19th November - Elmley NNR, Kent

We had planned to visit my daughter in Kent for sometime and with an opportunity to return to Elmley I had been watching the weather forecast for the last week.  Everything looked to be good with wall to wall sunshine forecast  all day forecast all the the time, but then on the Friday evening the symbols changed to dark, overcast  clouds, early Saturday morning there was the prospect of rain.

Elmley is a vast place and offers very little in the way of shelter, there are distant hides and the car along the entrance track is all there is for shelter.  Rain then is not good and as the focus is on the birds of prey it is even more of a problem.  As I drove from my daughter's house there was some sign of the cloud breaking but as I approached the Swale bridges it became a lot gloomier, never mind it was dry.

Starting the drive from the entrance gate there was a lot of activity, away in the distance Marsh Harrier could be seen sending flocks of Lapwing up over the marshes and large flocks of Wigeon scurrying low and out of the way.  The entrance track is the closest we would get to a safari drive and it is quite acceptable to pull over, stop and photograph or watch, what you are asked not to do is get out of the car, so I already had the camera and binoculars on the passenger seat.

There were large groups of Curlew feeding on the marsh very close to the track.

Marsh Harrier were present on either side and could be seen against some interesting and different back drops.

The Lapwing is the symbol of the reserve and they were everywhere with large flocks filling both the marsh and skies.

Again some interesting backgrounds

Close to the car.

Huge flocks in the sky, sent there by the many Marsh Harrier.

One female Marsh Harrier had primary feathers missing from the left wing.

A male flushed from the marsh close to the track.

Pulling in to the car park the anticipation increased, the last two visits had seen Short-eared Owls in the adjacent field.  Unfortunately this was not the case today, if they were there, the grass was much taller.

I learnt that there were at least six Short-eared Owls on the reserve, but they were only hunting at night currently.  Apparently as December comes they start to hunt during the day, when one does it they all appear to follow.  I also learnt that the Short-eared Owl will also hunt voles on foot, moving through the grass to do so.

As well as the Short-eared Owls there were also five Long-eared.  These roost in the scrub behind the car park.  The bushes still have leaves and it was difficult to see completely in and I wasn't able to find them (didn't think I would).  The Long-eared Owl is completely nocturnal and comes out well after dusk, but if there is bad weather they may show earlier.

With all this information in mind I headed out towards Wellmarsh and the distant hides.  As I left the car park a female Kestrel was hunting the scrubby grass by the side of the path.  She allowed a very close approach and showed no sign of concern over my presence.

I later learnt that this female is quite tame and allows close approach.

She dropped into the grass and I waited, as I walked closer she burst from the grass and flew across the field.

On the open water there were rafts of Shoveler and Wigeon, with large groups of Wigeon grazing on the marsh.  Away in the distance were large flocks of Canada and Greylag geese.  The sky was also full of duck moving back and forth from the Swale Estuary.

On reaching the screens that overlook the Swale there were large rafts of wildfowl, more Wigeon, Shelduck, Shoveler and Brent Geese on the high tide.  There was some sand exposed high up the beach and Skylark were foraging amongst the sea weed and sand.

On the walk to the hides I met up with one of the wardens who supplied the information on the owls and other interesting information.  There had been a ring-tail harrier present the last few days, a Barn Owl hunts mid afternoon around the screen reed bed, the Little Owl showed well yesterday and there were up to 72 Marsh Harrier.  Not wishing to spoil the anticipation, buty I think you all know what I was going to see today.

Instead of visit the closer hides I walked on and headed to the South Fleet hide, where, there, was absolutely nothing.  Strictly speaking this was not entirely accurate, there was a very distant Cormorant and Buzzard, and two Canada Geese were at the back of the marsh, but this wasn't enough for me.  As I left the hide a good number of Mute Swan flew over the marsh heading for the estuary.

You have to keep scanning the marsh and everything stays very distant.  A large flock of Golden Plover were circling over the east end of the marsh.  I decided not o walk any further and turned back.  These Coot were feeding on the grass along side one of the pools.

As I approached they panicked and made their was frantically into the water.

It bizarrely reminded me of the Wildebeest migration in the Masai Mara as the Wildebeest plunge into the river Mara with the possible danger.

Walking back a Stonechat perched conveniently in one of the bushed by the side of the path.

Familiar pings from the reed bed at Wellmarsh saw brief views of Bearded Tits as they skimmed across the top of the reeds.

A little further along and some more distant scanning picked out a shape on one of the many gates out on the marsh.

When I realised that there were two shapes I used the scope to clarify and there were two Peregrine on either side.  The bird on the right a quite large female, with the smaller male on the left.  A very good example of sexual dimorphism in this falcon

Back at the car park, another search of the scrub proved unsuccessful, so after lunch I headed towards the footpath that leads down to the old school and beyond.  As I turned on to the path I came across a Blackbird bathing in a puddle and just beyond it a Fieldfare doing the same.

It then became apparent that there were several Fieldfare and they were feeding on the hawthorn berries.

Notoriously shy birds and very difficult to approach it was nice to get some close views of this beautiful winter visitor.

The old school is where the Little Owl usually shows well, but not today.  I waited and searched the trees and bushes but with no luck.  I walked on, down the hill and watched a Marsh Harrier circling high above me.

Once again it was scanning that found me something.  This time a distant speck in one of the hedges looked like it might be interesting (love the Sports Direct warehouse in the background!)

Once it again it needed the scope to finalise the identity, a female Merlin.

The scope was at 60x and the only way I could digiscope was by holding the phone over the eyepiece

I watched it for awhile before it flew off, chasing, what looked like a skylark, across the field and eventually away towards the entrance track and out of sight.

I walked a little further, but decided to turn back, stopping once again a the Old School in the hope that the Little Owl would show.  The owl was not about, but the female Kestrel seen in the morning turned up and sat on the branches of the largest tree.

Walking back there was no sign of the Fieldfare, but there was a flock of House Sparrow in the hedges.  They were all puffed up from the cold and whilst I had forgotten to rest the exposure I quite like this image.  It is not often I take photographs of a House Sparrow.

I had decided to drive the entrance track, but didn't realise what was coming.  As I drove down the slope from the car park there was mist away to the north west and very quickly it turned to drizzle and then substantial rain.  There is a Buzzard on the gate!

I drove up and down twice, but there were very few birds about.  Some Curlew and Lapwing, but everything seemed distant.  In fact the highlight of the drive was this pair of Red-legged Partridge.

It is pointless sticking around when it gets like this so I headed back.  There is a definite lure from Elmley and I would love to return in the middle of winter with the hope of some sunshine to brighten thinks up.

The following morning a trip to visit a wedding venue I came across this superb Fly Agaric, the parasol was about ten centimetres in diameter.  As you can see the sun was out and the sky was blue!