WALDEGRAVES WOODPECKERS

Two green woodpeckers were feeding in a field beside Waldegraves caravan park on Monday 5th. A flock of fifty goldfinches were also feeding in a weedy corner of the field, while 50 linnets and 20 chaffinches were noted in the area too.


A great northern diver was feeding offshore from Decoy Point at Waldegraves on Monday and a second great northern diver was seen further along to the east by Andy Field off the Youth Camp.
The shingle island off Waldegraves held 100 cormorant, 100 curlew, 50 sanderling and 7 little egrets. A Mediterranean gull flew past the beach.

A female blackbird was seen in Cross Lane with a white epaulette patch on its wing on Monday 5th, also a redwing, 3 goldcrests, buzzard, sparrowhawk and a kestrel.


At Maydays on Monday two stonechats and peregrine and a common seal leaping out of the water like a dolphin, were seen by Martin Cock, while another peregrine was seen on a post on Langenhoe by Andy Field from the Shop Lane seawall, also 700+ dunlin seen in the Pyefleet.

There was a good percentage of young brent geese feeding in the flock beside the Strood Hill on Sunday 4th with 19 juveniles out of the 44 geese. Other birds seen along the Strood seawall walk were 150 dunlin, 10 black-tailed godwits, 100 golden plover, 20 linnets and 16 little grebes.

Twenty mallard and a little grebe were on the Coopers Beach pond on Saturday 3rd. In the nearby fields a common buzzard, 25 linnets, 10 goldfinches, 100 skylarks and 40 lapwing were noted. A goldcrest was by the Youth Camp entrance while on the mudflats were 100 golden plover.

One of the regular male red squirrels was back on the feeder in the Firs Chase garden on Saturday 3rd, pausing briefly in mid afternoon for a quick drink and feed.
A red admiral fluttered through the garden that sunny Saturday.