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There is a lot of activity at Elmley Marshes at the moment. The drive down to the car park is fantastic with close views of displaying Lapwing and Redshanks wandering closely along the track. I can confidently say you are very likely to see at least one stunning Yellow Wagtail and if you are sharp eyed...

A day off on Saturday, so an opportunity to get off Sheppey & I decided to head off & try to see some new species of odonata. Or dragonflies & damselflies to you & I. Heading south from Elmley, the lifting bridge was up over the Swale, so rather than sit in a queue of stationary traffic...

The showery weather continues, although I think I'll still have to put some more water onto the Flood. I went out this evening to check on one of the cows out there. It was OK, but some of the pools are looking low, despite the rain. But the shallow water is what the avocets love and i counted a...

There's probably one question above all others (well maybe apart from "I've found a baby bird. What do I do etc?") that visitors & callers to the reserve ask at this time of year. And that's "Are there any baby avocets we can see from the hides?" Well, I can exclusively...

WARNING: THIS BLOG CONTAINS IMAGES THAT SOME VIEWERS MAY FIND DISTRESSING I made a comment on the forum about the diversity of some birds of prey diets. Not so the peregrine. It's almost exclusively feeds on other birds, usually caught on the wing. According to Birds of the Western Palearctic...

Having had a mild rant in my last blog about birding abbreviations, I thought I'd carry on about another pet hate of mine! Sitting in Southfleet hide this evening, I had the surreal experience of watching SpongeBob SquarePants float across the Flood. "How amusing" I hear you say. Unfortunately...

With light winds & sunny skies, I was quite hopeful that today would produce our first yellow wagtail or garganey of the year. Alas, I was disappointed, but the variety of raptors around today made up for it. Both male & ring-tail hen harrier were seen, along with a merlin, at least 3 buzzards...

The continuing spring-like weather made for a "more pleasant than some" boat trip to carry out the final Medway WeBS count of the 2010/11 winter season. I was joined by Andy & Jason from Northward Hill for the occasion & as we gunned our RIB across the stretch of water between Nor Marsh...

Decided that I needed a haircut today, so as my hairdresser is in Medway, it seemed rude not to call in at the Medway reserves at Motney Hill on the way back. Pulling my hat tightly down to keep a keen north-easterly breeze from getting to my newly exposed ears, I realised that i had timed my visit just...

Despite the breezy conditions (or perhaps because of them..) an obvious arrival of waders today: Spotted redshank totalled 29 on the Flood, where there was also 260 black-tailed godwit, 4 bar-tailed godwit, 1 LRP and a wigeon in eclipse plumage. Other waders around the reserve included 22 green sandpiper...

At least 1 spoonbill remained at the reserve today, with other waders on the Flood including 15 spotted redshank, 100+ black-tailed godwit, 4 green sandpiper and single greenshank & common sandpiper. Little egret numbers are increasing, with "flocks" of 7 or 8 birds regularly fishing in...

Thought as much.. A single spoonbill again on the Flood this afternoon from Southfleet hide, where there was also at least 13 spotted redshank and 80 black-tailed godwit. A further 180 godwits were roosting at Wellmarsh hide. 3 green sandpipers around the reserve today, along with a sprinkling of Med...

No sign of any spoonbills today - maybe they've finally gone. But I thought that a couple of weeks ago and they re-appeared! Still good numbers of spotted redshanks, black-tailed godwit & avocet on the Flood, with a single green sandpiper and a pair of wigeon. Also an adult Med gull and a pair...

3 spoonbills still on the Flood today, where there was also 52 black-tailed godwit & 4 spotted redshank. Two Med gulls flew over and there were several swifts feeding over the reserve in the evening Raptors included at least 3 buzzard & a peregrine.

Two adult spoonbills on the Flood today, where there was also a flock of 45 black-tailed godwit and a single spotted redshank (another early returning migrant wader). A peregrine & a buzzard amongst the usual marsh harriers & kestrels, a little tern fishing in the ditches beside the track down...

Hello and welcome to the Elmley Marshes RSPB Reserve blog. This is a new concept for Elmley, and I will endeavour to make my posts interesting, informative and entertaining. We want you to be able to find out what’s been going on, what’s been seen and what we’ve been up to, at the click...