Isle of Sheppey Saturday January 13th 2007

When we set off for The Isle of Sheppey; it was dry after a lot of rain over night. We stopped en route for breakfast.

Having visited Elmley RSPB Reserve for the past three winters, we decided to try somewhere different this year; Harty Ferry Lane near Leysdown, followed by Shellness.

As we turned into Harty Ferry Lane a large flock of Fieldfares were feeding in the hedgerow. We continued along the lane, stopping whenever we saw anything of interest. Red legged Partridges and a Stonechat were in the fields, whilst Corn Buntings were on the overhead wires.

As we approached the raptor observation area we saw three Marsh Harriers to the left of us, two more were seen to the right. A Little Egret flew past. After a while, we continued on our way. At the end of the lane there is a parking area next to the Harty Ferry Inn which overlooks the Swale. The tide was out so many waders were seen on the foreshore.

Whilst in this area we had our highlight of the day. A Barn Owl was quartering the rough grassland and hanging in the wind approximately sixty metres from us. It stayed in this position for some minutes and was seen by all.

After an hour it was decided to drive back down the lane and head through Leysdown to the reserve at Shellness.

On reaching the raptor point we saw about twenty people with guns in the field shooting at Pheasants that had been put up by beaters. It was distressing seeing shot birds crashing in the field beyond us.

We stopped at the beach at Leysdown where many waders were feeding. We decided that the track leading to Shellness was too deeply rutted and would cause damage to our cars, so we were not prepared to drive down it. We had our lunch on the beach sheltered behind the breakwaters and decided to return to Harty Ferry Lane.

The guns had gone by this time and the Marsh Harriers were flying again. From the car park at the end, the owl was seen again. We walked along the public footpath to the edge of Shellness reserve. A large flock of Brent Geese were seen.

We returned to our cars hoping to see the large flocks of starlings flying up The Swale. (We had seen a huge flock at this point many years ago.) Unfortunately only a small flock of about two hundred flew past.

It proved to be quite a successful day with Marsh Harriers, Peregrine, Sparrowhawk and Kestrel, as well as the Barn Owl.

Dave Jones