Sandwich Bay Visit

Last week I had one of my usual breaks down in Margate visiting the old man, half term rules! On one of our mornings there, we popped out to visit Sandwich Bay bird Observatory and see what was visiting the pools and golf course (as well as the obs feeders).

I must say I still find it hard to believe in this day and age that there is a fee to drive down a road just because someone can own so much land!Good job members of the observatory don’t have to pay.

Sandwich Bay Visit

We Stopped in at the Observatory to check out the board (after snapping the photo above), and found it quite funny that there was a Mandarin duck at the quay car park, an area we passed and the old man said I wonder if there’s an interesting duck there. Anyway, we didn’t stop long but headed off down towards the golf course (the disabled car park is there so it is allowed). I couldn’t resist another quick photo of the early lambs in the misty morning sunrise first though.

Ewe and Lambs in the early morning misty sunrise.

Golf Course Birds

As we looked out over the golf course we were lucky enough to be watching flocks of Meadow Pipits, a few summer singing Skylarks and a pair of Stonechats, as well as a Corn Bunting.

Male Stonechat – Sandwich Bay

Female Stonechat – Sandwich Bay

Further on there were plenty of Grey Partridge, Fieldfare, and Redwing, more Skylarks, Pipits and Corn Bunting as well as more common birds like Robin and Chaffinch.

A Pair of Grey Partridge

Disabled Hide

We headed into the disabled hide where it was wonderful to see huge numbers of European Teal, Pochard, Wigeon and Greylag geese, good numbers of Lapwing, a few Oystercatcher and one or two Little Grebe swimming around and whistling their haunting bubbling call.

Coot

Lapwings in flight

Lapwing in flight

Coming in to land

Little Grebe

Little Grebe

Moorhen

Female Teal

Female Teal

Close up of a Female Teal

Back to the Quay

We headed back to Quay in Sandwich itself and quickly found the drake Mandarin sitting on the footpath running alongside the river, as well as another Little Grebe.

Little Grebe

Mandarin (Drake)

Not the greatest post, sorry, but I was about a week ago, and I din’t take notes.

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