The tide was unexpectedly high when I arrived at 9am. Looking over the East Flood a single Water Pipit was on an island and a Yellow Wagtail was preening nearby. One of four Little Egrets was close to the road and flew across the flood giving its gutteral croaking call. Several Sand Martins appeared over the reedbed but didn't linger.
I'd just started scanning through the wildfowl on the West Flood when a brightly coloured duck caught my attention. It was a drake Chiloe Wigeon (unringed) and unfortunately therefore an escape. It did add a bright splash of colour to the scene nonetheless. I haven't seen a Chiloe Wigeon in the wild state in Kent since a drake at Bough Beech Reservoir in the mid-1980s.
On the West Flood at 11am the drake Garganey was on an island with Teal, asleep, but with its white facial crescent showing. There were eight Avocets, four Black-Tailed Godwits, two Ruff, three Little Egrets and a Marsh Harrier hunted over the reeds at the back before dropping down out of sight.
A chorus of Marsh Frogs were clearly audible along the footpath by the West Flood. I hadn't heard any on my last visit to Oare on Easter Monday.
On the wooden poles on the shoreline by the jetty were two Common Terns being harrassed by a Black-Headed Gull. One of these terns later settled on a tussock on the East Flood at midday.
At nearby Ham Road Gravel pits three Marsh Harriers were viewable in the distance and at least two Little Egrets were commuting between drainage ditches, again distantly. at 2:10pm the piping of a Whimbrel made me look up and see a V-formation of five Whimbrels wheeling around before heading south. These were my first of the year.
As usual, Oare always has something worth seeing and today was no exception.
I'd just started scanning through the wildfowl on the West Flood when a brightly coloured duck caught my attention. It was a drake Chiloe Wigeon (unringed) and unfortunately therefore an escape. It did add a bright splash of colour to the scene nonetheless. I haven't seen a Chiloe Wigeon in the wild state in Kent since a drake at Bough Beech Reservoir in the mid-1980s.
On the West Flood at 11am the drake Garganey was on an island with Teal, asleep, but with its white facial crescent showing. There were eight Avocets, four Black-Tailed Godwits, two Ruff, three Little Egrets and a Marsh Harrier hunted over the reeds at the back before dropping down out of sight.
A chorus of Marsh Frogs were clearly audible along the footpath by the West Flood. I hadn't heard any on my last visit to Oare on Easter Monday.
On the wooden poles on the shoreline by the jetty were two Common Terns being harrassed by a Black-Headed Gull. One of these terns later settled on a tussock on the East Flood at midday.
At nearby Ham Road Gravel pits three Marsh Harriers were viewable in the distance and at least two Little Egrets were commuting between drainage ditches, again distantly. at 2:10pm the piping of a Whimbrel made me look up and see a V-formation of five Whimbrels wheeling around before heading south. These were my first of the year.
As usual, Oare always has something worth seeing and today was no exception.
