Penduline Tit

An email from Martin on Sunday afternoon suggesting a visit to Grove Ferry to catch up with the reported Penduline Tit was an offer that couldn't be refused. So with an 0500 alarm and Martin picking me up at 0600 we set off for deepest Kent. The journey was almost uneventful except that I saw three Cormorants flying over the road near Canterbury and I insisted they were Cranes - must get to Boot's for an eye test. We had both done our homework on Grove and we made our way via the mound to the David Feast Hide, something of an anti-climax, very little moving though I did have a fleeting glance of a single Bearded Tit. After half an hour and with the rapid onset of boredom we decamped the hide and took a leisurely stroll around the reserve. As we approached the river there was a host of Redwings and Fieldfares feasting on a huge berry crop. I'm sure I spotted a singleton Waxwing but knowing my recent identification skills it was probably a Pterodactyl. Then things took a turn for the better, with glimpses of Bearded Tits on our return path to the hide, and then they seemed to be everywhere, but none wishing to pose for us. However, when we parted company, Martin wandering off to the hide and me chasing Ping! Ping! one female popped out and allowed a slightly obscured shot before vanishing



One day I will get a clear shot

Outside the hide a small group of birders were intently viewing the reeds, I recognised Mick Davis who kindly pointed out the Penduline Tit. The bird was highly active and calling but unfortunately I couldn't get a decent shot. Martin, who had dipped on the Beardie fared better and recorded some decent photographs. After such excitement it was back to the car park and off to Stodmarsh.



Best of a bad bunch

Ominously we were the only car in the car park at Stodmarsh and sitting in the Reedbed Hide was an eerily quiet experience. We had decided that enough was enough and it would be an early rerurn home, immediately a bird came out of the reeds - a Bittern with a perfect fly past - my camera still in the bag and Martin with his mirror inadvertently locked up. To add insult to injury this was followed by a juvenile Marsh Harrier doing several passes of the hide, two great birds and not a pixel captured. We returned home via Scotney Pit but by the time we arrived the weather had closed in and the only bird of note was a single Pintail.

A great day out - perhaps a return on a day with more sunshine - thanks Martin.