GROUP LEADER’S NOTES

Many of you will be aware of some changes that are

being made by the RSPB. The change you will

notice first is the slight change to the RSPB logo and

new strap line of “Giving Nature a Home”. I’m

assured that the onus is still very much on bird

conservation! However the organisation wants to

make everyone aware that in order to keep bird

populations viable we need to focus on the

conservation of wildlife and the environment.

By making more people aware of the RSPB’s

conservation aspirations it is hoped that our

membership will increase as, let’s be honest, it is the

one million membership that carries weight with the

government. If anyone thinks nature is not in trouble I

recommend they read the State of Nature report

recently published by RSPB in partnership with the

other wildlife organisations including the Wildlife

Trust, BTO, Marine Conservation Society and

Butterfly Conservation, to name just a few. I found it

a startling alert as to the real state nature in this

country! 1

BirdsEye Newsletter of The RSPB Medway Local Group Summer 2013

Events for Next Four Months

Indoor Presentations

August - No Meeting

17 September - Meetings with Remarkable Birds -

Dominic Couzens

15 October - Transatlantic Travels - Mike Mockler

19 November - Little Owl - Ian Rumley-Dawson

****

Outdoor Visits (Walks)

Saturday 20 July - Samphire Hoe - 10.00 am

Wednesday 31 July - Cliffe Pools RSPB Reserve -

Evening Walk - 6.45 pm (HT 7.00 pm)

Sunday 4 August - Bough Beech Reservoir -

10.00 am

Sunday 18 August - Oare Marshes -

8.30 am (HT 10.00 am)

Thursday 29 August - Botolph’s Bridge/Royal

Military Canal Hythe - 10.00 am

Sunday 8 September - Cley Marshes NWT Reserve

Coach Trip

Thursday 12 September - Dungeness RSPB Reserve -

10.00 am

Sunday 22 September - Hastings Country Park, East

Sussex - 10.00 am

Saturday 5 October - Sandwich Bay/Pegwell Bay -

9.00 am

Thursday 17 October - Mote Park Maidstone -

9.30 am

Sunday 27 October - Reculver Country Park -

9.30 am

Sunday 17 November - Elmley - 9.00 am (HT 12 noon)

Saturday 23 November - Seaton Gravel Pits - 9.30 am

See Programme for More Information

****

Public Events

Friday 9 August – Big Wild Sleepout, Northward Hill.

Sunday 8 September - North Kent Marshes, Wildlife &

Countryside Fair, Bromhey Farm.

Saturday 12 October - Quiz Night, Wainscott

Memorial Hall.

Saturday 19 October to Sunday 3 November -

Riverside Country Park.

Monday 11 to Saturday 16 November - Sales Stall,

Hempstead Valley Shopping Centre.

giving nature a home

If you wish to view this document, which has a

forward by David Attenborough, then go to

www.rspb.or.uk/stateofnature .

It was my pleasure at the last indoor meeting to

present long service awards to some of our

volunteers. Carole and John Nixon were presented

with a Golden Eagle pin badge for 40years service.

They are two of the founder members of the RSPB

Medway Group and have worked hard for the RSPB

over the this time and I’m pleased to say they

continue to do! Sue Carter was awarded a Silver

Avocet for 25years service and, as many of you

know, was my predecessor as Group Leader. I’m

pleased to say Sue is still on the committee and

produces our very successful Outdoor Walk

Programme.

Helen Hall, who is Des and Carol’s daughter, was

awarded a Puffin for her 10 years volunteering with

the childrens craft table at our outside events.

Giuseppe Raffa was presented with a Swift for five

years service. Guiseppe has helped out on some of

our outdoor events and therefore a welcome addition

to our volunteer base. Finally George and Margaret

Wise a Swift for their five years of volunteering.

What with Rob and my 15 years Kingfisher badge the

evening represented 160 years of volunteering for the

RSPB. My grateful thanks go to all the above and all

our volunteers.

There are still some of our volunteers who have not

received their badges. Further on in the magazine

you will find a list of these volunteers. If your name

appears then please contact me and I will arrange for

you to receive your award.

Continuing on the note of volunteering, David Low,

who has valiantly been in charge of the raffle since

June 2005, has to stand down due to other

commitments, so we are looking for someone to

replace him.

The work is not onerous and involves displaying

goods, selling tickets and organising the draw at

Indoor Meetings. The raffle is an integral part of our

fundraising so if you feel you could take this on then

please speak to me about it.

Please note, at present we no longer accept

secondhand books as we have no volunteer for this.

The books need to be brought to indoor meetings,

priced, displayed, sold and those remaining stored

ready for the next Indoor Meeting. If you are

interested in volunteering for this please talk to me or

one of the committee.

Marie Tilley

OUTSTANDING LONG SERVICE AWARDS

I haven’t yet had a chance to personally thank the

volunteers on the list below. If your name appears

please contact me to arrange the receipt of you award.

20 years volunteering (Silver Osprey) - Pam Cetera

15 years volunteering (Kingfisher) - Tony & Sue

Urwin and Robin West

10 years volunteering (Puffin) - Adrian Olsen

5 years volunteering (swift) - Noel & Pat Boulting,

Elaine Carlsen, Elaine Chance, Carol Coulthard,

Jennetta Foss, Janine Hewlett , Grahame & Sue

Mills, Christine Munns, Edward Towne.

Marie Tilley

CONDITIONS AND RULES FOR 2013

PHOTOGRAPHIC COHPETITION

The subject is Wildlife in the RSPB Medway Local

Group Area, i.e. ME1 – ME12. (This includes The

Medway Towns, Hoo Peninsula, Sittingbourne,

Faversham, Isle of Sheppey etc.)

Wildlife includes living creatures as well as plants

and trees etc.

All entries will be submitted to one email address as

follows:-

giuseppe.raffa@hotmail.com.

2

From left : - Giuseppe Raffa, George Wise, Marie Tilley,

Rob Tilley, Carole Nixon, John Nixon, Sue Carter and

Margaret Wise

Des Felix

The maximum entry per person will be three pictures.

All entries must be accompanied by date taken, the

subject matter e.g. blackbird, venue e.g. Riverside

Country Park and the competitors name and contact

telephone number.

All entries will be uploaded by us, minus the

competitors name and telephone number, onto a

Medway Local Group FLICKR account to which

everyone has access.

Viewers will be invited to 'like' as many of the photos

as they wish.

All entries to be submitted as above by the 22nd of

September 2013.

The 'likes’ will be totted up and the top 13 will go

forward for inclusion in the 2014 Medway RSPB

Local Group Calendar.

The most ‘liked’ will go on the front cover and the

remaining 12 will be spread throughout the calendar

as befits the month.

The subject, venue, time of year and photographer’s

name will appear at the bottom of the photo.

In the event of any photos tying the committee will

decide which one/s will go forward.

Entry will be free and open to any member of The

RSPB Medway Local Group.

In order not to exclude those without access to a

computer, if it is not possible to email as above please

call David SAUNDERS on 07788202445 or ask

someone to email me on saunders303@hotmail.com

and we will make every effort to make alternative

arrangements.

One hundred A5 desk calendars will be printed and

will be available at the RSPB Wine and Wisdom

Quiz Night on the 12 October 2013 for only £3.00

each, and the subsequent indoor meetings.

David Saunders

BARGAIN BIRDING CLUB (OVERNIGHT

STAYS)

Three days Bargain Birding Winter Wildfowl

Weekend (£179 per person):

The Bargain Birding Club is running a 'Winter

Wildfowl Weekend' trip from Friday 1st November to

Sunday 3rd November 2013.

We will be staying at the Holiday Inn Bristol Airport

Hotel, located at the foot of the Mendip Hills in the

beautiful Somerset countryside, and is our perfect

base for trips to Blagdon Lake, Slimbridge WWT and

Chew Valley Lake.

We will observe native, migrant and captive wildfowl

(ducks, geese and swans) and get the chance to meet

the resident Slimbridge otters. The price is £179 per

person and this includes two nights hotel

accommodation, all meals, entrance to Blagdon,

Chew Valley and Slimbridge reserves, an after-dinner

quiz (with prizes) and the use of the hotel mini-gym.

Further details can be found by contacting Richard

Hanman on r.hanman1970@hotmail.co.uk or

07785 707 797.

Five days Bargain Birding in Morocco: (from £599

per person)

The Bargain Birding Club is now running five day

bird-watching trips to Morocco. So if you fancy

adding greater flamingo, Eurasian spoonbill, black-

winged stilt, little bittern, glossy ibis, northern bald

ibis, black-crowned tchagra, Moussier's redstart,

black wheatear, blue rock thrush, marbled duck,

Audouin's gull and Barbary partridge to your year/

lifer-list then this is the trip for you. Full details are

available on www.bargainbirdingclub.com.

Richard Hanman

MEDWAY LG QUIZ NIGHT

Saturday 12 October 2013

Wainscott Memorial Hall

This years Medway Local Group RSPB Quiz Night

will be, as before, at the Wainscott Memorial Hall in

Wainscott Village near Frindsbury, Rochester.

The date is Saturday the 12 October 2013.

William Wallace will once again be the Quiz Master

aided and abetted by his lovely wife Carol.

10 teams of six are invited to apply.

Entry will be £5.50 PER PERSON all profits to go to

the RSPB.

Please will Team Leaders submit their entries and

team names to saunders303@hotmail.com

Nibbles will be provided, please bring your own

drinks.

David Saunders

3

HELP - INFORMATION NEEDED

CHRISTMAS SALES STALL

HEMPSTEAD VALLEY SHOPPING CENTRE

This event will be 35 years old this November.

Please could members let us have the names –

including your own – of anyone who has helped

organise and/or run the stall any year/s during the last

34 years, particularly in the early years.

Des and Carol Felix

40th BIRTHDAY

THE RSPB MEDWAY LOCAL GROUP

As many of you will know the Group will be 40 years

old next year and amongst other things we would like

to run stories on “What The Members Did” over

these 40 years in the three 2014 Birdseye. Therefore,

please let us have lots of your stories about the Group

to make this possible. We also need to know

approximately when they occurred. If you are not

happy to write these down we may be able to arrange

for you to borrow a tape recorder.

Well get going all you story tellers.

Des and Carol Felix

NORTH KENT MARSHES RESERVES-

(Seasalter Levels, Great Bells Farm, Elmley, The

River Medway, Cliffe Pools, Northward Hill and

Shorne Marshes).

At Northward Hill the late start to spring meant that

the expected spring arrivals were here but took longer

to build in numbers and this was endorsed by the

regular BTO bird ringing on the site. A lesser-spotted

woodpecker was heard early in the year but

disappeared with the greening of the trees; a singing

grasshopper warbler was also encouraging.

Nightingales were slightly down on last year and the

last were heard singing in the middle of June. Only

one pair of turtle dove bred. Hobbies and long-eared

owl bred in the woods.

The new scrapes brought in avocets in good numbers

and new islands are being created to support breeding

for next year. 23 pairs of breeding lapwings were an

improvement on 2012 and 23 pairs of redshanks was

typical. Three marsh harriers bred on the reserve and

there were at least 84 herons and 57 egret nests. A

loan cattle egret and black-necked grebe were seen on

the reserve in breeding condition – who knows? The

rare shrill carder bee was found for the first time by

BBCT volunteer Paul Larkin, who conducts bee

surveys on our reserves.

Butterflies have been slow to get going, surveyed by

volunteer Roger Kiddie, but a male clouded yellow

was seen in mid June. Marsh frogs are filling the air.

At Cliffe Pools we came out from an unprecedented

winter for migrants and welcomed 22 singing

nightingales a breeding pair of long-eared owls. 57

pairs of avocets and double the number of common

terns – at least 83 pairs bred on site, and there are

almost 1,000 black-headed gulls of all ages filling the

skies at the moment! Breeding lapwings and

redshanks suffered a little because we were unable to

prepare the meadows as we would like due to the wet

weather last year.

The site is very important for invertebrates, the short

spur beetle was found by the RSPB’s national

invertebrate expert, shrill carder and brown-banded

bumblebee (nationally important species) are resident

on site and retired RSPB warden (and legend) Bob

Gomes discovered the Maid of Kent beetle, an

extraordinarily rare and beautiful insect that lives in

fresh cowpats; this is only the fourth record for Kent/

UK in recent decades. Bob continues to conduct

wildlife surveys for the RSPB across the region and

at the end of June returned great news from Shorne

Marshes where 21 lapwing chicks were counted, the

best productivity for the species to date; 25 pairs of

redshanks also nested successfully on the reserve.

The small team of reserve wardens remain extremely

busy with infrastructure improvements at all sites,

improving water management, predator control, and

preparing for the installation of a new bird hide at

Northward Hill. At Great Bells Farm on the Isle of

Sheppey the new habitat has attracted good numbers

of birds in its first year, and the battle against mink

and floating penny wort continues at Seasalter with

success. With the ending of the lease at Elmley

Marshes the reserve is now back with Elmley

Conservation Trust with whom we are working

closely to see a smooth transition of visitor services. 4

Marsh frog

Chris Shields (RSPB-Images)

We are as ever, indebted to our residential volunteers,

Amy Winchester and Nico Vilela. The team also

welcomed Stephanie Lawrence, the Greater Thames

Futurescape community engagement officer, and she

is actively promoting our work in Kent and Essex.

The RSPB presented the State of Nature Report in

May and launched the Giving Nature a Home

campaign this month; our inspiring TV advertisement

will hit your screen very soon. We are planning a Big

Wild Sleep Out event for RSPB Northward Hill and

Rainham Marshes for August 10 and the Wildlife and

Countryside Fair is well progressed for September 8

in the capable hands of our new administrator Marie

Calvert.

Sir Howard Davies visited Northward Hill with the

Transport Committee in May where the RSPB’s head

of conservation policy and Rolf Williams explained

why a Thames Estuary Airport is a bad idea for

people and nature. The Committee were surprised by

the rich tapestry of land use and number of people

living on the Hoo Peninsula.

In a significant victory for the region’s RSPB case

work officers, Medway Council’s Local Development

Framework, including the proposed development of

Lodge Hill (on the Hoo Peninsula), was found to be

‘unsound’ by the government inspector. For the time

being that protects the site, which has been notified as

a SSSI by Natural England for its habitat and 85 pairs

of breeding nightingale.

Medway Council are openly blaming the RSPB,

claiming that we only informed them of the

endangered birds at the eleventh hour, and that 17

years and £35 million have been wasted. In truth, the

inspector states very clearly in her letter (available

online) that the Council’s approach was ‘inconsistent

with the National Planning Policy Framework’; and

the RSPB, Kent Wildlife Trust and Medway

Countryside Forum have been warning the council of

that for at least a year! The facts of the matter have

been summarized in Andre Farrar’s blog of June

27th.

We are grateful to Owen Sweeney (of the Medway

RSPB group) and other local birders who informed

the Council of the nightingale interest on the site

prior to 2010 and who have championed their cause

so vociferously; our thanks also go to those who sent

letters as part of the public enquiry. The case of

Lodge Hill has had national exposure and sends a

clear warning to other authorities wishing to develop

brown field sites with high environmental value that

government policy must be adhered to.

Rolf Williams

Communications NKMR

NATURE IMPROVEMENT AREA (NIA)

GRANT

The RSPB, under Julian Nash at Northward Hill, will

be responsible for £100,000 of the Greater Thames

Estuary NIA grant. This will be used for the

restoration of 159 hectares of grazing marsh at

Higham Marsh in North Kent on privately owned

land that is currently not managed for conservation,

but which would provide a critical connection

between RSPB managed core habitats at Shorne

Marshes and Cliffe Pools.

This money is destined to bring the hydrology up to

the standard of Shorne Marshes and Northward Hill.

Three staff members will be funded with an

equivalent amount of money for two to three years, a

project officer to co-ordinate everything with our

Greater Thames Futurescape and drive the NIA

project forward, a farmland advisor to work directly

with farmers and help them to manage their land

more sympathetically for wildlife, and a community

engagement officer (CEO) to bring the work to the

attention of the wider public in the NIA region. The

CEO, Stephanie Lawrence, is now in post and will be

available to come along to one of your meetings to

tell you more about this project and its role in the

Futurescapes initiative.

Julian Nash – Site Manager, North Kent Marshes

NEWS FROM DUNGENESS

The second week of February started well with the

news of two penduline tits on Denge Marsh. They

were seen from the Springfield Bridge in a thin strip

of reeds between there and the Denge Marsh

hide. Elsewhere on the reserve, seven barnacle geese

were still near Boulderwall Farm, 40+ curlews were

in the fields alongside the entrance track and a pair of

goldeneyes were on Burrowes pit.

5

Nightingale

John Bridges (RASP-Images)

Bitterns were seen occasionally on Denge Marsh and

at the ARC site all week, up to four great white egrets

were still around and smew numbers reached 19

(including two drakes) on 7th. Other sightings

included peregrine, kingfisher (at the ARC site), 20+

fieldfares, a few chiffchaffs and goldcrests and a

raven.

An excellent few days birding began on the afternoon

of the 14th with the arrival of four bean geese in the

fields to the right of the track as you drive down from

Boulderwall Farm. It took me a good half-hour to see

one but eventually I caught sight of a single dark

head popping up from a distant ditch. The

intervening time was not wasted - as I scanned the

fields I was also able to spot the seven barnacle

geese, at least 90 golden plovers and a common

buzzard.

The 16th dawned bright, calm and beautiful and the

good weather brought visitors out in numbers. There

was plenty to see - the bean and barnacle geese were

still present, smew, great white egret, bittern and

kingfisher all gave good views and several lucky folk

were able to find a firecrest. Our visitors from

Sussex Ornithological Society were even luckier

however, finding a penduline tit at Hooker's pits. The

birding remained good throughout the following days

with 12 ruff, the common buzzard, merlin, firecrest

and raven all spotted and two Egyptian geese joining

the hundreds of birds on the wet Boulderwall fields.

What a month March was - wet, windy and cold!

Unsurprisingly, our landscape was still dominated by

wintering birds, with only a handful of spring

migrants putting in an appearance and probably

wishing they hadn’t!

The fields near Boulderwall Farm attracted particular

attention from our hardy visitors, not least because of

the presence of up to six bean geese – quite an

unusual sight.

The wet fields were also full of hundreds of wigeon,

lapwings and golden plovers, whilst curlew numbers

reached double figures. In addition to the marsh

harriers that regularly hunted over the area, we were

also treated to the regular sight of a visiting common

buzzard, which could often be spotted sitting atop a

favourite fence post.

Numbers of goldeneye and smew remained high

throughout the month, with peak counts of 12 and 19

respectively, while a single goosander and red-crested

pochard were also of note.

Bitterns were seen regularly, especially on icy days

when they ventured out of the frozen reedbeds to find

open water to feed in. Meanwhile, numbers of great

white egrets present varied from just one to an

astonishing eight – presumably including some of the

birds that have been seen across the marsh during the

winter.

Seventeen species of wader were recorded, the most

notable being jack snipe and woodcock – both seen at

the Hanson-ARC site.

The first spring migrants – four sand martins – were

spotted over Burrowes pit on the 10th. Unfortunately,

this was just a day before a dreadful blizzard so let’s

hope they had managed to move on before the

freezing conditions hit us. It was not until the 24th

that the first wheatear of the year was seen, whilst

swallows, sedge warblers and yellow wagtails did not

appear until the second week of April.

The weather improved a little in April. There was no

more snow and although the easterly breeze that had

been around for much of the year still made its

presence felt, the sun came out and at times it felt as

though spring might finally have arrived.

The number of summer migrants arriving gradually

increased as the month moved on and the weather

calmed down. However, some winter wildfowl, such

as smew, stayed until the second week or so of April,

which shows how unseasonably cold it was for the

time of year.

Bittern

Andy Hay (RSPB-Images)

6

Smew

Mike Langman (RSPB Images)

From the middle of the month, sedge warblers,

whitethroats and reed warblers were in fine voice all

over the reserve and there were sightings of willow

warblers, blackcaps and wheatears, whilst a flash of

yellow indicated the presence of yellow wagtails.

Large groups of swallows and house martins, together

with the occasional sand martin, could be seen flying

low over Burrowes pit, trying to feed on what insect

life had dared to emerge over the water! One

particular highlight was a red-rumped swallow that

was seen towards the end of the month. Common

terns were spotted over Denge Marsh and so the tern

rafts were positioned in the water. It didn’t take long

for the birds to show an interest in using them, so

fingers were crossed for a successful breeding season,

with no choppy water this year!

In the reedbeds, a booming male bittern could be

heard most days, and a couple of birds were

frequently seen. Above the reedbeds the marsh

harriers gave some great displays of sky dancing.

The late arrival of spring was reflected in some

unseasonable sightings during May, including a hen

harrier on the 12th, a merlin for several days mid-

month, a red-breasted merganser and three scaup (all

usually winter visitors).

However, some of our residents finally got down to

the business of nesting and we watched intently on

our nestcam as great tits built their nest in the box

provided for them, eggs were laid and the first chicks

hatched. Meanwhile, eight of the tree sparrow

nestboxes around Boulderwall Farm were occupied

and the first chicks fledged towards the end of the

month.

The reedbeds at Hooker’s pits and Denge Marsh

remained lively with a male bittern booming both day

and night – surely he can’t have failed to attract a

mate (or two!). Marsh harriers and hobbies hunted

over the reeds to a soundtrack of singing reed and

sedge warblers and calling cuckoos.

Of the 20 species of wader seen, the highlight was a

pectoral sandpiper that turned up on Denge Marsh on

the 11th and remained for three days. There were a

small number of other rarities that paid us a flying

visit during the month namely green-winged teal, ring

-necked duck, red-rumped swallow and red-backed

shrike.

There seem to be at least 17 common tern nests

dotted across two of the rafts at Denge Marsh,

slightly up on last year’s figure. The third island is

occupied by a single pair of common gulls, which

seems a little greedy as, due to continuing high water

levels, island space is once again at a premium this

year.

Highlights among the smaller birds included common

redstart, whinchat, garden warbler and two singing

nightingales.

Christine Hawkins (Visitor Centre Manager)

NEWS FROM BLEAN WOODS

Staff and volunteers continued to cut well into March

this year with it being such a late season. We

completed the work by cutting down four-year-old

chestnut trees in some areas as part of our work to

reduce its dominance in the woods.

The Kent Reptile and Amphibian Group (KRAG)

placed a number of reptile refugia (tins and felts)

around the reserve over the winter ahead of a survey

this spring/summer. Ideally this survey will prove the

presence of adder on or at least around the reserve

following several claimed sightings over the years. So

far no adders, but we have had slow worms and

common lizards to record.

The spring/summer series of guided walks were very

popular and successful. People braved the cold

evenings and wet mornings to attend either early bird

walks or nightingale/nightjar evenings. Our last early

bird walk was a particular success. After thinking no

one would turn up as it was looking pretty grizzly

out, we had about 25 people who all enjoyed the walk

and then got back to the car park to coffee and

croissants provided by the Red Bean Machine.

Nightingales were very obliging singing on each walk

and the first nightjar of the season was heard on the

4th May - a week earlier than normal.

It has been a very unusual spring this year in that it

has been so quiet. At least part of the reason for this

could be due to the terrible weather earlier in the

year. Many of the birds just arrived very late or,

quite possibly, failed to complete their migration. 7

Common lizard

Lyndsey Record

However it is not just birds, heath fritillary, the

butterfly Blean Woods is very well known for, has

only just started to make an appearance with the first

ones being spotted just in time for our heath fritillary

walk! It will be interesting to compare this year’s

monitoring results with the previous few years as

numbers seemed to be on the up.

Jason Mitchell spent

some time making

safe quite a few

dangerous trees that

were dotted around

the reserve. These

trees are monitored

for a long time before

anything is done, but

as soon as they are

deemed unsafe

overhanging branches

are cut off or the tree

itself is cut down,

especially those near

pathways.

When the weather did

finally warm up enough, our group of dedicated

volunteers set to work with the never-ending task of

cutting back the vegetation along the pathways to

keep them clear for visitors. As soon as they

complete all the routes it is time to start at the

beginning again, but they do keep going!

Lyndsey Record, Site Manager

INDOOR MEETINGS

19 March

Crossing Boundaries

Rolf Williams

Tonight’s talk by Rolf was well attended and

thoroughly entertaining, enlightening and fascinating!

Rolf began with a little background as to his time as a

Royal Navy Reservist in March – July 2008 when he

was stationed on HMS Chatham in the North Arabian

Gulf, assigned to protect the off-shore oil platforms

from terrorist attack. He described the oil platforms

as a valuable man-made habitat, used by birds

migrating north from Eastern Africa and India to the

marsh wetlands between the Euphrates and Tigris

rivers on the borders of Iraq and Iran.

With humour and a down-to-earth demeanour, Rolf

reeled off bird after bird (75 species in total) that used

the oil platforms as a vital stopping off place for a bit

of R and R to break their long journey north.

Rolf shared some great photos taken with basic

equipment (compact camera held up to his

binoculars), which included Ortolan bunting, red-

throated and tree pipits, yellow, white, grey and blue-

headed wagtails, squacco heron, crested lark, hoopoe,

little stint, curlew sandpiper, isabelline, woodchat, red

-backed and masked shrikes, stonechat, whinchat,

blackcap, chiffchaff, whitethroat, garden, great reed,

sedge, barred and Upcher’s warblers, common, pied

and black-eared wheatears, redstart, spotted

flycatcher, bluethroat, blue rock thrush, rufous bush

and white-throated robins, European and blue-

cheeked beaters, rollers, collared pratincole, nightjar,

turtle and Namaqua doves, hobby, common and lesser

kestrels, booted and lesser-spotted eagles, sand

martins, red-rumped and bar swallows, slender-billed

and Pallas’s gulls, Sandwich, white-winged and sooty

terns, Arctic skua and finally ..... a first for the

region .... long-tailed skua.

The sheer number of birds seen in a small time

window was very impressive and hinted that there

was a rich, food-abundant habitat further to the north

in the wetlands of Iran/Iraq. Further evidence came

from the populations of “bird food” (dragonflies,

insects, flies, wasps etc.) which were occasionally

blown south from the marshes over the Arabian Gulf

and onto the offshore oil platforms.

This unique location certainly justifies formal

scientific research and we all hoped that the

regeneration of the marshes on the Iran/Iraq border

would continue and restore them to their former

glory.

Richard Hanman

16 April

Water Voles and Otters +AGM

John Bramley

Following out short AGM John spoke to the Group

about water voles and otters, creatures which are

clearly close to his heart. His slides left something to

be desired but this talk was so informative and his

knowledge about these creatures so extensive it

hardly mattered.

Water voles are more plentiful in Kent, Sussex and

Surrey whereas otters are rare. The reverse situation

exists in the rest of the country. The reason for this is

unclear. Since the 1950 numbers of both mammals

have declined drastically, in some area almost going

extinct. John explained there seem to be several

reasons for this, hunting in the 50s, 60s and 70s

(otters were not a protected species until 1977),

pollution by pesticides used extensively following the

Second World War, loss of habitat, escape and

release of mink from mink farms etc. 8

RSPB Arne

David Kjaer (RSPB-Images)

Both species have suffered greatly from the shoring

up of river banks with concrete and metal and the use

of culverts for rivers and ditches, which prevents

voles from digging their burrows into the banks and

gives otters fewer areas suitable for building their

holts and making rivers fragmented. John explained

that by tracking otters in England it was discovered

that some of them have territories of 25 miles or

more, not the five or six miles as previously thought.

The audience were shown ways to identify where

there were otters and voles, we were given pots with

otter and vole droppings and the remains of their food

to aid this (probably a first for Medway Group – the

audience are not often offered the chance to smell

poo to aid identification of a species!).

The good news was that numbers of otters and water

voles are slowly increasing but they are by no means

back to that of the 1950s. In Kent otter sightings are

rare and John asked that if any are seen he be

informed so he can quickly go to confirm the sighting

– a photograph would be a real asset to assist him.

Carol Felix.

21 May

Silent Spring Revisited

Conor Jameson

The book Silent Spring was written by Rachel Carson

in 1962. Conor explained that Rachel had written the

book in response to blanket spraying, often by plane,

of crops resulting in wholesale destruction of any

creature living in or around the sprayed area. These

creatures were, in turn, consumed by predators, such

as birds of prey, resulting in failure to breed as egg

shells became so fragile they were unable to support

the weight of the incubating birds. She highlighted

the damage the sprays were causing to the

environment and people especially as more and more

of the chemicals were consumed on food and the

poisons were building up within their bodies.

Her book received great condemnation as it was felt

spraying was the only way to eradicate diseases like

malaria but it also brought to people’s attention the

need to consider environmental issues brought about

by man’s interference with nature. Unfortunately

Rachel died shortly after publication of Silent Spring

and was, therefore, unaware of the great impact her

work had on future generations concerned with caring

for the environment.

Conor explained he has written a book about the

resulting awareness of the need to conserve and try to

work and develop ways of working with nature and

highlighting how this has impacted on the

environment since Rachel’s book was published.

From his presentation it was obvious Conor has a

great respect and reverence for the scientific way she

brought proofs of her concerns before the public in

general and to the government in America and

ultimately to the rest of the world.

The second half of Conor’s talk was about the

Goshawk, how it has adapted to living in cities such

as Berlin and yet is so rarely seen in this country.

The birds in Berlin are closely monitored and we

were shown how they were trapped for ringing. They

are now regularly seen in Brussels and other cities on

the Continent.

Carol Felix

18 June

Birding in Iberia

Ernest Garcia

Ernest began by explaining that he had been born in

Gibraltar but had been brought up in Britain.

However, he still visits Iberia on a regular basis,

particular Gibraltar where his Mother lives.

He began by showing maps of the area and pointed

out how mountainous Spain and Portugal are,

providing ideal habitats for raptors, including eagles –

he showed pictures of short-toed and booted eagles.

The Gibraltar Straits are such an important crossing

for migrating birds between Africa and Europe the

variety of birds which turn up there is huge. Ernest

has seen and photographed many of these, including

white storks, cranes and huge flocks of black kites, to

name but a few.

Ernest’s presentation was very informative and

interesting, the numbers of birds shown ranged from

the small - blackcap - to the large – great bustard, the

majority of them birds which would not be seen in

this country. 9

Goshawk Mike Langman (RSPB-Images)

Judging by the number of images shown, Iberia is the

place to visit to see a huge variety of birds, especially

during times of migration!!

Carol Felix.

OUTDOOR MEETINGS

Saturday 23 February

Stodmarsh/Grove Ferry

Leader Giuseppe Raffa

The light snow forecast was not enough to discourage

seven members of the Group, who gathered at the

Stodmarsh reserve car park.

The pre-visit at the beginning of February had made

clear that dealing with extremely muddy footpaths

would be as unpleasant as inevitable, but given the

list of recent sightings – which included both male

and female hen harrier – it seemed a price worth

paying. In addition, the reserve had lately been in the

spotlight after the report of a penduline tit – whose

range has spread towards NW Europe in recent

decades – inevitably attracted a countless number of

birdwatchers.

When I got to Stodmarsh for the group outing though,

the half-empty car park sadly revealed that the

penduline tit had moved somewhere else, which was

obviously rather disappointing. But off we went and

after close encounters with robins, chaffinches and

great tits, a flock of siskins promptly lifted our spirits,

as it does not happen very often to see so many of

these nicely-coloured and agile birds. We then

carried on towards the two bridges (boardwalk area)

and we could add herring gull, jackdaw and carrion

crow to our list – the last two species clearly very

busy before roosting.

Spending a bit of time in the area where the penduline

tit had taken up residence was the very least we could

do, but not surprisingly our small, feathered friend –

classified as vagrant in the UK – was nowhere to be

seen… Staring at the bushes though was not totally

fruitless, as we all heard a peculiar scream, for which

a water rail was probably responsible.

A trip to Stodmarsh without seeing a marsh harrier

would be unusual to say the least and, in fact, at the

beginning of the footpath leading to the tower lake

hide, a distant female was spotted by two members,

who were quickly joined by the others. Walking by

the lake allowed us to enjoy cormorant, great-black-

backed gull and nearly all the usual wintering ducks,

with good numbers of teals and pochards in

particular. The hide itself did not live up to our

expectations, but at least we found shelter to have

lunch.

We were all keen to carry on though, because even if

we knew that the footpath would probably get worse,

that was the part of the reserve where spotting a hen

harrier was more likely. Unfortunately, this did not

happen, nor did we manage to add much to our list -

apart from a flock of lovely long-tailed tits - while

walking to the viewing mound at the Grove Ferry

end. We were all hopeful, as this part of the reserve

has always been a good spot for harriers, not to

mention that waders and ducks can be found in that

sort of lake on the left hand side. While we enjoyed

dunlins, redshanks, one common gull and a few more

lapwings, reaching the mound did not help at all to

improve our raptor list.

There was only one more thing that we had to try to

save the day: to get to the marsh hide, where water

pipits had been reported regularly over the previous

three weeks. I must confess that I was a bit reluctant

to walk to that part of the reserve, because we had

been warned that it could be far too muddy, but

Richard (there was a rugby match at 5.00pm and

getting back to the car park by 4.00pm would have

been ‘appreciated’…) brought me round to a different

opinion. In truth, there was nothing to be particularly

worried about, as the very low temperatures had

turned the mud into an uneven but solid terrain… the

trouble was that – exactly as the penduline tit! – the

water pipit simply was not there. Totally worthless?

The answer is ‘no’, because the last hide produced the

best views of marsh harriers that we had during this

outing.

At 4 o’clock we

reached the car park,

ready to get back

home. It is

undeniable that our

list could have been

significantly longer,

but I hope that this

will stimulate us to

get out even more

and enjoy the

wonderful reserves

of our county.

Giuseppe Raffa

Sunday 10 March

Cliffe Pools RSPB Reserve

Leader David Saunders

Despite the cold and dull weather seven souls braved

the elements to enjoy a most exhilarating mornings

birding. It is always nice to see Alan and Terry make

the effort all the way from Abbeywood, also the

appropriately named Cliff along with stalwarts Sue,

Steve and Warren.

10

Marsh harrier

Chris Gomershall

(RSPB-Images)

Well protected, off we set just after nine.

Oystercatchers, tufted ducks, pochards and black-

headed gulls were first onto the list, quickly followed

by a sparrowhawk and a bullfinch. We trekked high

up onto the pinnacle to get an overview and could see

the spectacular numbers of birds we were to have

closer encounters with a little later. Over towards

Alpha Pool Canada and greylag geese fed on the

grass.

A kestrel hung windward in the distance as we

descended. Huge flocks of several thousand birds

flew up from the high water roosts, mainly blackwits

and lapwings with high counts of dunlins. A stock

dove was also seen . Back at ground level we added,

off the Radar Islands, Mediterranean gulls and

avocets. On the water were shelducks, pintails, coots,

moorhens and great-crested grebes, little grebes and

little egrets. Overhead were various corvids etc.

On a side pool off Conoco we spied long-tailed tits

and a goldcrest. Shortly after, a couple of huge flocks

of dunlin flew directly overhead by about 10 metres,

giving us an audio as well as a visual display with

their wing beats and whistling. On Flamingo Pool

were gadwalls, goldeneyes, teals and shovelers.

Over toward the Thames was a female marsh harrier.

In spite of the weather skylarks with meadow pipits

took to the air. Redshanks, grey plovers, turnstones

and ringed plovers were at the top and beach end of

Flamingo Pool. Gulls were all around as usual in

addition to those mentioned lesser-black-backs and

herring gulls.

Blue tits, great tits and song thrushes flew around us.

Other species seen were mallards, cormorants,

dunnocks, blackbirds and robins.

So all in all a brief, cold trip, but we managed to

clock up 47 species in three hours and a good time

was had by all. Being Mothers' Day I wondered how

many of the female birds would end up being mothers

next breeding season. Here's hoping for a good year !

David Saunders

Thursday 14 March

Oare Marshes KWT Reserve

Leader Marie Tilley

It was a lovely sunny, bright, but freezing, early

spring/late winter morning. Maybe it was the cold

that had put people off, for only two of our members

turned up - yours truly, present as last minute

substitute emergency cover walk leader, and George.

Undeterred we embarked on a leisurely three hour

circuit of the East flood in increasingly balmy

conditions. It was up to 5o by the time we finished.

As we walked up the road the wet fields and small

pools had shovelers in good numbers, plus pintails,

teals and mallards, coots, lapwings, grey herons and

several little egrets. There were greylags including a

couple with a lot of white in their plumage, probably

the result of some farmyard liaison. We also saw the

first of several marsh harriers. At the scrape we

added common and herring gulls to the black-headed

gulls we had already seen, and pochards and wigeons

to the wild fowl, plus reed buntings.

As high tide was still some way off we decided to

visit the West Hide, and we picked up a few "garden

birds" on the way, together with a meadow pipit.

Most of the teals and wigeons immediately in front of

the hide flew off as soon as we arrived but we added

mute swans, little grebes, gadwalls, tufted ducks,

shelducks and a single curlew.

On the way to the West Hide we saw kestrels and

moorhens and from the hide oystercatchers and a

single ruff. There were not the large numbers of

waders seen earlier in the winter at the high tide

roost, so perhaps they had already begun their

movement to the northern breeding grounds.

Suddenly good numbers of ducks took off from the

rough grass the far side of the scrape and landed in

the flood. George quickly picked up the cause of

their movement; it was a ring-tail hen harrier

quartering the marsh. Obligingly, it turned and flew

across in front of us, its white rump clearly visible as

it flew off towards the creek.

By the time we reached the creek the incoming tide

had covered a lot of the mud, but there was still

enough room for redshanks, avocets, ringed plovers,

dunlins and a single grey plover. There were three

brent geese in the creek. 11

Shoveler

Andy Hay (RSPB-Images)

We carried on around the circuit, but as we walked

along the sea wall approaching the car park, we were

greeted by another bird watcher who asked "Did you

see the bittern?" We had to confess that we had not.

He explained he had been scanning the scrape from

near the East Hide when the bittern flew up out of the

reed bed before landing nearer the sea wall. He had

seen the pair of us intently scanning the Swale with

the bittern doing its stuff behind us.

We joined him in looking for it, but all to no avail.

But as we looked we heard the call of a bearded tit in

the reeds right next door to the car park. We got

fleeting glimpses of not one but several birds moving

amongst the reeds. Eventually we were rewarded by

one bird posing in clear view at the top of the reeds,

where it was joined by another, then another, until we

had five bearded tits in one binocular view. They

dropped down into the reeds to be joined by a sixth

bird. After a few minutes all six rose up out of the

reeds and flew past us "pinging" as they went.

No real rarities, but all together the gang of two saw

or heard 43 species – the complete list is on the

website. All in all, we had a very pleasant walk,

with enough birds, the hen harrier and the bearded tits

in particular, to make it a most enjoyable visit, missed

bittern not withstanding.

Warren Mann

Sunday 24 March

Sevenoaks Wildfowl KWT Reserve

Leader Karen Snow

Having managed to arrive at a very cold Sevenoaks

Nature Reserve on time after my night out, I found

just four others waiting for me, so thanks to Sue,

Steve, Warren and Elizabeth for keeping me

company.

We headed out and our first sightings were of a pair

of goosanders, lapwings, tufted ducks, black headed

gulls, pied wagtails, shelducks, cormorants and

around 25 Snipe!

Walking along the track we had good sightings of

siskins, blue, great and long tailed tits and wren as

well as brief glimpses of a treecreeper and goldcrest.

A good spot from Sue at the Tower Hide was a

Mandarin duck which seemed to be pursuing a

greylag goose.

It was, it has to be said, a very cold day and there

were virtually no other people around, and most of

the birds also seemed to have made off to warmer

climes, as did we by heading back to the Visitor

Centre for a warming cuppa, which we were

permitted to drink inside.

The second half seemed even colder after the coffee,

but we headed out trying once again for the elusive

missing species. Steve spotted a little egret flying

past and Sue and Warren spotted the little ringed

plover. At the centre hide, we thought there was

nothing out of the ordinary until when watching a

moorhen on the centre island, a movement made

Steve take another look, yes it was an eye and bill

sticking out from behind a tree. Moving round the

hide and training the telescopes, it was eventually

made out to be an Egyptian goose, possibly even two!

We carried on aiming for the top field when just short

of the field a strange call was heard, was it a coot?

The owner of the call was eventually located round

the bend by the field and it was a female ring-necked

parakeet, soon to be photographed by Warren.

We decided to head back before we froze to death

and took a route via the tiny Carter Hide in the hope

of a kingfisher. We all crammed in and almost

immediately, the kingfisher was spotted. We even

managed to see the red lower mandible which

identified it as a female.

12

Bearded tit

Andy Hay (RSPB-Images)

Elf cup fungus

Warren Mann

Also of note, not far from the Carter Hide, was a very

strange fungus possibly called Jews Ear, red and

weird looking, again photographed by Warren.

Just before getting back to the car park, we stopped

off to take a final look for the little-ringed plover and

there is was right in front of us, good views were had

by all, it was now definitely time to head home to

warm up.

Karen Snow

Wednesday 10 April

White Horse Wood Country Park, Detling

Leaders Sue Carter/Steve Goodrich

This relatively new country park has now grown up a

little, so I deemed it worthy of a first visit from the

Group. After weeks of sub-zero temperatures, high

winds and general gloom I was somewhat

apprehensive, but was pleasantly surprised to find

twelve participants had decided to join me as the sun

attempted to break through the mist.

We set off down the lane towards Thurnham Castle

seeing a couple of red-legged partridges,

greenfinches, blue tits and chaffinches and hearing a

green woodpecker and a mistle thrush. Some Soay

sheep came to welcome us as we looked around the

castle ruins and then it was time to put on my health

and safety hat to explain that we needed to negotiate a

steep escarpment to reach the North Downs Way

beneath.

Marie and Alan decided to take the safer route down

the lane and meet the rest of us at the bottom. On the

way down the stepped slope we heard a goldcrest

singing from an ancient yew tree, but it became

obvious that the migrant warblers we hoped to see

were not yet in and even the plants had been set back

by the cold weather.

Before meeting up with the others we were delighted

to see three house martins heading west above us and

there was a chorus of “that's made my day”.

Further up the lane we were re-united with Marie and

Alan and saw a yellowhammer, common buzzard,

sparrowhawk and kestrel before climbing up the

grassed meadow, where we had skylarks, towards the

part of the park which has been planted with

thousands of trees and shrubs. Here eagle-eyed

Joseph (Robin and Elaine's young nephew) spotted

three linnets in a silver birch and we heard the male

singing to the two females. Joseph has the makings

of a good birder and his enthusiasm knows no

bounds. It's a shame that we can't attract more

youngsters like him to the Group.

We left two and a half hours after we had arrived,

determined to return and having seen 23 species.

Spring has finally sprung!

Sue Carter

Sunday 21 April

Hanningfield Resservoir, Essex

Leaders Sue Carter/Steve Goodrich

Our first visit to this Essex Wildlife Trust reserve no

further from home than a trip to Dungeness! We

were blessed with a warm, still and sunny day to see

the reserve at its best and whilst the 16 participants

assembled in the tree-lined car park we were treated

to an array of birdsong from goldcrests, chiffchaffs,

robins and blackcaps. A sparrowhawk was also seen,

intent on catching one of the songsters.

We received a warm welcome in the visitor centre,

with its well-stocked shop and cafeteria overlooking

the bird feeders. Then we set off on the trail to the

Fishing Lodge, via the various paths through the

woods. From the first two hides we saw a displaying

marsh harrier which disappeared into the reeds on the

far bank of the reservoir, plus several common

buzzards being harassed by corvids. Someone

spotted three swallows wending their welcome way

over the water and the array of ducks included tufted,

mallards and teals.

13

Greenfinch

Nigel Blake (RSPB-Images)

Mallard cross

Richard Hanman

At the third hide we saw six male and female red-

crested pochards, six drake and duck goldeneyes, six

common terns plus wigeons and gadwalls. Further

round the lake we watched displaying great-crested

grebes plus a couple of very vocal little grebes and a

common pochard. In the trees were numerous

blackcaps, chaffinches, chiffchaffs, blue and great tits

and a great-spotted woodpecker.

We had our lunch in the grounds of the Fishing

Lodge before retracing our steps back to the visitor

centre. We saw 44 bird species plus peacock and

comma butterflies. The general consensus was that

we would all like to return to this little gem in deepest

Essex.

Sue Carter & Steve Goodrich

Saturday 27 April

Ashdown Forest

Leader Glen Peacock

Ashdown Forest was not the warmest place on the

planet as 12 hardy souls pitched up for a walk on the

'wild side' in search of avians. As it turned out,

hearing birdsong was a wow and viewing one was a

shout for joy. Nothing singing, nothing flying, more

like early March than late April - be brave and press

on regardless.

One of the first to give us some cheer was a willow

warbler. It sat on a branch in full view and was

acting strangely by flapping then stretching its wings

as if trying to draw a predator away from a nest. No

adders on the prowl on such a cold day I doubt, so the

mystery remains.

Redstarts were plentiful and our local Ashdown

Forest Expert, Michael Scott Ham was on their case

early on, directing our eyes to where he had heard

their call. Also showing well were tree pipits and

redpolls, which was a first for two of our party, Sue

and Grahame.

A cuckoo sighting was an event and we wondered

what he was doing for meals as the climate was not

reasonable for furry caterpillar stew. Ravens were

busy at their nest site, the anticipated woodlark were

only a 'possible' or 'may-be'.

The big excitement came when Giuseppe got back to

his car and found a willow warbler perched there

awaiting his return. His pleasure warmed the day for

us.

Despite the inclement weather we notched up 30 bird

species and some head colds!!!!!

Glen Peacock

Thursday 2 May

Smokes Wood, Hucking Estate, Hollingbourne

Leaders Sue Carter & Steve Goodrich

Nine members were present on a sunny morning but

with a biting north-easterly wind. We met in the

Hook and Hatchet car park but drove in convoy the

half mile or so to the newly improved and enlarged

Woodland Trust car park on the top of the North

Downs. From here we could see right across the

estuary to the Isle of Grain and Southend beyond.

We admired the ancient beech trees around the car

park and Trevor mentioned that he had seen little

owls roosting in them and that undoubtedly tawny

owls were also in the locality. We crossed the

grassed area with the young plantations and hawthorn

scrub and here we saw a splendid male

yellowhammer and some meadow pipits.

Into the woods with bluebells, wood anemones,

celandines, ladies smocks and flowering wild cherry

in abundance. A Kent woodland in spring is a

magical place, but this year the cold weather had set

back the leaves and the cold wind was still keeping

the temperature down and subduing the bird song.

However, we were fortunate to find several species

by sound and these included nuthatches, chiffchaffs,

nightingales, green woodpeckers, blackcaps and

common whitethroats. We also witnessed a pair of

blue tits mating on a branch.

We saw or heard twenty-four species in total and

those not mentioned above included robins, willow

warblers, blackbirds, song thrushes, wren,

chaffinches, dunnocks, black-headed and herring

gulls, jays, magpies, kestrels, wood pigeons and great

tits.

A nice morning spent with good company, some of

whom rounded off the trip with a visit to Hook &

Hatchet!

Sue Carter & Steve Goodrich

14

Hawthorn

Andy Hay (RSPB-Images)

Sunday 19 May

Rye Harbour/Camber Castle

Leader Glen Peacock

Glory be! What is happening to the world, starting a

Rye Harbour walk on a fine day and more

importantly ending it without a soaking.......great.

However only seven people were persuaded to walk.

The Reserve is pretty large, and in previous trips we

have kept to a more regular route. This time the

adventure feature kicked in and having started at the

usual place at Rye Harbour Village car park, we

struck off down the approach road then out

across virgin country to Camber Castle. A new route

for all except the leader. Although it was hard work

finding different species in the first part of the

walk, we did get super views of mistle thrushes,

whitethroat and cuckoo. A black swan caught some

off guard, newly arrived from Western Australia I

don't think.!!!!!

Having walked as far as Winchelsea Beach with little

to get too excited about, we needed some good birds

on view on the homeward leg across the gravel pits

and marshlands and we were not disappointed. A

sedge warbler was really showing how to draw an

audience and enabled Richard Hanman to get some

great photographs. The hirundines were thankfully

back in evidence, but not in any great numbers.

There was a total lack of raptors. I had a similar

result when I did the walk two weeks previously.

Where are they?

Our arrival at the gravel pit hides was greeted by a

cacophony of screeching gulls and terns. All either

nesting or wishing they were nesting, but giving good

entertainment to the punters. Sandwich, little and

common terns were much in evidence but the 'aint

they sweet' factor went to the very new chicks of the

black-headed gulls, which were nesting close to the

hide.

Skylark gave good voice and nearby sightings which

rounded off a productive days birding - had we seen

no birds at all, the walk on a fine day is brilliant, but

we turned up 63 different varieties which is a goodly

number and we could return home happy.

Glen Peacock

Wednesday 22 May

Northward Hill Evening Walk

Leader Warren Mann

A dull day had suddenly changed into one with blue

skies and sunshine and maybe that is what attracted a

dozen of us to this evening walk in late spring.

Unfortunately as the skies cleared the temperature

had dropped and the wind picked up, so although the

evening may have looked the part it did not feel at all

spring like. There were a lot of people around the car

park at Bromhey Farm, and it became clear that

another party were also visiting the reserve when

Trevor was asked if he was with Istead Rise Women's

Institute. I thought this a silly question as it should

have been obvious to anyone that Trevor was not

from Istead Rise.

Around the car park we saw a goldfinch and the first

few of a number of swifts, plus the inevitable wood

pigeon. As we made our way to the viewpoint there

were no birds to be seen on the feeders or in the

bushes, but eventually we saw a distant kestrel (our

only raptor) and a black-headed gull.

The RSPB have done a great deal of work on the

reserve over the winter, with heavy plant used to

extend the existing scrape in front of the Marsh

Viewpoint and to create several new ones. The large

numbers of wintering wild fowl and waders were

long gone, however, and at first glance there did not

seem much around.

But we persevered and eventually tallied

oystercatchers, lapwings, mallards, pochards, tufted

ducks, gadwalls, shelducks, greylags, Canada geese,

mute swans, coots, great crested grebes and several

flighty grey herons, plus the usual corvids. We heard

(and later saw) a green woodpecker, but despite

hearing the first of several cuckoos, we never actually

saw one.

Trevor had arrived at the reserve two hours earlier

than the rest of us and had spent the time looking for

the cattle egret seen from the viewpoint earlier in the

week. He had some frustrating glimpses as the bird

spent most of its time rooting around in the ditches

rather than doing what it was supposed to do -

following the grazing cattle. We spent a lot of time

checking out each white blob. Egrets? - we had a

few, but they all turned out to be little ones. 15

Sedge warbler

Mike Langman (RSPB-Images)

We decided to move on, and as we made our way

around we heard wrens and blackcaps, and saw

swallows and in one of the new scrapes there were a

few avocets and a redshanks in addition to the gulls

and shelducks. We eventually made it to the top of

Northward Hill and were rewarded by a great view of

the marshes in the late evening sunshine. We also had

a good, but distant, aerial view of a really large new

scrape, but at the moment it is not possible to get a

closer view. On the return walk to the car park the

scrub was still largely silent, although we did briefly

hear pheasants, chiffchaffs, song thrushes and robins.

A further scan for the cattle egrets was to no avail.

In all we saw 30 species and heard seven more. It was

a pleasant enough walk, but it was disappointing that

the unseasonable weather had resulted in us not seeing

or hearing such common birds as whitethroats, let

alone the hoped for turtle doves and nightingales.

Well, there is always next time.

Warren Mann

PUBLIC EVENTS

Christmas Sales Stall Hempstead Valley Shopping

Centre 1979 - 2013

Whilst reviewing this event in the run up to our 35th

year in 2013, and thinking about the apparent

continued decline in our takings and in the number of

volunteers available to help, I decided to find out what

actually had happened in the past as regards our

takings. I asked Warren to scan the archives and this

is what we have come up with.

Recent history shows a decline, perhaps linked to the

economic downturn and changes in shopping habits:

Year HVSC

2012 £1258

2011 £1438

2010 £1822

2009 £2026

2008 £2053

2007 £1451

2006 £2670

2005 £2792

2004 £2788

But how does this compare with the good old days,

before our accounts were recorded on a

spreadsheet? We have handwritten accounts books

which summarise the takings for the years 1979-80 to

2003-4. Here are the numbers that we can identify for

the HVSC sales, together with the total sales for that

year.

Clearly in the past the Group was able to make major

sales both at the HVSC and at other events.

Year HVSC Total Sales

1985 £1470 £2323

1986 £1410 £5580

1987 £1555 £4857

1988 £1290 £5416

1989 £2332 £10,196 *

1990 £1602 £9012

1991 £2124 £6618

1992 £1111 £5639

1993 £1089 £4413

1995 £1162 £3194

1996 £477 £2885

* RSPB Centenary year

It is worth noting the highest total sales, which were

achieved in 1989, exceeded £10,000 and include, for

example, £1054 for takings at the Kent Show. In

addition at the HVSC event in 1995 bird food sales

were £231. So total Group sales were much higher in

the past than now and much of this is due to the

considerable efforts of Carole and John Nixon. I

would guess that over the years HVSC sales were

occasionally above £2000 but were usually about

£1500. However, judging from other payments

recorded, we would have to add bird food sales of

£150 to £300, and note that the event at the HVSC

might be only for four days and not a whole week as

now.

So looking at the recent data it would seem our taking

at HVSC have been in slow decline since the mid-

2000s and to some degree this matches the reduction

in our stall size (hence less variety and quantity of

sales goods), the increase in the availability of RSPB

goods to the general public throughout the year from

garden centres etc., and latterly the declining

economic situation and the ordering of goods on line.

16

From left: - Janet Adkin, Heather & John Pollard helping

on the Chistmas Sales Stall in 2012.

Des Felix

In fact our takings over the last three years do not

disgrace themselves when looked at over the past

years for which data are available. We obtain our

stock from the shop at the RSPB Reserve at

Dungeness, who supply us on a sale-or-return basis

and they were pleased with our results in 2012. For

the record the Group’s 34th year of running this annual

event was Warren and Elizabeth’s 5th year, Carol and

my 8th year and Rob and Marie's 10th year as

organisers. As we are about to start the run up to our

35th year in 2013 I must emphasize we do need more

volunteers to help with the manning of the event, and

in setting it up. Hopefully with an economic up-turn

in the next year or so and with enough volunteers to

run the stall we will be able to continue to supply

much needed funds to the RSPB.

Looking at the above sales figures and talking to

Carole Nixon about the pre-1985 days when the Group

sold goods directly for Sandy which did not go

through the Group’s accounts, we can roughly

estimate that the Group has sold over £60,000 worth

of RSPB sales goods, plus bird food and badges over

the last 34 years at the Group’s Christmas Sales Stall

at Hempstead Valley Shopping Centre and all the

proceeds have gone to help the RSPB with its work.

Long may it continue!

Des Felix

With thanks to Warren Mann for all his help

20.06.13

Saturday 16 February to Sunday 24 February

DwN Riverside Country Park

NKMRs

Hi Des and Carol

Many thanks for your volunteers offer to help us at

Riverside, much appreciated and we are now more or

less covered for the week. Can’t remember if I

mentioned it but there will be two telescopes at our

pitch for adults and children. Let’s hope we get some

half decent weather and a good footfall of visitors over

the half term.

David James

Hi Des and Carol

Many thanks for organising the volunteer help, we

couldn’t run an event successfully without your

volunteer’s co-operation, so please pass on our

appreciation and thanks, especially in view of the

freezing conditions that reduced the visitor numbers at

the site.

Despite the weather, we still recruited 15 members

and had over 50 engagements with the public.

David James

Hi Des

Thank you very much for your email. It is always nice

to know that the RSPB events at the Riverside

Country Park are fruitful - it does not happen every

day to recruit 15 members.

Giuseppe

Hi Des

All went well today - I was there for the whole time

with David James and we were joined by Edward for

the morning session.

Beautiful sunny day albeit a bit chilly!! - four

memberships signed up......................Danny

PS - Had a very well behaved shellduck which kept

the children excited!!

Edited by

Des Felix

Friday 3 to Sunday 5 May

Bargain Birding Trip (Overnight Stays)

Gibralter Point, Lincolnshire

For the lucky few who had been to Gibraltar Point

Wash Study Centre before it must have been a keenly

anticipated return. To those of us that had never been

before, it was to be a pleasant surprise.

Gibraltar Point National Nature Reserve covers over

1000 acres along three miles of the coast from the

tackiness of the quintessential seaside resort of

Skegness-on-Sea to the charismatically named area

known as The Wash. Habitats include sandy and

muddy seashore, sand dunes, salt marsh and

freshwater marsh with ponds and lagoons. The

reserve is internationally recognised for its important

habitats and species. The centre is run by the

Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust.

We drove up separately some leaving as early as

4.00am on the Friday morning and others less

fortunate, who worked as late as 2.00 pm arrived

much later. An horrendous accident on the A16 just

north of Spalding made at least two couples very late

arriving at the centre.

The dinner on the first evening was a superb mouth-

watering buffet salad with homemade quiche followed

by a local Bramley apple crumble with custard. Food

featured a lot over the stay and was a really enjoyable

part of the experience.

That first evening was bliss as darkness descended,

leaving the marsh birds to provide a soundtrack

unspoilt by any trains, planes or automobiles. Most of

the group saw a barn owl patrolling the creek.

17

As the sun set the only man-made noises were the

halyards slapping on the masts of nearby yachts on the

creek.

Up next morning (some a little earlier than others) and

to a hearty breakfast and a briefing by our guide for

the morning, Stuart the retired XO of the Trust and

knowledgeable as one would expect. He took about

30 minutes to inform us about the history of the area

and what we could expect to see on the salt and

freshwater marsh habitat. On the perimeter wall of the

centre a wheatear showed well with goldfinches

feeding off the dandelions.

So about 10-ish we set off, dressed really for all

weathers as we were a little unsure as to how the day

was going to pan out. We didn’t all have Stuart’s

confidence to be sporting shorts!

Out of the study centre and over The Hump as it’s

known and into The Plantation, a bird sanctuary area

where a flock of Black Island sheep stared at us wide-

eyed as we trooped past, I imagined how they decided

who was the black sheep of their family and the

endless arguments. Here we saw jackdaws, swallows

and house martins and so onto Jackson’s Marsh and

Tennyson’s Sands, until recently farmland, where a

series of lagoons have been created as water bird

habitat.

A common buzzard rode the thermals overhead and so

to the West Dunes where we watched and listened to

the scritchy-scratchy song of the whitethroats as they

flew up and down displaying. Here we saw many

examples of the viciously-thorned sea buckthorn, this

dune bush offers protection to breeding birds and

orange berries for thrushes and starlings in the winter.

At the beach car park we turned left along Mill Pond

Road to the hide overlooking The Mere where we saw

many fine waders and ducks. Back on the main track

we continued on, surveying the shrubbery as we went,

finding sedge and reed warblers. Calling in at Eric’s

Pond and Oval Pond we looked for frogs and toads

etc. Sadly none were to be found, but the skylarks

overhead made up for that.

After a lovely meal, we all ventured out eager to lose

no time in this magical part of the country

A grasshopper warbler had been heard reeling, by the

lucky few, in scrub by the Fenland Lagoon, then later

that evening again in the East Dunes. Out at sea a

hundred and ten seals of all shapes and sizes and both

species hauled out in the evening sun on a couple of

spits. On the marsh below a short-eared owl and a

barn owl quartered the same patch getting ever closer

as they went up and down. Eventually they met, the

shortie won, baring its talons as they passed each

other. That was enough for the barnie, off it flew

landing in a dead tree, giving great views in the setting

sun.

If you get a chance to visit this spot, go. If we are

fortunate enough for Richard HANMAN to book this

again through his Bargain Bird Club book early now

word has got out!

David Saunders

SOUTHERN FRANCE IN WINTER

The British winter had seemed endless so we decided

to join Shetland Wildlife on a week's break to warmer

climes.

18

Richard Hanman

We left Gatwick in a snow storm and after a short

flight arrived at Marseilles, where our tour guides

collected the two people carriers to ferry us to our base

an hours drive away.

Our hotel was a lovely rustic “mas” or farmhouse,

surrounded by gardens and fields a few miles outside

Arles. It was warm and comfortable, with friendly

English speaking hosts and superb French cuisine.

The week was dry and sunny but for the first two days

the chilly mistral wind was blowing from the north

down the Rhone valley, but undaunted we set off each

morning, after our buffet-style breakfast, for a day's

birding.

The first birds we saw were white storks, cattle and

great-white egrets and red kites. At Vergieres in La

Crau, a stony, arid area with lichens and stunted

bushes reminiscent of Dungeness, we saw little

bustards, stone curlews, crested larks, Southern grey

shrikes, black redstarts and both Dartford and

Sardinian warblers. In the afternoon we headed to the

citadel of Les Baux de Provence with its amazing

honeycombed limestone cliffs. Here we caught up

with blue rock thrush, wallcreeper, crag martins and

alpine accentors – giant dunnocks which allow close

approach.

On the second day we set off for Le Parc Naturel

Regional de Camargue at Pont de Gau, seeing a flock

of sixty common cranes in flight on the way. Here we

had massed ranks of greater flamingos overhead, plus

a rarer lesser flamingo, black-necked grebes, Cetti's

warblers, kingfisher and coypu. At Mas D'Agon we

spotted a short-eared owl and at least one hundred

glossy ibises in flight - a truly amazing spectacle,

which was capped off with the discovery of a slender-

billed gull at nearby La Capilliere.

The highlight of the tour was a visit to the snow-

capped Mont Ventoux with its beech, juniper and pine

trees. Here in bright sunshine we saw crested tits,

short-toed treecreepers, raven, alpine choughs and the

delightful European endemic, citril finch.

An “extra” to the itinerary was a visit to Pont du Gard

to see the Roman aquaduct which was built in 60 AD

and an ancient olive tree which was planted in 901

AD. Whilst there we saw the rock sparrows which

roost on the edifice, firecrest, blackcap, redwings and

common sandpiper plus a sparrowhawk hunting crag

martins.

Each day we received packed lunches including

baguette of our choice, but we also stopped off at

“Cher's” transport cafe (where we had serin and both

lesser and great-spotted woodpeckers in the car park)

and Sainte Marie de le Mer (the capital of the

Camargue) for hot drinks.

At Mas Chaevet we had lunch by a smelly pile of

manure, with pilots from the French Air Force

practising take-offs above our heads, but we did see a

male hen harrier, little owl, merlin and four calandra

larks here, plus a clouded yellow butterfly by way of

compensation!

On the final day we had superb views of a long-eared

owl which was sunning itself in a roadside bush and

gave amazing photographic opportunities. We also

caught up with penduline and bearded tits, plus an

exceptionally early whiskered tern. At Scamandre

reserve we had fleeting views of a moustached warbler

which was singing away, then we drove to

Consecaniere where we saw a flock of five hundred

red-crested pochards and common buzzards circling

with a pale-phased booted eagle, before la crème de la

crème, a magnificent great-spotted eagle appeared

over the marsh.

In the evening we set off for the Hotel Olive at Les

Baux and our quest for the mighty eagle owl which

breeds there. Precisely at 6.30 pm it dropped down

from the cliff-face onto a boulder, giving excellent

views, before flying to a higher rock from which it

surveyed its domain. We left it in peace with a sense

of great satisfaction.

Memories of Provence and the Camargue will be the

chilly mistral, sunshine, black bulls and white horses,

vineyards, reed windbreaks and avenues of plantain

trees, plus the variety of habitat – mountains, stony

plains, pine forests and marshes. The bird list total for

the week was one hundred and thirty-one and we had

nineteen life ticks between us. The only birds which

we hoped to see but didn't, were pin-tailed sandgrouse,

black woodpecker, night heron and the long-staying

visitor from across the Pond, the pied-billed grebe on

L'Etang des Aulnes.

We met some lovely people and had a wonderful

holiday..

Sue Carter and Steve Goodrich

19

Great-white egret

Steve Round (RSPB-Images)

Registered charity number 207076

A VISIT TO NORTHWARD HILL 11

NOVEMBER 2012

On the way to Northward Hill near the village of High

Halstow a kestrel hung in the beautiful autumnal blue

sky scanning the verges for a tasty meal.

A mile or so on at the RSPBs woodland car park a

familiar tinkling from on high in an ash tree came

from a dozen or so goldfinches as they fed. Already a

green woodpecker could be heard yaffling in the

distance, then, almost at the same time came the chip-

chipping of a great-spotted woodpecker, and so into

the wood proper.

Wood pigeons clattered out of the hawthorns making

me look skywards to the source of their alarm, a

sparrowhawk drifted on the breeze overhead, I wasn’t

sure if that was the reason for their fears, but more of

that later. A dragonfly alighted on a nearby tree

giving me an excellent chance to get in a quick photo

and identify it as a common darter.

Corvids were everywhere, carrion crows, magpies,

rooks and jackdaws making their ‘kyak’ call over me.

Then I saw a buzzard wheeling as it turned in small

circles taking advantage of the scant thermals of the

cooler climes. Robins, chaffinches, blackbirds,

dunnocks and the commoner tits flitted through the

undergrowth. Always a delight were long-tailed tits

si-si-ing from bough to bough foraging for tiny

insects to fatten up for harsher times ahead.

At the panorama of Northward Hill with the

incredible views of Egypt Bay, Essex and the

outskirts of the capital I spied a marsh harrier

quartering a distant hedgerow. A merlin sat statuesque

amongst the reeds close to the WWII communications

station as 50 black-tailed godwits spun over the flood,

probably in response to the female harrier. I spoke to

two couples walking through, about the madness of

an airport within a hundred miles of this world class-

site and they were in total agreement.

A jay flew into a nearby tree catching my attention

and a dark-coloured butterfly fluttered round an oak,

settling onto a dead log, allowing me time to get a

good image.

It was a male peacock still in summer colours, deep

red wings with four large peacock-like ‘eyes’ acting

as defensive markings.

For me that was a highlight but I didn’t know that in a

couple of moments it would be surpassed. My

attention was caught as a large brown raggedy bird

flew up from the base of a nearby tree, obviously

disturbed by my presence. At the scene was an

almost eaten wood pigeon and the diner was a

buzzard! I imagine the moulting raptor had actually

predated the pigeon as opposed to finding it as

carrion. No wonder the pigeons were on tenter-

hooks !

David Saunders

EDITORS NOTES

Please let us have your articles ASAP or at the latest

by 18 October 2013 for the winter

edition.

Editors

Editors: Des and Carol Felix,

at 72 Marshall Road, Rainham, Kent. ME8 0AW

or medwayrspb_descar@btinternet.com

The RSPB Medway Local Group Website :

www.medway-rspb.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk

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Medway Local Group.

The RSPB SE England Office, 1st Floor Pavilion View, 19 New Road, Brighton, East Sussex, BN1 1UF

The RSPB speaks out for birds and wildlife, tackling the problems that threaten our environment.

Nature is amazing - help us keep it that way.

David

Saunders

Peacock butterfly