I had a tough day yesterday with a few family duties to fulfill and didn't see the news of the Cliff Swallow until late afternoon and with the Dartford crossing closed and two hour delays into Kent expected the afternoon run was put off after discussions with the Jims who still needed the bird for a life tick. With the bird present into the late evening we decided to leave it and wait for news this morning and with that positive news we set off at 9am and with no trouble getting over the water into Kent we arrived at Joss Bay at 10.50am. There was a small crowd of around twenty or so birders present but the bird hadn't been seen for half an hour or more.
 |
| The Cabbage fields and lighthouse |
 |
| Joss Bay |
In my haste to leave I'd left my camera bag and binoculars in the house so borrowed Dads to search for the bird and within ten minutes I was shouting to the crowd that it was flying along the cliff top towards us. For the next hour we enjoyed several views as it did a loop around the cabbage fields. The flock contained mostly House Martins but several Sand Martins and a single Swallow were seen. Meadow Pipits were numerous and a single Curlew was found on the beach but it was otherwise very quiet with nothing moving on the sea in strong South Westerlies.
The Jims gripped back the Cliff Swallow on me as I'd previously seen the Minsmere bird in 2016 and I ticked my 268th Kent bird and my 218th bird for the pointless 2023 year list for which I still need 20 birds to avoid my worst year list ever of 238.
Onwards and Upwards.
No comments:
Post a Comment