In the firing line?

What was looking like a quiet evening on the patch picked up considerably as I made my way round the circular trail by now so familiar.
A Chiffchaff was the lone songster by the river, and Swallows were a welcome site over at Wood's End. The lagoon was quiet, the resident wildfowl loafing on the low level of water. The Shelduck family are still hosting their Egyptian Goose shadow, and the female Tufted Duck has managed to hold onto 6 young. 3 other pairs of Tuftie were present, new arrivals. 3 Lapwing were on or around the lagoon and a single chick is hanging on!
A noisy Kingfisher on the reserve was always going to get the pulse rate going, not only because its a Kingfisher (!) but because they have been a difficult bird to come by on the patch. The noise was coming from the firing range, and although only brief flight views were obtained the bird may have a nest on the steep muddy bank usually used for target practise. Not the safest place to raise a family, if indeed that is the case. It may be a young bird exploring territory, but the brief views and calls said adult to me.
More noise from the pinewoods, this time young Sparrowhawks, and a male carrying food confirmed my thoughts. Waiting for him to reappear, I scanned the trees at the foot of the ruins. A dash of silver in the canopy and I was onto a colony of skittish Purple Hairstreak Butterflies! The odd good view of a male at rest, what a pretty insect. Does give one neck ache, though.

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Everything is about edge

Hardley, where it is often confusing to define where the garden ends and the marsh begins. Tumble-down houses and rickety shacks, away from any bus route and Team Sky sorts wrapped in lycra, this is a village that by choice is cut off. The secret is out, and pre-storm Ciara as many as 10 large lenses littered the river bank firing at will. Their target- Winter ghosts. First, the classic Scooby-Doo type, as a Barn Owl responds to an ill-advised squeak in the grass and heads towards the onlookers. Another quickly joins the hunt, their formation a picture of double-edged stealth. But these year-round residents are not the key objective today, that honour is given to the Short-eared Owl. 3/4 of these can be seen from the staithe at the minute, floating like giant moths over the tussocks and edges. In a recent article in The New Yorker, Jake Fiennes states "Everything is about edge". Hedges, ditches, scrub, forgotten tracts of land that link nothing and no-one. Fiennes, now ...

Grey Phalarope- a new patch bird

The 7th of April was another bitterly cold Spring day, hats and gloves in prime position on pegs and in bags ready to be deployed. A few brave Garganey have been reported north of the river, but it was a bird from the north itself that had me rushing for the thermals and the telescope late in the day. I was thankful for the local Whatsapp group who were quick to report that a Grey Phalarope had been seen on Rockland Broad. This tiny Wader would have come in on the northerlies over the last few days, although to grace one of the broads is a real surprise, since most stick pretty close to the coast before moving on. Indeed, my experience of the birds has usually been on a sea watch in the Autumn, waves crashing and foam flying, my eyes straining to pick them out as they fly low just above the surf. They are fantastic birds, and now one was here on the patch. I had a brief panic when I realised my scope was in my car at the garage (thankfully I do have a much older spare) but once th...

Claxton-on-sea!

Although it was not quite the Christmas we wanted here in the valley, the rain has bought its own gift. A grim vision of the future, perhaps. But right now, the patch is peaking and is alive with birds, and for that I am thankful. On Christmas eve, it was a job to navigate away from the village due to standing water that had left abandoned cars and undelivered presents in its wake. The rain had been persistent and unforgiving, the ground, saturated. Over on the marsh, where there had once been a muddy puddle amongst the pasture, a city had sprung from the leak, with a plethora of new occupants noisily laying claim to a patch of sodden marsh. Wigeon and Black-headed Gulls in their thousands now wheeled and whistled over and amongst the newly formed pools, accompanied by smaller numbers of Teal and Shoveler. A flock of two hundred-strong Lapwing enjoyed feeding on the less damp spots where green grass was still exposed, and thrown in for good measure have been a couple of Ruff, the ...

Notes from the valley

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