Cliff Pools and Northwood Hill

We had a visit to Cliff Pools RSPB reserve today. This reserve has been under renovation by the RSPB since they purchased it as it was in a sorry state before and what a masterful job they have achieved. It is now so pleasant to either walk or drive along the path through the reserve with the lakes on your left and farmland to your right.



Unfortunately there was not many birds in the lake today so we decided to drive further along and see what we could find in the bushes and farmland instead. We had not travelled far before we came across two sheep that had escaped from the farmers fields and was enjoying some tasty bush leaves growing on the roadside.




A little further was a small tree full of starlings. Although Starlings are an all year bird, a lot of them migrate to Europe and only come back to the UK for Winter. Over the last few weeks, we have noticed lots of starlings visiting our bird feeders at home so it appears that they are making their way back to us. We spotted several more small flocks enjoying our summer fruits and berries


And what an abundances of berries there are. The bushes are simply bursting with tempting treats for the birds, big blue grape like fruits, Shiny red Berries and all manner of wild delights to feast on



Stopping the car we proceeded on foot for a while to better enjoy the sunshine and chirruping of the birds as they flitted amongst the berries, taking their pictures whenever an opportunity arose




The Reserve is not too large, and as we were close to Northward Hill RSPB we decided to pay them a little visit as well. There are a lot of Rabbits living at Northward and the banks alongside the driveway leading to the main car park has been mined out by countless generations of them into a maze of tunnels



We went for a nice long walk following the marked trails, Northward Hill is a very picturesque reserve with many colourful wild plants and flowers. Many of them are now shedding their seeds in the wind ready for next years shoots so the air was thick with the scent of flowers and white fluffy seed pods


There are some small ponds and waterways here, and these are home to the Darters and Dragon flies. And what colourful insects they are , they would flit back and forth in front of us to get out attention, before landing on a nearby leaf to show off their shining red or blue refinery. We just had to stop and admire them


Walking on, we carefully crossed a field dotted with wild mushrooms, carefully treading so as not to disturb the delicate fungi, to look over the farmland and watch a shepherd with his collie dog gathering up a heard of sheep into a tight flock before moving them off to another field. We hope that he counted them as we know where two of them are hiding



A little further and I stopped to investigate a hide that had been built on the reserve. The hide faces several bird feeders and allows you to watch the birds without disturbing them. What a nice thoughtful idea. Unfortunately the birds had emptied the feeders earlier that day and had departed to seek food elsewhere



Time was pressing on so we started to make our way home, but we just had to stop and watch the bees working so hard whilst buzzing merrily to themselves as they gathered all the rich harvest of pollen to take back to their hives.

We hope that you enjoyed your walk with us as much as we did. Further pictures from this and other walks can be found in our galleries at www.voinapics.co.uk Steve & Mick

Rain at last. August 12th

We only had a short trip to Oare this weekend. The skies looked very grey and overcast so we knew that it would not be a long visit. On arriving our friend the Bar headed Goose was back drinking from the stream alongside the lake. We took a few more shots of the Goose to add to our collection. It would be nice to know if it was a him or her but it is very difficult to tell the sexes of these Geese




Scuttling up from the lake and scrambling down the bank to swim in the stream were the baby Coots. How they have grown in the week since we last saw them. They are getting quite sleek now and starting to resemble the adults, although their feathers are still a light grey and have not darkened fully yet.


Across the road in the small lake we spotted a Sandpiper hunting through the mud. Again we are not sure in identifying this bird, it may be a Common Sandpiper or a Green Sandpiper. Probably a juvenile and possibly female. We only took a few quick shots as a few drops of rain were splashing down. If you look closely at the picture, you can see them making patterns in the lake.


A glance up and to the right of us saw the sky turning a thunderous black., the wind had started to pick up and the light dropping fast as huge black clouds were forming for a much needed downpour. We quickly gathered our gear and ran back to the car, just in time. The heavens opened up and the rain pelted down, huge big droplets that made a loud thrumming against the car. We waited a while but the rain continued to fall, so, starting up the car, we made our way back home. Maybe tomorrow will be better.

We hope that you enjoyed our trip. More pictures can be seen in the nature gallery
Here Please drop in and visit us. Steve & Mick



Sunday update. Well we did not go out anymore this weekend, the rain has continued to fall to put some much needed water into our depleted reservoirs. Hopefully next weekend will be a bit better. See you then, Steve & Mick

Oare Marshes 5th August

Greetings from Steve & Mick. We had another trip to Oare Marshes today., what a gorgeous sunny day it was as well. First stop was by the front of the lake near the roadway. Unfortunately the tide was out so there was not many waders up close. We watched a Ruff for a while looking for any tit bits in the silt. Pickings seemed to be poor though so the Ruff did not stay too long

In front of the lake is the small river, here we watched several young Coots playing. They have grown fast since we last saw them. Their little bald heads are now crowned by a gloss of new feathers and the young Coots proudly posed on the river bank to show them off to us.

Brother Mick looked on with a touch of jealousy as his thatch of hair has been shrinking for a long while now!. Still he seemed to be enjoying the sunshine as much as the Coots were and he was also getting a bit of colour to his shiny noodle!




I was not so brave. I just kept my hat on to keep the sun at bay, whilst pretending that I too had a thick thatch of hair under it!




In the small lake behind us, we spotted a swan sleeping in the sunshine. As we crossed the road for a closer look she gave a stretch and raised her elegant neck to see who was approaching. We were far to far away to disturb her, so with a slow rotate of that long neck she checked out her domain before lowering it down and settling back to sleep




In the lake though was a Snipe. He was wading along using that enormous bill to plunge repeatedly into the mud below foraging for food. They say that a Snipe resembles a sewing machine when they eat, and this certainly seems true, his head was bobbing up and down repeatedly, with only a pause now and then to have a quick peek about.



It was such a lovely day that a walk around the lake was just irresistible. So we put away our monopods, slung our cameras across our shoulders and set off. And what a sight greeted us. The wild flowers are still in bloom and the butterflies were out in abundance. We watched them flitting from one flower to another, just dancing with sheer joy at the beauty of each one they land on. And you can see just how eager they are as they settle on to a flower, only to espy another even more tempting one nearby that they just have to flutter off to.


A loud croaking coaxed us to look down into the river bank, a few big Frogs splashed into the water disturbing a grass snake. The Snake slithered around in the cool water for a while before grabbing a tasty looking water fly and disappearing into the reeds to enjoy his meal



We finished the walk and arrived back at the lake front. The Greylag Geese we had seen a few weeks back were back down for a drink and we spotted our old friend the Bar Headed Goose as he sat on the bank preening himself in the sunshine



It had been a good days outing and packing away our gear we started to make to make our way home, but the late sunshine was basking the nearby fields in golden glow turning all the hard work the farmers made in their hay fields into a picturesque masterpiece. We just had to stop and take a few last pictures of them before departing home.

We hope that you enjoyed our excursion. Further pictures can be seen in the nature galleries at www.voinapics.co.uk
Steve & Mick