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Another 2 weeks has passed & still no joy in getting onto the RSPB website at Elmley - a real conundrum. I have been sent another possible fix that I will try when I return to Kingshill Farm, but I'm currently at Northward Hill, hence the chance for a further up-date about what's hip &...

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 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...

Plenty of stuff around for the good numbers of visitors that visited Elmley over the weekend. Where to start? The 3 spoonbills remained faithful to the Flood most of the time, although they can sometimes be difficult to see when they choose to feed in the deeper channels. Still at least 3 garganey...

About time too! I've been looking out for our first garganey of the year for a couple of weeks now. This is our only summer migrant duck, the first birds arriving back in the UK from their African wintering grounds as early as Mid-March, although most push through later in April & May. The drakes...

Churlish I know, but despite the lovely weather, I wish it would rain! It's hard to maintain a wetland reserve in tip-top condition when there's a singular lack of the wet stuff. I'm still running pumps to top up the water that we've accumulated over the winter, but sunny skies &...

There's now been up to 3 spoonbills on the Flood on a daily basis since last weekend, but only 2 were present today. And I could only see one this evening, but hopefully one or more will hang around until tomorrow. Raptors today included 2 each of buzzard, sparrowhawk & peregrine + ring-tail...

Sitting here on a dull, breezy morning, with the remnants of the overnight "rain" (a puny 2.6mm - where was the deluge they forecast?) in the air, the blackthorn bushes blooming in the Kingshill Farm orchard remind me that spring has pretty much arrived. And if that wasn't reminder enough...

A scan over the Flood this morning revealed 2 sleeping spoonbill-shaped blobs. I did hear a report that there were 2 seen y/day, but there were definitely 2 today and they hung around all day as well. The first yellow wagtail of the year flew over and there was also at least 1 spotted redshank and a...

Well, don't actually - it wasn't that hard to predict! But the first wheatear of the year duly arrived along the access track on Saturday. No sign of it today, but I'm sure that there will be others. There was also a chiffchaff reported. Today's highlight was an adult spoonbill on the...

Well, the promised sunshine finally arrived today. And what a difference! Splendidly sunny (although still with a cool northerly breeze), it's really starting to feel more like spring. One of the sure signs was evident this afternoon, when a distinctive squealing call revealed a male marsh harrier...

Well, what a change from yesterday. From dull with persistent rain, to a bright, frosty start, atmospheric early mist soon clearing & a gloriously sunny day (though still quite parky) to follow. A good day for seeing raptors. Disappointingly, I had to spend a chunk of the day in the office doing...

Yesterday was awful. Wet, windy, yuk. I'd mentally prepared myself for a day in the office catching up with some paperwork, cd player on in the background, kettle on. Nice. And then the phone rang & it was our cattle grazier who wanted to come up to take the calves off for weaning. Did he know...

Our cattle grazier came to the reserve today to take the first animals back to their winter quarters. He likes his cows to calf indoors, although we've already had 2 un-expected deliveries this year on site. Fortunately, both calves have done well, but they were amongst the first load to go, along...

Both Natalie & myself had the weekend off, but a number of visitors reported some interesting birds on the reserve. On Saturday, a spoonbill was again seen on the Swale, along with a spotted redshank. Raptors included male hen harrier, merlin and 3 buzzard. Continuing the run of bearded tit records...

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,...

Well it's all go these days! Although there was no sign today of yesterdays Temminck's stint (presumably last nights clear conditions prompted it to carry on with it's migration) in it's place there was a peachy juvenile red-necked phalarope. This tiny tundra treasure twirled & twitched...

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...

The first rare of the autumn was found at Counterwall hide this afternoon. An adult pectoral sandpiper arrived in the company of a couple of ruff & stuck around, often showing very well right in front of the hide. Pec's are usually regarded as "Yanks", but their breeding range extends...

A spoonbill was back on the Flood again today until early afternoon, when it flew off south. But it re-appeared at c.7.45pm, dropping in front of Wellmarsh hide, where it fed for a few minutes before flying further back onto the Flood. We seem to be sharing this bird with the Kent Wildlife Trust reserve...

Still at least 2 spoonbills on the Flood at Elmley mid-afternoon, as well as 3-4 spotted redshank, 2 greenshank, 3 turnstone & a drake garganey. Raptors included 1-2 buzzard, peregrine & hobby.

Still 3 spoonbills on the Flood at Elmley today. Also single little stint & spotted redshank, 48 black-tailed godwit & a drake wigeon. A green sandpiper at Kingshill Farm + peregrine, hobby & barn owl.

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...