Birds of the North Kent Coast..........and Storms, Ciara, Denis and Jorgé!!

3 weeks visiting the UK, should be plenty of time to get some decent photographs, right?............Wrong!!

Dark Bellied Brent Geese were still in the area, but leaving on a daily basis for their breeding grounds in Russia

My trip coincided with some of the worst storms and wet weather to hit the UK in recent years.  In fact, storms 'Ciara', 'Denis' and 'Jorge', all followed, one after the other and left much of the country deep under water.

A forecast for just 2 days of broken sunshine during my stay, confirmed my fears that the majority of my shots were going to be either very 'noisy', due to high ISO's, or lacking in sharpness, due to very slow shutter speeds.  So, compromise was definitely the order of the day and the acceptance that sometimes, a bad shot is better than no shot!

The first two weeks were to be concentrated on the foreshore, followed by a week on the reed marshes (reality turned out to be a total of just 6 days to cover both venues).  My target birds for the trip, were the foreshore 'Curlew' near Minnis Bay and the 'Marsh Harrier' and 'Kingfisher', which can be found at 'Stodmarsh Nature Reserve', just a few miles inland.

Having arrived during a violent storm on Sunday 16 January, I was encouraged by Tuesday morning, when the day started brighter and I was in postion on the pebble beach, midway between Minnis Bay and Reculver, by 07.00 hrs. Although this is a good viewing point for Foreshore Birds, on this occasion, it was very dissapointing to only glimpse birds, such as Oyster Catchers, Dunlin, Sanderling, Cormorant and a large group of Dark Bellied Brent Geese.  After 4 hours, the clouds had rolled in with the rain and it was time to call it a day.

A Sanderling, was a welcome distraction.

Cormorant skimming the waves

Tidal times are very important, and knowing when to be in position is critical when planning a shoot. Following 2 more days that were a complete washout, when Friday dawned dry but grey, I decided that I had no option, other than to brave the elements.  At 07.30 hrs and in just 3 degrees, I found myself sitting on a rock formation 20 meters offshore and with an incoming tide.  During previous days, I had noticed that as the tide came in, the birds would travel East to West along the water line.  If my calculations were right, this should bring birds within my range at exactly the point I was sitting.

The majority of birds were gulls, but they were soon joined by Oyster Catchers, Redshank, Turnstone, a Little Egret and my elusive target.....a single Curlew!

Adult Herring Gull

Incoming Oyster Catchers

A group of Redshank

Turnstones

Numbers of Little Egret are down this year, but this one put in an appearance.

Sitting in the cold, was all made worthwhile, when this beautiful Curlew appeared. Not as close as I would have liked, but absolutely made my day!

'Noisy' image due to low light and high ISO to compensate

Storm Denis wiped out the next few days, so I was keen to get back out as soon as the weather allowed.  Fortunately, although mainly overcast, the following couple of days were reasonably kind and here are some shots from that period.

Brent Geese were still around in large numbers.

Sanderling, showing their white winter plumage.

Brent Goose feeding. 

Herring Gull checking out an empty egg case

Redshank.

First winter juvenile Herring Gull

Little Egret.

Incoming Oyster Catcher

A Juvenile Cormorant.

Look carefully and you can see that a crab has managed to wriggle free from the beak of this Curlew...........but what will be its fate?

Having escaped from the bird, the crab is experiencing freefall......

With no parachute, it must be wondering if it is about to smash into the rocks......

Until SPLASH.........a safe landing, back in the sea.......a lucky escape indeed! 

Storm Jorgé was next on the scene and it was time to escape the coast and head for Stodmarsh Nature Reserve. Of course, the storm did not spare these wonderful reed beds and the pathways were under a foot of water in some places.  However, with a number of purpose built hides, it made for absolute luxury, compared to the previous weeks battering from the elements!

My target birds here, were the Marsh Harrier and the one bird that has eluded me for more years than I care to remember..........the Kingfisher!

The first morning, I arrived very early and was greeted in the 'Reed Hide' by a few other insomniacs, all keen to capture images of the birds.  Talking with them, it transpired that there were up to 4 Marsh Harriers in the area, along with a Hen Harrier.  Sadly, none of them had seen the Kingfisher since December, so it looked as though things were not looking good in my continued search for the 'Holy Grail'.  Fortunately, there were other birds around, which kept me busy for most of the day.

Coot hiding in the reeds

Take off

A pair of Tufted Duck

Graylag Goose.

It's that time of year when Coot, decide who is the dominant male!

A pair of Teal

Marsh Harrier

After all the rubbish weather and with only one day left, I set the alarm for 'silly o'clock' and was in the hide by 06.30 hrs. On the way, I spotted a Barn Owl and Hen Harrier (that were too far away for a picture) and then came across these swans, who were taking off for the day.

After a couple of hours, the clouds finally gave way to some sunshine and the opportunity to get some half-decent images.

Graylag Geese approaching over the reed beds

Black Headed Gull

A pair of Teal

Skimming the reeds

Landing

Marsh Harrier quartering the Reed beds, in search of prey.

Incoming Male Mallard

Outgoing Teal

Tufted Duck Male

Marsh Harrier

Graylag - Exit Left!

So what happened to the Kingfisher?

I wish that I could surprise everyone with a stunning picture of a Kingfisher, and it did finally show up!  However, rather than sit on its 'stick' (which is just ten feet from the hide), it decided that 50 meters was as close as it was going to get.

Spot the bird!

So here it is, after 14 hours in the hide (spread over 3 days), and with my 500mm lens at full stretch and then a heavy crop........my Kingfisher!

The 'cropped' image - Oh well, maybe next year!