December 29th (Burham marsh)

I looked in on Burham marsh this morning.BIRDS SEEN - 1 Red-breasted Goose,98 Canada Geese,6 Greylag,19 Teal,32 Mallard,1 Grey Heron,70 Lapwing,1 Redshank,1 Common Sandpiper,50 Goldfinch,1 Peregrine and 1 Kerstral.The Red-breasted Goose will probably go down as being of feral origin.

December 28th (New Hythe)

Railway Lake -1 red-head Goosander,1 female Scaup,300 Tufted Duck,2 Shoveler and 6 Gadwall.

December 12th (Isles of Sheppey)

I WOULD LIKE TO WISH MY READERS A HAPPY CHRISTMAS AND BEST WISHES FOR 2018.

December 5th (New Hythe)

I was ringing again this morning in the West Scrub (1X40ft) 0900-1100.overcast,quite mild.

BIRDS RINGED

Goldcrest  4

Bullfinch  1

Blue Tit  4

Great Tit  1

Chiffchaff  1

Long-tailed Tit  2 + 4 re-traps

TOTAL  11+4 re-traps

2 of the L T Tits were ringed in the West Scrub during September of this year,one during September 2016 and one during September 2014.

December 3rd (New Hythe)

I was ringing in the West Scrub this morning 0900-1100,overcast,mild.(1X40ft)

I didn`t see much of interest,apart from a Little Egret on the Streamside lake and small numbers of Redwing,flying about the bushes.

BIRDS RINGED

Blue Tit  3

Long-tailed Tit  8

Chiffchaff  3

Goldcrest  3 + 2 re-traps

Wren  1

TOTAL  18 + 2 retraps

Goldcrest re-traps  HPD983 was ringed in the West Scrub as a (3) imm male on 09 11 15.

JAT947  was ringed in the West Scrub as a 3 imm female on 26 09 17.

The above photo shows the tail feathers of a known adult Goldcrest.Tail feathers of adults are  broader.less narrow and pointed than the tail feathers of juveniles,but there are exceptions to the rule.One of the reasons which makes bird ringing so fascinating.

BITS AND PIECES

Top Stonechat (pair) Halling Marsh 21st,Little Grebes on the Medway,from the Bucket Wood,6 more were on Brooklands lake 24th,Scaup,(reddish tint to its eyes) Abbey Meads,along with 130 Tufted Duck and 83 Pochard 26th.The latter count is a good number for recent years,considering its still only November.

On December 30th 2012 I saw the above same bird,or one very much like it on the Streamside lake.That also had a reddish tint to its eyes.I thought at the time it was a hybrid,because of its reddish eye colour,but now I know I was wrong.I`ve just been looking at photos of female Scaup and several showed a reddish tint.Could the eye colour be age related,I think it probably is.

KHEECHAN,(RAJASTHAN) November 2017

The highlight of the Indian trip for me,was the two visits I made to the Crane sanctuary at Kheechan.Over forty years ago a man named Ralanla Maloo started to feed the Pigions,Sparrows and Peacocks in the village.Then one September he noticed ten Cranes feeding with them.The following year 150 were present.Over the years the numbers grew and now up to 15,000 may be present.The birds are fed with grain in fenced paddocks to keep them safe from the village dogs.Ralanla has now died,but others have now taken over the responsibility of the Cranes.Only about 500 Cranes feed in the paddocks at anyone time.Others wait on the nearby sand dunes and lakes for them to return and then take their place.The site has now been officially recognised and more land is being acquired for the Cranes and visitor viewing areas have been improved.

At Kheechan I saw the following birds - Demoiselle Crane,Spoonbill,Shoveler,Spotted Redshank,Ruff,L R Plover,Red wattled Lapwing,Pigeon,Collared Dove,Chestnut bellied Sandgrouse,Black Drongo,Yellow Wagtail (resembling M f supercillaris) Brown Rock Chat,Teal,Little Grebe,Little Egret,Wigeon,Pond Heron and Common Sandpiper.

During our stay in India,we visited Jodhpur,Delhi,Mumbai and Bikaner.I only saw 4 Vultures,all Egyptian.Up until around fifteen or more years ago,Vultures were present in their millions.The veterinary drug Dicofenac used on cattle (now officially not used),caused the birds death when they fed on dead animals that had been treated with the drug).