I did the circular walk this afternoon at Chislet Marshes in cloudy conditions with a fresh NE wind making it feel quite cold. Birds noted included 11 Mute Swan, 6 Mallard, 2 Pheasant, 4 Stock Dove, 5 Woodpigeon, 1 Collared Dove, 1 Moorhen, 1 Coot, 3 Herring Gull, 5 Cormorant, 1 Marsh Harrier, 2 Common Buzzard, 2 Green Woodpecker, 1 Kestrel, 2 Magpie, 9 Jackdaw, 2 rook, 12 Carrion Crow, 2 Raven including one which looked like it was carrying part of a rabbit back to its nest. What do you think? There were 8 Skylark, 1 Chiffchaff, 1 Blackbird, 1 Robin, 1 House Sparrow, 5 Yellow Wagtail (96) dropped in briefly where I managed a few distant shots. The habitat looks good for them this year so hopefully they will stay and breed. Also seen were 2 Chaffinch, 3 Linnet, 4 Corn Bunting, 1 Yellowhammer and 3 Reed Bunting. 

Yellow Wagtail

Raven carrying part of a Rabbit back to its nest?

With the wind slowly becoming lighter this morning, I was out of the house at 04:30 where 5 minutes later, I was pulling up in the bridge at Nethergong to listen into the darkness. It wasn't too long before I could hear the song I was hoping for, a booming Bittern (93). This bird must have been calling from Grove Ferry as it was actually quite loud and usually repeated its song about 7 or 8 times. Such an amazing sound to hear in the darkness. I also heard 1 Tawny Owl calling. I then had a walk around the area for a few hours and noted 6 Mute Swan, 3 Mallard, 2 Pheasant, 8 Stock Dove, 11 Woodpigeon, 4 Moorhen, 1 Herring Gull, 5 Cormorant, 1 Grey Heron, 1 Marsh Harrier, 2 Swallow (94), 6 Common Buzzard, 1 Kingfisher, 2 Great spotted Woodpecker, 3 Green Woodpecker, 2 Kestrel and 2 Jay. There were 6 Magpie, 18 Jackdaw, 5 Rook, 1 Raven, 2 Blue Tit, 3 Great Tit, 10 Skylark in song, 2 Sand Martin (95), 6 Chiffchaff, 3 Cetti's Warbler, 2 Long tailed Tit, 1 Blackcap, 1 Song Thrush, 3 Robin, 1 Stonechat, 1 male White Wagtail, 2 Meadow Pipit, 4 Chaffinch, 5 Linnet, 6 Goldfinch, 3 Corn Bunting, 4 Yellowhammer and 5 Reed Bunting. 

Male White Wagtail

I arrived at the quite early time of 04:50 on Saturday morning where I parked up in the layby and listened into the quickly growing light. I was hoping to hear a Bittern booming from the Stour Valley but with a northerly wind, I couldn't pick anything up. I then had a walk around some of the area for a couple of hours where I noted 40 Mute Swan, 1 Black Swan, 9 Mallard, 2 Pheasant, 4 Stock Dove, 12 Woodpigeon, 8 Moorhen, 16 Herring Gull, 29 Cormorant, 1 Grey Heron, 2 Marsh Harrier, 1 Common Buzzard, 2 Green Woodpecker, 2 Kestrel, 2 Magpie, 4 Jackdaw, 10 Rook, 3 Blue Tit, 3 Great Tit, 1 Skylark, 6 Chiffchaff, 4 Cetti's Warbler, 2 Blackcap, 2 Song Thrush, 2 Redwing, 2 Stonechat, 3 Linnet and 1 Reed Bunting. Nocmig recording on the night of the 28th produced 1 Coot, a flock of Wigeon (90) over just 6 minutes after I put the recorder out and a flock of distant Common Scoter (91) over during the night. 

Wigeon

Common Scoter

A visit Sunday afternoon to primarily look for dragonfly nymphs was quite productive but the highlight were 2 Red Kite (92) flying north. Also 6 Common Buzzard, 2 Marsh Harrier, 1 Sparrowhawk and 1 Kestrel.