Lap of honour
Bryan East was celebrating after the wonderful discovery of a mega wader on his Kent patch.
MY patches are Stodmarsh and Grove Ferry NNR, which lie in the Stour Valley and cover more than 600 ha. The habitat is diverse which makes birding here special. I spent my childhood on the River Stour and the surrounding lakes and it’s an area I’ve birded since the 1970s. I very rarely venture further afield. The sites are
owned by Natural England and managed by Reserve Manager Steve and Ben, the warden, who have overseen a lot of improvement during the last few years.
Earlier this year, the old hides were taken down and replaced with larger, better-placed ones. The reserve has the most
extensive reedbeds in south-east England and is home to Western Marsh Harrier and Eurasian Bittern year round. Reed and Sedge Warblers are common, though numbers are down this year; Bearded Tit has also declined a little recently. I visit the reserve almost daily so get to know where certain species tend
The brief White-tailed Lapwing was photographed by Bryan in front of Marsh Hide. to be.
On Wednesday 2 June it was a nice, sunny morning, so I went for a walk around the reserve. I got to Marsh Hide at 9 am.
This area is usually good for waders. I had the hide to myself and settled in for a few hours of birding. The area in front of the hide is a mixture of ditches, large pools, grassland, bullrushes and clumps of yellow Flag Iris. Almost immediately I saw what I first thought was a juvenile Northern Lapwing, but on looking through my binoculars I could see that it wasn’t, even though it was very plover-like.
I managed to get a quick photo before it went behind a large clump of Flag Iris. A look in my ID guide suggested it was a White-tailed Lapwing! I must admit it took a while for the rarity of this bird to sink in as I was
more interested in getting some better shots of it, if and when it decided to show itself again. I am not a serious photographer and only carry a Canon SX50 Power Shot with me to record rarities or anything else unusual.
I was about to call friend and fellow birder Martyn when I realised I hadn’t charged my phone – this meant I couldn’t tell anyone until I got home. Scanning the area in front of the hide, I could see at least three Northern Lapwings sitting on nests. Around 20 minutes later, one of the Northern Lapwings dive bombed the White-tailed Lapwing, which was still among the Flag Irises. It then took flight, with the Northern Lapwing chasing it around the field in front of the hide, until it headed south and away from the reserve where I could no longer see it through my binoculars.
It wasn’t flying very high, which made me think it might come back, so I hung around for an hour hoping it would return. It didn’t, but for that brief half hour it was nice to know I had seen a real rarity and another tick on my life list. ■