Thirteen stalwart (and well wrapped up) members of the Group met at Leysdown on Saturday morning for our first group outing of 2018. With a biting north wind, we needed those layers. The tide was out when we arrived. We were greeted by a pied wagtail on the seawall, and several black-headed […]
Watching the weather forecasts this week I did not expect to be leading the Elmley trip on a lovely sunny morning. On the track to the main reserve we saw marsh harrier, curlew, skylark, and lapwing. On the sacrificial crop near the farm goldfinch and linnet fed, and a robin ‘ticked’ as it joined them. […]
Our first outing of 2015 was a rather foggy affair, but that did not deter 21 people who gathered at Leysdown. As it was coming up to a high tide we decided to move down to the car park at Shellness and wander towards the high tide roost. That was not before we […]
Packing waterproofs seemed essential as Saturday dawned and the heavy grey skies seemed to have a bountiful supply of rain just waiting to wash out the day. How wrong can you be? Eleven of us turned up at the Thurrock Thameside Nature Park, looking across the Thames to Kent as we donned all […]
I nearly stayed in bed this morning, but that would have been defeatist, so off I went with my binoculars and wet weather gear to find some birds. First stop was Chatham docks – shag and long-tailed duck have been found there in previous years, so there is always a chance of something other than […]
The first group outing of the New Year was to Shellness and Capel Fleet. Twenty-one of us met Jeff near Leysdown as the tide fell exposing large expanses of mud. Distant waders were identified through the misty morning light, and we soon had a list with Turnstone, Dunlin, Sanderling, Common Gull, Black-headed Gull, Knot, […]
Our second coach trip of the year took the group to Fingringhoe Wick and Abberton Reservoir, two Essex Wildlife Trust Reserves near Colchester. The weather forecast was wet and cold, but we were lucky and although there were a couple of showers we managed to be in hides on both occasions. On the journey […]
Somehow not quite so romantic a title as “Gorillas in the Mist” but you have to pick your venues, and ours this week was the Isle of Grain in the autumnal mist of Kent. Before we had even got out of the car Sally had spotted a bird on a nearby roof – it was […]