A weekend in North Kent

Last weekend I decided to make a second visit to the Stoke area on Grain to look for the Glossy Ibis that had been present over the past week or so. I walked out to the area adjacent to the railway crossing and started scanning across the marshes for the bird. Eventually I picked it up in the bins very distantly and it appeared to drop near to the Mosco Pool. I walked off towards the area also seeing plenty of Little Egrets, 3 or 4 Marsh Harrier and a stunning male Hen Harrier that was drifting around, a fantastic bird that sadly was too distant to photograph. I eventually located the Ibis with 5 or so Little Egret but it flew back towards Stoke, an evidently very flighty individual compared to some. I did manage a few shots though of my 9th Glossy Ibis for the year, quite incredible really.

The Glossy Ibis feeding on a small flood

Having not been to Sheppey for a while I visited some old haunts starting with the Leas at Minster, the site of the 1983 Rock Thrush. The place looks great for migrants and I managed to find not one. The highlight was seeing a family scattering the ashes of a loved one which it would appear were tasted by the chap as their was a slight breeze. One of the ladies then stated that could have been one of their departed relatives legs!! Lovely place Minster !

Last stop was Shellness and quite surprisingly the road to the Hamlet was in pretty good shape and I spent an enjoyable few hours watching the waders as the tide dropped
One good Turnstone deserves another
Lesser Knot
Lots of Knot
Tripod Pipit, Anthus manfrotti
Redshank, this was a ringed individual
Just good friends, Oyk and Sheldy

A fine cock Pheasant
Amazing as it may seem but I'm almost up to date with the blogs, just one more to go. The blog Police will not be able to whinge anymore as we head up North to the land of the Mega!