Stodmarsh NNR : 25th June 2015

Stodmarsh NNR : 25th June 2015

On the morning of the 25th June we set out from Canterbury to Winchelsea with a planned stop off en route atthe Natural England Stodmarsh Nature Reserve. This was another well reviewed birding site and we were not to be disappointed with a good range of birds and some special little ones.

We parked up int he village of Stodmarsh at 51.301889, 1.182771 and walked from there. Our first roue was that to the Tower Hide which takes you along the edge of a reedbed. On the large body of water to our left there were large numbers of Mute Swans and Greylag Geese as well as Cormorants. In the reeds there were Reed Buntings and Reed and Sedge Warblers. The woods resounded with the call of Chiffchaffs and on the water there were Great Crested Grebes, Pochard, Shoveler, Tufted Duck and even a single Teal as well as the usual suspects.

In the sky there was a Buzzard and we saw at least two Marsh Harriers. Perhaps the best was left until nearly the end when, about half way back down the path from the Tower Hide we came to an opening in the bushes that overlooked a reedbed on our left. At first we could only see the odd one or two flitting frustratingly often from top of reed to the top of another but the more we looked the clearer it became that we had a flock of about 20 Bearded Tits. We did not see a single adult male whilst we were looking but eventually they slowed down enough for us to get a scope on them. Lovely birds and a great pleasure to see such a large number had fledged. One can only suppose that there were many more among the reeds.

We eventually dragged ourselves away from this little flock and returned nearly to our starting position. We did do a little detour to the Reedbed Hide but we didn’t see anything we had not already seen so we returned to the car. Again, this wasn’t really a birding holiday so we only spent a couple of hours here. The site is actually quite large and at the far end takes in the pertner site of Grove Ferry. Once again, it was just a taste of a site that we would do well to return to again when we had more time.

Bird Sightings : Stodmarsh NNR