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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...

I've not been too inspired to write much over the past few days, as the weather here has been so blah. I'm starting to forget what a blue sky looks like! It's just mist & low cloud (not even any much-needed rain) and a nagging northerly breeze. Saturday's swallow is history, although...

A promising start went downhill fairly rapidly after lunch, with mist, drizzle & a fresh northerly breeze arriving. I was out bright & early & it was a pleasure,with lapwing and now the first redshank displaying over the marsh and the "kluut, kluut" of the avocets on the Flood getting...

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...

Well, there's no denying that we could use a bit of rain, but what a dismal day! The steady rain set in pretty much from the off and then didn't relent all day. Naturally, our cattle grazier had decided to come up today to take off the first lot of cows that will be calving in the next month...

As predicted, more freezing conditions and another dollop of snow hit the reserve over the weekend. The access track is still passable with care, but the reserve was pretty empty today. There were a few flocks of lapwing roosting on the frozen water bodies and one small group of golden plover in with...

After a couple of days of "above zero" temperatures, the fresh water on the reserve has thawed, with the result that the Flood is covered in duck again. A quick count this afternoon revealed a good 1700 wigeon, 3-400 teal and c.40 pintail + mallard and shelduck. Unfortunately the forecast is...

Since my last posting, there's been more snow here, meaning that I've had to close the reserve due to the hazardous condition of the access track. Today, there was no more snow and I was able to drive the track in the reserve 4x4 with care, but I still would recommend that people do not visit...

A change from Elmley today. As part of the ongoing monitoring of important bird populations in the Medway & Swale estuaries, the RSPB carries out bird counts on the Medway that go towards the British Trust for Ornithology's We tland B ird S urvey (WeBS). In order to cover the many off-shore islands...

The step at Swale hide has been fixed, so we've been able to re-open the hide in time for the weekend. With the high tides early and late in the day, much of the bird activity in terms of waders and wildfowl is found out on the Swale. look out for the increasing numbers of wigeon, pintail & brent...

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...

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...