Sunday 22 May 2016

With the heavy rain passing through by 6am this morning in east Kent, I arrived at Nethergong for 4 hours where I walked the circuit 3 times to see what was about. There were plenty of campers on site but in all the time I spent walking around, I hardly encountered any at all. It was generally cloudy but with little wind and quite mild, if felt quite nice to be out and about. I managed to see or hear a good total of 58 species this morning which included a few nice birds. Birds noted today were 4 Blackcap, 9 Swallow, 6 Chiffchaff, 6 Whitethroat, 4 Cetti's Warbler, 11 Cormorant, 3 Pheasant, 1 Nightingale still in song, 2 Grey Heron and 5 Yellowhammer. As I scanned the fields on the western boundary, I picked up 2 Grey Partridge (99) which showed well but distantly. This is the first time I have seen this species on the site and a good day if you can connect with this species nowadays. More importantly, this put me one more species from my target so it was a real effort this morning to scan everything that moved. Moving on I noted 1 Sparrowhawk, 2 Moorhen, 5 Reed Warbler, 2 Ring necked Parakeet, 2 Turtle Dove, 2 Sedge Warbler, 1 Common Tern, 4 Stock Dove and whilst at the eastern end by the gate, I watched the Barn Owl hunting which flew by quite close giving me a chance to grab a few photos in the dull light.

Barn Owl

More surprises were in order as I picked out 2 Shoveler (100) flying which did a circuit before flying off north. This brings up the magic 100 species target that I gave myself at the start of the year and although i'm pleased to have seen them all, i'm more pleased for the owners, Christine and Jed who now know that at least 100 species can be seen on their brilliant campsite throughout the year. Hopefully I will continue to add to the list throughout the rest of the year as there are still a few species I suspect I may encounter plus the odd bonus bird. Other birds noted today were 2 Skylark, 2 Yellow Wagtail, 5 Long tailed Tit, 2 Kestrel, 1 Little Owl, 3 Cuckoo, 1 Peregrine, 2 Marsh Harrier and 3 Swift ended a very pleasant session. On arrival back at the car, Jed presented me with a nice bottle of Prosecco for my efforts which was very much appreciated. As I have said before, although I look at the fields around the site, all these species on a site which is about 700 metres in length and 170 metres wide. I'm sure i'm not done yet and with a bit of luck, I may add Hobby and maybe a flyover wader if the conditions are right. 

5 comments:

  1. Well done on reaching 100 species Marc! I should reach the same tally around October time.....if i'm lucky ;-)

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    1. Many thanks Warren. Its an amazing place and who knows what else will turm up.

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  2. Congratulations on the 100th bird species, Marc. 2 Turtle Doves!!

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    1. Thanks Lucy. And a Grey Partridge but it wasn't in a pear tree!!

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  3. IMPRESIONANTE Y MARAVILLOSA FOTO. Saludos desde Asturias (España)

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