25th April - Elmley Marshes NNR, Kent

After the success with the Nightingales early on we then headed to Elmley.  As usual it was a slow and watchful drive along the entrance track.  Conditions were once again very dry, but there was plenty of activity with many Lapwing close to the car.

And amongst the adults were several chicks, already up and running around, but under the watchful eyes of the parents who could be seen chasing crows off over the marsh.

Another marshland wader that nests here is the Redshank and they were also showing well.

Nice to see them in the grass as well.

Close to one of the pools, a pair of Oystercatcher.

While on the pool a drake Shoveler.

From the car park we headed down the track towards the Brickfields.  We stopped for a young Hare that was in the woodland, but scurried away as we tried to get a better view.  A Green Woodpecker called and appeared in the tree partially obscured by the branches, they are frustrating birds.

Down at the Swale there is an area of old concrete and scrub, it is warm and there were several butterflies that I was pleased to see were Wall Browns.

The underwing is quite lovely with the several swirls and main eye.

Out on the saltmarsh a preening Oystercatcher.

We walked around the sea wall path which had freshwater pools on the inland side and there were several Pochard, two of the drakes displaying to a female by extending their necks.

Reed Warbler were singing in the reeds and every so often there was the "ping" of Bearded Tits and they could be seen flying over the reeds.  By waiting in one place the Bearded Tits slowly came closer and showed through the reeds.

Some gymnastics.

I thought that they might be feeding on the ground or catching insects having changed their diet for the spring and summer.  We also noticed that it was all males.

Then we saw one male collecting pieces of reed, so we had to assume that they were nest building.

Some of the reeds were flattened and it was in this area that I finally managed to get some better views.

The males then seemed to disappear and females were being seen but they were a lot harder to photograph.  They too were collecting nest material.

Eventually we made our way back around the sea wall, a female Marsh Harrier came up out of the reeds and as we walked up the path I picked up a Hobby over the main meadow.  When you consider the views I had at Fishlake this week, not the best photograph, but a record of the Hobby.

It was lunch time and then a walk down the main path towards the hides.  Again there was a lot of song in the reeds.  In the areas where there was small hawthorn bushes there were Sedge Warbler singing, while in the reed beds mostly Reed Warbler and a few Reed Bunting.  On the lake was a lone Wigeon, you had to wonder why it was left behind.

The Sedge Warblers became a challenge for Graham, I managed this one on a reed stem.

The Reed Bunting showed well, this one in a bush, when I thought the Sedge Warbler was imitating it.

This one singing in the reeds.

The Reed Warblers were impossible, staying low in the reeds, but we eventually got an acceptable Sedge Warbler at the top of a hawthorn.

And another Reed Bunting that replaced the Sedge Warbler.

Then a male Reed Bunting on a post with the perfect background.

A Lapwing seemed to be concerned about something close to the ditch on the side of the path and would fly around calling and twisting and flipping over in the air.  Their aerobatics are amazing and it became a challenge to catch some of the performance.

Calling as the tricks were performed either the right way up or upside down.

This must have consumed a lot of energy and it wasn't clear what was making the Lapwing do so.  Here a back flip.

Eventually it settled back to the ground and we will never know why we had been able to witness the display

Graham still wanted the perfect Sedge Warbler and with Mediterranean Gulls calling above us we came across another in a Hawthorn bush.

The Sedge Warbler would sing and then explode into the air, but rather than drop into the reeds as all the others had done it returned to the bush and then did it all again.  This gave me the chance to catch the bird as it parachuted back down to the bush.

Another impressive aerial display.

It was time to leave, but also a chance to explore the entrance track once more.  I was after a Yellow Wagtail and there were two, with one sitting in the open, but the light and heat haze did not help so I was left with only a record shot.

A great day with some excellent birds, it was lovely to experience Elmley in the still warm conditions and of course the Nightingales first this was so special.

25th April - Nightingale - Leybourne Lakes Country Park, Kent

We were away for the weekend at my daughter's in Kent.  For some time now they have been trying to get me there in early spring to coincide with the arrival of the Nightingales at Leybourne Country Park, which is literally just across the road for them.  My son-in-law Graham's recent interest in photography and the birds was also a factor as he has been able to find them and locate their territories.  

So on arrival we set off for the short walk into the park.  As we came into the park we could hear one singing, I was told not to spend too much time trying to find it as there were better options.  We walked along the side of one of the lakes and came across another singing.  This time I did manage to see it, although the view wasn't that good.

Once again I was told to walk on as there would be better opportunities and we could hear at least three other birds singing.  Finally we came to an open area, where there were plenty of perches.  A Nightingale was singing but not in view.  Be patient and it would show, and it did this time in the scrub.

There was confidence that it would show better and it did a little, but it still required viewing through branches.  At first with its back to me.

This was better, a turn of the head  and you can appreciate that lovely rich reddish brown plumage.

Then finally some song, but still slightly hiding behind the leaves and branches.

Then it was gone, but I was told once again, it will be back and after a few minutes it was back and this time perched in the open, on what looks like a favourite perch.

Immortalised first in Keats poem "Ode to a Nightingale", a piece written when a Nightingale nested in the garden shared with a friend Charles Armitage Brown.  He wrote:  "Keats felt a tranquil and continual joy in her song and one morning he took a chair from the breakfast table and sat under a plum tree for two to three hours."  It was their he composed his piece.  Unfortunately it would have been the male bird singing and they will sing throughout the night until they have found a mate after which the singing is r.estricted to dawn and dusk

Sadly the enduring immortality of the Nightingale has not come to pass.  Over the last twenty five years the breeding population has declined by a half they now can only be found reliably in a few small areas of southern and eastern England.  Here at Leybourne is definitely a stronghold with many birds singing around the lakes.

I was able to edge a little closer, wading through the nettles

Nightingales love dense thickets so seeing them is normally a challenge, but thanks to the numbers here at Leybourne and the great work by Graham in finding their territories and more importantly knowing where they will sing in a prominent place for the photographs.

Some suggest that the Nightingale has such a beautiful song, because it is a plain brown bird, but I feel there is a definite beauty in them and this one turned to show off the rufous brown plumage on the back and tail.

It moved once again, out of sight to start with then it popped up onto a bramble branch.

The Nightingale's songs are extremely complex with over 200 different types of song recorded, containing a selection of whistles and trills from across the melodic spectrum.  Another defining feature is the volume at which it is delivered.  Males have been recorded sing at 95 decibels, about as loud as a chain saw operating a metre away from your head.

A snatch of video to capture the Nightingale singing.

It was back to the stills as the Nightingale continued to show so well in the open.

A wonderful encounter and a great big thank you to Graham for his work in tracking down this enigmatic bird, a great start to the day.  It was time to move on.