An opportunity to spend a day out of the smoke is always a welcomed event. Pete and I ventured into Kent spending the day on the Isle of Sheppey in search of migrants. We hit the road at stupid o clock to maximise our time in the field which paid off as our journey time in the mobile observatory was around an hour.
Leysdown coastal park was our first port of call with a thorough bush kicking exercise which failed to produce anything out of the ordinary. ebird list here We then moved down to The Swale and Shellness NNR to catch a rapidly approaching high tide before returning to the salt marsh and field area to bag the American Golden Plover which has frequented the area for a while now.
There was a trickle of movement off The Swale with Gannet and two flocks of Common Scoter. A Short Eared Owl came in off the sea but once again I failed on the photo front! See Petes blog
It is difficult to describe or capture the spectacle of the movement of the vast numbers of Curlew from The Swale onto the Salt marsh but once again it had both the adventurers taking their eyes off the sea to take in this amazing sight. ebird list here
After taking lunch in what is now considered our local trip chippy and seafood bar. The extensive journey of six minutes was taken to check out Warden Point. This area is a mix of scrub and sparse woodland situated on top of a now rapidly disintegrating cliff. It is well known as a migrant trap and most conveniently has a caravan and camping park set back from the cliff edge! Nothing much in the way of migrants beyond a lone Stonechat but a life butterfly tick for me a Wall Brown which was extremely obliging for the duffer behind the lens! ebird list here
Capel Fleet was our final stop of the day where the fields were littered with Red Legged Partridge all obliviously ready for the forthcoming hunting season! This provoked a discussion on the pros (there are some!) and cons of game hunting.
The day quickly closed out and another adventure into the wilderness was complete. Just need to keep our fingers crossed that Capel Fleet does not become completely immersed in solar panels!
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