The first garden "goodie" of 2025

Bruno and I were out on Worth RSPB Res. for the second day running, and it would seem that he is beginning to settle down. Being far less vocal when seeing other dogs or strangers. I still haven't been confident enough, with his behaviour, to let him off the lead, but it won't be too long now, I guess. The highlight, for me, of this morning's outing was seeing a Barn Owl hunting over the marsh beside the Pinnock Wall. It was 10.10 hrs, and very windy, yet the owl was obviously hungry? As we got nearer, it flew over the track and headed towards The Great Wood. I managed to grab one image before it was partially obscured by the adjacent hedgerow and my autofocus wasn't able to track the bird. 

Thinking that was it we continued on our wanderings only to spot it again flying beside The Great Wood headed towards Worth village. This sequence of events suggests, to me, that this individual was a newly arrived migrant? Surely any of the local Barn Owls would be safely tucked away in their regular roost sites at this time in the morning. There's no way, at this time of year, it is daylight hunting because it needs to feed a hungry brood. Back home around mid-day, Bruno had a bite to eat before curling up on Bev's lap for a siesta. I, as usual, was sat at my laptop when I spotted a bird pop up on the garden fence. Bloody hell! A female Black Redstart which disappeared as quickly as it had arrived. Grabbing the camera, I went out into the garden and, happily, it reappeared, perched up on next door's fence before flicking up onto their shed and then the leafless bush beyond. 

Although the images are nothing more than record shots, they'll do for me and are perfectly suitable to accompany my blogging efforts. The only other sighting, of any note, was that of a Wood Mouse at the Hedgehog bowl, last night. I did get a very poor record image, to confirm the id, but am hopeful of a repeat performance when my kit will be ready and waiting to get some better shots.

February catch-up

Bev is slowly, but surely, getting over her back problems and the company of Bruno is certainly having a positive impact upon her anxiety issues. I'd not been able to get out with the rods, since he arrived, but today Bev felt confident enough to allow me to get a morning session down on the Royal Military Canal. It was great to be back on the bank, yet the Pike hadn't read the same script and I blanked. I did have a wonderful encounter with a Barn Owl which flew straight over my swim, at first light, headed towards a roost site My previous morning walks, with Bruno, have enabled me to do a fair bit of local birding and the camera kit has provided further evidence of the massive advances in digital image capture technology. 

A ringed female Kestrel by the "Blue Bridge" over the Little Stour

Common Buzzard perched on an electric fence near my syndicate fishery.
Taken from my van window!

Mistle Thrush out on "Forgotten Fen"

I'm now sat at my laptop, listening to the Real Madrid vs Man City game and have seen the first Hedgehog of February. The last one, seen at the feeding bowl, was on 5th January prior to the cold snap and associated sequence of storms.

One of the regulars from the December/January period.
I wonder if it has had a snooze (opposed to hibernation) beneath my neighbour's shed, just the other side of the fence?

No two days .................!

With the light levels so much better, than they had been yesterday, Bruno and I returned to the same place for our walk this morning. It was reasonably clear, but the ESE wind ensured it felt bloody freezing so we were both well wrapped up prior to leaving the van. We'd gone back purely because I hoped to get some better images of the Tree Sparrows. How very silly? We took exactly the same route but, not only failed to spot any Tree Sparrows, didn't encounter a single Linnet or Goldfinch either. There were several Skylarks around the set-a-side fields with some in sub-song display mode. It was left to the bunting clan to provide the entertainment for the morning. I counted thirty-four Yellowhammers and twenty-one Corn Buntings, yet it was the Reed Buntings which were most numerous - triple figures! A couple of Ravens were amongst the mixed corvid flock and several Stock Doves were also present. 

It is a huge area of set-a-side, so there is so much more to explore, hence the Goldfinches, Linnets and Tree Sparrows could easily still be present, just not where we'd walked this morning. Looks like an ongoing mission if I'm unable to get out with the rods.

Once again the EOS 90d performed its' magic and I was able to get some reasonable images to accompany this post. 

Thanet treasure

 It is rather surreal what happened on this morning's walk with Bruno. Only yesterday, in an exchange of comments with Stewart Sexton (Stewchat blog), he'd said something about looking in places where others don't. It was in reply to my hope of seeing some of Stewart's excellent field sketches of the Northumberland American Pipit and the subsequent discovery that he'd not bothered to "twitch" it. Fair play and I am fully able to empathise with this mind-set. So Bruno and I headed back out onto the flatlands, on the Thanet side of The Stour, to have a wander around some set-a-side fields which are under the control of my, gamekeeper, mate George. With not another soul in sight, we were able to enjoy a superb stroll along the tracks and dykes which create the mosaic of  habitat out there. Four Grey Herons flushed from a small ditch as soon as I parked the van and so it would continue. Good numbers of Yellowhammers and Corn Buntings was a very pleasant surprise, yet Reed Buntings (circa 270) Goldfinch (circa 400) Linnet (circa 200) and Chaffinch (circa 150) provided so many distractions as we made our way around the area but, the best was still to come! We'd almost reached the boundary of George's fields when I raised my binoculars in the direction of a group of birds perched up in the distance. WTF? Tree Sparrows, twenty plus, and the first I've seen on Thanet since 2011. Always distant, I am once again indebted to technology within the EOS 90d for the image captured  of this landmark encounter.

It seems like the 2024/25 Pike season is doomed to failure due to weather patterns, Bev's health issues and, now, the arrival of Bruno. If birding has to take centre stage, then I'm happy to enjoy whatever it produces whilst I await a change in circumstances.

Grove Ferry "mud-fest"

It was around 09.30 hrs that I parked the van at the entrance to Grove Ferry NNR where Bruno and I were going for our morning walk. The reserve was deserted, although Martyn W's car was also parked up at the same gateway. I'd said, yesterday, that we'd do the circuit yet had absolutely no idea about the state of the footpaths which traverse this magnificent reserve. Utter chaos, muddy and flooded, for much of the route so we did well to get as far as the Marsh Hide. On opening the door, it was a lovely surprise to see Ben Ring already in position. We first met when I moved to Ash in August 1993 and it was really nice to sit and have a catch up whilst keeping an eye on the surrounding area.

Walking back towards Harrison's Drove, from the Marsh Hide, this
Water Rail was feeding out on the footpath

Under no circumstances were we able to complete the full circuit, given the state of the footpaths, so headed back to the van along the same route as we'd already walked. To be fair, I'm not sure that the full circuit distance is realistic for such a small dog? I'm sure I'll know better when the weather improves. There were quite a few birds to look at, along the way, although I failed to add anything to my year list. We did spend a few minutes in the David Feast Hide where I managed to grab a few shots of a female Marsh Harrier hunting over the reedbed.

I'm not sure where we'll go tomorrow, but am hopeful that I can get out with the rods on Friday?

Most peculiar

The weather, just recently, has been awful so the arrival of Bruno has taken centre stage in our daily routine. Thankfully, he seems to be settling in very quickly and has exactly the temperament that Bev had hoped for in her new companion. Unfortunately, she's not been feeling too well, of late, and it has fallen upon me to take him for his "walkies" thus far. I've got to admit that it's been a surprise how well behaved he has been whilst on our wanderings. I would reckon that the furthest we've walked has been in the region of two miles, yet he's shown no negative signs towards this level of exercise. It might be the full circuit of Stodmarsh/Grove Ferry NNR before the week ends?

The Canterbury/Thanet PAC gang got together last night and it was a very entertaining affair which, some how, just evolved from the "round robin". The main focus of conversation was centred around the ecosystems of the local fisheries, my new syndicate lake being very much the catalyst for this. I couldn't stay for the conclusion of the meeting but, was very interested to hear the other guys opinions on the use of braided mainline when in pursuit of Pike. For me it's a "no brainer" yet it was good to listen to the opinions and experiences of the other guys. I did feel that the consensus was that braid is the best option in 99% of situations.

So today, after getting home from the morning walk, I was sat in the study, cuppa in hand, when I caught sight of a Great Spotted Woodpecker on one of the seed feeders. The light was terrible, yet the EOS 90d performed superbly allowing me to grab a few images of the bird. It couldn't have been more than thirty minutes later when a bunch of Rose-ringed Parakeets dropped in and one of their number was a very spectacular looking individual. I'm not conversant with the nomenclature of this form of plumage aberration, yet don't think it's leucism? 

A striking individual which I've never set eyes upon previously. The turquoise tail feather is diagnostic of the Asian sub-species, which is by far the most numerous percentage of the Thanet population. There are examples of the African race present within the area, but they are very scarce in comparison.

"I'm home!"

Due to traffic issues, Bev & I were five minutes late for our adoption meeting at the Dogs Trust. Not to worry as Bruno was going nowhere else and less than two hours later he was inside our Dumpton bungalow. Astonishingly, there were no signs of any stress and within minutes he looked like he'd lived here all his life! He certainly doesn't want to share this space with any other dogs, and is quite vocal in expressing this whenever another dog is spotted, via the front room windows (or on the t/v)!

It's obviously going to take a few weeks before he settles into this new environment, yet his behaviour suggests that it won't be too much of a struggle? Fishing, birds and other wildlife encounters should now take centre stage for my blogging efforts, safe in the knowledge that Bev has the companion she'd so desired since the cancer saga finished.