Big Garden Bird Watch

Today was the day for the RSPB's Big Garden Birdwatch and there were quite a few birds in feeding today, but there were some notable absentees.

The pair of Carrion Crows did pay a visit, but this wasn't surprising as we'd saved some chicken skins and they were down for then quite quickly. A Herring Gull and two Magpies also came down to this treat.

The feeders were quite busy, but for the first time I cam remember there were NO House Sparrows In the garden. I'm sure the group that is usually nosily calling from the hawthorns just down the road were there, but they are now quite infrequent visitors to my feeding station. On the other hand there were quite a few Chaffinches, and half a dozen Goldfinches.

Some of the male Chaffinches are getting quite colourful now, as the tips of their feathers are wearing off to reveal the courtship wardrobe.

Although there were not as many Greenfinches as we some times get at this time of year, they do seem to have recovered from the very low number earlier in the winter when an outbreak of Trichomonosis had a severe affect on their numbers.

Four Blue Tits were around the garden, and two Great Tits, but I failed to see or hear any Long-tailed Tits during the time.

One of the most obvious Birds this year were the Blackbirds, and I estimated that there were around 18 in various parts of the garden. I did cut up some apples and put them just in front of my study, and this brought a few of them closer. They occasionally got a bit quarrelsome and chased each other around.

The vanquished bird turned its back on the victor, but to show that it was still around, it fanned waved it's spread tail around.

These three showed that it was possible to get on in close proximity, in fact at one time there were six quite closely spaced.

I only saw one Robin for sure, but there may well have been two, a Jay put in it's customary appearance and two wren foraged around the plant pots, one on each side of the house. Two Dunnocks and a Great-spotted Woodpecker were around, but no sign of the Pied Wagtail that sometimes visits. Of course pigeons were represented with two Collared Doves, four Wood Pigeons and a few, I didn't count them, feral pigeons. Only two Starlings appeared, although later there were quite a few in the trees before going off to roost.

Last evening I popped out to a local area where a friend tells me he has seen a Barn Owl, on his way home from the pub, that's my friend on his way home, not the owl. I know that would be later but as Owls often hunt in the same territory for quite long periods I though I'd have a look. No Barn owl, but the Magpies were gathering by the hedge.

One for sorrow.
Two for joy.
Three for a girl.
Four for a boy.
Five for silver.
Six for gold.
Seven for a secret never to be told.
Eight's a wish.
Nine's a kiss.
Ten is a bird you must not miss,
MAGPIE.

I got up to silver, (the closest bird hasn't really got two tails!).

I've had three days of problems with ny PC. On thurdsay it had slowed down to a total crawl, and then nothing happened at all on friday, it wouldn't switch on. With professional help that was solved but yesterday I couldn't load any photos; but now it's back to normal. The ads in the Parish magazine are very useful, and thank you Alex for your quick response and diagnosis and then for getting me up and running again.

Roaring Gutter

Since the announcement by the RSPB that they were purchasing a considerable area of Lydden Valley on Worth Marshes I have had a couple of walks around there, but without getting right into the heart of the area. Thanks to Steve Ray, who gave my some information of the foot path that runs across the marsh, I decided to investigate the path, starting from the end furthest from the Sandwich Bay Observatory. Steve also shared some information as to where and photoed one of the Barn Owls yesterday, and the pictures were impressive.

Walking out on a footpath from Hacklinge you get to the pumping station at Roaring Gutter. Not a pretty building, but I'm sure it's essential as a tool to control the water levels in the marsh.

Roaring Gutter Dike (this is the spelling on the OS map, not Dyke). is in fact two parallel channels, which looked very blue today, with the unusually blue sky above, but held few birds other than four Dabchicks and lots of Coot.

Looking straight down the dike Sandwich Bay Estate is about 1.7 miles away, and there is a lot of good habitat in between, as well as the Sandwich to Deal railway line crossing the marsh. There were several Pheasants around and as usual lots of Magpies and Carrion Crows were feeding in the fields.

The Church tower at Worth is almost exactly a mile away and, although much of the land is cultivated, it is an ideal area for various raptors and owls to hunt. I did get a fleeting view of a Hen Harrier, but it disappeared and I failed to relocate it. Black-headed Gulls were spread over the marsh, hawking along the ditches, sometimes increasing my pulse rate as I thought a Barn Owl had arrived.

The foot path along the dike is called Pinnock Way and joins Goretop Lane, at Blue Pigeon Farm.

This is where I photoed the Barn Owls a few weeks ago and, as I was looking across, one appeared in the same area. As the light was great I thought that I might be lucky and get a chance of some pictures, but for some reason it didn't stop to hunt, but carried on and flew towards the fields much nearer the village. This was slightly disappointing, but a few minutes later two more followed the same route, and again didn't stop and feed along the reeds that they have on the previous occasions I've been here. As I walked back towards my starting point I saw a fourth Owl (I assume it was a different one as I hadn't seen one return) feeding along the hedge by the railway. All gave great views through a scope, but none were inclined to hang around for a picture. I presume that for some reason a different field it now a better hunting ground.

One thing that was noticeable today was the lack of small birds on the ground. I saw one Song Thrush, a couple of Blackbirds, and heard Robin, Wren and Blue Tit. As I walked back I was surprised but a large flock of about 250 Fieldfares flying over. They've seemed quite scarce since the autumn influx and I've seen very few feeding in the fields. Several small groups of Mute Swans came over and about 400 Lapwings were roosting in one field, and although they were frequently spooked, I didn't find the cause. A Grey Heron, one Little Egret, one Redshank

and two Common Snipe were all I managed on the way back to the car.