GREY HERON’S NEST

29 May 2022 Embarrassing really. About a month ago someone had told CD that there was a Grey Heron‘s nest between Toot Rock and the Pannel Valley along the tree line but he could not locate it, nor could I. Normally about a dozen pairs nest in the trees along the RMC below Winchelsea as well as a few pairs of Little Egrets. So a nest west of the Pannel Valley would be a new site. On the 2nd May in my blog is a photo of a Grey Heron, with a pale cap, standing on the Little Owl dead tree near Carter’s Flood. Unfortunately I had cropped the photo and had not noticed the edge of a nest in the bottom right of the original. I wondered at the time why there were so many guano stains, I thought maybe just a roosting site. Fortunately yesterday Linda Williams went past and located the nest, it is actually as obvious as a sore thumb. So it was there hidden in plain sight all the time. It now has two fully fledged young, with dark caps, one of which was bouncing around all over the place practising wing flaps and a metre off the nest test flights. Further up at the Pannel Valley, ignoring the weird dark rare breed sheep in the field below the McCartney Windmill, the flock of 50 Black-tailed Godwits is still on the Scrape but they were roosting today on the main island. Two pairs of Little Ringed Plovers were interacting, one was sitting tight on eggs and the rest flitting about in territorial disputes. Young birds were also very much in evidence, Coots, Mallard, Black-headed Gulls and a Blackbird.

MORE PASSAGE WADERS

26 May 2022 Passage waders are still moving through. I said in my last blog that Castle Water was looking promising now and yesterday Chris George had 17 Black-tailed Godwits there ( 50 were at the Pannel Valley Scrape according to Pete R last Sunday ). Also yesterday AP, JT, and I did an early morning circuit of Flat Beach in a biting wind so we did not hang about. The only wader in front of the Discovery Centre on the Salt Marsh was a Grey Plover. Little Egrets and a Cormorant were fishing nearby. Out in front of the Gooders Hide an Avocet was lazily keeping an eye on two cute chicks. The Flat Beach Oystercatcher high tide roost continues to get smaller. Out in the distance on a small island in the company of two Little Terns were two waders that we took to be a rusty Knot and maybe a Sanderling. However, study of the photos later showed the birds to be Curlew Sandpipers, one in part summer plumage, the other in winter plumage still, rare birds in Spring in Sussex. Over at the Parkes Hide Black-headed Gulls now have good sized chicks and the usual Redshank and Turnstones are present. A Sanderling flew in but landed out of sight on one of the islands and a single Sandwich Tern was heard. From the Denny Hide the Common Terns are in full nesting mode and one is trying its luck on the waters edge, not on an island. Finally while I was photographing another Grey Plover on the Salt Pool, a further three Sanderlings whizzed past.

THIS AND THAT AT CASTLE WATER

22 May 2022 This week it has been a game of two halves at Castle Water. I headed over the first time on Thursday afternoon on my way into Rye to get my hair cut. All rather quiet then. Sensibly AP and I set out early today at 6.30 am and it was much better. Near Camber Castle the local brood ( well three of the four ) of Ravens was out feeding with the Rooks and other corvids. At Castle Water the water level has dropped and muddy islands have reappeared making it look ideal for waders. Alas on Thursday there were just one Redshank, two Lapwings and two Oystercatchers. Today however a pair of displaying Little Ringed Plovers appeared along with another singleton. I think it is the first time I have seen potential breeding birds there. A single Avocet was also seen by us and later in the day a Wood Sandpiper was reported. The Cormorant colony now has full sized brown downy young in the nests and we also saw two much smaller nests amongst them occupied by Little Egrets, sitting tight. The resident BnGrebe was distant as usual but a couple of weeks back was much closer. Then I noticed in one of my photos that when it did a backward leg stretch there was an aluminium ring present. Barry Y and Phil Jones inform me that according to the BTO no BnGrebes have been ringed in the UK since 2004 so this bird was probably ringed on the Continent. Back near the Viewpoint we saw three plus Hobbies at last and I managed one reasonable record shot. A pair of Yellow Wagtails was unusual on the reed fringe edge. Five Lapwing chicks were seen with their parents. We also saw LbbGulls carrying nesting material onto the factory roofs where a pair of GbbGulls are nesting next to their usual chimney. A female Sparrowhawk was sitting tight on its nest in the gloom of one of the Reserve woods. It is probably the same bird that terrorised the Flat Beach waders throughout the last winter.

ROLLING STONES

15 May 2022 I headed down to a dull Flat Beach at RHNR for high tide after the rain this morning. I am not sure if the tides are high enough to fill up Flat Beach again which is looking rather dry. There was still a smallish Oystercatcher roost and one rusty Barwit was seen and a Greenshank was heard. Otherwise the Spring wader migration seems to be petering out. A nice group of distant Little Terns was active in the usual corner of Flat Beach and a roosting Little Egret was all plumes and appeared headless. This is maximum Sea Kale flowering season at the moment. The local lazy Skylarks continue to sing from the top of posts instead of bothering to do so in flight. Over at the Crittall Hide on Ternery Pool a bored GbbGull on eggs could be seen and the Common Gull also seems to have started brooding. Close to the Hide one of the Black-headed Gulls now has a chick. In front of the Parkes Hide were a couple of summer plumage Dunlin, a closeby Oystercatcher and three Turnstones in differing plumages. One was in near full summer plumage while another was still mostly in winter plumage. A third bird had intermediate plumage but showed off its stone rolling skills for the camera. No wonder they are called Turnstones. The blurry picture shows a large pebble being overturned and has the birds legs in focus and well planted whilst the head and beak do all the work, too quickly for even my camera. At the Denny Hide overlooking Flat Beach there are good numbers of Common Terns ( with the nesting Black-headed gulls on the islands ) and they will be expected to start nesting soon. The Salt Pool was disappointing apart from a showy Little Egret at the eastern end. At the Viewpoint were singing Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethroat, Chifchaff, Blackcap, and Reed and Sedge Warblers but no sign of Hobbies. A family party of Long-tailed Tits passed by and one juvenile ( dark sides to the head ) stopped for a quick nap.

UP THE PANNEL AGAIN

12 May 2022 On the basis and proven correct that yesterday’s White-winged Black Tern reported at the RHNR would not be there today, I set off up to the Pannel Valley Scrape to try to see the summer plumage Spotted Redshank that had been seen earlier in the week. Alas no sign of it but a roosting bird on the end of one of the spits looked suspicious. Of more interest was a large flock of 21 Black-tailed Godwits and two Dunlin to accompany the usual Avocets, Redshank , LRPs, Lapwings, and Oystercatchers. Two Cuckoos were heard. There is still little evidence of Med Gulls nesting on the islands, maybe it has been so dry that they have headed off over to Holland to breed this year, time will tell. Five LesserBbGulls were drifting around eyeing up the Black-headed Gull colony where breeding is in full swing. At the Small Pool further up the valley, water levels are getting lower and there was no Greenshank today but feeding Black-headed Gulls and iridescent Lapwings instead. Otherwise the usual three Geese Species now have goslings and one of the Mute Swan pairs has six cygnets.

THEN THERE WERE THREE

06 May 2022 I walked in early from Dog’s Hill Road onto the RHNR to meet up with AP and JT at Ternery Pool. The shingle ridges and bushes along the way were full of singing warblers, skylarks, linnets, one pair of Ringed Plovers and five pairs of Oystercatchers. At the Pool the Common Gulls were there but no sign of the female being on eggs yet. One of the Black-headed Gulls in front of the hide has at least two eggs. We then went round to Harbour Farm picking up 4 Grey Plovers out on the tide line in near full summer plumage. AP and JT had had a couple earlier on Flat Beach. A distant Wheatear ( at last ) was seen and over on the Harbour Farm Pools the Little Ringed Plovers were present along with a solo Whimbrel and a feeding Mistle Thrush. In the wood on the way to Castle Water was a Long-tailed Tit family party. At Camber Castle I could see four Ravens up on the stonework which I assume from their behaviour to be an adult and three recently fledged young. One of the adult Ravens saw off a passing Marsh Harrier at one point. Over from the Halpin Hide on Castle Water I searched for the two male Garganeys reported yesterday. In fact today there were three, all males. Annoyingly they were fairly distant and were very mobile but when not mobile were more often than not asleep, so record shots only. Strange to get three, all males, here in the Spring. A distant Hobby was also seen.

PETT POOLS GOSLINGS

05 May 2022 This is probably the quietest time of year down at Pett Pools, gone are all winter visitors, breeding birds are only just getting into their stride, and Spring wader migration is fizzling out. However, yesterday at least the first sign of successful nesting became evident, Coot with small red headed young, a Greylag Goose pair with 6 Goslings and an Egyptian Goose pair with similar. As for waders, no roosting Redshank, only two Curlews last week, and yesterday as the tide came in 5 Bar-tailed Godwits and ten Whimbrel were leaving the Moorlog and heading east. It will soon be the turn of the ducks, Pochard and Tufted Ducks will both be breeding though the giant weird Duck pair will probably not be breeding from the look of it, just bossing the Mallard around. The Marsh Harriers are omnipresent as well as Reed Warblers and the pinging Bearded Tits. Pannel Valley Common Terns continue to fly over the Pools on their way out to sea and often rest on the fence posts of the Main Pool, giving good views. Both one of the Barwits and one of the Common Terns were sporting rings.

UP THE PANNEL

02 May 2022 A few days ago CD had a good variety of birds on the Pannel Valley Scrape so I went up the RMC from Pett Level to have a look. Along the ditch by the Canal were about eight pairs of Sedge Warblers and I managed a photo before one bird dived back into a bush. A Cuckoo was heard and a dozen Swallows passed through. I had forgotten how smart Moorhens are this time of the year. It has been reported that a Heron is nesting along the tree line, away from the usual Winchelsea Heronry and one was roosting by Carter’s Flood on a dead tree. Up at the Pannel Valley Black–headed Gulls are nesting all over the place but with only a few Med Gulls visible today, off feeding perhaps. A pair of Black-tailed Godwits was present as well as the usual Little Ringed Plovers, the females being less bright. A flock of ten Ruffs, probably including Reeves, landed and looked very nervous until they settled and started feeding. The Scrape is only visible from the Corner Hide so photos are mostly record only. Of more interest is the other Small Hide a bit further up the valley. Reeds have been cut back and it looks really good for waders at the moment. A male Garganey and two Greenshank were there a few days back and today there were two Egyptian Geese, another fine Greenshank, and a Snipe feeding out in the open. Two Marsh Harriers and a Raven were around and three Whimbrel flew over. Note, in the last photo showing the Ruff flock, one of the Ruffs had gone AWOL and was replaced by a nice summer plumage Redshank.

!! WOOD SANDPIPER !!

01 May 2022 Wow, a Spring Wood Sandpiper, but more of that later. AP, JT and I set off early for a circuit of the RHNR from Flat Beach to the Barn Pools. A few Barwits were feeding out on the Salt Marsh but as it was low tide Flatbeach was as expected very quiet. Three Greenshank did head off east calling and it was good to see up to five Little Terns either chilling out or twittering overhead. No Wheatears even though JT saw five yesterday, and I missed another one later. Round at the Crittall Hide on Ternery Pool, no sign of yesterday’s male Garganey seen by JT but the White-fronted Goose was with its Greylag mate. The Black-headed Gulls on the island in front of the hide have come to an arrangement and two nests are now occupied. To the left on another I think new island another pair have built an enormous nest. The Common Gulls are still present. Then directly down under the hide on the waters edge a wader wandered along which I assumed would be a Common Sandpiper but no it was a spectacular summer plumage Wood Sandpiper, a very accommodating bird. Obviously there are too many photos of it but when else would you get the chance. Assorted further Barwits on the Beach and on Flat Beach as well as a few Whimbrel were seen. It is worth looking in Collins, where Barwit plumages this time of year show that only the males are darkly coloured, the females have at best a light pink flush on the breasts and look to still be in almost winter plumages. Common Terns were still checking out the islands at the west end of Flatbeach. A Spoonbill was seen early near Barn Pools but had gone by the time that I got there. Also over in the Discovery Centre on the Art Wall JT has just displayed his latest painting and prints in his usual inimitable style, well worth viewing.