Little Owl renamed?

Sometimes you get that feeling that you should go and check a certain place because a bird is there waiting to be found. Very occasionally you are right, but most it leads to disappointment. Tonight was sort of in between. No rarity but a satisfactory encounter with a good bird.

When I arrived at the Restharrow Scrape hide the first thing I heard was a call I knew, but one I hadn't heard for about a year. An emphatic "chewit". Had I been in a tern colony I might have thought it was a Roseate Tern, but hear I recognised it as a Spotted Redshank. It is strange how two such dissimilar species sound so alike. Scanning round, in what was only just about light enough to be called twilight I watched a couple of Stock Doves. One was displaying, fanning it tail right out and sticking out it's chest. By the time I got my camera out they'd split up, but one came towards me and landed quite close by. To get any kind of shutter speed I had to set my camera to ISO 3200, and even then I was only on about 100th of a second.

The Spotted Redshank eventually came into view, and the very fine bill was immediately apparent. It was difficult to make the feather details in the poor light but I think it was probably a bird in first summer plumage, although I say this with little conviction.

It did have a fly round, calling loudly, but didn't land particularly close to the hide. I think it was looking for a quiet corner.

The reason for seeking a more tranquil spot has its roots in the arrival of the first batch of a dozen or so Greylags, soon to be joined by a similar number.

Four Little Ringed Plover were also in the area and were busily feeding on the rapidly expanding sandy edges.

One lone Dunlin was also feeding on the pools, sometimes in solitary fashion and sometimes alongside one or more of the plovers.

I cruised back towards Deal, along the Ancient Highway, hoping to bump into Barn Owl, but had no luck. As I went through the Royal Cinque Ports Golf course, I came a cross this Little Owl sitting on a telegraph pole.

I dropped down and sat on top of the warning notice. I couldn't help reflecting that, although it was larger than a golf ball, it certainly was almost round enough to be a ball, and it definitely could fly. Perhaps it was re-classifying itself?

Swings and round-a-bouts

Mothing is a rather strange type of hobby for a naturalist. It's more like fishing than most other branches of natural history. I set my traps up and then, in the morning look to see what I've caught. No walking miles or scanning the sea with a telescope for hours. A comfortable seat, a cup of tea, note book, pen, lens and a few books, and i can go through the traps while John Humphrys argues with some politician, who is avoiding what ever question he should be answering.

Bedstraw Hawk-Moth (Hyles gallii)

Every now and again something breaks the routine. A moth I don't recognise perhaps, or better still one I do recognise, but have never caught or seen (apart from pictures) before. And that it what happened today. I'd gone through the routine of recording all of the moths in my No 1 trap, the main trap in the back garden with a 125 MV bulb. It wasn't too bad, 118 moths of 38 species, but nothing unusual or particularly eye-catching. Next up was the second trap, an actinic tube, which I run next to my mothing conservatory. As looked in I could see a half hidden Hawk moth that I didn't immediately recognise. I moved an egg box out of the way and there it was in it's full glory, a slightly worn Bedstraw Hawk-moth. Not as mega- rarity. but a scarce migrant with just one or two reported in Kent each year. The light was still very poor and I took a record shot using flash, to ensure I did have one picture.

Although it really never go bright today I did get a couple more pictures. It is quite similar to the Spurge Hawk-moth I caught on 21 June 2007. One of the most striking differences is the colour of the antennae. On the Spurge Hawk-moth they are strikingly white as shown here, while the Bedstraw's were quite dark.

This Hawk-moth is similar in size to the Elephant Hawk-moth. It is manly a migrant in the UK although there are some breeding populations established in Norfolk, presumably established after a major influx from the south.

Had I been scanning the sea with a telescope this morning I might have seen the Cory's Shearwater at 11.19 am that Jack and Phil saw from the bay. It of course did not return after I arrived at 11.35 am. Win some, loose some.

The first Autumn Watch.

I hadn't been down to Backsands scrape for a considerable time and as it is fast approaching the optimum time for a decent wader rarity I decided that today would be a good day to look.

On the way through I popped into Restharrow Scrape and was amazed at how quickly the water level had dropped. It seems to have attracted this young Heron that was stalking round the shallow water in search of a snack.

As usual there were lots of crows of various species. At this time of year there are lots of young Rooks around that don't have the characteristic white bill of the adult.

The Heron had a fly around and dropped in in front of the hide.

Although this is a young bird, it is sufficiently experienced to make a graceful landing.

As well as the Heron and Mallards there were a few other birds, at least one Common Sandpiper and a Little Ringed Plover were the pick, although they didn't come with camera range.

Backsands Scrape sometimes offers closer views of waders, and I had put my bike in the back of the car. It can be a long walk with little to see, so although my knees are not too keen on cycling saving about three quarters of an hour for the return journey is well worth the effort. As expected the most obliging waders today were the Green Sandpipers. There were more than a dozen around and I got some very close views from the "photographers" hide.

They were actively feeding most of the time But I can't make out what they were catching.

Although Green Sandpipers aren't as elegant as their close relative the Wood Sandpiper they are busy little waders and make good subjects.

Green Sandpipers are very early migrants, with return passage starting as early as 10th June in Finland. By the second half of June they reach most northern European countries ans the main passage is in July.

Females return before the males. One parent normally the female leaves their territory by the end of May or early June, meaning that it was only present there for 3-4 weeks. In contrast the can spend up to eight and a half months in their mid-European wintering grounds.

I left the small hide and went to the other side of the scrape. From the hide there I watched this fox pass very close to where I'd been sitting, but I doubt if it would have come so close had I still been in residence.

There were a few (three or four) Common Sandpipers around, and as usual when they got too close to each other a territorial dispute often arose. For a small wader they do seem particularly quarrelsome even away from their breeding territories.

I noticed at the far end of the scrap a female Tufted Duck with four small young. Good to see that they've bred here. I hope she keeps them well out of range of the fox, I'm sure duckling is high on his culinary agenda.

There were three Greenshanks, in their normal sleepy state, to the right of the hide and two or three others feeding in far flung corners of the scrape. It is a while before they will reach their peak numbers.

One last shot of a Green Sandpiper that settled down just in front of me. It's always good when the water is still and there's a nice reflection.

Just as I was getting ready to leave I saw a distant falcon heading straight towards me. At first I thought it was a Peregrine, but when it got close enough to see properly it revealed itself as a Hobby.

It caused a bit of panic in the Linnets that were around, but after spending a few minutes circling around it disappeared off, over my head and heading north. It was then back to the bike and a pedal back to the car. It was at this point that I realised what a good present Pam had bought me a couple of years ago, when she got me a very comfortable padded saddle. It really helps to prevent a dose of farmers. One disappointment was the lack of Hares on either journey. Hopefully they'll be around next time.

The Black Death without?

I featured The Church of St Lawrence the Martyr back in Dec 2008 and when Pam and I were wandering through the back lanes we paid it another visit.

Hougham, or as were informed by a neighbour of the church, Hougham Without, sits quite high on the downs between Dover and Folkestone. The significance of the full name is that the Parish of Hougham was outside the walls of Dover. Although I'd read James Antony Syms account of the Church he makes no mention of one of the surprises there.

We were informed by the same local mine of information. that there were some interesting grave stones in the church yard. Two of the grave stones have symbols of Skull and Cross Bones on them. The one above being particularly striking. There seem to be quite a lot of similar headstones around and many explanations for them. There may be an association with the Knights Templar or the Masons. This certainly has been suggested at other sites.

We were told that these are probably the graves of people who had died from the plague and had been buried here because it was "Without". I thought that most victims of the plague were buried in mass graves, but it does seem a feasible explanation.