This afternoon I walked up to the lake at Eske, but very little about apart from a pair of Grey Partridges on the walk up. The water level of the River Hull has hardly gone down at all since the flooding a few weeks back and many fields are still so far under water that [...]

I haven’t been to Dartford Marshes for a couple of years now; quite frankly, that is because it isn’t that great a place and when I’m home I usually visit other sites; however, I decided to take a look today to see what was about. Dartford marsh is not much of a marsh really, just [...]

I really fancied going to the New Forest in search of Dartford Warblers but the weather forecast for that region was terrible. However, the weather at Ashdown Forest was supposed to be a little better so I hoped to find my target there. On arrival I got soaked! The rain was a persistent mist and [...]

Yesterday evening I went for a stroll to check out the Corn Bunting population near my mother’s home in Hawley, near Dartford. Most of the oilseed rape had already been harvested, leaving just a few fields of wheat standing. I saw a few Skylarks and Linnets but no buntings; quite unusual. A few other birds [...]

Home for a few days, visiting my family so I decided to make the most of the time with a walk along my old local patch along the Darenth Valley near Dartford in Kent. I walked the section between Hawley and Sutton-at-Hone which includes gravel pits, alder woodland, hay fields, pasture and watercress beds. Over [...]

It was impossible to resist a walk in such sunny and calm weather yesterday afternoon so I headed along the River Hull to Eske. The sounds of summer didn’t disappoint; Skylarks, Yellowhammers and Meadow Pipits in song and the screeching of passing Swifts. At the lake I decide to just sit and wait for the [...]

A truly miserable walk around Swinemoor Common in cold wind and rain produced predictably few species yesterday morning. Just 12 Lapwings, 2 Redshank, 4 Snipe and a single Little Ringed Plover. Plenty of Swifts and Swallows around but very little else. I should have stayed at home.