LAST LATE NIGHT FOR 2008.

Thursday, 11th September 2008.

How this year seems to have so quickly passed us by! It does not seem all that long ago since the Late Opening evenings were being greeted by the little band of ‘regulars’ that we seem to have the good fortune to meet every week. Although we have not used the bar-b-que area much this year, we really appreciate being able to access the rest of the site for hours after work!

YOUNG SWANS, THE ENTRANCE LAKE

Photo: Reg Norman

Both Leon and I were hoping for something a little ‘special’ this evening, just to mark the end of this particular set of ‘lates’. We were, of course, to be disappointed!Things didn’t look to good when we arrived at the site; there were about ten thousand young kids all lined up and ready to descend, like screeching Harpies, upon the poor, unsuspecting, birdwatching fraternity. Not taking any chances, we elbowed our way to the front, Leon was particularly swift with a few well-placed kicks to the shins and we were in!

NO BIRDS? ACT CASUAL!

Photo: Reg Norman

After getting kitted up in the Observatory we made our way to the Wildside area. There seemed to be absolutely no birds whatsoever in any of the trees. The whole area was deafeningly quiet! No little shapes could be seen to-ing and fro-ing amongst the foliage. There was even a distinct shortage of waterfowl as we scanned the small ponds in the area. Once again we remarked upon the number of flowers that were still to be seen as we made our way around. This was to be true of all the areas that we were to visit today. We eventually reached the Wildside hide, got ourselves comfortable in our usual seats, and settled down for some intense scrutiny of the Grazing Marsh. The whole of this area was now covered in lush grass with some brilliant splashes of colour dotted here and there.

ONE OF THE FEW!

Photo: Reg Norman

There were not many different species of birds to be seen so the session turned into one of observing individuals as they went about their daily business. I quite like this sort of ‘birding’ and once spent several hours, in the dead of winter, watching Coots and their interminable battles.

A LUSH GRAZING MARSH

Photo: Reg Norman

‘There it goes!’ cried Leon. He was right, it had gone! He had just seen a Hobby go careering past the window of the hide; missed by me because I had my bins pointed elsewhere and was too slow to react! ‘It was beautiful!’ he said. I am sure it was.

A VIEW FROM HEADLEY HIDE

Photo: Reg Norman

At this point we were joined a party of about twenty of the young children that we had seen earlier and I feared that my afternoon was about to be ruined with screeching and banging. There was no screeching and banging; in fact Leon controlled his temper very well! It was just as well because you could not have had a more considerate bunch of youngsters; they were extremely well behaved, and, they all spoke Spanish!We moved on, stopping at the Headley hide briefly, making our way to the restaurant, as Leon was hungry. The areas that we were able to see from the Headley hide were almost devoid of birds, although the site looked beautiful bathed in the late afternoon sunshine. I noticed that the Kingfisher bank was all but invisible behind lush vegetation. I wondered if they would be clearing it for next year?

THE KINGFISHER BANK. HONEST!

Photo: Reg Norman

Everywhere that we went now there were groups of impeccably behaved children, amazingly they all spoke Spanish as well!
Moving through ‘Waterlife’ it was the same story as for the rest of the site, almost devoid of any bird noises or small movements among the shrubs and bushes. Leon commented that he thought that this was probably the quietest day that he could remember at Barnes. I had to agree with him. Still, it was lovely walking around on such a beautiful day.There was something amusing as we passed the bird feeders; a Heron was perched on the top of one of them! It looked so out of place even though it was a bird on a feeder. It brought a smile to our faces, there seemed to be no birds in places that they should be, and, a bird where it shouldn’t be!

SEED LOVING HERON?

Photo: Leon Rusk

The walk around the Sheltered Lagoon was disappointing; usually you could count on seeing many small birds in this area but today there was next to nothing! As we finished our walk, near the Wader Scrape hide, we caught up with one of our friends. Thereze is the wife of John the chap that we have started visiting places with. This lady has a good knowledge of all things natural (she had been studying a very large slug as we approached) and it is always a pleasure to chat with her. We discussed the lack of any real sign of birds to which she wholly agreed although she did point out that there seemed to be a Tit flock in the area.

THE GHOSTLY QUIET LAGOON WALK

Photo: Reg Norman

Our friend moved off, to meet John in the Peacock Tower, and Leon and I made tracks for the ‘Scrape hide. The Tit flock appeared to be approaching at quite a speed as their sounds started to fill the air. We estimated that there were at least seventy birds in the flock, not only the Tits but Warblers and Finches as well! They were like a small cloud moving through the vegetation, all intent on having a good time or so it appeared! My favourites, as usual, were the Long Tails; I never tire of watching them because they always seem to be full of the love of life. We watched for what seemed like ages and loved every minute of it, probably appreciating the sight more for the lack of anything earlier on. We had tried to call Thereze to see the birds but she was already gone. To cap it all, whilst we were watching the birds a young fox had crept up behind us; she missed that as well! After a quick visit to the ‘Scrape hide we moved on to the Peacock Tower.

ONE OF THE YOUNG FOXES

Photo; Reg Norman

We were pleased to meet up with John once again and were also glad to see that another friend of ours, Philip, was also there for the last late day. We told our friend what she had missed and she motioned us to look towards the Sand Martin Bank where we could see a young fox sitting in, and enjoying, the sunshine!Although, once again, there was not a great deal to be seen, we stayed for quite a time enjoying the company. There were, in fact, quite a few ‘birders’ in the hide and they all seemed to be determined to make this last ‘late’ a good one. Many ‘birding’ stories were being swapped and, generally, a good time was had by all. As the light faded people started to drift away; as we left Leon reminded us that it was this day, last year, that we had stood outside the Peacock tower and watched a family of Hobbies chasing Sand Martins! It seemed like that happened only a few weeks ago!

THE GANG

Photo: Reg Norman

The bar-b-que appeared to be doing a good trade as we left; Leon and I were going to the ‘office’ and most of the others made their way into the restaurant for a well-earned cuppa! We said our ‘goodbyes’ and ‘hope to see each other soons’ although in our case it would only be a couple of days as we had made arrangements to go to Dungeness and its’ surrounding areas with John next Sunday!

SOME PEOPLE HAVE NO RESPECT!

Photo; Reg Norman

The ‘office’ was warm and welcoming, as usual, and we stayed for a while reminiscing and planning. A lot of our time seems to be like that, well spent.

OFFICE FLOWERS

Photo: Reg Norman

BIRDS SEEN: Canada Goose, Shoveller, Tufted Duck, Ruddy Duck, Mallard, Feral Pigeon, Cormorant, Lapwing, Gadwall, Coot, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Egyptian Goose, Little Grebe, Magpie, Hobby, Starling, Wood Pigeon, Carrion Crow, Heron, Jackdaw, House Sparrow, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Ring Necked Parakeet, Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff, Greenfinch, Lesser Whitethroat, Sand Martin, Teal, Ruff, Swallow, Great Crested Grebe, Black Headed Gull, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Herring Gull, House Martin, Green Woodpecker, Redshank.

LATE NIGHT AT BARNES.

Thursday, 4th September 2008.

Some of our favourite times that we have spent at the Wetland Centre have been whilst attending the ‘late opening’ nights during the summer months. We usually travel down directly from work and so manage to get there fairly early. One can normally smell the bar-b-que before you enter the Visitor Centre; the food is well cooked and is already in preparation for the early participants. We stopped in the Observatory to kit up and were pleased to see a Ruddy Duck; the colour of his bill was almost fluorescent blue; absolutely stunning!You have to choose the way in which you traverse the site as the light changes with the weeks. Towards the end of the summer you need to visit the Peacock Tower as soon as you arrive in the afternoon; if you leave it too late the sun is setting in the west and it is impossible to see anything on the Main Lake!

A 'WILDLIFE' POND.

Photo: Reg Norman

Today we got it wrong. We had looked at the notice board on the way in and had decided to go to the Wildside area for the chance of seeing certain birds. We never saw them (in fact we saw very little) although we could hear a large Tit flock moving around in the undergrowth. Every now and then we would get the most fleeting of glimpses of a tiny bird, but it was usually gone before we could identify it! This is, of course, usual for this time of year; there is so much cover and the birds, more often than not, only make ‘contact’ calls as they move about. One of the benches provided an ideal spot to rest our work-weary bones whilst we scanned the bushes and shrubs; we were not to be entertained by our little friends though!As we moved around the Wildside area, the sheer number of flowers that were still providing a wonderful show quite surprised us both. Combined with the bunches of berries on the trees and shrubs, and, some of the first leaves already taking on their autumn hues, the site was really very colourful. Amongst these flowers there moved (although fairly blustery) a number of different butterflies adding their different brilliant shades to the picture. We supposed that they were still much in evidence as the weather, although a little windy, was quite warm.

ANOTHER 'WILDLIFE' POND!

Photo: Reg Norman

It became quite sunny as we reached the Wildside Hide; in fact it made the interior feel a little chilly by contrast. We took up our favourite seats at the western end of the upper floor; the view here being the best by far as it covers such a wide area. We noticed that a Little grebe had a very small chick, not the first that we had seen today. There seemed to be an abundance of small birds dotted on the water about the site. I suppose that the birds will keep trying to get off as many offspring as they can in any one year. The Moorhens can rely on the youngsters from previous broods to help out with the rearing of the later ones, which must be a real bonus.Leaving the Wildside Hide, we made our way back towards the Visitor Centre, stopping briefly at the Headley Hide. The vegetation adjacent to this hide is (quite rightly) very well grown and obscures large areas of the Main Lake so we were not too disappointed not to see very much. We did manage to get some very good views of the (ever growing) number of Cormorants; swimming underwater quite closely, we were able to observe them!

THE SHELTERD LAKE

Photo: Reg Norman

Seared chicken. As we passed through the Visitor Centre and out onto the bar-b-que area the air was filled with its’ aroma. There were other meats as well, all smelling as tempting as could be. Roasted vegetables were also in evidence; the whole providing the prospect of a lovely meal for the diners. I mentioned that I had not seen much salad in evidence but Leon assured me that the chef had piles!
The Dulverton and WWF hides were our next objectives. Hoping to see any waders that may have arrived, we were not disappointed as we saw, briefly, a Redshank; a little unusual for this time of year. Having visited these hides for a short while we moved on the Sheltered Lagoon walk, hoping to see more of the smaller birds that we knew favoured this area.As we moved around the walk we became surrounded by a huge flock of tits, finches and warblers. We just had to stop and watch their antics; rolling around through the trees, all the while filling the air with their contact calls. The Long Tailed Tits were the most confiding, they came right to the very edge of the vegetation where they practiced their acrobatics. This was not the first time we had been treated to such a wonderful show by these beautiful birds and it never ceases to thrill.

THE PENULTIMATE OXEYE DAISY?

Photo: Reg Norman

Very little was to be seen from the Wader Scrape hide; although the water level was not too bad their just seemed to be a shortage of birds, although there were good numbers of Gadwall and Teal with a few Wigeon thrown in for good measure.
Having moved to the Peacock Tower, the first thing that was pointed out to us by one of its’ occupants was a Little Egret; he was on the Wader Scrape and we had been unable to see him because of the vegetation! It was here too that we caught up with our friend, John Cass. He informed us that he had not seen much but that there had been a Wheatear about earlier in the day. This had been one of the birds that we had hoped to see from the Wildside hide when we first arrived.
Looking across the Main Lake we remembered why should have come here earlier; the sun had moved round to the west and now made any observing quite difficult. This did not stop a sharp-eyed chap from noticing a bird by one of the island shores, and, not being sure what it was he asked for a general opinion. Taking turns in looking through telescopes we al agreed: Ruff. We didn’t agree on its’ development at first but after some discussion we all agreed that it was an adult ‘winter’ bird.
The differences in bird plumage, amongst even a single species, at different times of the year can be quite astonishing. Leon thought that this might be the time to go to ‘the office’ to discuss the matter and so we made our farewells. Passing through the bar-b-que area we noticed that there seemed to be good trade taking place; the food smelled even more wonderful and everybody seemed to be having a great time.

FLOWERS AT THE OFFICE

Photo: Reg Norman

We did not stay at ‘the office’ for very long; being a Thursday we both had to go to work the following day. We did discuss many things though, including the fact that there was always a fabulous show of flowers on the bar where we usually sit of an evening.

BIRDS SEEN: Coot, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Feral Pigeon, Ruddy Duck, Mallard, Cormorant, Tufted Duck, Great Crested Grebe, Little Grebe, Gadwall, Shoveller, herring Gull, Black Headed Gull, Heron, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Wood pigeon, Greenfinch, Dunnock, House Martin, Starling, Crow, Magpie, Lapwing, Kestrel, Ring Necked Parakeet, Jackdaw, redshank, Teal, Sand Martin, Blackbird, Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff, Canada Goose, Little Egret, Swallow, Ruff, Green Woodpecker, Lesser Black Backed Gull.