Aiki and I visit Sevenoaks Nature Reserve and Fackenden Down.

Hi all

Lucky enough to be off work today and even more lucky was that so did Aiki, so we arranged a meet first going to her local nature reserve in Sevenoaks and then on to Fackenden Down reserve on the North Downs. The forecast had given a bright fine day but they forgot to mention the bitterly cold north wind which I was not really dressed for (more the fool me) anyway we both had a day off and were going to make the most of it especially as rain is due this weekend.

I picked Aiki up and we first went to Sevenoaks and despite the cold wind we saw quite a few things some were first time sightings on the reserve for Aiki, and for me as well come to think of it.

We went to the first hide and could see Lapwing, Greylag and Canada Geese Mallard, Coots, but eagle eyed Aiki spotted a Little Ringed Plover and then just to prove spotting that was not just luck she went on to spot the maker of the strange call we heard, a Whimbrel.

Greylag parades past the hide, the Little Ringed Plover was to far away and too small for me to get a recognisable photo but I did manage a poor record shot of the Whimbrel.

As we moved on we heard something from the trees above and Aiki recognised it as a Goldcrest but it was so hard to spot in the poor light and when I did see it and raised the camera it was off, heres the best I managed.

We then went to another hide to see what was on the lake, there we saw Swans, Mallard, Jay, Great Crested Grebes, Canada and Greylag Geese, Heron Coots and another first for Sevenoaks for us was a Manderin drake which seemed to have mistaken itself for a Greylag Goose. Aiki said it reminded her of a couple out with their little toy dog which amused me as it was an accurate description.

A video below of the strange little 3 some.

I then saw one of the Grebes with what I thought was weed but Aiki saw it was a fish when she used here bins and looking at this shot on max zoom and heavily cropped it looks like a Tench, so no wonder it had hard work swallowing it as their slime is really thick and sticky.

We moved on a bit more and again my walking guide book heard the call of a Garden Warbler, again it was very flighty like the Goldcrest but I again managed some photos.

We wandered further on and this time Aiki pointed out the call of a Willow Warbler which we found high up in the tree tops, this was another first for me but I managed a distant shot on nearly max zoom.

On the way back to the car we came across this butterfly and a wren having a dust bath in the middle of the path,

From Sevenoaks we went on to Fackenden Downs in the hope of seeing Butterflies and Adders but it was a little cool so were were uncertain but on arrival we came across a couple of Grizzled Skippers (one below) but other than a Brimstone we didnt find anymore Butterflies.

Aiki took me to some sheets that had been laid out for reptiles to hide under and warm up ready to get on the move, we came across one with a Slowworm under it, well actually there was 2 but Aiki spotted one and I the other. It was only after I spotted Aiki's one and said look there a young one we then realised I had been looking at the adult one and Aiki the little-un.

Just before we left the reserve we came across a gentleman who was researching the reptiles especially the Adders on the downs and he explaind all about the equipment he had including devices to measure the temperature of the air, on top of the sheets under the sheets and the Adders body temperature. It was amzing to hear the differences in the tempertures, Aiki guessed at the air temperature as being around 15 degrees and it turned out to be 16.5, the Adders body temp was over 30 degrees and the top of the tin was 40+ degrees.

Regards Shane

 

My Photos in Flickr.

  • Wow, looks like you had a great day with some brilliant sightings, especially the Whimbrel , Wood Warbler and Grizzled Skipper which I've yet to see.

    Shane I'm with  you on the bitterly cold wind, I went out dressed for the lovely Spring weather we've been enjoying, big mistake! Your video is quite amazing, I've never seen the courtship display of a Mandarin - that head curling is reminiscent of the Goldeneye - i wonder if they're related? I guess this one must be a bit short-sighted and understandably confused - after all there's not a lot of difference between a Greylag and a Mandarin!