What is better than seeing a Hobby soaring on high over the marsh even on a rainy day? Seeing two Hobbys overhead, they have been known to breed in the sanctuary, so it would be nice if these were a potential breeding pair.

This was the first walk under the newly relaxed Government Guidelines we could have this year. We were fully booked at 30, however the weather during the late afternoon and into the early evening was not looking good with showers locally heavy and light.

I didn't actually count the attendees myself, but I think there was about twenty of us all together, maybe a tad more. 

Rain was threatening all the time so I decided…

Not too much to record from the past week, mainly, it has to be said due to the dire weather we are experiencing at the moment.

Last Wednesday I took Harriet Smith and her family for a Nightingale Walk at Northward Hill. It was quite overcast and not that warm and I have to admit I struggled to find a male actually singing. Fortunately the male in the Willow by the bench near the car-park did us proud and performed beautifully…

Twelve members of the Medway RSPB Group were signed up to the walk at Northward Hill today led by myself and Karen Snow.

After a brief update as to where we might find the Nightingales, Karen led her group along the main track up to, eventually Sweeney Viewpoint, we plumped to go left in the opposite direction past the office pond, hoping to hear the Reed Warbler, but no.

This was more than compensated by the two or three…

Twelve members of the Medway RSPB Group were signed up to the walk at Northward Hill today led by myself and David Saunders.

After a brief update as to where we might find the Nightingales, my group set off up the main path and almost immediately heard and saw Whitethroat.  One member of the group thought he heard a Lesser Whitethroat, but we didn’t see it.  A Nightingale was singing in the scrub further up the track…

  RSPB’s Weekly Connect 5 May 2021 Dear David

I hope you had a good May Day Bank Holiday weekend, the first of our bank holidays for quite a while where we have had slightly fewer Covid restrictions and could do a little more. I enjoyed getting out and about walking in some new areas and that all important (and well earned) drink in a nice beer garden after a long walk.

In my email this week…

A couple of yearly firsts for me ar NwH RSPB, Swifts on high, living up to their name, zooming around, manic wing flapping. My God those little guys must use up massise amounts of energy to flap-fast.

So much for flying on high, now for flying on low, St Marks' Flies have finally made a belated appearance on the reserve. They are brilliant, so close to see. Their dangly legs so distictive, and quite honestly diagnostic…

Dodging the showers today I ventured on to the reserve. This morning at home, in Chattenden I'd set the alarm for 4am to hear and record the dawn chorus on Dawn Chorus Day. Actually it didn't start until some 35 minutes later. I duly recorded it on my phone and uploaded it on to the Medway Local Group RSPB Facebook Page.

I got to the Bromhey Farm carpark at I o'clock, and as soon as I drew up, my attention was…

Also known as the Blue alder leaf beetle (Agelastica alni), whilst being quite common on the Continent up as far as Fennoscandia, it's apparently quite rare in England, so a good find on the reserve.

It was a lovely sunny if not slightly chilly walk at the RSPB reserve today, I think the weather was definately affecting the wildlife. Whitethroats were quite plentiful in the usual scrublands uo to Sweeney VP. A lot of waterfowl were out on the floods, I wondered how much of the water would hang around as the weather (hopefully) improves, temperatures rise and natural evaporation kicks in.

For now there was still pairing…

On my way to the reserve this evening as I drove along Dux Court Road I could see a Buzzard being mobbed, now that is nothing unusual. I have seen them being mobbed by many species, corvids mainly and even seagulls. This was unusual as this time the mobber was a Peregrine Falcon. They were in my view for about a minute, the Buzzard dropped to the ground and the Peregrine flew to a nearby pylon. It reminded me that a couple…

Walking across car-park at Northward Hill yesterday I was looking on the ground in front of me. I find over the last couple of years I'm more and more fascinated by, as Sir David coined, 'Life in the Undergrowth', I spied a tiny insect hurrying across the dusty pebble strewn area. I bent down to take a closer look and noticed its' vivid red and black colouration immediately. My initial thought was some sort of ant, but…

Every evening for the last week or so I have visited the Hill to listen for the iconic songster to sing his beautiful song and this evening I was rewarded with just that. Sitting on the bench at the hill veiwpoint at 7 o'clock I was just about to leave when a male sang right behind me. No matter how many times I hear it, it's always magical, no more so than when it's the first of the season.

To put this into…

No Cuckoos just yet, but a Nightingale was caught by the Bird-ringers on the reserve on Sunday (ie yesterday) so a good sign they are beginning to arrive, pretty much on time. There are good numbers of other singers around, Wrens (displaying in an Oak Tree),  Goldfinch, Tits Blue and Great. Lapwing are pee-witting out on the marsh, chasing potential partners, or foes. Buzzards are overhead soaring on the spring strengthening…

This lovely beetle was foraging across Sweeny Viewpoint this afternoon. I looked it up in Brooks, an excellent and all round (thoroughly recommended) guide to the insects of the U.K. and came to the conclusion it was a Black Clock Beetle. I always check with Beetles UK Fb page (or any other Natural History Fb pages) as there are some very knowledgeable people out there) before sticking my neck out on a official RSPB blog…

These lovely little insects are on the wing again, they are amazing with that incredibly long tongue used for feeding. This one is the very common Dark-edged Bee-fly, so named for obvious reasons.

Their larvae are parasitoids of the larvae of mining bees which usually nest in colonies in soil such as woodlands or even your flower beds and lawns. Female bee-flies hover a few inches above mining bee nesting areas and flick…

This is the bee species that's parasitised by the Painted Nomad Bee as mentioned in the previous blog. I took this picture last summer opposite the office. The Yellow-legged Mining Bee, Andrena flavipes.

This beauty was on the pathway bimbling around in the short grass. I managed to get some good shots of it and with the help of the Bees, wasps and ants Facebook page confirmed it as Nomada fucata or the Painted Nomad Bee ( Nationally Scarce) but has expanded its' range since !980 and is now well represented in the South and South East. It parasitises the Yellow-legged Bee, Andrena flavipes. This nomad bee doesn't normally…

I've been waiting for a couple of weeks now for the Daffodils at the entrance to RSPB Northward Hill to open and they did seem to be a little behind others locally, but finally they have, enjoy.

On the barn wall at RSPB Northward Hill and it was big! Eratigena atrica.

 

Today's walk was at Cliffe Pools. It was warm out of the breeze and in the sun but at times quite chilly especially at the sea wall. Only added one new bird to the list today, a Ruff, taking the total to 102. Other good birds today were Goldeneye, Pintail, Egyptian Geese, Mediterranean Gull. Also the regulars were around; Tufted, Wigeon, Pochard, Gadwall, Shovelor, Shelduck, Teal, Mallard, Mute Swan, Little Egret, Coot…