Oare is a nicely compact space, one shallow, reed fringed scrape or large pond (or small lake if you prefer) with a bit of scrub and a nice sea wall allowing good views over both the lakepondscrape and the estuary. Oare is known for waders so here you go, which species can you pick out in this lot!
This incidentally, is the sort of panic that a couple of passing sparrowhawks can cause but in here somewhere are lapwing, golden plover, avocet, redshank and a few gulls.
In addition, and curiously unaffected by the sparrowhawks, was a large flock of black tailed godwit, displaying that fascinating range of plumage that turns up at this time of year with a small number of birds still largely in breeding plumage, many in full winter plumage and a whole mixed up range in between.
I can definitely confirm that Oare is good for waders. In smaller numbers, we also had little stint, ruff, dunlin, whimbrel and oystercatcher and today's star, long billed dowitcher. This was a bird I had never before seen and it needed patience and a bit of help to locate one wader in all this. No photograph sadly but imagine something that looks like a cross between a small godwit and a snipe with pond scum coloured legs and you are about there.
One more interesting fact about this wader flock, and following on from the theme of my last blog, is that there was a significant delay between all these birds taking to the sky and me raising the camera. I was frankly enjoying the spectacle so much I forgot about the camera to start with so maybe I am still a birder first, embryonic photographer second. Sometimes birding can be about the single unusual species such as the dowitcher. It is, however, hard to beat the spectacle of mass waders filling the sky to also fill the soul.
Looking out across the lakepondscrape, I was continually drawn to the golden plover. They really are golden and do stand out next to the greys and browns of other winter waders with many of these quite clearly retaining much of their breeding plumage. The last time I had seen these was in ones and twos on the breeding grounds in the wilds of north Norway but it is equally wonderful to see them by the hundred in your own back yard.
That said, avocets also make fine subjects for photographs and even though I have many such images, this 'pair' still took my eye.
Leaving the lakepondscrape behind, we passed a starling bush....
......and headed for the estuary. To be fair, not much out there albeit the mud did showcase another bird I had never seen before (also not photographed!), a Bonaparte s gull which, like the dowitcher, is essentially American and would not normally be found near the delights of Margate. It had a curious waddle it seemed to me as it moved somewhat ponderously across the mud, almost duck like in its stride, presumably because of the shorter leg length in comparison to the attending black headed gulls.
Oare was brilliant, but we had started our day at Elmley. Sadly, the marshes were bone dry and while I had hoped for some autumn waders, all of these were reserved for Oare. Marsh harriers seem to be in good numbers however and on the walk back, two stunning whinchat popped into view, a true autmn migrant. I did also manage to capture a nice image of this family of red legged partridge. One of the chicks decided to turn left and didn't therefore make the picture but I guess every family has wrong un.
Just to finish off, Elmley did provide a plentiful supply of butterflys, most of them seemingly of one species, the green veined white.
Elmley, a former RSPB reserve now run privately, remains a stunning landscape, open marsh that will be covered in wildfowl come the depths of winter and those lovely soon to be wet meadows and scrapes that will house the sight and sound of thousands of waders once the year turns. With that turning, I will be back, partly because the place is brilliant, and partly because I promised Graham!
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