In the Grove

After a pleasant, but more or less unrewarding walk round Bockhill this morning, three generations of Morris's went to Grove Ferry this afternoon. With the help of Pete, my grandson, Jack, is really getting into birding and he was keen to get out and see some new birds.

Although we didn't manage to find the Wilson's Phalarope, named after the American Ornithologist Alexander Wilson (not Martyn Wilson who took the picture on the KOS web Site), there were a lot of birds around. Several Ruff were in the area including these two in front of the David Feast Hide.

A bit of a silly picture, but this Greylag kept a beady eye on the hide by settling right in front of it.

We walked out to the Marsh hide and from here we found a new bird for Jack. Scattered round the marsh were at least 15 Water Pipits. Although they were often visible and audible in the air they were pretty difficult to find once they landed. We did manage to get some good scope views and Pete managed a digi-scoped shot. In front of the hide the group of Konig Horses stood almost motionless all the time we were there, and I have no idea why the one on the right is being ostracised.

There were loads of Bearded Tits around and I completely failed to get a picture worth having of them. Everyone else has managed cracking photos of these beautiful birds in the last few weeks, but I managed to prove it is possible to cock up even the most simple task if you try hard enough!

Wild Horses

The National Nature Reserve at Stodmarsh has a small herd of Konik Ponies that are there to help manage the wetlands. They are part of a project between the Wildwood Foundation, Kent Wildlife trust and Natural England.

Koniks are direct descendants of the Tarpan, a wild horse which was hunted to extinction here but continued to inhabit Eastern Europe until the 19th Century. They have been used in projects to selectively breed horses showing the most Tarpan characters in an effort to recreate this primitive breed.

They are now being used in several reserves in the UK and South Foreland Valley, St Margaret's how has three which will help the Dexters in controlling growth on the recently cleared downland. They are beautiful small horses with large heads and a beautifully coloured coat.

Suffolk Wildlife Trust are using them on one of their reserves, this is what they say about them "The modern konik is an excellent example of primitive vigour - it is long lived, very strong, and resistant to harshness of climate. It is also a prolific breeder which rarely aborts, it's great fertility being passed on to its progeny unimpaired. It never catches colds or coughs and if it receives a minor injury from another herd member the wounds heal without attention. It is used to foraging in the wild and can adapt its diet to live and thrive on very rough grazing and browsing when little food appears available."

When I went to look at the Ponies in the Valley they were sheltering from the atrocious weather, or at least were not in a place to photograph, so I've only got pictures of their relatives so far. If they do their job properly we should be able to look forward to some go chalk grassland in the future. I know that some areas look very different with the scrub removed, but this is a habitat that occurs in many places and regenerates very quickly, whereas proper chalk grassland is a rare and diminishing eco-system that hosts many rare plants and butterflies.

What horsey done that Mr Baker?

My favourite TV programme ever is Mash, I've got every episode on tape and after all these years it still hasn't been surpassed as a satire on human stupidity. But that's getting away from the subject. When Col. Potter called something a load of horse manure I don't think that this is what he had in mind.

Anyone in the are with roses should be doing quite well if they pay this mountain a visit, it was really steaming today. It isn't pretty and it doesn't smell that great either, but instinctively I feel sure it will attract a few birds, that might one day include something good.

Fortunately I've got a bit of a cold and my nose isn't working that well, but even so it was a brave deed to sit and watch and wait for a few minutes this afternoon. Birder like keeping lists, life list, garden list, patch list etc, but I never though I'd be compiling a pile of manure list. I did include the adjacent hedge on the grounds that it was probably the steaming mound that was attracting the insects that in turn would attract the birds, but in fact the ivy covered trees probably had plenty of food for the birds that were there anyway. The first bird to drop in to the whatsit was this Pied Wagtail.

It seem quite at home in its centrally heated surroundings.

It was soon joined by a couple of Chaffinches. I also saw a couple of Blackbirds and Greenfinches disappearing behind the pile.

A few Yellowhammers were around, but they seemed to stay in the hedge, along with at least two Goldcrests that were feeding in the Ivy.

This is a find the bird picture, there are three but it isn't a prize winner. If you include the Green Woodpecker that was feeding there the other day the list is mounting. I must remember to take a peg with me next time.

Who's got the shortest legs.

I couldn't resist taking a picture of these ponies along Nelson Park Road. There is something very endearing about a pony that is shorter than a decent sized dog.

As I passed one of the fields today I noticed a Black-headed Gull sitting next to Common Gull and thought that this would make a useful extra to the post from a couple of days ago. The two are perfectly positioned to show the darker grey tones, the different pattern of the wing tips and the different bill colour of the Common Gull.

Robin Trouble

We got Robin problems. He like cars, Pam's car in particular. He lands on the edge of the window to either look in or look at his reflection. The trouble is, while he does this he poops. So Pam's car has it all over the sides of the door, and from when he gets particularly vain, over the mirrors. Even worse, if she leaves the door open he goes inside. When she goes out he uses my car. I've also noticed that sometimes he spends a lot of time looking in the lounge window, and in the last few days he has popped (and pooped) inside the house when we've left the back door open. I like Robins but familiarity breeds contempt and I think we've got to that stage.

Living in St Margaret's you are surrounded by horses and this little chap, at Shirley's farm has always fascinated me. I'm sure his legs are to short fir his body, but I was envious of his fabulous coat today, he certainly was better insulated than I was.

These two guys in the paddock by the monument were having a mad moment. I don't think the one on the right really wanted his neck chewed, but although he kept moving away the other pony was persistent and kept up the nibbling. It was too cold to see what the outcome was, I hope it was non-violent.

Birds It was quiet today, isn't it always, but I did see at least eight Red-throated Diver heading UP the channel around lunch time.