15th to 18nd April
15th.

The day started bright and sunny so I went to Sandwich Bay in the hope of finding something interesting to photograph, I did my usual slow drive along Golf Road, I can nearly always find Grey partridge doing this but often they are too far from the road to photograph as was the case today. I have become quite adept at keeping an eye out for other vehicles (in front and behind) and pulling over to allow them to pass so I can continue my slow crawl along. I could walk it but the birds seem far less concerned by a car than a person walking and this has given me some great opportunities for shots at quite close range.

I did park up and walk around the large gorse patch roughly halfway along, a Whitethroat was singing but the sun was behind it so I couldn't get a shot. The Linnet (below) however was lit perfectly but I couldn't get any closer because of the density of the gorse bushes. I just love the coconut smell of the flowering gorse - and it looks great in photos!

The Scrape was devoid of pretty much anything but Coots and a few distant ducks so I spent half an hour wandering around the Elms chasing what seemed like ghosts - the Blackcaps were there in reasonable numbers but melted away whenever I got close. Perseverance paid off in the end and I did get a few shots of both the male and female. I'm fairly sure that if I had time, standing quietly in a good spot and waiting until they came to me would pay off but it is difficult to do that when you can hear them singing  somewhere else.

In the afternoon I was visiting my mother but took a circuitous route via Ickham and Littlebourne to see if the Grey wagtails were around. I didn't see them anywhere but a Red kite drifted overhead, I couldn't resist firing a few shots but it was obviously too far away for anything other than a record shot.

16th. A day out at Lullingstone Roman villa near Eynsford, somewhere I'd promised to take my wife for ages, ideally it should be combined with a visit to The World Garden at the Castle, but that wasn't yet open this season. We'd barely got out of Eastry when I spotted a Crow mobbing a Red kite, normally there is nowhere to stop when I see something like this but I was on a little country lane and luckily there was an area I could pull the car off the road. I leapt out of the car with my camera zoomed in on the birds as the red 'low battery' flashed its last and the camera turned itself off. Life! I grabbed another battery but the birds were now a way off, I was thinking I may have to pursue them in the car when they headed back my way. I got a few shots, a couple on my Flickr site and this one.

I'd assumed the Crow was just mobbing the Kite but when I saw the photos on the computer I could see the Kite had something held in it's claws, it is difficult to make out what but it could have been a Crow chick?

Five miles further on near Adisham, I passed a Mistle thrush on an area of grass, we drove within 5 feet of it and it didn't pay any attention. They are normally very wary so this was an opportunity not to be missed. I opened the window and took some shots but the sun was in the wrong direction (or, more acurately, I was in the wrong direction to the sun). The piece of grass forms a triangle between three roads so I was able to drive around and get on the right side, just in time for a few frames before the thrush flew away with it's worm catch.

A brief word about the area where Lullingstone Roman villa is situated. It is in the Darent Valley within the surprisingly rural M26/M25/M20 triangle, the nearest village is Eynsford which is a pretty little place on the river with a small stone bridge for light traffic, lorries and coaches have to use the ford next to the bridge. When you consider that Eynsford is less than 3 miles as the crow flies, from Swanley or 5 from Orpington or Dartford, it is an amazing oasis of tranquility. I suspect the area would provide good birding along the river and in the nearby woodland although we didn't see much during our time there worth mentioning apart from a pair of Grey Wagtails near the castle, 

Eynford village and the river Darent.

17th and 18th. Staying local I ended up at the Bay again, more of the usual suspects with the exception of a Snipe in the 'Water rail' corner of the Scrape. The Chiffchaff was calling in the Elms (I say 'the' Chiffchaff as it appears to be the same one, it has a tuft of unruly feathers on its right side just above the wing, see photo below). The great thing about chiffs is that they tend to call from exposed branches and as the leaves aren't properly out yet you can often get a clear view.

Snipe on the Scrape

The Chiffchaff with extra feathers, in the Elms

A Wren was singing loudly from a very photogenic perch and I caught a Grey partridge that had ventured close to the road and the warm weather had brought out some Speckled wood butterflies in the Elms.

We're off to Minsmere on the 19th so hopefully a few different species to report next time.