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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...

First of all, apologies for the lack of blog up-dates in the past week or so - for some reason I've been unable to access the RSPB website from here and so haven't been able to add anything. Not that there hasn't been anything happening! As people may have seen from the Forum comments...

Having been away over the bank holiday at Spurn Bird Obs (am I the only person in the world not to have seen "that" dress?) and only now seeming to get 10 minutes to myself since my return, I thought it was about time that we had a bit of a catch up. The drought continues: there was 0.3mm...

As the highest tide of this series was yesterday, I sort of expected that the wader roost at Wellmarsh hide today wouldn't be quite as good. Funny how things are: there were more waders and a much better variety today. There are increasing numbers of juvenile curlew sandpipers (28) and little stint...

The high tide roost at Elmley today saw 24 curlew sandpipers & 6 little stint, along with 193 dunlin, 3 spotted redshank, 2 ruff, 150 avocet, 5 bar-tailed & 25 black-tailed godwit, 2 turnstone, 200 ringed plover, 1 common & 3 green sandpiper & a greenshank. Raptors included a merlin,...

The juvenile red-necked phalarope remained on the Flood today, often showing very well from Wellmarsh hide. Also on the Flood were seven little stints (all juvs from Southfleet hide), about 16 juv curlew sandpipers, seven ruff (one ad), two spotted redshanks, one green and three common sandpipers, two...

Todays north-easterly winds produced an arrival of northern sandpipers at Elmley this evening. At least 45 green & 6 wood sandpipers could be found: mainly around the Flood, but particularly from Southfleet hide, where there was 24 greens, all 6 woods and a juvenile little stint to boot.. Also still...

A quick tour of the hides on the top of the tide produced some excellent birding. But before that, a look over the saltmarsh from the benches at Wellmarsh produced 2 black terns, 250 grey plover, 50 dunlin, 2 whimbrel & 2 bar-tailed godwit. Around the Flood, now 2 little stints (an adult & a...

The adult curlew sandpiper remains on the Flood today, again showing from Wellmarsh hide. Other waders around the hides included 20 spotted redshank, 1 greenshank, 6 ruff, 85 ringed plover, 2 LRP, 3 grey plover, 12 golden plover, 26 dunlin, 2 knot, 4 turnstone, 1 bar-tailed godwit, 56 black-tailed godwit...

While I was out checking the livestock this afternoon, I flushed 2 spoonbills from the edge of the reservoir. Unfortunately, they headed off across the Swale in the direction of Oare Marshes, where they seem to have been seen more regularly just recently. This was the first record since the end of July...

Apologies for the delay, but Friday saw the first record of the year of curlew sandpiper. 2 of these smart Arctic waders were feeding on the Flood out from Wellmarsh hide and they were still present on Saturday. These birds are occasional spring visitors to the reserve, as they make their way north to...

No sign today of Saturday's pectoral sandpiper, but wader numbers & variety continue to increase. High tide this evening saw the following waders on the reserve: 12 spotted redshank, 1 greenshank, 275 curlew, 4 whimbrel, 5 ruff, 105 black-tailed godwit, 1 bar-tailed godwit, 35 grey plover, 7...

A spoonbill back on the Flood today, before flying south across the Swale at 7.20pm. Also present on the Flood a 1st-year little gull & a garganey. Waders included 12 spotted redshank, 155 black-tailed godwit, 1 ruff, 5 turnstone, 3 dunlin, 6 common sandpiper, 4 green sandpiper, 3 snipe & 2 LRP...

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...

I was just concentrating on the waders today as the tide was quite high, so there ought to have been a few on the reserve. However, nothings certain in this game, so there wasn't quite as many as I was expecting. Best were 21 spotted redshank on the Flood, the highest count for a while. Most are...

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...

After a weeks absence, the 2 sub-adult spoonbills were back on the Flood at Elmley this afternoon, showing from Wellmarsh hide. Not as many black-tailed godwits present as the past few days (the tide wasn't particularly high), but still at least 350, as well as 27 spotted redshank, 2 greenshank &...