November 9th

We were back 'mothing' today inspired by the find in Dartford of a Black Spot Chestnut, the first for the country!! We did have a couple of migrants, Vestal and Diamond Back Moth, otherwise it was a bit quiet but nice to be back checking the trap, with some more southerly winds and a mild weekend we may still get something else. There was a year tick today, which was Mottled Umber.

December Moth

Mottled Umber

I did a long bird walk this morning, in distance terms at least, compared with normal and saw less species. The highlights were a TREECREEPER in the car park which showed really well, oh, for some good light! and a NUTHATCH called loudly by the moat. There are still lots of REDPOLLS around and were again the most numerous finch this morning. PIED WAGTAILS put in a noteworthy effort with upto 10 seen during the walk. I managed to find 4 or 5 GOLDCRESTS scattered around the estate but despite listening hard there was no sign of yesterdays Woodlark, in fact I didn't hear a Skylark either which is pretty unusual. There were reasonable numbers HOUSE SPARROWS by the Granary. Just 28 species today about the lowest total this year but still despite the drizzle etc. I wouldn't want to start the day any other way :-)

November 7th and 8th

After the excitement of the weekend it was back to the patch yesterday, it was a sort of 'half light' for the whole visit. REDWINGS were leaving the car park with just a couple of FIELDFARES and at least 8 BLACKBIRDS were at various points around there too. An early KESTREL drifted over Park Field and the PHEASANTS were very vocal in the stubble fields mainly sitting on any available straw bale and announcing themselves to anyone that would listen!! I wandered with no particular purpose and found myself by the lake, where I stayed for the rest of the visit. A JAY flew through on the other side of the lake and a MISTLE THRUSH settled for a while in the Oak behind me. A few more Redwings went over and by the end of the hour visit around 42 birds were noted. I also counted the REDPOLLS, four flocks went over flying east totalling 38 birds then a few minutes later a flock of 55 came back west and settled around the Mistle Thrush, they were probably local birds going to and fro'. It was a shame it was so grey, I left the camera indoors, a KINGFISHER flew down from the moat and settled for a short time on a low willow, whether I'd have got a shot I don't know unlikely. 14 BLACK HEADED GULLS also flew north-east and I saw just one SISKIN as it flew over.
This morning  a few flocks of FIELDFARES were going over high south, not massive numbers maybe 50 in all and the REDWINGS again were leaving their roost. I idled round the fields to the constant calls of JACKDAWS, they were so noisy I'm sure was missing other birds calling!! I did however, mange to pick up  the calling GOLDEN PLOVER as it flew high north west, the second one this year, I was pleased that I saw this one as the other called from near darkness last month. There were still a few YELLOWHAMMERS around and 2 REED BUNTINGS. MEADOW PIPITS were also in ones and twos around the field. The best bird this morning though was a Woodlark found by Stephen around 9am and watched for about 5 minutes, that's 118 for the site this year, once again I shall have to wait until tomorrow :-)
With no pictures again, here is another delve into what is a limited archive!!

Proboscis Monkey - Kinabatangan River - Borneo 2008

Birding all weekend!!

SATURDAY 5TH

Four of us set off from my house at 7am, destination, Langdon Hole near Dover. I've always liked this area since Stephen and I went there in the early 90's. A sign of things to come was the first flock of birds that went over, 20 or so GOLDFINCHES, now, and probably have been for a long time, a feature at this time of year. Walking through the car park area we picked up a couple of GOLDCREST and a briefly calling CHIFFCHAFF, heard by Mary. Towards Langdon Hole itself we had more birds going over, SISKINS, CHAFFINCHES, MEADOW PIPIT and REDPOLL. Numbers soon rose and within an hour or so 200+ Goldfinches had gone over, we also gradually added a few more species PIED WAGTAIL, maybe 20 over in all, BULLFINCH, 3 went over with about 5 Goldfinches and female hung around for a short time in the shelter of the bushes. A BRAMBLING was picked up going north and the briefest of highlights was a SHORT EARED OWL that David and I glimpsed coming in off the sea and disappearing behind the white cliffs, there was also a taste of summer with two singles of HOUSE MARTIN. Another highlight came when two flocks of CROSSBILLS came over, one of 12 and one of 17, in quick succession. Add to that 3 YELLOWHAMMERS several SKYLARK and a flock of around 30 LAPWING in off the sea it was a good 3 hour visit. Totals are roughly as follows Goldfinch 720, Siskin 130, Redpoll 100+, Linnet 100+, Chaffinch 150, Crossbill 29, Redwing 1, Brambling 1, Yellowhammer 3, House Martin 2, Skylark 15.
We moved on to Bockhill with the rain and wind increasing!! The wood and the farmyard held a BLACK REDSTART, CHIFFCHAFF and 3 SWALLOWS flew over. In the paddock there were a couple of GOLDCREST and several LONG TAILED TITS. A bit of lunch then a drive along the Ancient Highway from Deal added a few more species for the day BRENT GEESE and GANNETS could be seen above the seawall and 3 STONECHAT and 10 GREY PARTRIDGE were nice additions to the day. Another stop at Restharrow gave us the CURLEW SANDPIPER, 1 DUNLIN and around 20 COMMON SNIPE. We had a quick look for the Firecrests that were around on Friday but to no avail, the light was fading fast and a stop at Pegwell Bay added a few common waders that we hadn't picked up anywhere else during the day.

SUNDAY 6TH

Once again we were on our way soon after 7am, this time 8 of us took to the road, headed to Sheppey. A drive along the entrance track to Elmley started the day, MARSH HARRIER, COMMON BUZZARD and KESTREL were our first few raptors one Kestrel hovering just in front of the car moving from one side of the track to the other so everybody had a great view. There were, as ever, good numbers of LAPWING and several showed well next to the cars, always nice when you can study a bird so closely. A CURLEW was equally as obliging as we neared Kingshill Farm. With our main quarry along the road at Shellness or Capel Fleet, we only had a quick stop at Elmley and the highlight was a PEREGRINE dive bombing a Marsh Harrier that was sat on the ground, there were also 6 BLACK TAILED GODWIT, 3 LITTLE EGRET a flock of around 50 GOLDEN PLOVER and numerous WIGEON and TEAL below the farmhouse.
We continued on to Shellness and walked to the point, there were good numbers of waders and a lone COMMON SCOTER sitting on the sea, the KNOTS put on a bit of show as they wheeled over edge of the receding tide. With the wind being a little stronger than I would have liked the hoped for raptor fest was stuttering slightly but the odd MARSH HARRIER was putting in an appearance and a distant HEN HARRIER added to our tally. We weren't well equipped for a sea watch but talking to Barry (Highs and Lows of Birding Blog) and seeing later reports it had been pretty productive. Unfortunately we also just missed the 4 Snow Bunting that were on the point. Back along the sea wall the fields were almost birdless a few MEADOW PIPITS and REED BUNTING were the return for our efforts as well as a HARE disappearing and reappearing at various points across the salt marsh! lunch beckoned. The Ferry House Inn provided the sustenance and a nice surprise meet up with Derek Faulkner (Letters from Sheppey Blog). With time and light starting go against us, we made a couple of  quick stops along the Harty Road at the View point and the Fleet, the consensus among the other birders, was that the wind was indeed keeping the raptors down. All in all it was two really enjoyable days, with fantastic company and a really good range of birds. I didn't manage any photos, both days were pretty grey.

November 4th, another little bonus!

I decided on self preservation this morning and wimped out, by standing in the shelter of the Granary!! Even when the rain left off I took no chances and stayed put. There were a few GOLDFINCH heading south and east, only in flocks of 4 or 5, I could hear LONG TAILED TITS in the nearby hedge with at least 1 GOLDCREST for company.

View from the Granary

Looking the other way!! still raining!

Further across the fields were loads of corvids and Pheasants, just 3 REDWINGS flew south and one FIELDFARE in the 50 minutes I was there. I could see the LINNET flock was around 30 birds and at least 15 SKYLARKS came up from the same field. A JAY was being noisy on the far side of the veg garden and 22 REDPOLLS flew out from a birch, they circled round and dropped back in. The highlight, however, came when I followed a flock of Goldfinch, whilst trying to find a SISKIN that I could hear, in the flock was an unmistakeable large finch, HAWFINCH (113), it headed off south east with the 4 Goldfinches, brilliant! I used to record these annually probably 3 or 4 times a year, sometimes in twos and threes. Last year we did get a couple of sightings of single birds, the first for a few years. I was again pleased with the mornings efforts and glad I decided to wimp out of the rain!!

Veg Garden

Story of the morning :-)

November 3rd

A pretty damp start today but it was mild and you never know :-).  First up were 4 REDWINGS south over the car park, a few GOLDFINCHES were in the hedges and at least 2 GOLDCRESTS were nearby. I decided to check the lakes out, as I hadn't been there early doors much lately, unfortunately it was still quiet, I managed a MOORHEN and a GREY HERON, still no sign of Little Grebe with time running out this year. The wood was also fairly quiet, the most noise was caused by the rain on the turning leaves!! Out in the fields I found a dead Mink, which reminds me, I forgot to mention when Tom visited from Colorado on October 23rd we saw a STOAT, the first I had seen at the castle, although I know Dad has seen at least one before.
Back to today and I was struggling to reach 30 species, there was then a little flurry of activity as a COMMON BUZZARD flew low overhead, a REED BUNTING called and my first COLLARED DOVE of the month whizzed by, nothing out standing I know but the list reached 36 species for the hour, considering the conditions, I was pleased with that. The camera stayed tucked away from the rain so here is something from a sunnier day!!

Not only a sunnier a day but a different place!!  Lesbos 2009

November 2nd

A cooler night meant few moths this morning, just a handful of the usual suspects including a Grey Shoulder Knot.
The first bird I saw was a shadowy shape on top of the coffee shop a RED LEGGED PARTRIDGE, it crouched for a short time before whirring it's wings into action and disappearing. A FIELDFARE and several REDWINGS flew from their roost in the car park, later another 18 Fieldfares flew west as did 14 Redwings. I found a few more YELLOWHAMMERS today but still only around 10-15 birds hopefully the rest of the larger flock might return, the LINNET flock has also diminished to around 30 birds. A GREY WAGTAIL flew north and WOODPIGEON numbers were high again. For most of the walk round the field a COMMON BUZZARD could be heard calling, it sounded like it was from somewhere in the trees along the stream but several scans failed to pick it up. Walking across one of the stubble fields I disturbed my first SNIPE of the autumn for the patch. The rest of todays birds were much as yesterday, apart from 2 GREAT BLACK BACKED GULLS that flew east followed closely by about 15 HERRING GULLS and 4 GREENFINCHES were on top of a birch tree as I headed back to the car. I met the warden this morning and hopefully he will soon be planting a winter seed mix along one of the hedges to encourage the birds further, which will be great to see how it develops. The only pics I took today were of an eye catching male Pheasant, that looked like it was a Reeves cross type.

Sorry got carried away!!!

November 1st

The moths were a little thinner on the ground today, although an Autumnal Moth was my first of the year and an unexpected find was the scarce immigrant Uresephita Gilvata, which we found while packing the traps away!!

Uresiphita Gilvata - scarce migrant. Thanks to Steve Broyd for the pic.

It seemed like there were birds everywhere today, there were plenty of SKYLARKS  and MEADOW PIPITS calling over the fields despite several short sharp showers during the visit. The thing that was more evident though was the lack of YELLOWHAMMERS, there were around 6 birds flying in and out of the hedges but nothing like the 50 or so that have been around over the last few weeks, unfortunately there was also no sign of any Corn Buntings! so maybe tomorrow? who knows. A REED BUNTING did fly over, they have been a bit less obvious of late. There were several flocks of WOODPIGEONS milling around, a couple of the largest flocks numbered over 200, so there could have been easily 800-1000 birds in all. 4 FIELDFARES flew up from the stubble and a COMMON BUZZARD flew low over Roundshill Wood, seeing this bird made me think the bird at the weekend could well have been a late Honey Buzzard. There were plenty of finches again today mainly REDPOLL, LINNET, CHAFFINCH and SISKIN.