Son and I took a wee trip out today - starting at Oare and ending at Worth Marshes. Max found a party of five Cattle Egrets at Teynham and we also had a look at the White Stork in the county - been a while since if seen one...
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| White Stork |
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| Cattle Egret (1 of 5) |
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| Avocet |
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| Stonechat |
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| Pintail |
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| Reed Bunting |
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| Reed Bunting |
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| Reed Bunting |
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| Meadow Pipit |
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| Teal |
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| Gadwall |
It's been many a year since I've seen Hume's Warbler in the UK, so decided on a brief afternoon visit to Dover to have a look at the overwintering bird present... Always hyperactive was a challenge to nail down. A few pics almost worthy of sharing...
A brief trip over to the Arctic Circle in Finland for some proper snow and ice. Day temperatures were -9oC to begin with but warmed-up to nearly 0oC part-way through the trip.
Finding 'stuff' is hard work at this time of year - lots of people have feeders in their gardens, attracting Willow Tits, Bullfinches (Northern) and an array of other passerines (Tree Sparrow, Great Tits, Yellowhammer, etc). Hooded Crows, Magpies and Jays are all out there, but we had no luck with Sib Jay, Sibe Tit, etc - the latter would have been new to me.
The Black Grouse in the tops of the trees were found by Max (son) and he also found the two Great-spotted Woodpeckers.
Mammals were a highlight - the ermine Stoat in particular - though the various shades of Red Squirrel were great.
Pride of place, however, goes to the Moose that Max and I found and managed to get a few seconds of dodgy video before it went back in to the snow-covered landscape.
A brief drive round the orchards at work (East Malling, Kent), armed with thermal imager in one hand and bins in the other, failed to produce any Woodcock (the expected result!), but did yield a smart Common Snipe not far from the Met Station. Other bits to start the 2023 patch list included the fabulous male Pheasant and a Great Spotted Woodpecker attempting to drill holes in to one of the tree posts.
Common Snipe had been considered a rare/occasional species on site but the use of thermal has highlighted they are much more regular than previously considered.
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| Common Snipe |
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| Male Pheasant that has been on site for much of 2022 |
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| Great Spotted Woodpecker |
