January 2008
Grove ferry and Stodmarsh
13/01/08
Female Mallard on the Tern raft from the Turf field hide at Grove ferry.
Not such a nice day today, as I parked the car in the car park at Grove ferry. Noted in the car park were Dunnock, House Sparrow, Chaffinch, Blue and Great Tits, Blackbird and Song Thrush. It was 08.30 a m as I walked along the entrance path to the ramp, seeing Mistle Thrush, Magpie and Goldfinch, before arriving at a surprisingly empty ramp. A light drizzle was encountered, so I only stayed for 10 minutes on the ramp, enough time to record Ruff, Redshank, Shell Duck, Shoveller, Teal and Mallard, along with Lapwing, Golden Plover, Greenfinch, Reed Bunting, Collard Dove, Carrion Crow and Jackdaw. As I left the ramp, a Female Peregrine falcon had a half hearted attempt at a few Lapwing, before flying off North towards the coast. Next stop was the Turf field hide, where I met Martyn Marc and Allan. Added to my days total were Tufted Duck, Gadwall, Coot, Moorhen and Kingfisher. Martyn, Allan and I left for the Marsh hide, where we were treated to views of a Ring-tailed Hen Harrier, no doubt the bird I watched last night, and there were 15+ Water Pipits with 2 Meadow Pipits seen. A solitary Little Egret was seen, and also added to my list was Wood Pigeon, Fieldfare, Kestrel, Lesser Black-backed and Herring Gull. On to Stodmarsh, where the Alder wood was devoid of bird life, except some Long-tailed Tits, and from the Tower hide we added Pochard, Cormorant, Black-headed Gull, Great Crested Grebe, Wren, Cetti’s Warbler, Robin, and there were 6 smart looking Pintails, 4 Drakes and 2 Ducks. The second Peregrine was seen as we left the hide. Nothing much was seen on the walk back, with 2 Mute Swans and 2 Greylag Geese added to the notebook, and 6+ Marsh Harriers were seen around the reserve during our walk. The last bird seen at the gate on the way out was a Sparrow-hawk taking my day’s count to 49. Not great, but a nice walk.