KITE FLY-PAST

A red kite provided a close fly-past as it headed down the Strood channel alongside the seawall on Thursday 13th. The bird appeared to have just crossed over the Strood causeway and was flying down-channel. After passing by me it then headed across the channel over to Ray Island where it kept on going.

The red kite was a well marked bird with a nice orangey brown forked tail. This is the ninth red kite to have been seen this spring and summer flying over the Strood fields / channel area.

The two wheatears were still in the same locations beside the Strood seawall on Thursday as they had been a couple of days previously. One in a weedy corner of a field near the Strood Hill, and then this individual perched on a post in the mud nearer the SW end of the seawall.

Along the channel at low tide were a greenshank, 70+ black-tailed godwits, dunlin and 20 golden plover.

Three willow warblers were feeding in the birch trees of the Feldy View field on Thursday morning.
Three willow warblers were also seen in the tit flock in the Firs Chase garden on Thursday, also a sparrowhawk seen passing over.

A couple of common blue butterflies were feeding on the lavender clumps in Feldy View on Thursday.

At Maydays farm on Thursday evening, Martin Cock reported three green sandpipers, common sandpiper, 140 golden plover and ten yellow wagtails.

On Wednesday 12th the brood of six tufted ducklings was resting in the Cudmore Grove dyke. A pochard and three little egrets were on the park pond and a buzzard flew over the grazing fields. Near the Golfhouse were four yellow wagtails and a southern migrant hawker by the dyke. A common blue and brown argus were flying beside the park dyke.

On the nearby mudflats were a Mediterranean gull, six black-tailed godwits while in the Colne were 20 common terns and two common seals.
A swift and fifty house martins were flying around the bus turning circle area.

There has been reduced red squirrel activity at the nut feeder in the Firs Chase garden during the recent heatwave. This one was seen feeding on a monkey nut on Thursday early evening - once some of the day's heat had eased off. Most of the daily visits have been early morning.