Saturday 20 March 2010

Sevenoaks Nature Reserve with Denis and 26 species

Today I met up with Denis at Sevenoaks Nature Reserve which is a lovely place to visit.
The 1st birds seen were Blackbirds from the car park area along with Blue Tits, and Great Tits could be heard calling. 
We made our way towards the Tyler Hide and once there we spotted Moorhens pecking around in the grass and at least 7 Snipe in and around the waters edge and also a lot of Black Headed Gulls which are now getting their summer colours back.
Greylag Geese and a couple of Canada Geese next up on the list followed by a lone Wood Pigeon also feeding on the grassy area. Lapwing were also about, not as many as previous visits mind. Tufted Ducks were plentiful along with Coots and I spotted at least 5 Egyptian Geese.
 Mallards and Shovelors spotted along with a couple of Lesser Black Backed Gulls, Great Crested Grebes and a pair of Cormorants.
Green Woodpeckers were heard calling throughout the wooded area.
 We moved to the small hide next to the visitor centre and could hear Chiffchaff calling, another sure sign of springs return! A couple of Dunnocks feeding below the hanging feeders and around 5 or 6 Long Tailed Tits arrived for a small feeding session on the feeders, Chaffinch also heard and then spotted along with 3 Pochards on the water and the last bird spotted, which made my day as its a first for me was a Lesser Redpoll and if you've never seen one click this link http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/l/lesserredpoll/index.aspx, a lovely little bird it is.
No picture of it though.

Black Headed Gull and Lesser Black Backed Gulls in background.

Lesser Black Backed Gull

Egyptian Goose, Cormorant and Tufted Duck

Shovelor having a nap.

Snipe

Pair of Snipe

Ah, they are lovely.

Teals

Teals

 All todays photos were digiscoped with the new Sony Cybershot camera and not bad considering the 1st useage was today.

4 comments:

  1. Sounds like a really nice trip and you got some excellent pics too. Haven't been there for ages, you've inspired me to return!

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  2. Enjoyed the pics today Phil. Well done on your first lesser Redpoll too mate!

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  3. Ooohhh....love those teals!

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  4. Hello! I came across your blog through a Google search for Egyptian Geese - my partner and I found the ones Haysden Park and we'd never seen anything like them before - they're so beautiful!

    I've never been to Sevenoaks Nature Reserve but I now really want to :D

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