GROUP LEADER’S NOTES

I hope you have all had a good summer. There was certainly plenty of warm weather to go round, although the lack of rain was an issue for the gardeners. We have always been a nation of weather watchers and this year has certainly given us cause for debate! “What a cold spring”, “Whew it’s too hot today”, “Is it ever going to stop raining!!!?” I guess that our unpredictable weather is set to get even more unpredictable due to global warming. Having said that, the wonderful warm weather this summer was a salvation to my garden wildlife and I had an excellent time observing the nature in it.

Along with the birds that regularly visit the free Tilley al fresco dining establishment (‘eat in or takeaway’), I had lots of the hovering, buzzing, darting kinds of visitors. I had 11 species of butterflies including my first recorded clouded yellow.

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BirdsEye Newsletter of The RSPB Medway Local Group Winter 2013

Events for Next Four Months

Indoor Presentations 17 December - Flights of Fancy - Brian Nobbs 21 January - Easy Way to Identify Gulls - David Darrell-Lambert 18 February - Medway YOC 41 years on - North Kent birds, RSPB and Saving Nature - Mike Clarke 18 March - Hope for Malta’s Birds - Robin Potts

**** Outdoor Visits (Walks)

Saturday 23 November - Seaton Gravel Pits - 9.30 am Wednesday 27 November - Loose Valley & Robin’s Nest - 9.30 am Sunday 1 December - Conyer Creek - 8.30 am Thursday 12 December - Riverside Country Park - 10 am

Sunday 5 January - Dungeness RSPB Reserve - 10 am Sunday 19 January - New Hythe Lakes - 9 am Wednesday 22 January - Riverside Country Park - 10 am Sunday 2 February - Elmley Reserve - 9 am Sunday 16 February - Conyer Creek - 9 am Wednesday 19 February - Bedgebury Pinetum - 12 Noon Sunday 9 March - Rye Meads/Lee Valley - CT

Sunday 16 March - Seaton Pits - 9 am

See Programme for More Information

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Public Events

Saturday 15 to Sunday 23 February - NKMR Event - Riverside Country Park

Clouded yellow

A buddleia is worth planting in a sunny position in any garden to attract all manner of insects and butterflies. The thing that gave me most pleasure though was a buff-tailed bumble bees nest that was established at the edge of our pond. To witness the creation and development of this colony of bees was fascinating and I spent many an afternoon watching them go about their industrious lives. As winter approaches it will be nice to read about all the great walks we have had this spring and summer and relive warmer, lighter days. Marie Tilley RESERVES BRIEFING

I recently attended a briefing at Northwood Hill, given by Alan Johnson, Reserves Manager for Rainham Marshes, North Kent Marshes Reserves and Dungeness. The purpose of these briefings, which are held about three times a year, is to give the ‘heads up’ to group leaders about what is going on at the reserves. Alan highlighted the plight of the lapwing population having fallen to an unsustainable level. If measures were not taken then the population would be in dire straits. It was thought the failure in the successful raising of chicks was due to the predation of the eggs and chicks by mammals, foxes etc, so it was decided to erect predatory fencing to see if this would halt the decline. The good news is that it is working; the numbers of chicks now being raised successfully has increased to a sustainable level. Although the fencing is not aesthetically appealing it none the less had a significant effect. Rainham Marshes This reserve continues to improve and is developing nicely with accessibility for families. They have a good team there and the reserve is maturing into a very good site for wildlife. North Kent Marshes Reserves

There has been criticism made about the lack of development at Cliffe. Unfortunately this has been due mainly to the lack of funding brought about by the cessation of the dredging that was occurring in the estuary. The company was to pay to have the spoil disposed of and the reserve was going to use the material to build up the scrapes etc so it would have been a win win situation for the RSPB, but this did not happen.

There is good news on the horizon though as Alan is in contact with another company that may be taking up the dredging rights, so fingers crossed that this is successful. Due to the recession there has been less money available. Other developments are in the management of Higham Marshes, almost a continuation of Cliffe! Alan is also in discussions with the neighbouring farmers and it is hoped in future that a wildlife corridor will be developed extending along to Northwood Hill. At Northwood Hill ‘Gordon’s Hide’ has been erected at the bottom of the hill at the view point. At the moment it is quite a few metres away from the pool but the intention is to extend the pool so that it will reach the edge of the hide. The hide has been constructed by a local carpenter and I must say he has done a really good job. The view point now looks fantastic with the new benches and the hide (See photo).

I’m pleased to say that I think our reserves are being well looked after so thanks to Alan and all the reserve staff. Marie Tilley NEWS FROM NORTH KENT MARSHES RESERVES - East (Seasalter Levels, Great Bells Farm, Elmley, The River Medway), and West (Cliffe Pools, Northward Hill and Shorne Marshes).

It has been a big year for the RSPB, starting with the publication of the ‘State of Nature’ Report in May. Initiated by the RSPB, 25 partner organisations produced a sobering report on UK biodiversity declines.

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From left: Alan Johnson, Michael Walters, Marie Tilley, Jean Howland, Peter Curd.

The RSPB took this opportunity to roll out its new brand. For those members who were unable to attend the regional ‘Aren’t Volunteers Brilliant’ event at RSPB Dungeness (July 20th), Paul Outhwaite - regional Public Affairs Manager, led a workshop that embraced why the RSPB is growing in the direction that it is. The following day Paul was knocked off his bicycle, but I am pleased to report that he is continuing to recover well from serious injuries. The RSPB TV advert will return to your screens this autumn and initial indications show that the promotional campaign is having the desired effect, including an increase in membership support. In parallel with the new brand, RSPB staff are focused on delivering the new strategy as championed by Mike Clarke - ‘Saving Nature’. This follows a full review of our priorities and means of delivery and introduces a new business culture. Between the new brand and ‘Saving Nature’ the RSPB is best placed to tackle the challenges so starkly presented in May’s report. Stepping down a rung from the big picture, the team on the North Kent Marshes, wardens, residential volunteers and volunteer work parties have accomplished a huge amount this summer. One reward has been the best year on record for lapwing chick survival. 88 pairs of lapwings attempted to breed, and the highest number of chicks ever, fledged. This was thanks to a combination of site management and favourable weather.

O n S h o r n e Marshes a new electric predator fence has been installed that will g ive breeding waders a further line of defence aga ins t la rge ground predators. Emma Sheard, our Farm Conservation Advisor, has been out and about forging new links with landowners that could result in

the sort of management agreement now in effect on the Higham Marshes that will see improved conditions for breeding waders; our congratulations to Emma, who will be moving to Scotland to start a PhD in farming practices that enhance wader productivity.

Cliffe Pools was positively heaving with nesting sea birds this year, but they didn’t prove good neighbours! 540 black-headed gulls did well but may have been responsible for the majority of 83 nesting common terns moving on, resulting in just two fledged terns. Both species are Amber listed (BTO), so what do you do? A good example of the need for landscape scale conservation. Other Amber listed species included 57 pairs of avocets, 63 singing whitethroats and 16 singing nightingales. 25 singing nightingales at Northward Hill was a little down on the previous year (although 2012 was the best on record), but this was a trend across the country due to the late spring. Only one pair of breeding turtle doves was alarming, but we are continuing efforts to establish a ‘cover crop’ of plant species specifically for them. 84 herons and 64 egrets bred at Northward Hill. The family of our late friend, Gordon Allison, visited the reserve at the end of September to see the new bird hide that they provided in his memory. Earthworks and planting is ongoing to screen the hide and more new scrapes have been created between the reservoirs. As part of the ongoing building refurbishment at Bromhey Farm it was assessed that the old barns had to be removed for safety. This was completed in October and the owls have already moved into a new owl box in the walnut tree. Two further owl boxes have b e e n installed at each end of the cattle shed. Everywhere has enjoyed an excellent year for invertebrates. The Maid of Kent beetle was discovered at Cliffe Pools for the first time, a shrill carder bee was found at Northward Hill and butterflies were everywhere late into the autumn. Roger Kiddie, our long-standing volunteer with all things invertebrate, has also run, this year, a monthly public bird ringing event with his colleagues. This is proving popular and we will post the dates for 2014 as soon as we have them.

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Black-headed gull

Andy Hay (rspb-images.com)

Barn owl

John Markham (rspb-images.com)

We currently have two residential volunteers, Ben Coogan and Dr Ruth Brown who are with us until the New Year. We said goodbye and hello again to Amy Winchester, who, after a year on the marshes was successful at interview and is now the warden at Blean Woods - Canterbury. Next year we will transition to a new internship scheme partnered with RSPB Dungeness. The RSPB took the novel step of opening up some of its reserves to a summer camping extravaganza and Northward Hill could not resist hosting a ‘Big Wild Sleepout’. This was a fantastic event, with a delightful mix of people pitching up, toasting marshmallows around the camp fire, walking through the woods in the pitch black and stargazing with Mid Kent Astronomical Society. Be sure to book early for next summer’s Sleepout, pitches are limited. We are again indebted to Medway Local Group for providing the bulk of the volunteers that delivered the Wildlife and Countryside Fair. The weather was a little tricky, but 1,300 attended, enjoyed the music, good food and nature trails and for the first time in its history, we turned a profit and welcomed nine new family members to the RSPB! It is always a team effort, but I have to pick out our new Administrator, Marie Calvert, who led from the front. David James has been very busy recruiting around North Kent, often accompanied by the Greater Thames Futurescapes Officer – Stephanie Lawrence, and your good selves. We said goodbye to Elmley Marshes in the spring, although we continue to liaise closely with the Elmley Conservation Trust on a number of projects. Check out their new website: www.elmleynaturereserve.co.uk. A few outstanding earthworks have now been completed at Great Bells Farm next door and over on the Seasalter Levels (near Whitstable), the project partnership is moving into the final stage of compulsory purchase of the Plotlands in advance of this SSSI being returned to favourable condition under RSPB management. Autumn has arrived with a bump, and Gordon’s new scrape and hide were barely installed and three ruff were there to check it out… “build it and they will come.” Cliffe Pools hosted a lesser yellowlegs, an American rarity, but we are looking forward to the 300,000 regulars back to the marshes for the winter, not least to remind Boris Johnson, yet again, why it is designated a Special Protection Area under EU legislation!

Finally, Sir Howard Davies and members of the government’s Aviation Committee visited RSPB Northward Hill during a fact-finding visit to Medway; this went very well and Sir Howard expressed his surprise at the diversity of land use on the Peninsula. A select team of RSPB staff, local, regional and national, continues to work very hard against the Thames Estuary airport proposals, a third Thames crossing, and Medway Council’s plans to develop Lodge Hill in Chattenden. We expect an announcement from Natural England in November as to whether Lodge Hill will be designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest for the greater than 1% of UK nightingales that nest there each year. Thank you, from all of us, for your continued support. Rolf Williams Communications NKMRs NEWS FROM DUNGENESS Unfortunately due to staff shortages there will be no news from Dungeness this time. We are assured that this will all be sorted out ready for our spring newsletter. Chris Hawkins who has written our reports from Dungeness over many years has now left the reserve. We would like to express our thanks for her input over this time. Editors NEWS FROM BLEAN WOODS We left the last news letter with our dedicated volunteers clearing the paths and keeping all the vegetation cut back. They also completed odd jobs including erecting a barrier across an entrance to dissuade people from fly tipping, and upgrading all our signage. We do not generally do a lot of habitat management work between April and September, most of our time is taken up by species surveying. Most notably, the breeding birds and heath fritillaries but also other species such as the dormouse. It was a fairly tough year, with most species at or below average. Nightingale numbers were down this year with only 20 pairs recorded compared to last year’s 27. Nightjar, again were slightly below average, with three displaying males recorded and two pairs of lesser-spotted woodpeckers. Unfortunately, the willow warblers are still reflecting the (southern) national trend with just 13 pairs compared to last year’s 28.

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The heath fritillary is one of our rarest and most localised butterflies and Blean Woods is one of the top spots in the UK to see it.

Heath fritillaries are very dependent on the sun and so on a sunny day, the males especially, will spend most of their time flying low to the ground and flitting amongst the plants. The heath fritillaries breeding behaviour and life cycle provides a very strong focus when it comes to planning the management of Blean Woods. Rides are widened and managed on a yearly rotational basis and areas are coppiced in order to keep its food source – common cow wheat - in abundance and ultimately ensure the survival of this beautiful and rare butterfly. The heath fritillary was very late in appearing this year, the first being seen in the second week of June......up to three weeks later than normal! It wasn’t one of our better years with some of the main colonies declining rather than growing. However this is most probably due to the cold spring, as in general numbers are still good, especially compared to early 2000. The ride widening and coppicing work started at the beginning of October and will continue on through the Christmas and New Year period until we stop again in April next year ready to start our surveys. This is a good opportunity to introduce Blean’s new warden - Amy Winchester. She started at the beginning of October and has hit the ground running as we head into our busiest time of year. Amy has moved over to Blean from Northward Hill and is looking forward to getting stuck in. Lyndsey Record, Acting Warden

INDOOR MEETINGS 16 July Travels in Columbia Barry Wright

Barry started his talk by showing us where Colombia was and the huge land area it has, abutting on Panama, Ecuador, Venezuela, Brazil and Peru. Needless to say with such an area, all types of habitats exist for both birds and wildlife. Fundacion Pro Aves (similar to the RSPB) works with local communities to protect habitats for birds and wildlife. Barry aimed to convince us that despite the bad drug reputation and FARC (the Armed Revolutionary Forces) Colombia was a superb venue for birdwatching. There are nearly 1900 registered bird species in Colombia and more are being identified on a regular basis. One I believe is the chestnut-capped piha found in the Arrierito district. Colombia has the largest global bird list. 83 of the bird species are threatened and Pro Aves is working diligently to protect the yellow-eared parrot seriously threatened at present.

Obviously Barry could only show us a fraction of the birds he has photographed on his visits to Colombia. I liked the idea of the white-headed wren being the size of a thrush – one bird I recall from the many species including macaws, parrots, humming birds, pihas and owls that were shown during the evening. With so many species, I for one would like to see his talk again to enjoy the huge variety of birds, many new to me. Carole Nixon

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Heath fritillary

Lyndsey Record

White-headed wren

August No meeting 17 September Meetings with Remarkable Birds Dominic Couzens

Those of us who ventured out to attend this indoor meeting enjoyed a most entertaining, amusing and informative evening with Dominic. His dry sense of humour meant there was a lot of laughter throughout his talk. Some of his presentation was about the complicated sex lives of several species including dunnocks and pied flycatchers. He began by talking about birds familiar to us all – just the day before his talk he had photographed a sparrowhawk in his garden which had dispatched a blackbird and eaten it all except for one leg (he wondered where the other leg was). He pointed out that a male sparrowhawk would have to catch between six and eight birds a day to feed its young – no easy feat. His next bird was an ‘exotic’ feral pigeon!! It is still not certain how these birds find their way home when removed from their territories. The longest known journey for one of these birds was from Guernsey to Brazil, a trip of over 7,000Km.

The long-tailed tit, one of our most charismatic birds, is not quite as cuddly as it seems. Feathers with which it makes its nest are taken from the corpses of birds killed by sparrowhawks which the tit watches for this purpose. When these cute little birds cuddle up at night on a branch in winter, the youngest birds are left on the outside edges and die first from hypothermia allowing Mum, Dad and older siblings to survive. Apparently, at the end of summer some 1,000,000 house martins make their long migration back to Africa but in spite of this huge number of birds no one knows where the majority end up.

Some have now been electronically tagged so the mystery may be solved - a pity in some ways Dominic thought. Another common bird Dominic mentioned was the great tit. The yellow colour on the breast of these birds is the result of eating caterpillars, thus the males with the most highly coloured breasts are the ones chosen as mates by the females as they must be the ones who would be the best providers for their families. The second half of the talk was about less well-known species. Penguins, one species of which hatches and raises its young in temperatures as low as -70◦C and another which breeds in temperatures as high as 40◦C, a temperature variation of 110◦C which is remarkable for birds of the same family. The beautiful sun bird from South Africa is gradually beginning to hover like a humming bird – this is thought to be as a result of trumpet-shaped flowers which have been introduced into its habitat. Dominic showed us pictures of the sword-billed humming bird whose bill is as long as its body so it has to use its feet for preening! Dominic talked about many other birds including road runners, ostriches, lammergeiers, golden oriels and many more. He finished with pictures of the orange-rumped parrot from Tasmania. There are only eleven of these left in the wild so in all likelihood they will soon become extinct. A sad story to end with!! All in all Dominic gave us a wonderful evening and I’m sure everyone must have learned something, or in my case a lot, about remarkable birds!! Carol Felix 15 October Transatlantic Travels Mike Mockler

Bournemouth-based Mike delighted us with his fourth visit to MLG and his whistle-stop photographic tour of Ecuador, the Galapagos Islands, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Canada and Patagonia. It seemed appropriate to begin the journey in the Galapagos (Tortoise) Islands amongst the iconic land iguanas, giant tortoises, green turtles and Sally-Lightfoot crabs as they stimulated so much thought and influence over Mr. Charles Darwin himself.

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Long-tailed tit

John Bridges (rspb-images.com)

Mike also showed us some great photos of boobies (Nazca, red-footed and blue-footed), frigate birds, tropic birds, penguins, gulls and albatrosses – many of which were endemic to the Galapagos. Next stop was mainland Ecuador itself and the cloud forests in particular, to see his wonderful images of sword-tailed hummingbirds and violet-tailed sylph hummingbirds.

Costa Rica was next, and high in the volcanic rainforests Mike showed us photo after photo of amazing birds of paradise including respondent quetzls, three-wattled bellbirds, tanagers, honey-creepers, mot-mots and scissor-tailed flycatchers. It isn’t just the birdlife that attracts wildlife watchers to Costa Rica as the howler and capuchin monkeys and sloths compete for the viewer’s attention with butterflies the size of napkins, tree-frogs the size of your thumb and lizards of just about every size and colour imaginable. After leaving Central America it was time to head to the Blue Mountains of Jamaica with its 28 endemic species, including red-billed and black-billed streamertails, black-billed and yellow-billed parrots, Jamaican woodpeckers, Jamaican toadys and the vervain hummingbirds (the second smallest bird in the world). Our last stop before the interval was eastern-Canada in the wintertime which gave Mike the perfect opportunity to share with us his magnificent photos of snowy owls. After refreshments, we headed across to Canada‘s west coast and to Vancouver Island for a spot of whale watching. On display were Mike’s photos of hump-backed whales and orcas (aka killer whale), as well as sea otters, stella’s sea-lions and Pacific white-sided dolphins.

Back on land, Vancouver Island is also home to large populations of bald eagles, brown (grizzly) and black bears. Next stop was the Rockies in fall (autumn) where Mike managed to photograph his target species of coyotes, wolves, big-horned sheep, elks and moose. Mike noted that birds were very few and far between in the Rockies but he did have a couple of photos of grey jays, Cooper’s hawks and northern flickers to share with us. Last stop was Patagonia (southern tip of Chile and Argentina) for some more mammal watching. Here we were treated to Mike’s photos of southern sea-lions, elephant seals, caveys (a hamster-like animal), maras (a hare-like animal), pikies (a tennis-ball like animal) and a hog-nosed skunk. Mike’s fanfare was the Torres del Pinne mountains in Chile where he was able to share with us his fantastic photos of pumas (aka mountain lion or cougar), Andean condors and guanaco’s. Richard Hanman

OUTDOOR MEETINGS

Sunday 7 July Nashenden Valley KWT Leader Peter Saville

Last year the Nashenden Valley walk attracted only three members, but as the weather had been pretty poor it was decided to give the venue another go. This time there were four of us, but we were joined by another during the walk. We had parked at the end of Nashenden Lane and made our way through the tiny hamlet of Nashenden, across the bridge over HS1 onto the Kent Wildlife Trust nature reserve of Nashenden Down. As we made our way along paths around the reserve we picked up some common birds - g r e e n f i n c h e s , goldfinches, chaffinches, house sparrows, linnets and wrens, and then a little brown job. Despite our best efforts we could not decide whether it was a willow warbler or a chiffchaff.

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Blue-footed boobies

Linnet

RSPB (rspb-images.com)

As we climbed higher we got views over the valley, but there were not many birds about, just black-headed gulls, a herring gull and the inevitable wood pigeons. We then made our way through the woods without adding to our list, but when we came out into the open downland once again we saw skylarks, swifts, whitethroats and jays and heard both blackcaps and chiffchaffs. We later added lesser and greater black-backed gulls and a few more "garden" birds in the shape of robins, blue tits and blackbirds. There is an area of new plantation on the reserve, which it is hoped will mature into woodland. Currently the saplings are pretty small and there is a variety of wild flowers acting as ground cover, but despite this there were few insects and no birds in this area. This was typical of the whole reserve: the cold spring had held everything back and the lack of flowers had led to a dearth of insects and hence not many birds. The recent warm weather had still to get things back to where they should have been. However, there were signs of movement and in addition to the two dozen species of birds we saw emperor dragonflies and brimstone, small tortoiseshell, marbled white, speckled wood, meadow brown, red admiral and painted lady butterflies. It was a pleasant enough walk, but we could have done with a few more birds - and bees. Warren Mann Saturday 20 July Samphire Hoe Leader Karen Snow

The day was cooler than it had been, so fleeces were the order of the day. Seven of us headed down to the seawall and took a slow walk along to the usual peregrine spot. En route, a meadow pipit was spotted on the fence and sheep were on the bank, one of which seemed to have a bell similar to those you would normally see in the Alps! A peregrine was spotted high on the cliff sitting on a ledge, and we all saw it through the telescope. One of our number was in a wheelchair and a scope was lowered to allow her to view it. It was then we discovered the two scopes were trained on different birds! It appeared to be a male and female who were sitting on different ledges looking almost identical, except that one had one leg tucked up underneath it.

As we stood looking we also had cormorants, herring gulls, fulmars, swifts, swallows, martins and black-headed gulls. I took a stroll to the cliff and had a brief glimpse of a black redstart. We tried to get another glimpse so that we could all get a view, but alas it was not to be. We headed back for a coffee and then took the tarmac path across the headland to the beach keeping our eye out for orchids, but didn’t see any. We did get views of blue and great tits, starlings and moorhens. At the beach we had a solitary rock pipit and more gulls.

The group split up for the return route, an oystercatcher was seen on the seaward side but nothing was added on the trackside path. This reserve is the newest section of the south east, made from the spoil from the Channel tunnel and is recommended especially for those who maybe can’t walk far or who need flat terrain. It’s accessed via a single file tunnel just outside Dover Western Docks. This obviously causes problems for foreign drivers however – I witnessed two cars ignoring the red light on the way in and just heading straight down the tunnel, and on the way out, I was actually in the tunnel when a French-registered car came towards me! Karen Snow Wednesday 31 July Cliffe Pools RSPB Reserve Evening Walk Leader Warren Mann There were only four of us who made the journey to Cliffe Pools on a warm, bright summer evening. There was a brief sighting of a sparrow hawk for one early arrival. I missed it as I was talking to two local children explaining why there was no fishing, swimming or canoeing in the pools and that it was not a good idea to go looking for ponies at this time of night.

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Roch pipit

We had limited time and Trevor suggested we should look for long-eared owls as it got dark. So after a brief trip up the Pinnacle to get an overview of the reserve we decided on walking up the Saxon Shore Way along the side of Radar Pool to Flamingo to see the high tide roost. Initially there were relatively few black-headed gulls, but we found the rest later. We saw green woodpeckers, avocets, many coots and great-crested grebes plus one (and later another) little grebe. There were redshanks, grey herons and good numbers of little egrets. Then things looked up as we saw greenshanks and possible spotted redshank. We slowly moved up the Saxon Shore Way using all available viewpoints and confirmed spotted redshanks and also saw shelducks, mallards, pochards, grey plovers in breeding plumage, a lone bar-tailed godwit, oystercatcher, curlew (with possible whimbrel - but after much debate we thought not), lapwings and, best of all, several curlew sandpipers going out of breeding plumage. Further up the track we saw and heard several common terns. At the top of Flamingo there were five great black-backed gulls, dunlins in breeding plumage, several whimbrels (no doubts this time), plus a good few hundred black-headed gulls, including many juveniles in a variety of plumages. We then made our way to meet local naturalist Frank Cackett, who had previously seen long-eared owls on the reserve at dusk. We reached the likely spot and were told it might be 20 or 30 minutes before there would be much action. As we waited, it was suggested that we go looking for barn owls, which had been seen elsewhere on the reserve. This was not a good move. Three of us returned 30 minutes later after a fruitless route march to the other side of the reserve and back. There were no barn owls to be seen, and we had missed sightings of a cuckoo and an adult long-eared owl. We waited as dusk became night with only the mozzies for company. There were no more sightings of long-eared owls, but at least we did hear the rather strange call of the juvenile long-eared owls a good number of times. It was a good evening despite the insect bights. Thanks are due to Frank and Trevor for giving the rest of us the chance to see long-eared owls, and our apologies for missing the opportunity.

Still, better luck next time and we all saw some decent birds. Total number of species seen - 34, plus a good number of unidentified little brown jobs. Warren Mann Sunday 4 August Bough Beech Reservoir Leader Adrian Olsen

In 1970 Bough Beech was transformed from a flooded agricultural valley into the reservoir we see today with a dam holding back over 10 million cubic metres of water. Situated deep in the Darent valley it provides an ideal stop off for passage migrants as they rest and feed up before continuing their long journey.

Many resident birds enjoy this tranquil patch of water and can easily be seen from the causeway running through the middle of it, so 12 of us descended onto the causeway on a bright morning to see our first passage migrants straight away - a common sandpiper and close by for comparison of size and behaviour a few green sandpipers. Great-crested grebes were the most numerous on the reservoir but tufted ducks and lapwings were also in good numbers.

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Common sandpiper

Richard Hanman

Green sandpiper

Richard Hanman

Common terns were a delight to see especially with young chicks to feed on the man-made islands. 25 mute swans could be seen in the far distance while nearby a pied wagtail accompanied a grey wagtail. Eight mandarin ducks nonchalantly bobbed up and down along the waves caused by the cool breeze across the reservoir. A buzzard appeared high above the woodland and then a sparrowhawk flew past with great speed as a kestrel hovered above our heads. Herons, cormorants and little egrets were loafing around the water’s edge as we walked towards the converted 19th century oast house which stands as the original Kent Wildlife Trust information centre, flushing out a green woodpecker as we went.

Swallows nest under an old barn roof as people sit and have tea. A hide looks out onto Bough Beech Brook where linnets, goldfinches, coots and moorhens were seen. On leaving the hide Steve Goodrich spotted a greater-spotted woodpecker hiding in the shadow of a small coppice. Venturing along the nature trail a commotion ensued in the sky where swallows and house martins were mobbing a sparrowhawk as it seemed to attempt to land in the field we were in. It took off into the woods carrying what seemed to be a bird. Luckily we had camera man Richard Hanman on hand snapping away at it to reveal to us all on his 'diggey' some great 'pics' of a poor moorhen with its long legs and big feet dangling from the talons of this master hunter. We totalled 43 species for the day. Adrian Olsen

Sunday 18 August Oare Marshes Leaders Sue Carter/Steve Goodrich

On a pleasant sunny morning with a warm breeze a bakers dozen met in the car park ready to “do the circuit”. We started by checking the roadside west scrape for the Temminck's stint, which had been in residence there for the past week or so. No sign of it but we did pick up green sandpipers, two little ringed plovers, redshanks, ruff, lapwings and yellow wagtails. We then went to the sea wall and walked west for 50 yards to look into the small creek which we found held greenshanks, little grebes, shovelers and teals and we were rewarded by the sight of two bearded tits flying into the reeds. From the slipway we watched two common buzzards hanging in the updraught over Harty Hill. A common tern was on one of the poles and two turnstones flew towards us from the tide line. They allowed close views as they posed on rocks and probed the seaweed for sand hoppers. A great-crested grebe was on the Swale. On the way to the sea hide an inquisitive common seal kept bobbing up to check our progress and by the time we reached the hide the tide was fully in. On the section to the sluice the highlights were a common snipe, a reed warbler, a distant peregrine and a couple of water rails and then Adrian found an emperor moth caterpillar crawling across the path. We stood for some time surveying the massed ranks of roosting black-tailed godwits, black-headed gulls and avocets before spotting Karen approaching from the opposite direction. She mentioned that she had seen the Bonaparte's gull which appears to have made Oare its new home on this side of the Pond. Oare regular, Murray Wright, was happy to put us onto the bird, which is a smaller and daintier version of our black-headed gull.

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Goldfinch

Handy Hay (rspb-images.com)

Temminck’s stint

We learned, via the wonders of modern science, that this American gull was named by Prince Charles Louis Bonaparte, who was both a zoologist and a nephew of Napoleon. This bird was a life tick for some of the group and for Wendy it was her second of the day, courtesy of the beardies! Other waders seen were golden plovers, some still resplendent in their breeding plumage, ringed plovers and dunlin. Raptors were represented by a female kestrel and a female marsh harrier, in addition to the buzzards and peregrine mentioned above. Passerines were in short supply with singles of meadow pipit, common whitethroat and pied wagtail and small numbers of house sparrows, goldfinches and linnets. Not a single reed bunting was seen. All three hirundines were fly-bys with small groups of swallows, sand martins and house martins passing through. As we split up to go our separate ways, Brian saw a stoat run across the road in front of him and Karen, Steve and I witnessed the spectacle of a young female peregrine stoop at the birds on the east flood, miss and then do a low level attack which was also unsuccessful. The sunny weather produced a wealth of butterflies which included whites, meadow browns, gatekeepers, small coppers, small skippers, peacocks, tortoiseshells, common blues and clouded yellows. Trevor pointed out some sea-lavendar which was a colourful addition to the shoreline. Thanks to all who took part for an enjoyable morning with 53 bird species recorded. Sue Carter & Steve Goodrich Thursday 29 August Botolph’s Bridge/Royal Military Canal Hythe Leader Robin Smith

This was a first visit to this venue for the Group and will certainly warrant a return visit in the future. That is not to say that it was teeming with birds around every corner but it offered a pleasant walk alongside the Military Canal with a sprinkling of good birds thrown in and plenty of interest from the Port Lympne Wildlife Park alongside the canal. The outward walk takes you through an area of scrub and mature trees with the Lympne escarpment on your right but offering only limited views of the canal on your left.

We picked up a few common s p e c i e s c u l m i n a t i n g with a male bullfinch but little else. As we reached the Wildlife Park we got m o r e animated as ou r f ocus switched to such exotica a s w a t e r b u f f a l o s , z e b r a s , o s t r i c h e s (surely a first for the Medway group bird list!), giraffes and an assortment of unidentified antelopes and deer. Unfortunately we had all failed to bring along our field guides to East African Mammals! A footpath to the right climbs up the escarpment and brought us a cocktail of butterflies including painted lady, small tortoiseshell, comma, red admiral, speckled wood and common blue. Our identification skills were tested (and found wanting) when we saw a group of four raptors circling and interacting but unfortunately they were directly into the sun. There was a consensus of unanimity that three of them were buzzards but we were all equally sure that the fourth one was not. None of us could come up with a firm ID from the silhouette and we marked it off as a possible harrier of some description. The return trip on the opposite side of the canal is much more open with views to the south across Romney Marsh and the canal (devoid of birdlife) on the left. The sun was beating down on us by this time so we walked briskly until my other (better?) half picked up the cronking of a raven overhead which we were able to pick up OK although it was quite high in the sky. This completed our full compliment of corvids, having seen carrion crows, rooks, jackdaws, magpies and jays earlier. As we neared the end of the walk we all managed to get fleeting glimpses of two kingfishers. Then right at the end as we were chatting in the car park a raptor call drew our eyes upwards to see two hobbies finish off the morning in great style. Robin Smith

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Ostrich

Other (rspb- mages.com)

Thursday 12 September Dungeness RSPB Reserve Leader Marie Tilley

Six of us assembled in the car park on a dry but somewhat dreary September morning. As usual the early arrivals were able to tell the rest of us what they had already spotted. Barry and Sue Gould had seen a linnet but this was rather trumped by Adrian Olsen's report of crows mobbing a short-eared owl. They were not about when the rest of us arrived. We made a good start from the visitor centre with swallows and house martins being seen amongst the many sand martins. We also picked up coots, lapwings, little egrets, great-crested grebes, shovelers, pochards and black-headed gulls. We left the visitor centre and saw both little grebes and moorhens in the pond and had good views of wheatears on the shingle bank behind. We also saw the first of many cormorants around the reserve. The view from the Firth Hide confirmed that the water levels were down and this had left exposed a good number of islands and, more importantly, much muddy ground in front of the hide which had attracted good numbers of waders as well as the ducks and gulls. Several bar-tailed godwits first caught our eye, together with avocets, ringed plovers, golden plovers, snipe and redshanks, plus both great and lesser black-backed gulls. We were fortunate enough to see both ruffs and reeves, which sometimes got close to each other, enabling us to see the difference in size. A greenshank gave us lovely views and then we picked out both dunlins and little stints. We gave these latter birds very close scrutiny as this is where a semi-palmated sandpiper had been reported earlier in the week. We could not find it, and its absence was confirmed by another birder. He had seen it here two days before, but had spent the best part of three hours looking for it on this occasion, but without any luck. We also saw wigeons, teals, gadwalls and tufted ducks. As well as a pied wagtail, we were lucky enough to see a small flock of yellow wagtails. The males were particularly smart. As we were leaving the hide another birder directed us to three birds, which he said were two little grebes and one black-necked grebe. By the time we left the whole hide was trying to sort them out, but opinions differed as to which was which. However, Elizabeth Mann thought she had clinched it when she saw that one of the birds had a red eye.

Along the path to the next hide we picked up mute swans, grey herons, reed warblers and Cetti's warblers. Adrian Haywood managed to get a glimpse of the latter bird, but the rest of us had to be content with just hearing it. At the Scott hide we all managed to get definitive views of the black-necked grebes. We were then joined by birders from the Firth Hide who told us that seconds after we had left they were treated to a fly-by from a black tern. On the way to the Christmas Dell Hide we saw a kestrel, and Barry Gould had a glimpse of a possible hobby, which was confirmed when we all rushed outside to get a view. At the Denge Marsh Hide we added greylags (there were loads of them) but not the hoped for great white egret. However, Adrian Haywood spotted two peregrines perched on neighbouring pylons.

The two Adrians' saw whitethroat as we made our way to the view point. There did not seem to be much around at first glance, but soon some had glimpses of marsh harriers and hobbies and Adrian Olsen found two buzzards perched way apart on the same fence. Then Elizabeth Mann found the great white egret and we all had good views as it walked along the edge of the reed bed, before being disturbed by a passing marsh harrier, whereupon it flew off into the reed bed. The egret was a life tick for both Sue and Barry Gould. We made our way back to the visitor centre for a somewhat belated lunch. Whilst watching the bird feeders, we added blue tits and chaffinches to our earlier great tits, but overall it was remarkable how few passerines were about in the scrub around the reserve. Four of us elected to go the ARC Pits and on the way we saw tree sparrows on the bird feeders in the front garden of the farm. We went to the hide and again the water levels were ideal, with the islands and scrapes attracting many waders, including good numbers of lapwings.

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Whitethroat

John Bridges

(rspb-images.com)

We had seen many of the species previously, but it was still good to see another little stint, together with ringed plovers, snipe and dunlins. We added curlews, black-tailed godwits and Canada geese to our list before we left. On our way back to the car park we heard a green woodpecker and at the car park Adrian Haywood picked up a juvenile great-spotted woodpecker clinging to a telegraph pole. He then saw a passing sparrow hawk to round off our day. Although we missed one or two, overall we saw sixty four species and had a very enjoyable and civilised day’s bird watching. Dungeness had delivered once again. Warren Mann Sunday 15 September Cley Marshes NWT Reserve Coach Trip Leader David Saunders

Our trip on the 15th of September to Cley Marsh Norfolk Wildlife Reserve was our final coach trip of the year, and well attended by 27 members.

Leaving Sittingbourne at 7 am it was a long four and half hour trip. The weather forecast hadn’t looked promising but in the event the predicted down-pour held off in general to the end of the afternoon. For me personally it was my first time there, although I had called in briefly at the award winning visitor centre a couple of summers ago. We were lucky enough at the onset to see huge numbers of godwits feeding on the pools and every now and then wheeling around the skies.

The 70 plus pink-footed geese had only just arrived and I could only wonder if they could be the same birds I’d seen in Spitz-bergen in the Arctic last month. Hen and marsh harriers were seen and a small harrier on high, which we will always debate as to whether it was Montague’s harrier. Fortunately Richard Hanman got photos of it, so maybe we might get a definitive answer eventually. We were lucky enough to bump into a Medway Local Group founding member, David Wilson, who lives locally and promised to come to come along to our Fortieth Anniversary (Ruby) celebrations next year at Northward Hill. As we walked back to the centre reminiscing, he told us that we were walking along the East Bank made famous by Richard Richardson; illustrator of the first Collins Bird Guide published in 1952.

Richard was born in London in 1922 and by the age of seven had already developed an interest in birds with his earliest surviving sketch of a puffin dated 1936.

Having left school at sixteen he worked in an office in London but spent most of his free time bird-watching or sketching in St James Park, keeping illustrated diaries of his observations. Following a spell with the Royal Norfolk Regiment, Richard eventually settled at Cley. No visit to Cley in North Norfolk was complete without meeting up with him and spending many happy hours in his company. He established the Cley Bird Observatory and served as its only warden until it closed in 1963.

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Greylag geese

Richard Hanman

However, as a self-taught artist, Richard had been perfecting his skills of bird illustrations since his teenage years and his pictures appeared in over twenty books as well as bird reports. His most successful commission was as the illustrator of the Pocket Guide to British Birds

which was published in 1952 followed two years later by The Pocket Guide to Nests and Eggs.

A two sentence history of Cley:- During the Middle Ages the marsh was sea covered at high tide allowing boats to navigate to a harbour near to the Church. In 1949 a series of banks were built to protect the village from flooding thus increasing the grazing land. So to re-cap, apart from the (possible) Montague’s harrier, the bird of the day was seen on the journey back, when a red kite suddenly flew low across the road ahead. David Saunders We are advised by Sue Carter that it has been confirmed from Richard Hanman’s photo that it was indeed a Montague’s harrier. We can also confirm that red kites aplenty can be seen above the M40 in the Chiltern Hills, over 50 at one time. Editors. Sunday 22 September Hastings Country Park East Sussex Leader Robin Smith

The name 'Country Park' conjures up images of a formal parkland habitat with perhaps an area set aside for a children's playground but Hastings Country Park is far from that. It offers a superb mixture of woods, farmland, gorse, bracken and grassland dissected by small streams that tumble down towards the English Channel. Six of us met in the spacious car park (with clean toilets nearby) on what turned out to be a calm, quiet day without even the hint of a breeze. All we could hear above us was the constant twittering of thousands of house martins and swallows that were stocking up with food before setting off in search of warmer climes. Our route took us initially to Warren Glen and we remarked that it was a pity that neither Warren nor Glen were present in our party. As it happened a third of our party were called Sue and you can imagine the squeals of delight when we came upon a bench looking out to sea with the legend 'For Sue' inscribed upon the back.

Sue Mills and Sue Carter photo taken by Robin Smith. The terrain as we moved further on through Fairlight Glen was certainly far from easy and the relief of the downhill stretches was tempered in the knowledge that 'what goes down must come back up!' For certain periods the puffing and panting of six individuals drowned out the noise of the hirundines above. We headed towards a viewpoint that was marked on the map but a horde (or should the collective noun be a 'zip') of flies forced us to beat a retreat. By this time we had decided to forsake further exploration into Ecclesbourne Glen and instead sought a more gentle route to return to the car park. Apart from the omnipresent hirundines the bushes were alive with assorted warblers with both common and lesser whitethroats, blackcaps and chiffchaffs being most plentiful. The farmland areas produced linnets and yellowhammers and in the woodland green and great-spotted woodpeckers were seen. A mixed flock of long-tailed tits and warblers included a nuthatch. Big birds were represented by buzzard, grey heron and raven. A lone wheatear sitting high up on some power cables caused some identification problems for a while and the final bird of the day was a mistle thrush spotted on a telegraph pole as we headed for the tea room. This is a site that ticks a lot of boxes. It has good and plentiful parking, toilets, an excellent visitors' centre and the Fairlight Tea Room offers yummy cakes in a quaint setting. It is, however, not for the unfit or less-able and I am sure that we all slept well that evening. Robin Smith

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Saturday 5 October Sandwich Bay/Pegwell Bay Leader Richard Hanman

I arrived at Sandwich Bay Bird Observatory (SSBO) at 8 am to meet Eugene and his pals at the ringing station. There was already a lot of activity with 50+ birds captured in the mist nets on the first tranche; including 30 chiffchaffs, 19 blackcaps, one reed warbler and one excitable song thrush. At 9 am I was joined by eight other keen birders which included six from RSPB Medway Local Group (MLG) - Sue & Steve, Warren & Elizabeth, Giuseppe and Adrian and two new guests - Nigel & Judy Davies, who had seen the walk advertised on our new website, so we did our best to extend a warm MLG welcome. The second tranche of birds from the mist nets came in just after 9 am and produced more chiffchaffs and blackcaps, but also siskins, a robin, willow warbler, goldfinch, chaffinch, a gorgeous tiny firecrest, and meadow pipits of both English and Scottish decent. See if you can tell the difference in the picture below –

McMipit is on the right holding the Iron Brew!. Photo by Richard Hanman

From the SBBO car park we added ring-necked parakeets, collared doves, wood pigeons, magpies, carrion crows, rooks, jackdaws, house martins, barn swallows, house sparrows, blackbirds, starlings, pied wagtails, lapwings and mallards. At 10 am we set off down Knightrider Road observing black-headed gull and herring gull resting in a field full of sheep.

The woods on the opposite side were surprisingly quiet – maybe all the birds were wrapped up in little bags back at the ringing station! – but we did see blue tit, great tit, blackcap and a green woodpecker, as well as red admiral, large white and comma butterflies. At the hide overlooking the scrape we picked up water rails, moorhens, teals, stock doves, little egrets and grey herons. A Jack snipe had been seen here recently but we were not lucky enough to catch sight of it today. Back on the road, and heading towards the sea, we added stonechats and kestrels to our walk list as well as numerous dragonflies and a pretty small copper butterfly. At the seafront we paused for a bit of sea-watching but the very pleasant, sunny October morning had the sea flat calm and us all stripping off an outer layer of clothing. Just as we’d given up all hope of any maritime excitement (unless you count a lesser black-backed gull) we were lucky enough to see two wheatears and a single red-throated which was fishing about 30 m off the beach. As we turned left through the gate onto the footpath crossing the Royal St. George’s Golf Course, there was healthy debate within the group as to the days ‘best bird’ and it was agreed that it was a joint tie between the captive firecrest and the wild red-throated diver. Late additions to the list of skylarks and pheasants didn’t change the outcome of the debate, but they did increase the walk total to 45 birds, four butterflies and two new faces. We arrived back at the SBBO car park at 1 pm.

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Blackcap

Richard Hanman

All in all, a very pleasant three hour ramble around a variety of habitats in a beautiful part of Kent. The patience, enthusiasm and hospitality shown by Eugene, Peter and the bird ringing group at SBBO always makes this a very enjoyable annual outing for RSPB MLG. Richard Hanman. PUBLIC EVENTS Saturday 10th August Big Wild Sleepout Northward Hill Over the weekend of the 9th, 10th & 11th of August the RSPB promoted their UK wide event – the Big Wild Sleepout. The event encouraged thousands of children and their families to get close to nature by sleeping under the stars in their garden, wild place or RSPB nature reserve. As part of this promotion the RSPB reserve at Northward Hill played host to a number of families with up to 30 pitches laid out for families to put up their tents in preparation for the adventure. The event was put together by Amy Winchester, one of the residential volunteers at Northward Hill, together with a number of RSPB staff. However the Medway group also played its part with Edward, his finance Jane Hotham and yours truly happy to support the occasion.

Saturday 16th was a warm summers evening albeit a bit cloudy. The families and their children had been arriving since early afternoon although I wasn’t required until later and arrived at the site about 7.00 pm. Edward and Jane had already arrived and were looking after the campsite to protect the tents that had been pitched at the Marshland Viewpoint and the valuable equipment therein.

The families and children had all relocated to the burning campfire which had been erected about 100 metres distant. As I approached I could hear the sound of children playing, lots of laughter and conversation as everyone was seated around the large campfire having clearly settled in. Many had cooked their own dinners and the RSPB were providing hot soup for all concerned. The children were clearly enjoying themselves and appeared totally carefree in their environment (not a mobile phone or computer in sight!!)

At about 8.00 pm everyone began to reassemble back at the Marshland Viewpoint. The events that had been planned included woodland walks, bat detecting, moth trapping and of course story telling. In addition the Mid Kent Astronomical Society was also present with a wide range of optical equipment and was hoping to find the Perseid Meteor Shower as well as spotting stars and galaxies late into the night. As everyone was assembling we could see large numbers of rooks returning to their roost in the dusk evening light. Then, as if right on cue, we were treated to the sight of a barn owl rising and falling at it was hunting for its food. Many of the children had never seen a barn owl before and it was a pleasure to see the joy and wonder on their faces as they were glued to the sight of the ghost like figure rising and falling. The group split into two parties for a woodland walk – one fairly short for the younger children and a second longer walk for older children and their parents. I was happy to perform the role of “back stop” on the longer walk which was led by Rolf Williams, communications officer for The RSPB North Kent Marshes Reserves. As the walk commenced the light was gloomy but as we entered the woodland it became very dark.

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John Terrance Turner (rspb-images.com)

Meteor shower

Rolf clearly enjoyed his role as leader and chief storyteller. At one point he got all the children to crouch down and shine their torches into the undergrowth as he told them, in his scariest voice, about all the wildlife that lived there. We heard a number of soundings on the bat detectors that we had been carrying but unfortunately, possibly due to our large number, there were no more sightings. There was one exception however as we all witnessed the International Space Centre as it flew over the reserve – something not seen by many of the adults before. As we walked back to the campsite there were clearly a number of tired children who would undoubtedly sleep soundly given their escapades. I left the site to return home about 10.30pm but as I did so I thought to myself what a wonderful sight the children would have when they woke up in the morning sunlight over the fantastic views offered at the Viewpoint. Was this a trip for the serious birdwatcher looking to boost his/her record of sightings? – probably not. However this was a great adventure for families and their children stepping out into nature and experiencing the countryside – absolutely. It is important to remember that many of the children will be tomorrow’s twitchers and as such the event was well worth supporting. Danny Gavigan Sunday 8 September NKMR Wildlife and Countryside Fair

Dear All, I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone involved with this year’s Wildlife & Countryside Fair, with particular thanks to the Medway Local Group and High Halstow Women’s Institute for providing so many volunteers for the day. All the local volunteers that we have, residential volunteers and RSPB staff contributed so much on the day and the many weeks leading up to it. We are very lucky to have this support. Sadly the visitor numbers were down this year and I would guess that the rain didn’t help us, but all in all it was successful. We have a very small team here at Northward Hill, so this event could not happen without all your help. This was the first Wildlife & Countryside Fair that I have been involved in and I definitely learnt a lot from it.

It would be useful to have feedback from those involved (good and bad) about everything from communication prior the event, layout, content and delivery on the day. Please can you extend my thanks to anyone who also took part that I may not have contact details for. Kind Regards Marie Calvert Reserves Administrator Northward Hill Nature Reserve Hi all, Firstly, I’d like to echo Marie’s thanks to you all. We couldn’t have pulled it off without your hard work and commitment. I must single out Marie for particular tribute for the monumental effort that she put in to her first W&CF. Fantastic! I would not be too despondent about the visitor numbers being low – we still engaged with over 1200 people in one day – that’s not to be sniffed at and, for the first time ever, we actually made a small profit! Usually the Fair runs at a loss to the Society of £1000 per year – we accept that because of the ‘small’ price it is to pay for disseminating our messages and for the clarion call of saving this wonderful piece of England, but we’ve never liked it. This year we made £600. Every cloud (and there were a few on the day) has a silver lining! Cheers, Julian Nash Site Manager North Kent Marshes Volunteer for a day

I was a grumpy volunteer having been given a different job to the requested ones. I whinged to the organiser who then explained the reason for the change; too many of us wanted to play at the kids craft table. I was less than gracious in accepting this and then ended up having a fabulous time. My duties were welcoming and counting the visitors as they arrived, which, on paper sounded pretty boring but in fact was good fun once I got the hang of it.

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The thought was more daunting than the doing, possibly because I am naturally a quite shy person. There were several of us at the entrance covering general information, giving out and explaining the kids exploring trail and the selling of raffle tickets. I have never been at ease with pushing anyone into buying something that they do not really want especially as the main prize was camping gear; very nice if you are a camper but not if you are eighty something and using a zimmer frame.

Several visitors did their best to avoid us, possibly they thought that there was a charge for the programme that we were waving around but it was free. The majority were happy to have a programme thrust at them with an explanation of what needed to be paid for, what was free and then to be directed to the kids trail and raffle ticket table which did quite a good trade. The weather was a bit variable, a mixture of sunshine, cloud, sometimes chilly breeze and ending in a downpour just before the official finishing time. For me it was fine as I was moving around to welcome visitors and keeping warm but I know that one colleague was colder than the cold drinks on her stall. Many visitors said that they would come back for their raffle tickets. A method that I have used many times instead of a direct ‘I don’t want to buy one thank you’, but one lady and her young son did dash back just in time. For me the highlight of the day was this lady and young lad, about 10 minutes later, winning the first prize. They are campers and the young lad just could not stop jumping up and down with excitement.

Unfortunately, as it was so busy at the entrance, I did not have the opportunity of looking round the fair though I did have time to go to the hog roast stall where the food was so much nicer than the boring sandwiches I had brought with me. I went from a grumpy volunteer to a very happy volunteer in a matter of half a day, so, if I offer any advice to other shy people, it would be to go for it and enjoy yourself. Carole Coulthard 35 YEARS OF CHRISMAS SALES STALL AT HEMPSTED VALLEY SHOPPING CENTRE

In Birdseye, Summer 2013 edition, we gave our readers an idea of the money we have made over the last 34 years at this event for the RSPB. Now with the aid of some present members we would like to give you an idea of how the sales event has developed. Initially Medway local Group started selling goods supplied by South East Regional Office (SERO) of the RSPB at regular film shows run by them in Chatham. We later sold the remainder of the goods at our indoor meetings. In 1979 Bob and Ann Scott from Northward Hill asked if we could sell 'out of date' goods at Hempstead Valley. They arranged space in the underground car park and we were there every weekend in October and November - very cold and damp. After several years, the Management of Hempstead Valley Shopping Centre (HVSC) asked the Group if we would like space in the run up to Christmas in the main mall. We then had a super area where the coffee cafe is now. We had two wagons with sales goods on them and a video player showing tapes of wildlife. There were trees in the area and we had toy birds in the trees and bird song playing. We also had 3-4 tables for sales goods. With sale or return goods from SERO we had an amazing amount to sell and goods not sold had to be returned by 1st January. The Group was sent a 'wish list' book of various projects where we would like any profits to be used. In these early days we do not believe these sales and profits were attributed to the Group. In 1984 it was the Group’s 10th Anniversary and fifth year at HVSC so we decided to celebrate in a big way.

First left, Carole at an activity she did volunteer for at Riverside Country Park

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We had a week--long display in the mall at Hempstead Valley, where we had videos showing RPSB films continuously, large sales tables, and bird oriented games for the children and plenty of members answering questions from the public. The committee had persuaded the two supermarkets, Sainsbury and Presto, to let us put RSPB stickers on brands such as Penguin Biscuits, Birds Custard and Famous Grouse Whisky and many other products. Any customers who had a sticker on their purchase received a small prize. The Evening Post also ran a nightly bird quiz in their paper culminating with the name of a bird on the Saturday. Surprise the bird was the Avocet! We contacted the local schools to get the children involved, again with quizzes or by doing paintings of birds, and the well-known Radio Kent Wildlife Presenter, Dr. (we have forgotten his name!!) gave a talk on the Saturday afternoon and presented the prizes. By 1998, Carole Nixon was in charge and getting her stock from HQ and sale or return goods from RSPB Dungeness Reserve shop. Dungeness Reserve shop continues to supply us with goods to this day. We had five full sized tables - plus a half sized table used exclusively for recruitment – right inside one of the two doors where the coffee cafe is now, which blasted us with cold air when they opened automatically, but meant we had a continuous stream of potential customers down both sides of the stall. Carole Nixon retired in 2003 and Marie Tilley took on responsibility for the event, together with her role as Group treasurer, ably assisted by her husband Rob. Des and Carol Felix joined them in the organisation of the event in 2005 and Warren and Elizabeth Mann in 2006 and this team has run it ever since, ably assisted by the 30 or so group volunteers who help staff the stall.

In 2007 the management of HVSC decided all charity stalls should be located in a smaller area outside the Wallis shop, next to the flower stall, where it has been ever since. We owe a debt of gratitude to all the members who have helped to organise and run the stall for the last 34 years, particularly the late Linda Sweeney and Carole Nixon and their supporters and our sincere thanks to the management of HVSC for their continuing support Information supplied by: - Carole Nixon, Dave Hale, Des and Carol Felix, Doug Grant, Heather & John Pollard, Robin West FATHERS’ DAY AT RSPB NORTHWARD HILL Sunday 16 June 2013

Birds, mammals and insects are parents as well and 50% are fathers so it was fitting to spend a day at Northward Hill RSPB thinking of parentage and fatherhood in particular. The woodland car park is a good place to start and a slow descent along the metalled track enabled us to listen to the jackdaws overhead, the cooing woodpigeons and watching a red admiral sunning itself on the concrete.

Hidden in the undergrowth a wren sang its powerful song. Above a chiffchaff was usefully singing its name in a hawthorn. Further down the path a blackcap sang beautifully as a green woodpecker yaffled on a long-dead elm. A great-spotted woodpecker jip-jip-jiped away on the bough of a far oak, maybe to warn of the foraging jay nearby. A flash of white as a green-veined white butterfly flew off the path ahead into the greenery.

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Christmas sales stall HVSC 2008. From left Carol Felix, Adrian and Lynda Olsen

Wren

Mike Langman (rspb-images.com)

Registered charity number 207076

At the Northward Hill viewpoint it was incredible to see The Shard due west and Canvey Island across the mighty River Thames in Essex. From Ewart’s Wood below a cuckoo called and whitethroats scolded their chattery warble. On the way to the heronry a hobby hawk sat on a heron trail post surveying the marsh for a meal, seemingly in no particular hurry. 45 minutes later, after some stretching exercises, it set off across the grasslands, twisting and turning in chase of a dragonfly. Overhead a peregrine patrolled the skies over the scrape.

A couple of hundred swifts had congregated by now to feed on the loft-borne insect life and I wondered if any hirundine fathers fell prey to either hobby or peregrine and did not see Fathers Day out. On the reservoirs Canada and greylag geese were seen amongst the mallards, tufted, shelduck and pochard. Little egret and redshank fed by the water’s edge. A pair of black-necked grebe dived repeatedly after dinner having arrived a couple of days previously. Walking back to the car park at Bromhey Farm a kestrel plummeted earthbound, undercarriage down, in anticipation of a strike; I quickened my pace to see the outcome, but was distracted by a little owl staring at me with his white eyebrows accentuating his gaze from the barn top.

Linnet and goldfinch tinkled on the overhead pylons. In the distance a family of six mistle thrushes fed in the orchard. David Saunders

ROBIN’S RAMBLINGS – RENEWING MEMBERSHIP 2012

‘Twas on one cold and winters day On Elmley Marsh, so dull and grey

Where no mortal soul should be Just members of the RSPB

I came upon a lass so fair

Who kindly asked me ‘should I care To join the merry Medway band

And spread the message o’er the land

Of ducks and geese and waders too At Cliffe Pools as well as Hoo

To come and join the many walks And come and hear the monthly talks’

So impressed was I, with what I heard

The lengths you go to protect your bird(s) That I felt the need to join

So find enclosed six pound coin(s) Robin Smith EDITORS NOTES Please let us have your articles ASAP or at the latest by 18 February 2014 for the Spring edition. Editors

Editors: Des and Carol Felix 72 Marshall Road, Rainham, Kent. ME8 0AW

or medwayrspb_descar@btinternet.com

The RSPB Medway Local Group Website : www.rspb.org.uk/groups/medway

Any Advertisements enclosed with this newsletter are not specifically endorsed by The RSPB or The RSPB Medway Local Group.

The RSPB is a registered charity: England and Wales Number 207076,

Scotland number SC037655

Working together to give nature a home

The RSPB SE England Office, 1st Floor Pavilion View, 19 New Road, Brighton, East Sussex, BN1 1UF

Richard Allan (rspb-images.com)

Hobby