January 2008
Grove ferry and Stodmarsh.
26/01/08
A female Mallard from the Reed bed hide at Stodmarsh this afternoon.
A torn muscle in my shoulder restricted my movements today, but I managed a couple of hours this morning at Grove ferry, arriving late, and missing all the goodies, (Whooper , Bewick, and Merlin). Allan Ashdown, who was on the ramp when I arrived with Martyn Wilson, Marc Heath, Chris Gibbard and Rick Smith, joined me and we spent 30 minutes in the Turf field hide where there was a Tufted Duck, 2 Pochard, some Mallard, Gadwall and that was it. Back on the ramp for an hour where a Female Peregrine and a Water Rail was the pick of a pretty mundane stint. I left for home and returned in the late afternoon to Stodmarsh to watch the Harriers returning to there roost sites. The Reed bed hide was visited for 30 minutes where 7 Mallards were as good as it got, and the Lampern wall was my final spot, where there were only 7 Marsh Harriers counted, and I did not notice any Hen Harriers. A flock of Long -tailed Tits passed through the trees I was sheltering under, and a Kingfisher flew passed along the dyke. At least 130 Cormorants flew in to roost, and 2 Great Spotted Woodpeckers were seen, as was a distant Sparrow-hawk, over towards the Grove end of the reserve. Trying out a new 400mm camera lens saw me taking pictures of incoming Mute swans in the semi dark, unsure of what I was actually doing there so late