May 25th (sunken marsh and river area)

Cooler this morning,though bright,east/northeast.8:am-9:30am.
I walked the same route as yesterday.Birds noted -river - 2 Shelduck,sunken marsh - 2 Linnet and 1 Turtle Dove.Four singing Song Thrush were in the area.

A nice photo opportunity arose with two Herons when one of the birds flew in and landed on the other birds patch.

May 24th (Sunken marsh and river area)

Wall to wall blue sky again,very warm.8:am-10:am.Birds noted - Cuckoo 4,with a fifth bird calling form the Country Park,Water Rail (heard,sunken marsh) Cetti1s Warbler 3,Common Whitethroat 3,Lesser Whitethroat 2,Reed Bunting 1,Chiffchaff 2,Greenfinch 4,Chaffinch 2 and Song Thrush 3.I thought I might have heard a Yellowhammer from deep in the sunken marsh but it was difficult to be sure with all the background noise.No sign of the Turtle Doves.

The Cygnets have hatched from the nest on Brookland lake.

May 19th (Grove ferry and Stodmarsh)

7:am-12:30 clear and very warm.I walked the full circuit starting from Grove Ferry.
Birds noted amongst others - Marsh Harrier 4,Sparrowhawk 1,Shelduck 6,Gadwall 2,Shoveler 1,Kingfisher 1,Cuckoo 4,Greenshank 4 (from viewing ramp) Redshank 2,Turtle Dove 4,Common Tern 18,Bearded Tit,Little Egret 2,Cetti`s Warbler 17,Blackcap 5,Bullfinch 2 (Alder wood) Lapwing 8 and Skylark 2.

I had gone specifically to see and photograph Hobbies,40 of which had been seen in the area yesterday.Unfortunately I only had them in camera range for about twenty minutes.The remainder of the time they were flying about very high,at onetime I had a flock of 18.

18th May (Halling Common,Cuxton pools and the west scrub)

Clear and warm 12.30-2.pm river almost low tide.
Birds seen or heard - Herring Gull 2,G B B Gull 1,B h Gull 50+,Cormorant 3,Mallard 6,Shelduck 3,Moorhen 4,Crow 6,Jackdaw 8,Magpie 8,Collared Dove 6,Wood Pigeon 20,Starling 100+,House Sparrow 6,Blackbird 3,Linnet 6, Yellowhammer 2,Great Tit 4,Blue Tit 2,Whitethroat 3,Heron 1,Greenfinch 7,Chaffinch 3,Blackcap 2,Reed Warbler 3,Cetti`s Warbler 1,Swallow 1,Dunnock 1,Skylark 1,Hobby 1,Oystercatcher 4,House Martin 10,Magpie 9 and L T Tit 6.
The Common Seal was also seen.

After I had finished at Halling I popped along to the pools at Cuxton.The pools were very quite though only producing 1 Shelduck,15 Jackdaw and 1 Pied Wagtail.Along the river 50+B h Gulls,1 G B B Gull,1 Shelduck and 1 Oystercatcher were seen.

I put up two 40ft nets in the west scrub during the early afternoon,catching 2 Robin and 1 retrap Song thrush.The Song Thrush was a young bird when ringed in the west scrub on 19 09 07.I also had two Hobbies over the scrub area for a while.

The last of the Reed Buntings (ringed female) was seen in the garden on the 8th.

17th May (New Hythe)

A quick visit during the morning to the river and sunken marsh area in the continuing fine weather produced - 2 Cuckoo,one of which was over the Burham side,2 Shelduck,4 Linnet,1 Oystercatcher,2 Chiffchaff,8 Reed Warbler,2 Whitethroat,1 Lesser Whitethroat,8 Swifts,4 Swallows,2 Nightingale and 3 Cetti`s Warbler.

May 13th (Walderslade,Kent)

Seeing as the forecast had promised a clear start to the day I thought I had better go to walderslade to see the Chiff before it decides to depart.I arrived at 6.30am and was the only one there until someone else arrived at about 8.30,I went at 9.oo.The bird was performing well giving its very distinctive song and calls,sometimes it disappeared for a short while further back into the trees but always returned after a short while.I have seen them in Spain before but this was a first British record for me.If it wasn`t for its call and song I would have passed it over as a Willow Warbler.

May 12th (east scrub)

Ringing in the east scrub from 6.am-9.am.
Birds ringed - Songthrush 2,Common Whitethroat 2,Nightingale 1,Blackcap 2,Dunnock 1 and Willow Warbler 1.
Retraps - Nightingale (1) ringed 16-04-08,caught again on 14-05-09 and 12-05-10.
L T Tit (2) ringed 28-08-08,caught again on 16-09-08 and 12-05-10.
ringed 16-04-08,caught again on 14-04-09 and 12-05-10
Robin ringed 03-06-09,caught again on 12-05-10.

On the way back to my car I saw a Kingfisher flying down the millstream.

May 11th (Brookland and sunken marsh)

8.am-10.am Bright but with increasing cloud,northeasterly.
Brookland and sunken marsh area- birds noted- Cetti`s Warbler 4,Nightingale 4,Reed Bunting 3,Swift 60,Swallow 20,House Martin 40,Sand Martin 20,Shelduck 2,G B b Gull 4,Kingfisher 1, Sparrowhawk 1,Hobby 1 and Peregrine 1.
I didn`t actually see the Peregrine take the Magpie, I just saw it flying off with it and the Magpie`s mate in close attendance.

May 10th (Brookland lake)

I only got as far as Brookland lake this morning,its so nice to see such good numbers of Swallows in the area again.
The Hobby was seen briefly again over the lake and a Nightingale was singing away on the edge of the car-park in the scrub along the railway bank.

May 9th (Brookland/Abbey Mead)

With all these Red-rumped Swallows about I thought it might be worth while to pop down to the lakes to see if one had turned up on our patch,no such luck though.Birds noted - Swift 40,sand Martin 20,Swallow 60,House Martin 100 and Hobby 1.It was overcast with light drizzle,the northeast wind remains.

PAST TIMES (May 1980)

WILDFOWL Shelduck 30 at Burham marsh 10th.Greylag 7 at New Hythe 28th.
WADERS Ruff 1 at New Hythe 1st.Dunlin 1 at New Hythe 1st,5 12th.Green Sandpiper 1 at New Hythe 12th.Common Sandpiper 10 ringed at New Hythe during the month.Redshank 2 pairs at New Hythe,Lapwing 4 pairs at New Hythe,2 of which are in the sunken marsh.L R Plover 3 pairs at New Hythe.Ringed Plover 2 pairs at New Hythe (Brook House area).
GULLS AND TERNS Common Tern 7 at New Hythe,5 at Leybourne 5th.Black Tern singles at New Hythe on 6th and 8th,5 12th.Little Gull 1 at New Hythe 6th.
TAWNY OWL 2 on Reeds island site 17th.HOOPOE 1 Abbey Mead 19th.WHEATEAR singles at New Hythe 6th and 28th,pair 8th.WHINCHAT 1 New Hythe 12th.BLACK REDSTART 1 at New Hythe 9th.YELLOW WAGTAIL passage early in the month,with 6 8th.SWIFT 100 New Hythe 21st,150 22nd.
NIGHTINGALE 25 singing birds,Reed island site.SPOTTED FLYCATCHER 1 Reeds island site 28th.
COMMON WHITETHROAT2 pairs in the New Hythe area (scarce).TURTLE DOVE 10 birds at Burham marsh 24th.LESSER REDPOLL small numbers breeding,Reeds island site.

May 7th (New Hythe)

Brighter today but still that northerly wind.12.30-2.pm.I walked from Brooklands out to the river,round the sunken marsh,through the hawthorns and then back again.Birds noted - Shelduck 2,G B b Gull 1,Reed Bunting 2,Reed Warbler 10,Lesser Whitethroat 3, Common Whitethroat 2,Chiffchaff 3,Sedge Warbler 1,Cetti`s Warbler 4,Bullfinch 4,Sparrowhawk 1,Linnet 1,Nightingale 3 and Cuckoo 1.
I met Phil Sharp who was just finishing his walk.He told me that he had seen a wader along the river that he thought was possibly a Greenshank,but he didn`t feel confident enough to tick it.So I was pleased when I heard a Greenshank call as I walked around the sunken marsh.On my way back I managed some rather distant pics of the bird.So Phil you have another New Hythe tick.

May 4th (New Hythe)

Bright start,cloud slowly increasing,northeast,7.45-9.30am.
Birds noted - Good numbers of hirundines were still present with 100+Swift,150+House Martin,60+Swallow and 50+Sand Martin.A Cuckoo was in the Sunken marsh along with Linnet (heard) a Nightingale,2 Turtle Dove,1 Sedge Warbler,a Whitethroat and 2 Cetti`s.Along the river a G B b Gull and 2 Shelduck were seen and the Hawthorns there held 2 Bullfinch.On Tesco lake 2 Common Tern were seen along with the Whooper Swan.I had one Garden Warbler along the millstream on the way back to the car-park.There is at least now 20 singing Nightingales in the area.

May 3rd (Common Cranes)

Jeanette and I were out walking the dog by the Tesco ware housing at Snodland this morning (8.am) when we heard and saw 2 Common Cranes flying over northwest.