Horrid autumn- 3/9/17

Looking west at dawn, Bloors Wharf Lane

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Wheatear on the mudflats, feeding on buglife on enteromorpha

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03/09/17
06:15-08:40

Point: Whitethroat 8, Blackcap 6, Reed Warbler 2, Wheatear 4, Redstart 2

Viz mig: Jackdaw, Jay, Yellow Wagtail, all west. 8 Swallow and 4 House Martin through.

Offshore: a clearout, Grey Plover and Turnstone numbers down. Single Spotted Redshank.

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Four Wheatear was good enough, but a brace of Redstart flitting about the eastern edge of the Hill was an absolute joy- one of the sightings I had hoped for. The odd autumn migrant is to be expected around the length of the southern Medway, but, if comparing to my first go at Horrid some 30 years ago, this was a species I now doubted I'd stumble upon. Even Holloway's 'Birds of Gillingham' hinted as hard to get-

"A few spring and autumn records particularly from the Sharpe's Green area, two or three being the average."

I certainly have no recollection of a two-bird morning before. Happy days.

Horrid autumn- 15/8/17

A Horrid factoid- Horrid Hill takes up most of the entry for D-block GB-580000-168000. D-blocks are Domesday Blocks, created for the 1986 national Domesday Reloaded project. In centuries to come, future generations will read and know that..

..so, got to keep making best use of it I s'pose (!)

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05:40-07:50

Point- Two Willow Warbler. As a shower passed, two Wheatear appeared at the jetty wall.

Viz mig- Sight of the morning was undoubtedly a flock of eleven Green Sandpiper that circled the Point before heading south. A further three individuals were also seen. 316 Swallow west, with another eleven heading purposefully south. Eight House Martin also headed west, and a single Reed Bunting west felt autumnal. The Common Tern tally for the visit came to 113.

Offshore- Not quite sight of the morning but rarest for the Medway was a group of four loafing Eider, that drifted out from Bartlett Creek into Half Acre.

When the tide is in, the half-hour after dawn can be good for Starlings. C.2,100 at 06:20 went west-northwest at 06:20 then a second group of 160 went north towards Burntwick at 06:47. These groups are invariably low, some two- three metres over the water, and part of the large congregation that feed on the saltings and islands from mid-summer onwards.

A picture post, from April 2013

Low down Rookery, Raspberry Hill

Mallard and young, Motney

Hawthorn- in berry and in bloom, Funton

Wheatear, Chetney

Little Grebe, Motney

An old orchard, Upchurch

The Callum Tree

Duelling Shelduck, Rainham

The Old Brickworks, Lower Halstow

Black-tailed Godwits, Rainham Docks East

Rainham Creek

Brent Geese, Twinney