Bette Midler used to sing a song called "Spring Will Be a Little Late This Year", it would be an appropriate song to play today. Despite a Wheatear and a Swallow being seen in Cornwall this week it was quite dire earlier on today, in fact the perfect word to describe the conditions on the reserve at dawn today is - Dank.
I arrived at the barn just as it was getting light to be met with misty conditions that reduced visibility down to several hundred yards, moderate drizzle and a cold NE wind. Twelve hours of rain yesterday had also considerably increased the wet areas and mud on the grazing marsh and as I made my way across to the seawall I slipped and sloshed and sloshed and slipped through the murk and mire.
If I hadn't sat indoors all day yesterday bored rigid looking at just House Sparrows and the odd Blue Tit on the bird table, I probably would of stayed home this morning. However, today was the last day of the duck shooting season and I always like to be there and silently in my mind kiss the shooters good bye. On top of the seawall and struggling to identify anything through the drizzle and mist with my binoculars, one thing did become clear, the wildfowlers had already kissed me goodbye and had the sense to stay in bed - there was no one there. Who's the pratt now I thought to myself.
However, appearing through the mist further along the seawall there was a solitary figure, who to my surprise, turned out to be a birdwatcher. I say surprise because as he agreed as we chatted, it was definitely not a good morning for bird watching, or indeed seeing the owls that he had hoped to find. I gave him a few suggestions of routes round the reserve and wandered off with just the ever present Midge as company. The cold wind increased and for a while the mist and the drizzle moved back and the hope of seeing what I could hear increased but it didn't last long and it gradually closed back in again.
What did I see, well there certainly weren't any Skylarks singing today but appropriately for the conditions there were quite a few ducks about. In the Flood I could hear the whistles of Wigeon and Teal and the purring quacks of Gadwall. Nearly a hundred Mallard and a pair of Tufted Duck rose up from the "S" Bend Ditch and I could also hear a male Reed Bunting singing along there somewhere. Also, half a mile or so away through the mist on the farmland I could hear the calls of Greylag and White-fronted Geese, so the White-fronts, that totalled 300+ on Wednesday were still there.
I made my way up into the Tower Hide and had a look into The Flood and there were indeed Wigeon, Teal and Gadwall in there, plus a pair of Pintail and some Shovelers. Despite yesterday's rain I think I'll pump some more water across there this week while the ditches are still full enough to supply the water. The Tower Hide will be renamed the Perforated Hide soon if a Green Woodpecker has its way. It has already hammered two large holes through one side and a viewing flap and is now working on a third. You can't deny it its sense of vision, that's a very large nest box.
I guess that I had only been out there an hour and a half but the cold, the damp and the mud were enough for me and I decided to call it a day and headed back to the car, putting a nice ring-tail Hen Harrier up from a ditch as I went.
Perhaps we should re-word the song to - "Spring Will Be a Little Dank This Year"
Sunday, 20 February 2011
Saturday, 19 February 2011
AIRMAIL
By early 1915 depite the First World War being in full swing and Eastchurch airfield's close proximity to the Channel, the airfield was still having a job being accepted as being of serious use to the war effort. However, as German Zeppelin raids began to increase down the East Coast a trickle of what was to eventually become twenty four Bristol Scout aircraft began to arrive at Eastchurch in March 1915
Below you can see how the airfield looked from the air during late 1915 with the hangars to the left and accomodation huts in the middle.
Bristol ScoutC number 1246 - one of the twenty four delivered to Eastchurch in 1915.
The Zeppelin raids had begun to increase in intensity since the beginning of 1915, with the airships drifting across the North Sea, mainly at night, and hapazardly dropping their bombs on towns and countryside down the East Coast. Surprisingly, some of the bombs carried weighed up to 600lbs.
During this period Eastchurch based aircraft were involved in at least three enemy raids. The first, on the 16th April, saw a German Taube monoplane cross the coast of Kent at Kingsdown, causing the scrambling of aircraft from Eastchurch, Manston and Dover, all with no result.
On May 26th, five Naval aircraft from Eastchurch and Grain went up to engage the enemy airship LZ38. It was a fine, misty day and LZ38 had drifted in over the Essex coast, presumably to bomb London. However, for whatever reason it ended up dropping it's bombs, seventy in all, in the Southend area. Unfortunately the defending aircraft failed to even sight the airship and the only damage incurred was to two of them as they re-landed.
The third raid occurred on the 9th August 1915 when the airship L10 came in over East Anglia and headed south towards London. Fortunately it got a bit lost in the dark and eventually dropped most of its bombs over the Thames Estuary, before heading on over Sheppey. Here it dropped a total of twelve bombs in a line, about six hundred yards from the hangars, breaking just a few windows. Two Eastchurch aircreaft that had gone up prior to the raid failed to find the airship in the dark and the mist and so it escaped. A lucky find by the airship or a planned raid, it is not known, but it was the last real raid on the airfield until 1940.
By 1917 the Germans had re-thought their strategy and had begun re-equipping with the larger Gotha and Giant bomber aircraft. The Gothas had a crew of three and with two Mercedes engines capable of doing 87mph at 12,000ft. The bomb load varied with a range of between 600lbs and 1,100lbs of bombs, although over England the load was normally 6 x 110lb bombs.
A Gotha bomber is illustrated below as the crew prepare for take off from their airfield in Belgium. A tad draughty on a cold crossing of the North Sea or the Channel.
These aircraft were a significant improvement on anything that both sides had and they immediately began numerous raids across the Channel to England. The best that the British could do was to replace some of their out-dated fighter aircraft with what eventually became a famous WW1 aircraft, the Sopwith Camel, and as a result some were sent to Eastchurch. See one of the Eastchurch aircraft below.
Prior to that, on the 5th June, at about 18.00hrs, 22 Gothas flew into the Thames Estuary and began bombing both Sheerness and Shoeburyness. The raid only lasted around five minutes but caused eleven deaths and thirty-four injuries and although the eight anti-aircraft guns at both places fired five hundred and four rounds, only one Gotha was destroyed and sixty-five various aircraft sent up to intercept the Gothas never got anywhere near to them. The one hit Gotha meanwhile had come down into the sea off of Bartons Point, Sheppey and was eventually recovered along with its crew.
At Eastchurch, Charlie Ward was in the eighth round of a ten round boxing match in the airfield's Parade Square when the Sheerness raid began. Silly as it sounds, the audience of servicemen were ordered to remove their conspicous white cap covers before the remaining two rounds were completed!
These bombing raids carried on throughout 1917 and saw much action by the Eastchurch based Camels and other aircraft until eventually the night of the 19th/20th May 1918 saw the last German air raid over England until WW2.
That evening ten Gothas and three Giant bombers spent two hours wandering in over Kent and Essex to be met by an incredible number of anti-aircraft shells and patrolling fighter aircraft.Six German aircraft were shot down and Gotha GV979's demise was best documented.
Attracted by a concentration of searchlight beams east of Faversham, Capt. Brand arrived in the area in his Sopwith Camel of 112 Sqd from Throwley. As he patrolled at 7,000ft waiting for a target, an enemy Gotha passed to the left of him at about 500ft and Brand immediately set about approaching the Gotha from the rear. Both Brand and the Gotha's rear gunner began firing at each other at the same time and the Gotha's starboard engine was put out of order. As the Gotha began to dive away Brand closed to within twenty-five yards and fired off another three bursts of twenty-five rounds each. As a result the Gotha burst into flames, scorching Brand's exposed face and fell to the ground over the south-east side of Sheppey.
A search the following day found the remains of the aircraft and the bodies of the three crew, who were later buried in Leysdown cemetry, where they were eventually exhumed and re-buried at the Cannock Chase War Graves site.
Little else happened at Eastchurch for what was left of the war, except that in the April of the year the Gunnery School there was split up and a section known as the Aerial Fighting and Gunnery School was formed at the Leysdown airfield. This airfield, originally the site in 1909 of the Aero Club and Shorts Bros. aircraft factory had been retained and expanded and at the end of the war was visited by officers of the American Expeditionary Force for extensive flying instruction there.
It is pictured below during WW1, with the seawall in the background and Muswell Manor just out of picture to the right. Some stables are on part of the site now.
Below you can see how the airfield looked from the air during late 1915 with the hangars to the left and accomodation huts in the middle.
Bristol ScoutC number 1246 - one of the twenty four delivered to Eastchurch in 1915.
The Zeppelin raids had begun to increase in intensity since the beginning of 1915, with the airships drifting across the North Sea, mainly at night, and hapazardly dropping their bombs on towns and countryside down the East Coast. Surprisingly, some of the bombs carried weighed up to 600lbs.
During this period Eastchurch based aircraft were involved in at least three enemy raids. The first, on the 16th April, saw a German Taube monoplane cross the coast of Kent at Kingsdown, causing the scrambling of aircraft from Eastchurch, Manston and Dover, all with no result.
On May 26th, five Naval aircraft from Eastchurch and Grain went up to engage the enemy airship LZ38. It was a fine, misty day and LZ38 had drifted in over the Essex coast, presumably to bomb London. However, for whatever reason it ended up dropping it's bombs, seventy in all, in the Southend area. Unfortunately the defending aircraft failed to even sight the airship and the only damage incurred was to two of them as they re-landed.
The third raid occurred on the 9th August 1915 when the airship L10 came in over East Anglia and headed south towards London. Fortunately it got a bit lost in the dark and eventually dropped most of its bombs over the Thames Estuary, before heading on over Sheppey. Here it dropped a total of twelve bombs in a line, about six hundred yards from the hangars, breaking just a few windows. Two Eastchurch aircreaft that had gone up prior to the raid failed to find the airship in the dark and the mist and so it escaped. A lucky find by the airship or a planned raid, it is not known, but it was the last real raid on the airfield until 1940.
By 1917 the Germans had re-thought their strategy and had begun re-equipping with the larger Gotha and Giant bomber aircraft. The Gothas had a crew of three and with two Mercedes engines capable of doing 87mph at 12,000ft. The bomb load varied with a range of between 600lbs and 1,100lbs of bombs, although over England the load was normally 6 x 110lb bombs.
A Gotha bomber is illustrated below as the crew prepare for take off from their airfield in Belgium. A tad draughty on a cold crossing of the North Sea or the Channel.
These aircraft were a significant improvement on anything that both sides had and they immediately began numerous raids across the Channel to England. The best that the British could do was to replace some of their out-dated fighter aircraft with what eventually became a famous WW1 aircraft, the Sopwith Camel, and as a result some were sent to Eastchurch. See one of the Eastchurch aircraft below.
Prior to that, on the 5th June, at about 18.00hrs, 22 Gothas flew into the Thames Estuary and began bombing both Sheerness and Shoeburyness. The raid only lasted around five minutes but caused eleven deaths and thirty-four injuries and although the eight anti-aircraft guns at both places fired five hundred and four rounds, only one Gotha was destroyed and sixty-five various aircraft sent up to intercept the Gothas never got anywhere near to them. The one hit Gotha meanwhile had come down into the sea off of Bartons Point, Sheppey and was eventually recovered along with its crew.
At Eastchurch, Charlie Ward was in the eighth round of a ten round boxing match in the airfield's Parade Square when the Sheerness raid began. Silly as it sounds, the audience of servicemen were ordered to remove their conspicous white cap covers before the remaining two rounds were completed!
These bombing raids carried on throughout 1917 and saw much action by the Eastchurch based Camels and other aircraft until eventually the night of the 19th/20th May 1918 saw the last German air raid over England until WW2.
That evening ten Gothas and three Giant bombers spent two hours wandering in over Kent and Essex to be met by an incredible number of anti-aircraft shells and patrolling fighter aircraft.Six German aircraft were shot down and Gotha GV979's demise was best documented.
Attracted by a concentration of searchlight beams east of Faversham, Capt. Brand arrived in the area in his Sopwith Camel of 112 Sqd from Throwley. As he patrolled at 7,000ft waiting for a target, an enemy Gotha passed to the left of him at about 500ft and Brand immediately set about approaching the Gotha from the rear. Both Brand and the Gotha's rear gunner began firing at each other at the same time and the Gotha's starboard engine was put out of order. As the Gotha began to dive away Brand closed to within twenty-five yards and fired off another three bursts of twenty-five rounds each. As a result the Gotha burst into flames, scorching Brand's exposed face and fell to the ground over the south-east side of Sheppey.
A search the following day found the remains of the aircraft and the bodies of the three crew, who were later buried in Leysdown cemetry, where they were eventually exhumed and re-buried at the Cannock Chase War Graves site.
Little else happened at Eastchurch for what was left of the war, except that in the April of the year the Gunnery School there was split up and a section known as the Aerial Fighting and Gunnery School was formed at the Leysdown airfield. This airfield, originally the site in 1909 of the Aero Club and Shorts Bros. aircraft factory had been retained and expanded and at the end of the war was visited by officers of the American Expeditionary Force for extensive flying instruction there.
It is pictured below during WW1, with the seawall in the background and Muswell Manor just out of picture to the right. Some stables are on part of the site now.
Friday, 18 February 2011
Grey Days
DOUBLE CLICK EACH PHOTO TO ENLARGE
This morning was a second one where the weather was misty, grey, gloomy and cold in a S.E. wind. This awful winter seems to be never ending and its been four months now walking round in heavy winter clothes, we must be owed a hot and sunny summer this year, despite the fact that that will no doubt upset some people just as much.
The first day of sunbathing in the garden this Spring is going to be celebrated with a bottle of champers I think - can't wait.
There were a couple of promising signs as I walked round though, a few Skylarks lifted up into the gloom and serenaded me and just as last Saturday, Reed Bunting cocks were singing from various territories, I counted eight this morning. There are also other signs that things are changing, the grass along the seawall has grown several inches in places and catkins are coming out on the Goat Willows in the approach thicket to the reserve. So, things are primed to explode forth into Spring, we just need more than the odd sunny day to convince wildlife that its all go.
You will see below that the "S" Bend Ditch is now as full as it should be as it snakes away into the distance. Just before I took the photo the ditch had been full with around 400 mixed Wigeon, Teal and Shoveler ducks. (I took this from the top of one of the old salt workings mounds and Midge decided to pop up in front)
Below is our pump house, with The Flood in the background. In there we have a large diesel pump that allows us to pump the ditch water in three different directions in order to keep wet areas, wet.
Behind me as I took the above photo, a Mute Swan went gliding by with The Tower Hide in the background.
This photo was taken Wednesday, early evening, as I was standing at the Seawall Hide taking part in the monthly Harrier Roost Count. It captures dusk settling in as a full moon begins to come to life in the sky above. For my particular part of the Count it was very quiet with just the one male Hen Harrier seen going in to roost, although I did have the company for a while of two S.E.Owls.
The six month shooting season finally comes to an end on Sunday night and despite my increasing tolerance and understanding at why they do what they do, it will be nice not having to share the solitude of the early mornings for a few months. There was a good example of the increasing co-operation between myself and them last Sunday when one of the local wildfowlers came round my house. He had shot a Greylag Goose a few days before at Shellness and found that it had a numbered black neck collar on it, plus a numbered leg ring from Spain and gave me the details. On Monday I went on the Internet and via a European ringing website supplied the details given and within two hours received full details back.
Apparently the goose had been caught, rung and released whilst already three years old, in the Reserva Biologica de Donana at Huelva, Spain, in January 1999. This meant that the goose was 14 years old when shot, a good age.
Now I know many of you will immediately cry shame and how disgusting that it should be shot after all that time but let's look at the positives - it had enjoyed a good lifetime, by being shot and recovered it meant that valuable information wasn't lost in some unknown place, and I'm assured that it provided a good meal.
Personally, I think that was a pretty good outcome and I hope that during the summer months that the postive understanding and shared knowledge that is developing between myself and the true wildfowlers continues to broaden in the way that it is. More trust and less suspicion has to be a good thing between us.
This morning was a second one where the weather was misty, grey, gloomy and cold in a S.E. wind. This awful winter seems to be never ending and its been four months now walking round in heavy winter clothes, we must be owed a hot and sunny summer this year, despite the fact that that will no doubt upset some people just as much.
The first day of sunbathing in the garden this Spring is going to be celebrated with a bottle of champers I think - can't wait.
There were a couple of promising signs as I walked round though, a few Skylarks lifted up into the gloom and serenaded me and just as last Saturday, Reed Bunting cocks were singing from various territories, I counted eight this morning. There are also other signs that things are changing, the grass along the seawall has grown several inches in places and catkins are coming out on the Goat Willows in the approach thicket to the reserve. So, things are primed to explode forth into Spring, we just need more than the odd sunny day to convince wildlife that its all go.
You will see below that the "S" Bend Ditch is now as full as it should be as it snakes away into the distance. Just before I took the photo the ditch had been full with around 400 mixed Wigeon, Teal and Shoveler ducks. (I took this from the top of one of the old salt workings mounds and Midge decided to pop up in front)
Below is our pump house, with The Flood in the background. In there we have a large diesel pump that allows us to pump the ditch water in three different directions in order to keep wet areas, wet.
Behind me as I took the above photo, a Mute Swan went gliding by with The Tower Hide in the background.
This photo was taken Wednesday, early evening, as I was standing at the Seawall Hide taking part in the monthly Harrier Roost Count. It captures dusk settling in as a full moon begins to come to life in the sky above. For my particular part of the Count it was very quiet with just the one male Hen Harrier seen going in to roost, although I did have the company for a while of two S.E.Owls.
The six month shooting season finally comes to an end on Sunday night and despite my increasing tolerance and understanding at why they do what they do, it will be nice not having to share the solitude of the early mornings for a few months. There was a good example of the increasing co-operation between myself and them last Sunday when one of the local wildfowlers came round my house. He had shot a Greylag Goose a few days before at Shellness and found that it had a numbered black neck collar on it, plus a numbered leg ring from Spain and gave me the details. On Monday I went on the Internet and via a European ringing website supplied the details given and within two hours received full details back.
Apparently the goose had been caught, rung and released whilst already three years old, in the Reserva Biologica de Donana at Huelva, Spain, in January 1999. This meant that the goose was 14 years old when shot, a good age.
Now I know many of you will immediately cry shame and how disgusting that it should be shot after all that time but let's look at the positives - it had enjoyed a good lifetime, by being shot and recovered it meant that valuable information wasn't lost in some unknown place, and I'm assured that it provided a good meal.
Personally, I think that was a pretty good outcome and I hope that during the summer months that the postive understanding and shared knowledge that is developing between myself and the true wildfowlers continues to broaden in the way that it is. More trust and less suspicion has to be a good thing between us.
Monday, 14 February 2011
Harty pictures
With the sun coming out this morning I thought I'd take a few photos of the area round the reserve. Double click on each one to better view the scene.
This first one is of The Ferry House Inn, as it looks down onto The Swale waterway to the left.
Taken more or less from the same spot as the above one but looking left across The Swale to Harty Ferry on the mainland side. Harty Ferry was once a small, probably rowing boat, that plied between the Inn and the mainland. On the mainland, either side of the small fishing boat, is Oare Nature reserve.
Mocketts Farm house, with the Harty Road, little more than a lane there, to the left of it
Both this one and the one above were taken from the same spot, at Telegraph corner on the Harty Road. This one looks east towards Leysdown and shows the yellow and reeded sweep of Capel Fleet in the centre as it winds it's way round to eventually end up at The Swale NNR.
A view of Harty Church and Sayers Court farm buildings in the distance, taken from the reserve sea wall.
This building was originally the Old Forge and blacksmith's cottage but has been renovated and enlarged now for the landlord of the Ferry House Inn.
Brewers farmhouse alongside the staff entrance to the reserve. This is privately owned and has nothing to do with the farmland around it.
This first one is of The Ferry House Inn, as it looks down onto The Swale waterway to the left.
Taken more or less from the same spot as the above one but looking left across The Swale to Harty Ferry on the mainland side. Harty Ferry was once a small, probably rowing boat, that plied between the Inn and the mainland. On the mainland, either side of the small fishing boat, is Oare Nature reserve.
Mocketts Farm house, with the Harty Road, little more than a lane there, to the left of it
Both this one and the one above were taken from the same spot, at Telegraph corner on the Harty Road. This one looks east towards Leysdown and shows the yellow and reeded sweep of Capel Fleet in the centre as it winds it's way round to eventually end up at The Swale NNR.
A view of Harty Church and Sayers Court farm buildings in the distance, taken from the reserve sea wall.
This building was originally the Old Forge and blacksmith's cottage but has been renovated and enlarged now for the landlord of the Ferry House Inn.
Brewers farmhouse alongside the staff entrance to the reserve. This is privately owned and has nothing to do with the farmland around it.
Saturday, 12 February 2011
Singing in the Rain
Another blog without photos I'm afraid, just never bright enough to take them.
I got up this morning at 5.45 to the depressing and now familiar sound of rain on the conservatory roof, this winter really is starting to grind. I suppose with it starting much earlier this time, in November in fact, we've had four continuous bad months instead of the recent style of just two after Christmas. Whatever, I guess that most of us "outsider" types must be suffering from some degree of SAD Syndrome by now.
By 6.45 the rain appeared to have stopped and so I said, sod it, and left for the reserve, mud or no mud and I think it was a good decision. As I rounded Capel Corner on the Harty Road in the half-light of dawn, a Barn Owl drifted across the road in front of the car, further along at Elliots Farm, another did the same and as I travelled down the track to the reserve barn, another watched me from a post top literally just five feet away!
Ten minutes later I was on top of the seawall and several things were immediately obvious.
Firstly, despite the fact that they still have seven shooting days left, there were no wildfowlers out this morning. Now, despite the fact that I have become increasingly sympathetic to some of their views this winter, I have to say that to see wildfowl flying around freely in the sky this morning, without the instant barrage of steel shot echoing around, was really enjoyable, its been a long six months.
Secondly, it had started to rain steadily again and so I was in for a soaking, which most definitely I got - that doesn't help the old arthritis a bit but never mind, couldn't be arsed with that today.
Thirdly, despite the gloom and the rain it was very mild and was probably one reason for the fourth observation - the marsh was full of the sound of bird calls.
Greylag Geese were very vocal as they continued to pair up and squabble amongst each other. Mallard and Teal drakes were carrying out various courtship displays and their whistles and quacking could be heard from all quarters, as could Redshanks. Redshanks are not seen that much on the marsh in the winter, they prefer the shoreline and mudflats, but now they were back and their piping calls echoed all round the marsh. It really was so uplifting to hear so much going on and even a couple of pairs of Lapwings got into the act, wheeling and diving and "peewitting" as they went.
Lastly, along the tops of the reeds in the Delph Fleet, several male Reed Buntings were spread out at regular intervals, announcing their territory with the repetitive call notes that they use in the breeding season.
Yep, despite the rain down my neck and the mud underfoot, the marsh was buzzing this morning and there was something in the air. What was it Bob Dylan said - "there's a stillness in the wind before the hurricane begins" - well there's no hurricane beginning but there was a stillness in the wind this morning and it whispered, Spring is almost here.
But till then - well tomorrow late afternoon, we have our monthly Harrier Roost Count to carry out and the weather is forecast to be, steady rain with a freshening wind, so another soaking looks on the cards.
I got up this morning at 5.45 to the depressing and now familiar sound of rain on the conservatory roof, this winter really is starting to grind. I suppose with it starting much earlier this time, in November in fact, we've had four continuous bad months instead of the recent style of just two after Christmas. Whatever, I guess that most of us "outsider" types must be suffering from some degree of SAD Syndrome by now.
By 6.45 the rain appeared to have stopped and so I said, sod it, and left for the reserve, mud or no mud and I think it was a good decision. As I rounded Capel Corner on the Harty Road in the half-light of dawn, a Barn Owl drifted across the road in front of the car, further along at Elliots Farm, another did the same and as I travelled down the track to the reserve barn, another watched me from a post top literally just five feet away!
Ten minutes later I was on top of the seawall and several things were immediately obvious.
Firstly, despite the fact that they still have seven shooting days left, there were no wildfowlers out this morning. Now, despite the fact that I have become increasingly sympathetic to some of their views this winter, I have to say that to see wildfowl flying around freely in the sky this morning, without the instant barrage of steel shot echoing around, was really enjoyable, its been a long six months.
Secondly, it had started to rain steadily again and so I was in for a soaking, which most definitely I got - that doesn't help the old arthritis a bit but never mind, couldn't be arsed with that today.
Thirdly, despite the gloom and the rain it was very mild and was probably one reason for the fourth observation - the marsh was full of the sound of bird calls.
Greylag Geese were very vocal as they continued to pair up and squabble amongst each other. Mallard and Teal drakes were carrying out various courtship displays and their whistles and quacking could be heard from all quarters, as could Redshanks. Redshanks are not seen that much on the marsh in the winter, they prefer the shoreline and mudflats, but now they were back and their piping calls echoed all round the marsh. It really was so uplifting to hear so much going on and even a couple of pairs of Lapwings got into the act, wheeling and diving and "peewitting" as they went.
Lastly, along the tops of the reeds in the Delph Fleet, several male Reed Buntings were spread out at regular intervals, announcing their territory with the repetitive call notes that they use in the breeding season.
Yep, despite the rain down my neck and the mud underfoot, the marsh was buzzing this morning and there was something in the air. What was it Bob Dylan said - "there's a stillness in the wind before the hurricane begins" - well there's no hurricane beginning but there was a stillness in the wind this morning and it whispered, Spring is almost here.
But till then - well tomorrow late afternoon, we have our monthly Harrier Roost Count to carry out and the weather is forecast to be, steady rain with a freshening wind, so another soaking looks on the cards.
Tuesday, 8 February 2011
A Palaver of Birds and Wind
Yesterday afternoon the regular three of us carried out the monthly WEBS count, or at least, did our best to. There was a roaring, gusty wind blowing the whole time that we were there - in our faces or up our butts, depending on which way we were facing. Once again it was a reminder of how exposed the marshes are when the elements are bad, there are few hiding places or sheltered woods and hedgerows out there.
The Swale, which seperates Sheppey from the mainland is normally a fairly placid and narrow stretch of tidal water but yesterday it took on the appearance of something that you could attempt white-water rafting on. The gale force wind blew straight down its length from west to east and seemed to be trying its hardest to prevent the tide from coming in. And along a half-mile stretch several thousand gulls in a frenzied feeding pack, dipped into the white-capped waves as they flew into the wind until, reaching a certain point, up they went like wind-tossed foam, back to the end of the flock and began the process all over again.
I tried watching all this from the seawall but my telescope was vibrating in the wind too much and I gave up and moved on, stumbling forward too fast as the wind pushed me on, until eventually I turned to walk the circuit back into it. That began a whole new side to the afternoon, walking head first into the strength of the wind was so strenuous and tiring that you just had to admire the ease with which the gulls achieved it. And the WEBS count itself? well it was one of the poorest that we've counted, the birds were very few and far between and obviously hiding up somewhere out of the wind. The "S" Bend Ditch, normally quite full of wildfowl in recent weeks, appeared deserted until you looked closely at the reeds along the side best sheltered from the wind and there a few hundred duck could be seen occasionally moving in and out like cuckoos from a clock. Lapwings that were on the marsh in +thousand numbers a few days ago were down too a couple of hundred, all bunkered down and facing into the wind. The best count of the day was 300 White-fronted Geese, on a sloping field of winter corn in the distance, just below a Leysdown holiday camp.
Yesterday's WEBS was an experience that will be remembered well into the summer for both its roaring wind, the exhausted feeling after that you'd walked twice the distance that you actually had and the fact that within half an hour of being home the wind dropped away to nothing.
The Swale, which seperates Sheppey from the mainland is normally a fairly placid and narrow stretch of tidal water but yesterday it took on the appearance of something that you could attempt white-water rafting on. The gale force wind blew straight down its length from west to east and seemed to be trying its hardest to prevent the tide from coming in. And along a half-mile stretch several thousand gulls in a frenzied feeding pack, dipped into the white-capped waves as they flew into the wind until, reaching a certain point, up they went like wind-tossed foam, back to the end of the flock and began the process all over again.
I tried watching all this from the seawall but my telescope was vibrating in the wind too much and I gave up and moved on, stumbling forward too fast as the wind pushed me on, until eventually I turned to walk the circuit back into it. That began a whole new side to the afternoon, walking head first into the strength of the wind was so strenuous and tiring that you just had to admire the ease with which the gulls achieved it. And the WEBS count itself? well it was one of the poorest that we've counted, the birds were very few and far between and obviously hiding up somewhere out of the wind. The "S" Bend Ditch, normally quite full of wildfowl in recent weeks, appeared deserted until you looked closely at the reeds along the side best sheltered from the wind and there a few hundred duck could be seen occasionally moving in and out like cuckoos from a clock. Lapwings that were on the marsh in +thousand numbers a few days ago were down too a couple of hundred, all bunkered down and facing into the wind. The best count of the day was 300 White-fronted Geese, on a sloping field of winter corn in the distance, just below a Leysdown holiday camp.
Yesterday's WEBS was an experience that will be remembered well into the summer for both its roaring wind, the exhausted feeling after that you'd walked twice the distance that you actually had and the fact that within half an hour of being home the wind dropped away to nothing.
Sunday, 6 February 2011
Windy February dawns
ALL OF THE PHOTOS ARE BETTER VIEWED WITH A DOUBLE CLICK TO ENLARGE
It has been a quiet week in my little life and after a hint of Spring on a sunny Thursday, a relapse back into winter with constant strong winds and heavy cloud over the last three days. Walking round the reserve in those winds has been extremely tiring but I suppose good for maintaining a degree of fitness. They have also had a rapid drying effect on the surface of the fields, which we wouldn't want to see maintained for too long but for the moment, has made walking round far more comfortable and easier.
Bird-wise the grazing marsh, main part of the reserve, has been fairly quiet with a resident flock of White-fronted Geese being the main attraction to both birdwatchers and wildfowlers. Their numbers seem to hover around the 200 mark but a count on Thursday did come up with 420, possibly some birds dropped in temporary en-route northwards. They certainly make a spectacular sight and sound and become surprisingly tame at times. They tend to arrive on the reserve from elsewhere each morning immediately the night sky begins to lighten and so to avoid scaring them up and over any wildfowlers I have been cutting across to the seawall in the dark, before they arrive.
The two photos below show the sky from the seawall hide as the dawn starts to break in the eastern sky.
Walking back along the seawall yesterday morning I came across a wildfowler that I hadn't seen out there before and stopped for a brief chat, and I'm glad that I did. As well as being a fan of my blog, which was guaranteed to see me like him, he turned out to be a wildfowler of the old school with many, many years of experience on the North Kent marshes behind him. It also turned out that he was active on the Elmley marshes back in the 1960's at the same time that I was and although we hd never met then, we shared similar memories of how good it used to be.
I know that I have waged a campaign against the prescence of these guys in front of the reserve for many years but putting those prejudices aside, when you get talking to these, real wildfowlers of 30-40 years standing you realise that they can match or even surpass, many ordinary birdwatchers with their all round knowledge of both the local countryside's history and its wildlife. I wished the chat could of been longer.
A view down the seawall Delph fleet, with Shellness Hamlet in the distant background. (I don't know what the white effect on the wall was but it hadn't snowed this morning)
Another view across the reserve in the early morning with a large flock of White-fronted Geese in the distance just about to land in The Flood.
It has been a quiet week in my little life and after a hint of Spring on a sunny Thursday, a relapse back into winter with constant strong winds and heavy cloud over the last three days. Walking round the reserve in those winds has been extremely tiring but I suppose good for maintaining a degree of fitness. They have also had a rapid drying effect on the surface of the fields, which we wouldn't want to see maintained for too long but for the moment, has made walking round far more comfortable and easier.
Bird-wise the grazing marsh, main part of the reserve, has been fairly quiet with a resident flock of White-fronted Geese being the main attraction to both birdwatchers and wildfowlers. Their numbers seem to hover around the 200 mark but a count on Thursday did come up with 420, possibly some birds dropped in temporary en-route northwards. They certainly make a spectacular sight and sound and become surprisingly tame at times. They tend to arrive on the reserve from elsewhere each morning immediately the night sky begins to lighten and so to avoid scaring them up and over any wildfowlers I have been cutting across to the seawall in the dark, before they arrive.
The two photos below show the sky from the seawall hide as the dawn starts to break in the eastern sky.
Walking back along the seawall yesterday morning I came across a wildfowler that I hadn't seen out there before and stopped for a brief chat, and I'm glad that I did. As well as being a fan of my blog, which was guaranteed to see me like him, he turned out to be a wildfowler of the old school with many, many years of experience on the North Kent marshes behind him. It also turned out that he was active on the Elmley marshes back in the 1960's at the same time that I was and although we hd never met then, we shared similar memories of how good it used to be.
I know that I have waged a campaign against the prescence of these guys in front of the reserve for many years but putting those prejudices aside, when you get talking to these, real wildfowlers of 30-40 years standing you realise that they can match or even surpass, many ordinary birdwatchers with their all round knowledge of both the local countryside's history and its wildlife. I wished the chat could of been longer.
A view down the seawall Delph fleet, with Shellness Hamlet in the distant background. (I don't know what the white effect on the wall was but it hadn't snowed this morning)
Another view across the reserve in the early morning with a large flock of White-fronted Geese in the distance just about to land in The Flood.
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