Fly-over Crossbills

Flying south and in clear blue skies 21 Crossbills flew directly over the garden this morning. These are my first garden Crossbills record. If only they'd stop for a rest in the garden Larch.. and preferably when I've the camera too!

Raptors - mid summer round-up

From the 1st to the 11th of July a Red Kite was seen by many on private farmland adjacent to Church Lane. Unfortunately I didn't see it, even though observers said it often wandered over countryside south of Hornash Lane (viewable from our back garden). The bird frequented the pheasant pen areas within private woodland, surely making itself unwelcome (to some) and of concern to others. Sad to say, but hopefully it's moved on, and to a more hospitable area.

Elsewhere around the village, our pair of Buzzards are very vocal and feeding often close to the suspected nesting site. Watching the birds yesterday, both adult birds could be seen dive- bombing alongside hedgerows and calling wildly as they did so. It appeared to me that the birds were trying to flush potential prey from cover. Occasionally they both soared and called together, low over woodland canopy, where I believe the nest site maybe. Despite many quick visits to the site area, with stays no longer than an hour, I've yet to see prey taken to the nest site. Non breeding Buzzards in various stages of moult can be seen at anytime soaring over the Shadoxhurst/Woodchurch area.

Hobbies are now seen daily dashing across the village in chase of House Martins or leisurely cruising for Hawker dragonflies.

Sparrowhawks now have young on the wing, I witnessed a young bird over the garden following an adult and begging for food. Interestingly, on the 11th of July I saw 2 adult Sparrowhawks still displaying together.

Perhaps now the rarer of our common birds of prey, the Kestrel, has successfully nested on farmland behind Church lane, reared 3/4 young. Thanks to Richard on Moat Farm, Shadoxhurst, for info on Kite and Kestrels. Richard has also reported that Spotted flycatchers have also successsfully reared young from a traditional nesting site on the farm.

Tawney Owls are ever present in our local woodlands that I have visited this summer. With so much noise and commotion from juvenile birds, I believe Tawney Owls, must have had a good breeding season.

Barn Owls are frequently seen between Shadoxhurst and Woodchurch, but breeding nest sites are unknown to me.

Evening searches for Long Eared Owls were fruitless and just one site in the village proved to have Little Owls breeding successfully so far.

The Peregrine seen earlier in the summer seeing off Buzzards high over the village, is to me the most intriguing sighting of the summer, if only I could find more time and luck to find out more!

Juvenile Redshank

Down at Rye Harbour nature reserve, the breeding season is closing in. Most of the Sandwich Terns have flown out to into the bay with young in tow, and the reseve now has many young Waders, Gulls and Terns to see. On this quick visit, this young Redshank was catching Lug-worms for fun, and was not to be distracted by my camera.

Purple Hairstreak and Dog Rose

Sat out-of-sight, usually sun-bathing at the top of Oak trees in their millions, Purple hairstreaks are easy to over look. In the evenings and and late afternoons they tend to flicker around a bit trying to stay in the sun. This one was in the early morning sun, basking at the top of the Dog Rose. To see and photograph the Purple sheen on top of the wings is a rare thing, this one was to be no exception just the curious little eyes and tufts at the end of the wings.

Breeding Little Owls in Shadoxhurst Parish

Tonight, I wanted to find out if we had Little Owls nesting near by. All the indicators were good, as earlier in the year they have been very noticable, even now they never seem too far away. So, as it was the hottest, and most humid night of the year I decided on a late-night walk from the house directly through the hay fields and pasture behind the garden. I went late - 10.30, but still some light in the west) and I soon picked-up and followed the sound of Little Owls.

I hadn't walked for more than 5 minutes from the house, when, from a hedgerow not too far away, a cacophony of Little Owl mayhem filled the still and humid air. It was obvious that this was the sound of an adult, returning back to feed its brood of owlets. The owlets were making a begging call which sounded a bit like chalk being scraped along a blackboard, and this could be heard along a 50 metre length of hedgerow with some tall trees. I'm sure the original nest hole will be in an old craggy oak somewhere along this edge, but by now it was too dark to see anything. The sounds I'd heard were all the information I needed.

As I walked back to the house, the Shadoxhurst church bells were ringing for eleven 'o' clock. The summer triangle stars of Deneb, Vega and Altair, were positioned nicely overhead and with two glow-worms magically shining away in the horse pastures behind the garden, it had been a worthwhile walk.

Mediterranean Gull high over the village

Looking-up, soaring overhead, Mediterranean Gulls mixed-in with Ashford's Herring Gulls and Lesser Blackbacked Gulls can be seen just about daily. They've become a new addition as a fly-over to our garden bird list. In the space of 15 years or less this gull has gone from a rare visitor from Southern and Eastern Europe, to a local coastal breeder with non-breeding birds happy to loaf around fields and towns. Indeed my son has told me there was one in the school playground at Tenterden, scavenging around the litter bins. Mediterrnean Gulls are still admired by birders for their handsomely simple but striking plumage - all white wings, black cap and bright red bill (in summer) and even from a great height they're easy to spot.

House Martins - late June nest building

House Martin showing off its new wall, building on top of the remains of last year's nest.

Just as the village Swallows, Blackbirds, and many others birds are rearing second broods, my next door neighbour's house have a pair of House Martins attempting a little bit of summer nest- building under its eaves.

The nest site is an interesting one with history. It has been used occasionally before by House Martins and always surprises us with its late start in the breeding season. House Martins in Shadoxhurst have a small colony on one nearby road in the village (underneath the soffits of new-build houses), and this nest has always been on the periphery of the main site. In some years, Martins have started to nest-build, only to later abandon. House Martins are colonial birds even when nest building, typically collecting mud together (safety in numbers) for nest construction. It has certainly given my neighbours plenty to worry about as they would dearly love them to breed successfully again.

House Martins are quite capable of having two broods in one summer, and are seemingly in no particular rush to get back to Africa even as the long nights descend in October. I think what has been the catalyst for these birds to re-build a nest now, is the heavy rain we have received in the last few days. Perhaps the near drought we have had in Kent since early spring made it too difficult to collect the soft mud pellets for nest building. And, perhaps, by nesting later towards summer they might escape the attention of our village Sparrows who like to squat and take-on the 'house' as their own. Presently though, our Sparrows seem to have plenty of fledglings to keep themselves occupied with. So good luck to the House Martins - is this just going to be a practice run for a future nest in years ahead? Or perhaps a summer roosting site, or even better, a true summer breeding attempt?