Kentish Nature Walks #54 - The Stour Valley and Oare Marshes - 17th August 2022

Tuesday saw the first rain of any sort in nearly two months on my Strood garden and I have to admit it was a blessed relief even to the extent that I spent the whole time out there tinkering and even just sitting in it with a cup of coffee in hand. I was thus more hopeful of not having a scorcher for a trip out into north Kent yesterday.

By 8am we were at Grove Ferry and although it was warm and humid, there was some low cloud and thus the light was also good.  We had barely got across the road when a Turtle Dove started purring mechanically from the scrubby trees but we only saw him when he flew from just behind the very top of a Hawthorn just a few yards away.  Always a star bird of any day out nowadays.

The bushes were alive with tacking, ticking and hweeeting and we were surrounded but a superb mixed flock of Warblers and Tits with silvery Lesser Whitethroats, Blackcaps, Whitethroats, a Garden Warbler, Chiffchaffs, Cetti’s, Reed and Sedge Warblers all clocked in quick succession. Dunnocks, Robins and Wrens were also getting in on the action while the first Yellow Wagtails called overhead.

The flood looks fantastic from the Ramp albeit with the ever encroaching Phragmites from the left had hand side – the pool used to be twice this size. A splodge of loafing Black-headed Gulls contained no other species but they had a few Little Egrets and Grey Herons and a multitude of eclipse Teal, Gadwall and Mallard for company and with a bit of searching a smart juvenile Garganey was found having a bath at the front of the flock.

There were 11 Black-tailed Godwits, three Snipe, three Green Sandpipers and a few Lapwing feeding on the muddy areas and a Kingfisher energetically called as it flew towards us and disappeared into the front of the reeds below us and out of sight where a couple of Bearded Tits pinged.

Scanning around added several orangey crowned juvenile Marsh Harriers and a flock of flying Shoveler contained another Garganey but they did not come down.  Now, I know that last week I waxed lyrical about discovering ‘my’ Marsh Sow Thistles at Fingringhoe, well, Grove Ferry is covered in them!  How have I not noticed these towering plants before?  The lined every invisible ditch edge within the reedbed, reaching high above the Phrag.

Marsh Sow Thistles 

The Feast Hide added a flying Greenshank and a foraging adult Water Rail that loosely had a still fluffy largely black youngster in tow and another Green Sandpiper teetered in the island.  Little squelchy sounds of Reed and Sedge Warblers came from all around and I imagine that young are still being fed.

Some furtive ornithological behaviour from within the hide caused me to follow those who left and before too long we were also watching the immature Purple Heron as it flew in a considerate circle around us near Harrison’s Drove (which is now almost completely reedbound).  This was my first in the UK for many years and quite possibly my first juvenile and it was a UK tick for a happy Gloria.

Purple Heron 

It leisurely lumbered its way back towards the Ramp area so we left it to find a secluded spot and continued out towards the distant Marsh Hide.  It was now warming up but it was very peculiar as you would literally walk into hot pockets of stifling high humidity air before a cool breezy spot would take its place for a while.  If you could have coloured the air temperatures it would have been a strange swirl  of shades.

I sort out some Frogbit on the ditches and was pleased to find some still in flower and White and Yellow Water Lilies were also seen. Migrant Hawkers were up and down every path and circling any sunny corner.  A big Creeping Thistle patch was heaving with a substantial charm of largely buff headed juvenile Goldfinches but there were also quite a few Linnets mixed in with them while Reed Buntings preened in to top of the adjacent Hawthorns.  There were several more of both Whitethroats and Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs were calling in all directions.  

Frogbit - Hydrocharis morsus-ranae

White Water Lily

A scan around added three Grey Herons in the top of a solitary bush and three Kestrels could be seen hovering over the margins of the marsh with more Marsh Harrier action closer to us.  We scanned for Whinchats but could not find any but a chance glance up added a juvenile Med Gull passing over.

Med Gull 

Marsh Harrier

We bumped into Lesvos Peter who had just had point blank Bittern views so decided to spend some time in the Marsh Hide to try our luck too and fortunately on snuck over the hide and we saw it drop back down into the reeds. An older juvenile Water Rail preened along the margin and caught the odd passing Darter and a Green Sandpiper silently made ripples. 

Water Rail 

Water Rail 

Water Rail 

Green Sandpiper

Out on the parched meadow there was an ever increasing flock of Greylags which, just like the birds at Rainham Marshes and Abberton reservoir contains a high proportion of birds with vivid orange rather than bubble-gum pink legs. 

The pool behind the hide held several Moorhens and Grey Herons and another Kingfisher along with a delightful spread of Greater Bladderwort with its curious yellow flowers peering above the water surface like floral periscopes. This curious plant is actually carnivorous utilise tiny bladders to catch their prey. The traps work like a vacuum and when an aquatic invert touches the bristles on the outside of the bladder, the trap door opens and it sucked inside. Prey items may account for 50% of an individual plant’s biomass!  The joy of Google once again there to increase my knowledge.

Greater Bladderwort - Utricularia vulgaris

Greater Bladderwort - Utricularia vulgaris

Greater Bladderwort - Utricularia vulgaris

A juvenile Marsh Harrier came in over the top of the delightful Belted Galloways but it was looking for smaller prey and a hurtling adult Hobby careened back and forth plucking Migrant Hawkers from the sky with precision.  It was good to catch up with John C in the hide and his Bittern timing was impeccable.

I chose to push on to the Stodmarsh end instead of retracing our steps and we ambled through the calm and slightly cooler Alder Carr with its myriad of channels and hidden pools.  It was just how I remembered it from my first visits forty years ago with the YOC when Cetti’s Warblers were just establishing themselves before the catastrophic crash in the following winters.  I recalled a huge Eel in a ditch and Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers and Spotted Flycatchers nesting and huge views over the reedbeds and marsh where mature Willows and other Alders now stand. 

Thankfully the Cetti’s are back to stay and we could hear several as we made our way through. We talked about the local Beavers and soon found several spots with evidence of their work.  A couple of Willow Emeralds and Speckled Woods danced in the sunbeams filtering through the canopy.

Willow Emerald

Beaver work

The Reedbed Hide was our furthest point and afforded views of a muddy bay on the main lake where there was a similar spread of species the Grove Ferry Ramp but with the addition of Common Sandpiper and two immaculate juvenile Greenshanks.  A juvenile Common Gull was a nice find but the Little Gull of yesterday had moved on.  An adult Common Tern was still feeding a dependent youngster and was attacking a Cormorant that happened to swim too close.  

Greenshank

Two Green Sandpiper and a Teal

juv Common Gull

The lack of hirundines had been notable so it was pleasing to find a small mixed group of all three species hawking around where the woodland met the lake.  It seems that gone are the days of thousands lining the autumnal telegraph wires.

Retracing our steps we found another large Tit flock that held quite a few Chiffchaffs, the odd Blackcap and Reed Warbler, our first Chaffinches and a couple of Treecreepers that gave themselves up eventually. A big bird or prey came out of the canopy and although we were looking through the trees I could see the neat barring of underwing and underparts of a Honey Buzzard. It was quickly lost to view and we could not get to anywhere open enough to see the sky.  It was so close!

The Lampen Wall has matured somewhat and is now largely lined with tall dense trees with occasional view points (not saying that is a bad thing!) Many a cold winter’s evening was spent in good company waiting on the exposed bank for the Glossy Ibis to come in to roost on the lake behind us while Hen Harriers (not Marsh) quartered the fields.

A Bittern was seen on one scan round along with a fine male Marsh Harrier and the back of the main lake was dotted with the white splodges of Little Egrets and solitary grumpy looking Great White (I recall twitching one here with my Dad one September…).  A second Great White obliging flew almost over us and a raft of eclipse Tufted Ducks and Pochard joined Great Crested Grebe on the growing list.

Great White Egret

Great White Egret

The Stour was followed back towards Grove with another Warbler flock that added Willow to the tally and a couple of invisibly calling Bullfinches.  Holly Blue, Red Admiral and Comma joined the Butterflies and a Brown Hawker cruised in squircles around a small reedy pool.  

Red admiral

Wiggle mines on Wild Hop

Wild Hop

A slightly odd looking large female  Helophilus sp

We looped back down towards Harrison’s Drove so that we would be in the open for the last stretch and found a female Sparrowhawk being mobbed by a flock of Starlings and some Yellow Wagtails while a Hobby dashed low after a Hawker only it could see. Two Ravens drew attention to themselves as they kronked over the ridge before circling over us.  A young lad a his Dad were particularly pleased to see them.

Ravens

A last look from the Ramp produced another Great White Egret sitting on its ankles amongst the gulls before a very well earned lunch back at the car after a six and a bit mile circuit.

A deceased Mole

Great White Egret

Invigorated by coffee and seven billion calorie Gazillionaire Shortcake we made our way to Oare Marshes for the remainder of the day with a five minute diversion to look at the Ospringe Wall Lizards.

Wall Lizard - three small young like this and two skittish adults were seen

Although high tide was over two hours off when we arrived, the foreshore was already under and the East Flood was already packed with a patchwork of bronze, chestnut, white, grey and orange Black-tailed Godwits and a similar number of Redshanks.  Quite a few of the Godwits were coloured ringed and two Redshanks had blue flags but I was struggling with a looming headache and scoping was not helping so I let them go this time.

There were 13 Dunlin, eight very noisy Greenshank, a juvenile Ringed Plover and two gleaming Golden Plover in summer garb while an even more dapper Grey Plover circled overhead but, like two Whimbrel, did not come in.  There were a couple of Snipe and Green Sandpipers and a few Avocet and Lapwing but not a single Ruff which was odd. Great swirls of mismatched half and half Starlings descended for sudden mass probing sessions before once again taking to the air.

Starlings 

Whimbrel

I scanned methodically (if painfully) through the small gulls, most of which were sleeping finding adult Common and Meds and eventually one that I thought may well have been the Bonaparte’s but like all the Black-heads it had its head firmly tucked away.  Thankfully after about 20 minutes a Heron spooked them and they got up for a little fly round.  I had found the right bird and we all got great views of this little black-billed gull back for its tenth summer before it once again nodded off. 

You can find the Bonaparte’s Gull

Yellow and Pied Wagtails bounded around and ran on clockwork double-time legs across the hard baked mud and three Kestrels hovered around the periphery. It did not feel like much more was going to come in and with a the easterly wind strengthening and incoming rain I opted for a last look at the Swale.  We got in about ten minutes before the light cooling drizzle became a steady inconvenience and added Sandwich Tern, Oystercatcher and some boat roosting Turnstones to the day tally which was just shy of a hundred species.

A van was parked peculiarly on the slipway with no one in sight.  The back wheels were already in the encroaching water and his drivers wheel was precariously close to the edges and great big hole.  Apparently the owner was a chap we could see miles away on the other side zipping around in a small rib.  With an hour still to go till high tide It was almost tempting to stay and see what happened but the rain forced a retreat and we headed back west with the rain catching us up from time to time.

Once home my damp garden was alive with molluscs that have somehow survived the drought and the fallen Crab Apples were getting a good munching while a couple of large and healthy looking Common Frogs were out patrolling.

Common Frog

'All mine!!!'