New Years day 2009 and the start of a new year list half
heartedly as ever, with interest waning by Jan 2
nd!! John and
myself decided to do a few sites in Kent allowing us to get to grips with a few key birds and hopefully have a good day out. The weather was cold, still and cloudy ideal for birding and as a result
passerines were easy to see and thus many were recorded. The day began at West
Hythe land of the herons where the 'resident' Night Heron performed well on the rocks near the dam and Chris
Gibbard played with his new toy, he's digital camera.
There'll be no stopping him now,
Surfbirds,
KOS website,
Birdguides are you ready!
Gibbo was looking a bit concerned as he had an appointment elsewhere as a matter of urgency. Anyway the Night Heron put on a good high speed display with the
occasional blink of the eye and foot movement easily frozen by the digital World and 640 ISO. A
Firecrest performed in the nearby bushes and Bullfinches showed well. Next stop
Hythe for the Purple Sands, 3 of them at the Slade Court Hotel plus 20 or so Red throats on the sea and a few adult Gannets.
Off to
Folkestone and the business park at Park Farm. The amassed crowd were enjoying the Waxwings, 22 of them whilst the offer of one of Mick's peppermints could not be turned down, a truly memorable New Years day mint that warmed me up a bit.
Having had my breath taken away and the the Waxwings
playing difficult to get photo wise we headed off to
Seaton. If you note below a Waxwing can be viewed on the digital screen on the camera
complete with I think a
Wimberly no wobbly head and mega pricey lens!
The huge crowd!
At
Seaton a
Goosander performed well on the ice plus large numbers of duck, a Grey Wag and Kingfisher. Finally in the Collards'
Stodmarsh area great views of 4
Crossbills in the small patch of pines near
Stodmarsh village, a few Marsh Harrier and a fem
Goldeneye. another good day
out and hopefully another good year in the making. A new UK record of 137 species was set in Kent today by Marcus, Andrew, James and Mike, well done lads
New Years day 2009 and the start of a new year list half heartedly as ever, with interest waning by Jan 2nd!! John and myself decided to do a few sites in Kent allowing us to get to grips with a few key birds and hopefully have a good day out. The weather was cold, still and cloudy ideal for birding and as a result passerines were easy to see and thus many were recorded. The day began at West Hythe land of the herons where the 'resident' Night Heron performed well on the rocks near the dam and Chris Gibbard played with his new toy, he's digital camera. There'll be no stopping him now, Surfbirds, KOS website, Birdguides are you ready! Gibbo was looking a bit concerned as he had an appointment elsewhere as a matter of urgency. Anyway the Night Heron put on a good high speed display with the occasional blink of the eye and foot movement easily frozen by the digital World and 640 ISO. A Firecrest performed in the nearby bushes and Bullfinches showed well. Next stop Hythe for the Purple Sands, 3 of them at the Slade Court Hotel plus 20 or so Red throats on the sea and a few adult Gannets.
Off to Folkestone and the business park at Park Farm. The amassed crowd were enjoying the Waxwings, 22 of them whilst the offer of one of Mick's peppermints could not be turned down, a truly memorable New Years day mint that warmed me up a bit.
Having had my breath taken away and the the Waxwings playing difficult to get photo wise we headed off to Seaton. If you note below a Waxwing can be viewed on the digital screen on the camera complete with I think a Wimberly no wobbly head and mega pricey lens!
The huge crowd!
At Seaton a Goosander performed well on the ice plus large numbers of duck, a Grey Wag and Kingfisher. Finally in the Collards' Stodmarsh area great views of 4 Crossbills in the small patch of pines near Stodmarsh village, a few Marsh Harrier and a fem Goldeneye. another good day out and hopefully another good year in the making. A new UK record of 137 species was set in Kent today by Marcus, Andrew, James and Mike, well done lads 
6 comments:
Sounds like you had a good day!
Will you be going for the Glauc wing gull up north??!
Josh
Cheers Josh
No, local this weekend, there'll be one in Kent one day this millenium!! have a good 2009
Barry
Glauc wing in Kent, that would be good! Happy new year.
How many species did you total on the 1st Jan?
Hi Josh
80 species in total.
Cheers
Barry
That could already be the scariest picture of 2009 (the top one I mean!).
Now now Tony!! I was considering setting up a separate gallery just for birder photos for historical purposes. I think I've found the first photo!
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