A Deep Purple Haze

Kent 14th May 2019

Yesterday was all about recovering from a seven and a half day week and there may just have been a bit of GoT binging while slumped, sloth like on the sofa.

This morning I felt slightly more with it and after the rush hour I headed south of Maidstone to search out Marden Meadows KWT reserve and its fields of Green Winged Orchids.  Despite being a relatively common and prolific species, I cannot honestly ever remember seeing them before.

The local back roads did their best to thwart me with seemingly everyone ‘closed except for access’ regardless of the direction of attack and diversion signs that certainly did not aid in any way. Ten minutes of circling and eventually ignoring a road closed sign and I was there to be greeted by a massive field of swaying Buttercups and male Bullfinch than bimbled past my window.

I made my way around this meadow passing a couple of orchid spikes on the way but a purple haze in the next one drew me on and through a gate where I was greeted by a swathe of deep purple splashed amongst the vibrant Buttercups.

I spent the next hour by myself in this most magical of meadows crouching down to check out a different colour variant one minute and taking in the whole vista the next. If only it had been scented too. 

I shall try to group them into some semblance of colour type as they ranged from various purple shades through lilac and every shade of pink through to snowy white. Some were plain, others well marked with spots and paler inner centres, some the green lines stood out and in others they were barely noticable. Bewildering in their diversity.

Purples:

Lilacs

Pinks:

And a magical White:

Yellowhammers and Reed Buntings sang in the hedgerows and Buzzards mewed overhead.  Ancient stag Oaks, mostly long dead dotted the edges of the dew ponds that contained Moorhens and Coots at the very least but I was disappointed to not find one dragon or damsel and a solitary Small Copper was the only butterfly seen. A couple of young Wild Service Trees were a pleasing find and Bugle and Stitchwort flourished around the meadow margins.

Wild Service Tree

Stitchwort

Bugle

Pleased with my rewards I wended my way north east to Hollingbourne to find the track up onto the North Downs where I have been told a butterfly haven exists but despite my efforts there was not a butterfly to be seen and I suspect I am just a smidgen too early in the season for the first Adonis and friends.  It was not a wasted effort as the views offered to the south and east were immense and somehow even the M20, Eurostar and local railway were all secreted away in valley bottoms. 

Milkwort

The Oak and the Yew

All Saints Church, Hollingbourne - some lovely mature Copper Beeches

Oxslip I think

Hounds Tongue

Crosswort - thanks Enid

I sat on a chalk bluff and watched the world go by; I could see for miles but the sky was almost birdless.  A Skylark sang behind me but other than a couple of Jackdaws I did not see another bird above the tree line.  Where were the soaring raptors or startled Woodpigeons or even gulls heading back to the coast?

The retort of multiple bird scarers designed to put off non-existent Woodpigeons from the pea fields broke through my slightly depressing reverie and I scrambled back down the slope and headed for home...

My First Week Back...

RSPB Rainham Marshes: 6th-12th May 2019



I returned from my extended sojourn on Lesvos to be greeted by a very chilly Rainham river wall on Bank Holiday Monday morning but I was instantly warmed by the plethora of new birds for my year list that had arrived in my absence.
There were Whitethroats singing all around and performing bouncing song flights, Reed Warblers gurked and Sedge Warblers scratched and the Grasshopper Warbler briefly reeled too.  Three male Cuckoos were in song and chase and a Hobby sat out on Wennington looking fed up.

Cuckoo - Russ Sherriff

A glance at the bay revealed three Bar-tailed Godwits - all long billed females in subdued plumage, a Grey Plover, Dunlin and six Avocet. 
The marsh was littered with yellow fluffy bundles of goosey joy and both Canada and Greylags are having a great season so far and there were already some well grown Lapwing and Redshank chicks around with both species totals already being up on 2018 which is great news.
I soon found the Cattle Egret with the herd - nice of him to linger for me.  There is already quite some colour on his mantle and crown and the usually black legs are turning straw coloured as he enters breeding plumage. However, he is in the bad books for snaffling several tiny Lapwing chicks...

Cattle Egret

Plumed Little Egrets were dotted about and a huge orange billed Great White dropped in from the east and promptly set about trying to become invisible in the sedge beds.  This is not the black billed breeding plumaged bird that was seen last week.
Swifts descended from the heavens and zoomed past me at head height and joined the list of new UK birds for the year and Sand Martins bounced around as if joined to each other by elastic.

Swift - Tony O'Brien

As the tide came in the Bar-tailed Godwits came into Purfleet Scrape to have a rest up and freshwater bath and were joined by nine stripy headed Whimbrels and a brief Spoonbill rounded up a fine day.

Bar-tailed Godwits & Whimbrel - Ian Plume

It was good to be back despite the madness of a full on Bank Holiday Monday.

Tuesday followed a similar pattern with the Cattle Egret performing very well and Hobby numbers increasing to at least a dozen while the 'Wits and Whims appeared again at high tide. 

Cattle Egret - Ian Plume

Wednesday was wet and grey though and predictably very good for waders and a fine selection were seen in Aveley Bay up until lunchtime (but not by me from the centre... booo....) This included eight brick red Knot, Sanderling and 40 Dunlin.
Arctic and Common Terns were on the move and the much hoped for Black Terns dropped in with eight dipping down to collect morsels.

Thursday was clear and bright to start with and Russ Sherriff and I enjoyed a single sum plum Knot in the Bay before work along with two Bar-tailed Godwits again and a several Avocet and two Greenshank. 

The male Stonechat was singing his little heart out on the car park buddlia and I was once again surrounded by a Warbler, Skylark and Meadow Pipit soundtrack.  A female Greenland Wheatear paraded along the foreshore and posed for Russ and the Cuckoos were once again putting on a great show.

Wheatear

Wheatear- Russ Sherriff

Knot & Redshank - Russ Sherriff

Stonechat

Cuckoo - Tony O'Brien

A quick look at Wennington added the solitary Pink-footed Goose grazing with the Greylags which is always a useful addition to the site year list.  As for origin; who knows...

Pink-footed Goose

Friday was Hobbytastic and a similar array of waders were seen along with some good Marsh Harrier action and the sight of Andrew G retrieving one his lost party balloons from the marsh.

Hobby - Ian Plume

A small p - pallid Common Swift gave me palpitations that morning as it hurtled around the centre beign approriately coffee coloured but the shape was wrong and the colour was patchy especially on the flight feathers and it lacked a very pale throat or good face pattern.  if I had not been to Lesvos then I would have been far more cautious about dismissing it... scary!


The deluge of Saturday had my KBC outing hastening back along the riverwall within a few minutes before the youngest (three year old CeCe) got washed away.  Ten minutes later it had abated somewhat and we tried again with birds starting to sing again and Swifts coming down lower to hoover insects. 

The Cattle Egret was busy thrashing chicks to death on the little concrete block on the marsh with Redshanks and Lapwings giving it some serious but unsuccessful attention and Avocets are still on nest watch by the Butts Hide.  With a little warmth Buzzards and the Harriers got up and the Hobbies were not far behind.  We may not be able to rival the 66 from RSPB Lakenheath but nine in view is still impressive.

I might as well have stayed at work Saturday night as I was back on site at 0245 to prepare for the Dawn Chorus walk. It was still and windless, the river like an inky black millpond and the only pre-dawn sounds were out on Aveley where the Marsh Frogs obviously did not mind the chill conditions and were joined by the sounds of Redshanks and Lapwings, Coots, Geese and Gadwall.

Mist started to self generate and over the next two hours the landscape came and went under an ever changing blanket of whiteness. Sometimes it would obliterate everything in a flat white carpet that I could see over with just the pylons poking out and at other times random trees, hides and fence posts would appear as the smothering layer undulated to and fro across the marsh.

It was ethereal and magical and through it came the sound of a full dawn awakening with first Blackbirds and Song Thrushes being joined by Cetti’s, Reed and Sedge Warblers, Robins, Cuckoos, Whitethroats and Wrens.
The punters were in for a real treat for so rarely do we have a perfect day for the DC walk...
I forewent my usual two hour kip after they went out and simply sat outside and watched the reserve slip backwards and forwards in time with only the drone of the A13 and tops of the pylons to remind me that the 21^st century was still ticking away in the background.

I suspect that this set me up for the day as I carried on all the way through and after catching the end of Neville’s two Temminck’s Stints as they flew from Purfleet Scrape, I headed out for a circuit which although we could not find the Temms, it did result in a lovely Spotted Flycatcher in the Cordite (cheers Rich) and some spectacular Hobby action.

Neville Smith's 'just before they flew' picture of the two Temminck's Stints - oh and a Tufted Duck

 

Spotted Flycatcher - Jim Camball

An hour of much needed TuiNa after covering lunches and then I took myself for a walk in the woodland where I bumped into the Jacksons at the Flycatcher and from which ensued a mini Insect Afternoon like in the good old days with flies of various sizes, butterflies, the first Damsels and Hairy Hawker, Nomad and other solitary bees, five shieldbug species and even the rare Ant Mimic Jumping Spider.

Tachina fera

Calliphora sp

Pipiza sp - a hoverfly

Even the delay to jump start a little blue van in the car park after we locked up did not break the spirit of a long but rewarding day although admittedly I did not get much past 8pm before the lights went out...