7th December - Elmley National Nature Reserve, Kent

We had a long weekend with my daughter and grand daughter in Kent planned for a while and I was able to get out on the Saturday, however the forecast was for a massive storm to move across the country from Friday night.  Storm Darragh had already hit the west of the country overnight with winds as strong as 93 mph.  It was windy as I set off but dry, arriving at Elmley it was still dry, but the wind had really kicked in.

I passed the entrance gate and made my way along the entrance track, opening the window on the driver side heading towards the car park was difficult as the wind was very strong.  I picked up a Peregrine in front of me just above the track and it headed towards the grass where it dropped to the ground.

It then took off and flew away with the wind, it looked as if it would drop down on the other side but fought its way back across the path and in front of me.  This was taken through the car windscreen so a little blurred but it shows how low it was and struggle it had.

Flying away from me it headed towards the grass once again.

Dropping closer this time and showing well.

Then it took off once again struggling in the wind.

Shortly after the Peregrine headed away, the rain started and it was difficult looking to the north, the wind strong and sending it straight into the car.  I had to concentrate on the south side.  A Common Gull settled in the grass.

And a Great Black-backed Gull hunkered down in the grass.

I drove up and down with Lapwing and Black-tailed Godwits feeding in the grass by the side of the track.

These Rook were sheltering as best they could and looked quite miserable.

With the rain now quite heavy I drove to the car park and sat out the rain, checking the radar for progress.  When it finally passed I set off down the track once more.  Looking across the field a Brown Hare was hunkered down in the grass another image of the horrible weather about today.

It was still raining, but not so heavy and the Marsh Harriers were out hunting.  A male distant over the back of the marsh.

A female rocking back and forth over the long grass.

Redshank and Snipe could be seen in the flooded parts of the grass and several Skylark would fly up from the long grass by the side of the track.

I decided there was no point getting out of the car to walk around the reserve, the wind was so bad.  The car was an excellent hide and I was seeing some good birds.  A female Merlin flew through and a female Kestrel flushed from the bushes.  There were plenty of Lapwing in the fields and amazing numbers of Black-tailed Godwits.  This one just sitting in the pool by the track.

I had see two Ruff amongst the Godwits, but they would fly off as I tried to photograph.  Eventually though I was able to get one to stick around long enough for some good shots.

I lasted until about 13:30, but in the end I had to call it a day.  Elmley is an amazing place in the winter and unfortunately the weather today did not let me enjoy it to the full, but I did manage a good amount of time birding on a day when many would have missed out.