A chilly day at Oare and Elmley

We have been informed that snow may be on the way over shortly, and this weekend was certainly a bit chillier. So we wrapped up warm and set of for Oare Marshes. On arrival we met a pair of magnificent Mute swans that were still finishing their breakfast.

Breakfast over, the pair settled down for a good wash preening that culminated in a vigorous wing flapping session to blow out all those loose feathers. What powerful wings these Swans have.

Shortly after, a young Moorhen wandered over to say hello. Moorhens are notoriously shy birds so we were very pleased to see him. We managed to take a few pictures before he disappeared in the reeds.

As it was very quiet here today, we decided to move on to Elmley, but before we went, we walked over to the small inlet where we photographed some coots last week. And sure enough, they were both there. These Coots are very friendly, and swam over to us in greeting.

Mick was also keen on taking another picture of those elusive Stonechats. He settled down and waited until he started to get cramp, but alas, the Stonechats just kept themselves teasingly out of reach of his camera

We arrived at the entrance to Elmley and a Magpie caught my eye. Although a common bird, we have not managed to take any good picture of them so I was keen to get one. But these Magpies were too quick for me so I laughingly admitted defeat

We started our drive through the marshes and a loud commotion caught our attention. It was a pair of male Mallards vying for the attention of a female, who waddled up and down with head held high obviously enjoying all the attention.

Further on we spotted a Redshank hunting for titbits along the bank of one of the streams. He stopped to give us his best profile for a photograph

There were more Lapwings here today then the last visit which is a good sign. Lapwings must be one of the most laid back birds going. They are not fazed at all by the sounds of the car and will let you get very close.

Just before we reached the RSPB car park we spotted a little Skylark a long way off. He landed on a little grassy knoll just long enough for us to squeeze of a shot, before disappearing across the marshland with a brief tweet of laughter.

Up in the bushes by the house we hoped to find the little Robin we had seen a while back. This time we were lucky and spotted the Robin hopping between the branches of the hedgerow.

Watching his antics we also spotted a young house sparrow sitting up in a tree all fluffed up against the cold winds. And colder it was too, and getting darker with rain clouds on their way in. So we said goodbye to the sparrow and made our way off back home

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

Steve & Mick

Oare in the sunshine 10th March 2007

After all of the rains just lately, it was so pleasant to wake to a gloriously sunny day on Saturday. We gathered our gear together and headed of for Oare. At first it seemed a quiet morning until a loud squabbling filled the air. It was a pair of Little Egrets fighting over a much prized patch on the Marshland

We watched their antics for a while until one of them admitted defeat and flew off. The other Egret then settled down to preen. Meanwhile, a Grey Herron flew past looking to see what all the fuss and commotion was about.

A lovely female Kestrel also flew over and hovered overhead for a while, but all was now quiet so she flew off looking for something to catch for dinner.

The excitement over, I sat down for a quick rest, but Mick suggested that we walked over to the footpath behind us to see if we could see the Stonechat we photographed last time we were here.

Alas, we could hear the Stonechats but they were too shy today to come close. Instead we walked over to the small stream and said hello to a pair or Coots. Coots are normally very shy and run off long before you can get close, but today they were enjoying the sun and happily posed for us.

There seemed a lot of Gulls flying about today, so we walked towards the main River to try and photograph some of them. The Little Egret we saw earlier flew past us to show how nicely her feathers were after her meticulous preening

As we approached the River a series of loud shrieks assailed our ears. It was a trio of black headed Gulls doing their choir practice. Although the melody was not as pleasant as the songbirds they certainly sang it with some gusto

We walked back to the main roadway and now it was Mick’s turn to sit for a quick rest and a head rub whilst enjoying the sunshine

It was nearly time to go home, but just before we left we noticed this little Moorhen playing hide and seek in the long grass.

Back home, it was such a nice day that we spent a little while in the garden taking some macro shots. This shot is of a little Zebra jumping spider, it is only about 5mm long but is certainly a formidable hunter and moves very fast.

We hope that you enjoyed todays pictures. More pictures can be found in our Galleries at www.voinapics.co.uk


Steve & Mick