Spring 2008 highlights2008, Another good spring with lots of interesting things going on. Not spring yet but the Herons are back at the heronry in February and the Canada Geese are displaying.
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March. The Greylag Geese are back at the Deer Park in March and I was lucky to see a Siskin on an alder by the big lake on the same day and a sighting of a male and female Bullfinch at West Hythe on the eighteenth. These finches are not that common around here and are always a treat to see especially the male in his smart slate grey and pink plumage topped off with a black head. plus the Herons are getting well established in the heronry by the end of the month.
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April. The most memorable sight in April was the Mute Swans nesting at West Hythe in a ditch by the side of the canal, I hope the photos put over the beauty of it. The nest filled the ditch being nearly one and a half meters wide and mainly made from reeds with the odd bit of rubbish thrown in. I was lucky to see the pen sitting on the nest on the 3rd then her tending to the eggs on the 8th and lastly with the signets not long after they were hatched on the 29th. And another charming sight was the Grey Lag Geese with their goslings on the large lake at the Deer Park
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Bird song increases this month and one bird with an unmistakable song is the Wren with its burst of a sweet, rapid call. This is the best time to catch sight of this charming little bird as it positions itself in a prominent position to issue its song. Over at the RSPB Reserve Dunginess the Cormorants were nesting on one of the shingle banks on the lake and Great Crested Grebes were putting in a nice display.
If you are lucky you might catch sight of the other two of our most colourful finches the Chaffinch and the Gold Finch. This is the time of the year to see birds at their finest but one bird that is colourful all the year round is the Jay, this one I saw in my garden on the 14th.
A very attractive flower that is starting to appear at the end of the month is the Red Campion which can be seen by woodlands and hedgerows.
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May. I had a rare treat on the first of this month when on leaving the Deer Park I spotted a pair of Mandarin ducks in a field by the road next to a farm, they were obviously thinking of nesting in the area, what an attractive pair!
We start the month with another wild flower the Common vetch which can be seen in fields, hedgerows etc. this plant can be mainly seen in the South-East of the country.
Out at the Deer Park near the car park I spotted a Nuthatch on a Beach tree next to it's nest which was probably an old woodpeckers hole. These birds flit from branch to branch searching for food, sometimes under a branch and even head down, clinging on by its strong feet and sharp claws.
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Over at West Hythe on the 8th I was fortunate to see a Green Sandpiper feeding on the bank of the canal, a graceful looking wader. At the rookery the young rooks are as big as there parents now and demanding, the one shown here looks like he is getting a telling off ! A young rook looks like a carrion crow in respects to the fact that it has a feathered base to the beak and has yet to develop the white baldness of an adult.
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A trip out to Grove Ferry at Stodmarsh on the 9th was rewarding as I saw my first Hobby of the year, this is a great place to see them as I have seen half a dozen and more there at one time. These beautiful falcons have travelled all the way back from Africa where it has spent the winter and are now back to breed. Also while I was there I saw a Bar-headed Goose a bit of a rarity, here it is with a Greylag Goose. Along by the River Stour there was a lot of Common Comfrey growing, a large very lush looking plant with blueish hanging flowers.
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This is the place to see and hear Reed Warblers the reed beds are full of them, their songs filling the air as you walk along the tracks. On one of my trips to West Hythe on the 19th I had one of the best views yet of a Heron perched on a railing over the canal, it stayed there for a while before flying off towards the marsh allowing me to get some nice shots of it. A trip back to Grove Ferry on the 24th presented me with more Hobby sightings, a male Stonechat sitting on top of a Hawthorn bush and a Whitethroat singing for all it's worth. Yellow Iris can be seen there together with another yellow flowered plant the Meadow Buttercup also of course this is May blossom time and the hedgerows are full of flowering Hawthorn.
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June. On a trip to West Hythe I was lucky enough to see a pike motionless in the canal waiting for something to eat to come past! And a first sighting of a young Heron not long out of the heronry, you can see that it lacks the smart black markings of an adult. The wild rose was out now, a delicate flower compared to it's cultivated cousin and the beautiful Foxglove with it's tall columns of flowers graces the countryside.
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Fulmers at St Margrets Bay were a treat, such charming sea birds. This is a shot of one on it's nest which I was lucky to catch sight of. On the 14th I was over at the Deer Park and had walked through a conifer plantation and onto the edge of a field in the hope of seeing a Buzzard as I had seen them coming from this direction. I wasn't disappointed, one came over the trees to the left of me and landed on top of a conifer, perched for a while and then took off all the while I was taking photos and here is my favourite.
And last to end the month as it descends into summer I have included a picture of a Lombardy poplar, one of my favourite trees. I love to sit close to one when there is a gentle breeze and hear the rustling of the leaves and see it's calm swaying so peaceful!
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