Trip reports

Conyer

Monday, 18 February 2008

The Monday walk in February was in the week when we were experiencing a lot of fog; where were we programmed to go - Conyer !! and yes when we got there the fog decided to descend even more, so visibility was poor. However the 15 of us gave it a try, though I think the walk round was the quickest that I have ever done. Those of you who know the area will be aware that to get to the mouth of the creek you walk through a scrubby area and alongside the creek. We could not see the far bank and the width is not excessive, though we could hear birds calling, and Sheppey was invisible when we reached the Swale. A marsh harrier did at one point drift out of the gloom, only to disappear as quickly so only those looking in the right direction saw it. The plan was to move on to Oare for the afternoon but we arrived there late morning, had an early sandwich, and were entertained by a pair of bearded tits in the reeds right beside us. The fog did not lift, so several of us decided to move to some woodland in the Doddington area, whilst others elected to stay and hope that visibility would improve. This did happen shortly after the five of us left !! Those who stayed were treated to good views of waders and ducks in large numbers, but I have not been given a full list of what was seen. Those of us who explored the woods were treated to views of nuthatch, tits and best of all a buzzard circling over our heads, climbing on a thermal. Over 50 species were seen on a day that did not start well, but was, I think, enjoyed by all.