Elmley 25th February

We have not been out for a couple of weeks due to bad weather but were determined to visit Elmley on Saturday come what may. The day was another wet and dreary one but the rains have certainly helped the Kent marshland, it is staring to get nicely waters soaked again and the birds are slowly returning

We drove slowly through the marshland following the roadway up to the RSPB office. It was nice to see a few Redshanks back at the marshland, feeding along the waters edge and strutting along on their longlegs

And there are more Lapwings apparent today as well. A few years back, the marshland was covered with Lapwings but the drought caused most of them to move on or face starvation until only a few groups remained. Now that the Marshland is recovering, the groups are getting larger so it is so nice to see these friendly little birds recouping again.

Whilst we were stopped, a little Shoveler warily walked past us, watching our every move out of the corner of his eye. However, we did not pose a threat to him so he settled down at the waters edge for a well deserved sleep.




A bit further along is a gateway in the fence. Sitting on the gatepost was a female Kestrel enjoying her morning breakfast. We kept back out of the way so as not to disturb her meal.

And in return, once finished, she allowed us to get a lot closer and happily posed for us, taking great pleasure in showing off her sleek feathers. You must admit, she is certainly a beautiful bird

We stopped at the house and walked along the bushes and hedgerows to see what we could find. Our old friend the Robin hopped over to say hello, but today was a little camera shy and only let us take his picture whilst looking coyly back over his shoulder

There were Sparrows by the dozen here today. Chirruping away to each other and playing in the branches. They moved so fast that we could not take any shots at all, until one took pity on us and posed briefly, before flitting off to join his friends on another high speed chasing game.


It was time to go home, so we drove slowly back out of the reserve, just before we left we had a quick look along the exit boundaries and were fortunate to find a little female Stonechat who sang us a delightful solo to round off our visit.

We hope that you enjoyed our trip out today. More pictures can be found in our galleries at www.voinapics.co.uk

Steve & Mick

Another Sunny Winter Morning 3rd February 2007

It was another glorious sunny morning and we decide that another visit to Oare was in order. When we arrived there was an excited buzz in the air and a large group of birdwatchers was congregating by the waterside. We quietly crept up to join in

And there down on the shore was a Twite. A very rare visitor to this part of the UK, the Twite normally resides in the North of Britain or Scandinavia, so this was a lovely treat to start to off our day.

We watched the Twite for quite a while, but an insistent twittering nearby finally caught our attention. It was a Reed Bunting that wanted to show off his nicely trimmed moustache and was getting quite agitated that we were not taking any notice. We apologised and took his photo to show you. If you click on the picture, you will see how neat his moustache is.

Whilst watching the young Bunting showing off, we heard a regular thrumming noise getting louder and louder. The sound came from the powerful wing beats of a Mute Swan that was flying serenely past. What a superb sight he made as well.

And it seemed like everyone was enjoying the mini summer sunshine. A pair of Pintail ducks flapped past us playing a game of chase, squawking with excitement, showing how easy they could fly in formation

Not to be outdone, a Shoveler Duck came rushing in low over the water, his little wings beating rapidly as he lowered his legs to show how a proper landing should be conducted

And what a perfect landing it was, with hardly a splash, he glided slowly across the water to a stop.

Nearby, a flock of lapwings were watching the show of antics of the ducks and were twittering together in hushed tones as they discussed how to outdo the Ducks. With a loud whooshing of wings, the flock took off.

And what a show they put on. Lapwings are very agile in the air and they took great delight in swooping in great loops and whirls, accompanied by high speed banks and turns with a perfect formation landing as a finale, Suitably satisfied, they settled down with smug expressions for some well earned preening.

The aerobatic shows over, we decided to go to a bushy area on the reserve away from the water where we had noticed some small birds on a previous trip. Mick Settled down to wait patiently to see what he could find.

And it was worth the wait. A little Stonechat landed nearby and presented the perfect picture to us. We hope that you enjoy it as much as we did.

And we hope that you will enjoy looking at our other pictures in our galleries at www.voinapics.co.uk

Steve & Mick