CROYDON RSPB MEMBERS' GROUP - TRIP REPORT

Previous January visits to Shellness have exposed the limitations of many a new Christmas fleece or set of thermals, but this year the day was mild and practically windless. Out on the beach, rather than clustering in the shelter of the blockhouse in the usual way, we were able to spread out to view in relative comfort. Arriving about two hours after high water, we found that waders had left their roosts and were feeding actively, many of them still at close range. It was informative to try distinguishing bar-tailed godwits from black-tailed (concentrating on the black-tailed's longer legs) and to see so many red knots well (a total misnomer at this season). The identity of a dozen dark-brown eider ducks drifting past on the tide was given away by the striking plumage of the adult drake in their wake, but recognising the hundreds of other ducks way out in the middle of the Swale as wigeon was more difficult and was only confirmed when the large white wing patches of males became visible as smaller groups flew to and from the main flock. A walk to the end of the shelly spit revealed an unfortunate downside to the mild weather - December's flock of snow buntings had departed.

During our lunch break at the carpark, a flock of eighteen corn buntings circled over nearby bushes, although only one landed to join a solitary reed bunting. In the field beyond, a strangely immobile cock pheasant remained in the same spot as on our arrival two hours earlier. A sparrowhawk made two brief appearances, smallish flocks of brent geese passed by and distant larger flocks of grey geese, probably white-fronts, took flight. A final scan over the sea, this time looking further east, across the Thames Estuary, revealed the presence of at least a dozen divers. Although refocusing on individual birds between their frequent and lengthy dives was surprisingly difficult, even with the water so glassy-calm, most of the divers were clearly red-throated, with upturned bills; one, with more tightly-curved black and white neck and head and a white patch above the waterline, was identified as black-throated, however. Meanwhile, a large mixed flock of golden plovers and lapwings some way inland appeared to be restless, taking to the air repeatedly; we decided to move closer to investigate.

A couple of miles to the west, parked near the Capel Fleet on the Harty Ferry road, we seemed to have raptors all around us. Several kestrels and a peregrine were seen immediately, to be followed by a succession of marsh harriers (in various plumage patterns) and 'ring-tail' (ie either female or immature) hen harriers, with as many as ten harriers in view at any one moment. A pair of short-eared owls cavorted together over the Fleet, then two barn owls appeared from a bale stack and began hunting along nearby field boundaries. Rounding off a satisfying opening day to the year's birding, we drove a couple of hundred metres further on to find that a female merlin was feeding on a kill, only a few dozen yards from the roadside.