It was gloomy when I arose this morning and I still fancied
pottering out somewhere but with so little rain falling actually in Medway I
have still had to water my pots so thankfully I was up the garden post
breakfast giving the Tomatoes a drink when the Pied Flycatcher started calling
from the Sycamores. I have had my ear
and eye open when up the garden as my whole road has an almost unbroken
corridor of gardens 200 feet wide and a mile and half a long with mature trees
at the garden boundaries for its entire length.
I am always surprised that I have not had more go through over the years
but was very grateful of this first. It
became my 76th species from the garden since the 23rd
March. I heard a Green Woodpecker for
the second time since then yesterday but as yet have not had a Great Spot but
there is still time as our Garden Lockdown competition is running through to
the New Year now.
Anyway, I dragged myself out and down to Sheppey with the
strange notion of finding some drifting migrants at Warden Point but to be honest
I probably would have seen more if I had stayed up my garden.
It was deathly
quiet with one tacking Blackcap and not even a Tit flock. Rain was coming in as I walked back past some of the
friendly signage on the local properties and a look at the calm but grey sea
produced two Sandwich Terns but literally nothing else.
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| Myathropa florea |
I retraced my steps to Capel Fleet where a microscopic Great
White Egret was about a mile and half away in a field with a Grey Heron. There were tractors ploughing and spraying in
nearly every field as far as I could see.
 |
| Can you see it? |
 |
| Easy now! And that is at 65x |
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| Quality... |
The rain was quite heavy now and a look at the Fleet
produced a few Black-tailed Godwit, Green Sandpiper and some moulting duck so I
headed for home via Funton Creek where I sat for a while and watched the tide
come in.
I counted 112 Redshank, 17 Greenshank, 80 Lapwing, 85 Avocet
and a solitary Golden Plover while 21 Little Egrets followed the fast moving
tide as it headed for the saltmarsh. Swallows and a few House Martins
hawked in the now persistent drizzle for flies kept down by the weather.
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| Redshank |
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| Lapwings |
So, not the most glamorous of mornings out but if I stay
indoors I will see nothing at all...
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