see a single moorhen.

ROBIN

BLUE TIT

BLACK WOODPECKER COUNTRY

Friday,the last full day,went back to the nearby pools and added bewick swan and white fronted geese to our list,it was a raw February day and a complete contrast to the pleasant weather of the rest of the week,after this I decided to return to Brouwersdam,while the others went into Belgium for the day.More Red breasted mergansers,a female smew,more seals,a large raft of common scoters off shore and finally a pink footed goose and a bean goose in a road side field were the pick of the day.

GREY SEAL the long straight forehead and nose are diagnostic.

SMEW the red headed female.

RBM male and female

RED BREASTED MERGANSER a close inspection reveals the serrated bill which gives the family name of SAWBILL.

PINK FOOTED GOOSE the only one left in southern Holland?

Couldn`t possibly leave Holland without a windmill photo,no mouse no clogs though.

GOING DUTCH(PART ONE)

Last week eighteen intrepid souls from Sandwich Bay Bird Observatory set sail on the good ship?Larkspur from Ramsgate to Ostend for a weeks birdwatching in southern Holland.From the deck on a calm sunny morning the main interest centered on the gannets which could be seen skimming the waves and diving for herrings or sprats in mid channel.Several guillemots and razorbills were seen and red throated divers were flying west on the french side.Only one bonxie or great skua was sighted.

GANNETS MID CHANNEL

MSC CARINA GOING DOWN CHANNEL

BEAM TRAWLER OUT OF ZEEBRUGGE

A couple of hours later we arrived in Bergen Op Zoom and eventually found our StayOK hostel after first visiting the local hospital by accident.Almost at once crested tits, nuthatches, siskins and treecreepers were seen in the garden which was a good start to the week.

Next day we all set off for the coast at Brouersdam and quickly became separated on the road,but eventually we ended up in the same place.On the sea were quite good numbers of red breasted mergansers,near the large sluice gates about a dozen grey seals were playing,courting in the swirling outfall and purple sandpipers,turnstones,oystercatchers and a few knot were spotted on the foreshore.

RED BREASTED MERGANSER DIVING

PURPLE SANDPIPER

GREY SEALS

OYSTERCATCHERS AND KNOT FLYING BY

After a healthy lunch of chips and mayonaisse and a mass feeding for the local gull population we explored the water sports lake on the land side of the dyke,apart from a few brent geese and lots of coot a distant egyptian goose and a pair of goldeneye were the only birds of note.

GOLDENEYE 

SPOTTED REDSHANK

Later that afternoon we explored some pools inside the sea wall ,the first bird found was a spotted redshank,quickly followed by smew and spoonbill,pintail and peregrine.At the end of the track a large group of barnacle geese were feeding. 

OYSTERCATCHER

BARNACLE GEESE

RED NECKS AND RAILS

The car was in for new brake pads on monday so I did my walk along the Dour again, not quite so many birds this time around but a pair of tree creepers,a goldcrest and a great spotted woodpecker in Kearsney  Abbey plus a mistle thrush in full song were good and three male tufted ducks remain in Bushy Ruff also there were three grey herons and a little egret.Grey wagtails were down to only three this time but a water rail in Pencester Gardens,right in the middle of town ,was a new sighting,although it has been there all winter.Finally the long staying scaup is still in residence sharing the dock with about 15 coots, four moorhens ,and a couple of little grebes.It was another murky grey day so the camera stayed in the bag but I did get an equally murky water rail shot.

Tuesday was as bright as a button,Samphire Hoe was warm and sunny but almost devoid of birds only one stonechat has remained over the winter and the black redstarts are still absent without leave.

STONECHAT

I was told on Tuesday evening that a red breasted goose had been seen at Rest Harrow Scrape that afternoon, so before heading for Dunge, which was my plan for the day I had a quick trip to Sandwich,no joy there unfortunately, and there is no mention of the bird on the SBBO web site yet,come on Ray send your photos in.
Arrived much later than planned at Dunge and only went to the ARC pits and RSPB Reserve.Plenty of ducks present with male smew and goldeneye stealing the show, a single male pintail was not far behind in the beauty contest.
In the Dengemarsh hide the red necked grebe was sighted distantly,then it slowly and surely paddled and dived a bit closer until it was in front of the hide,still a fair way off but close enough to get some reasonable shots off.(the usual murky light excuses apply!)

RED NECKED GREBE

RED NECKED GREBE a tinge of reddy brown could be seen at certain angles as the bird begins to  moult in to breeding plumage

R N GREBE WITH POCHARD for size comparison.

A late posting from the trip to Huddersfield last month, culdn`t resist a photo with my boyhood political hero Harold Wilson,sans pipe and Gannex mac, unfortunately like most politicians he was flawed and eventually let the country down.I didn`t realise he was so big though, or was it just his ego?