Tuesday 31/03/2020

 I think this is first time I have bothered to snap the local Greylags from home "BWKM0 boredom"

 A local Common Buzzard

 Heavily cropped image of male Marsh Harrier, they rarely come close to the house similarly the Great White Egret below

Little Egret on the Hay field

My exercise walk down to Dengemarsh was in hope rather than in expectation, with the near gale force cold North Easterly still blowing it wasn't pleasant walk. At the Dung heap just the 1 White Wagtail and a few Pied, the puddles are rapidly drying out and the farmer has run the plough through them. At Dengemarsh no sign of any of the hoped for Sedge Warblers, Garganey or Hirundines and the Water Pipits appeared to have all gone. The Hay Fields are also drying out rapidly though there are still a few Lapwing, Redshanks, Curlews and Oystercatchers in them. The ditches are full of Reed Buntings, I got brief glimpses of a pair of Bearded Tits and heard some Water Rails and Cetti's Warblers. Most birds seemed to be sheltering from this wind but it doesn't seem to bother the Marsh Harriers. 

BWKM0 Monday 30/03/2020

 Chaffinch with foot fungus waiting its for the feeder

As is usual the feeders are busy first thing in the morning with raucous Starlings, fighting House Sparrows, timid Blue Tits, agile Great Tits nipping in grabbing a Sunflower Heart then back deep into a bush to consume its prize, patient Goldfinches waiting there turn, very skittish Greenfinches(only 4 of them), under the feeders Dunnocks, Chaffinches, Collared Doves, Wood Pigeons, Feral Pigeons sometimes a Robin, sadly rarely a Blackbird in my garden usually only at dusk and dawn, one of the Rooks has learnt to cling on to the feeder but spills more than it eats, around 09.00 the garden birds seem to melt away with just the occasional coming and going. 

 1 of c10 Goldfinches that are visiting my feeders at the moment

Grey Heron on its way to the ditches after feeding its young in Lydd Heronry

It was a relatively warm start to the morning, though the NE wind soon picked up seeming to coincide with the mass arrival of farm machinery in the fields opposite, they seem to kick up huge amounts of dust that covers our cars and houses. Today they brought in 100s of Gulls of 7 species.

At least 6 Mediterranean Gulls were attracted by the ploughs, harrows and drills

 Mediterranean Gulls

Common Gull

One of several Common Buzzards over today. probably just local birds

I'd been scanning the skies and fields for most the day when a call from a very excited Owen Leyshon telling me(I couldn't possibly use his exact words) a White-tailed Eagle flew over his house and was now circling over the Church which is apparently 2.7 miles in a straight line from my house. Fortunately I was already on my small balcony with my scope set up, after what seemed a very long time and panic setting in I spotted the Eagle with 2 Common Buzzards appearing to harry it from above, I then started to make calls to the locals, at least 3 of which connected with it. Not the greatest of views but Wow it certainly got the adrenalin flowing. Again many thanks to Owen for the prompt call. 

Very late afternoon a party of 8 Gadwall flew over heading for Scotney bringing my BWKM0 total so far to 57.  

Extremadura March 2020

It's hard to believe that just 3 weeks ago I with Chris and Tony were enjoying the birds, scenery and hospitality of the people of Extremadura, Spain. Such lovely people and beautiful country now ravaged in such a short time by this terrible virus that is Covid-19.
We were based at Trujillo for 4 nights, so within minutes of leaving our hotel we were in the plains.

 Trujillo Bull Ring one of the best and easiest places to see Lesser Kestrels

 Lesser Kestrel Beautiful against the bright blue sky, unfortunately most of the time it was overcast with some drizzle and always windy.

 Lesser Kestrel

 Lesser Kestrel

A purpose built hide over looking Lesser Kestrel nest sites 

 A poor long range image which contains 12 Great Bustards. Most of the Bustards we saw were quite distant but some showed very nicely.

 Great Bustards

 Great Bustard

 Great Bustard

 Great Bustard against a leaden sky

 All the Little Bustards we saw were distant and seemed skittish even at at a distance. Although quite drab on the ground in flight they were very striking.

 Little Bustards

 Little Bustards

Little Bustards

 The Calandra Lark was probably my favourite bird of the Plains, there were huge numbers of them all over and a delight to see and hear. It is probably only on the Steppes of Kazakstan that I have seen more Calandra Larks.

 Calandra Lark a joy to see and hear

  Calandra Lark

  Calandra Lark

 Calandra Lark

 Corn Buntings were abundant

 Crested Larks were also abundant

Many large flocks of Spanish Sparrows were seen

 Stone Curlews flushed by a tractor

 Stone Curlew

We saw saw several Hen Harriers, all were males!

Several Black Winged Stilts were found on small pools along with other waders

 White Stork was another common species seen

 Iberian Grey Shrikes were fairly common

 We only saw a few Common Cranes in Extremadura as most had migrated North, though we did see 1,000s near Madrid migrating.

In the damp areas we found some Red Avadavats, which as soon as the flocks landed in the fields or reeds they vanished. A few Bluethroats and Great Spotted Cuckoo's were seen, as were the ever present Vultures including a fairly early Egyptian Vulture but we were a little early for most of the spring migrants. My thanks to Chris and Tony for making it such an enjoyable holiday, I'm sure I will return another year perhaps in mid to late April.

BWKM0 27/03/2020

 My scope set up for todays BWKMO

 View NE towards the ARC and Water Tower & Boulderwall Fields 

View E-SE towards the reserve visitor centre, lighthouses and power station

The visibility was very poor today with all the tractors running around kicking up clouds of dust.

At the moment my from the garden list stands at 140 in the 9 years I have been here, my BWKM0 list stands at 54 with no new species added today, though I did miss another Red Kite over the ARC while making a cup of coffee. I spent most the day standing scoping from the balcony in the teeth of a very cold NE wind that is blasting across the peninsula, which looks set to do so for at least the next week, nor surprisingly I had a poor return for my efforts. The local Herring Gulls kept me on my toes constantly alarming as a procession of Common Buzzards and Sparrowhawks sailed over. Hopefully soon the wind will abate and a gentle southerly will bring me the sound of Bitterns booming and some Hirundines. If you wish to take part in the BWKM0 then please go to Steve Gales excellent blog North Downs and Beyond