Kestrel, Sparrow Hawk, Common Buzzard and Marsh Harrier are seen on pretty much a daily basis here on the reserve and elsewhere on the Peninsular, for example over the Willows Estate, Chattenden on a sunny last Sunday four Common Buzzards were soaring and mewing on high.
On Monday driving up the Ratcliffe Highway a Peregrine Falcon flew off a field to my right, no doubt having caught and eaten or missed one of the Red-legged Partridge or Wood Pigeon that perpetually forage the corn-stubble. The same Highway is an excellent place to see kestrel either hovering over verdant verges or conserving their energy utilising ultra high road side lamps as lookout posts (with far less effort).
This week also over a housing estate in nearby Hoo village I saw a Hobby Hawk scything its way through a colony of erstwhile feeding, then rapidly vanishing House Martins.
My best view this week however, was a youg male Sparrowhawk who flew out of the hedgerow in front of me as I drove down the track to Bromhey Farm car-park, trapped by the tunnel vegetation it was hemmed in and could only escape the pursuing red four wheeled monster by shooting up into an Alder. I watched it perch to regain composure.
It then set off sending all the local Collared Doves into a flying frenzy, interspersed with a couple of Pied Wagtails and several Goldfinches. slowly circling on outstretched wings it looked for its' next meal. Choosing one the finches, maybe sensing it was older or slower than the other it dived after it and missed by several inches. Turning on a sixpence it pursued the small bird giving me a ringside seat at this avian dogfight. At every turn the quarry outmanoevered the juvenile hawk. Twisting and turning they painted a picture in the sky until eventually the pursuit ended, the small bird victorious to live another day flying around and delighting us in the RSPB office as the Golfinches have all summer.
Let us not forget the North Kent Marshes iconic Marsh Harrier, which you would very likely see most days out on the marsh looking out from Sweeney Viewpoint.
The North Kent Marshes are a very special area and worth preserving at all cost.