Dartford Waffler

Crows and other corvids have long been recognised as being among the most intelligent of birds, indeed among the most intelligent in the animal kingdom. When I was young my father used to tell me stories of a pet Jackdaw that he had which had learned to say a few words and on “The Life […]

This afternoon I went for a stroll along the Darent valley at Lullingstone hoping to find Lesser Spotted Woodpecker which I have seen there before in winter. No luck with that species and very little else was to be found on an extremely quiet and cold day.
Along the valley and in the woodland higher up […]

Beginning a new year list always gives me fresh enthusiasm for birdwatching - I guess I shouldn’t be such a listing freak, but I am!
Today I headed down to Greenhithe on the River Thames and walked along to Swanscombe Marsh, or what is left of it. This is a good site for Water Pipit and […]

Yesterday afternoon I found an hour to visit Dartford Marshes. I headed straight for the riverfront and as the tide was out, large numbers of gulls were present on the mud. Unfortunately, very shortly after my arrival a large ship passed along the river and its bow wave scared off most of the large gulls. […]

This afternoon I went for a quick visit to Sutton-at-Hone watercress beds - Sutton-at-Hone is a village a few miles south of Dartford in Kent, along the Darenth Valley. This little spot is always good in winter for birds and an hour spent there at this time of year is bound to turn up something […]

Now that Christmas is over and I have finished dealing with moving all my stuff out of my flat I have a chance to write about my final walk to Eske. The reason that it was my last visit is that I am soon moving back to Thailand, after nearly 4 years in the UK […]

Scarborough harbour always has something of interest for birdwatchers in winter and my trip there today turned up a couple of nice birds. A quick scan of the harbour after parking the car resulted in a nice sighting of a Black-throated Diver in the harbour itself. I got a record shot of it and the […]

This evening I was sitting in my car at Hessle High School. Before anyone questions my motives let me say that I was waiting for my wife whilst she was at an adult education course. Anyway, the point is that whilst I was waiting, reading a book I suddenly heard the screeching call of a […]

It has often been said that one of the best ways of birdwatching is by bicycle. Certainly I have found this a useful way of covering large areas whilst remaining quiet and connected to the environment and often birding by bicycle can allow one to approach birds more closely than one can on foot.
However, if […]

Today provided a welcome break in the dull, dismal weather this week and I took a much needed walk to Eske, near Beverley. Walking along the river I saw very little; at this time of the year the vegetation is very low and the few bushes along here are bare and offer little shelter, although […]