A Raptorous Ramble

My wife and I enjoyed a great walk around Elmley Nature Reserve today. Elmley is located on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent amongst the North Kent Marshes. This expanse of marshland is recognised as one of the most important natural wetlands in Northern Europe. It makes a home for thousands of migrating birds.

Best of all, it's practically on our doorstep. So my wife and I filled our flasks, made lunch and headed out with our cameras and binoculars for a day of exploring. Elmley is a huge reserve, we covered almost 6 miles walking around the trails and still didn't manage to get around the whole site.

I'm pretty sure that apart from a visit to a falconry centre, I've never seen so many birds of prey in one day. The reserve was thriving with Buzzards, Kestrels and Marsh Harriers. Everywhere we looked we could see one or the other gliding gracefully over the grassland, searching for a bite to eat. This perhaps speaks volumes of the presumably plentiful supply of quarry that's also available for the raptors to hunt. I guess you can't have one without the other!

We were also quite excited to see a Peregrine Falcon which neither of us had ever seen before. It was perched on top of a gate and quite a fair distance from the hide but we managed to get a photo. In this photo you can see the Peregrine (on the right) has also been joined by a Marsh Harrier.

Of course the day was not just about the birds of prey. Stonechat and Goldfinches flew amongst the reed beds and long grass. 

And there was also lots of wetland birds and waders such as Redshank, Curlew and this lovely Little Egret.

The best part of the day though came as we left the reserve and headed to a neighbouring section of the marshes where we'd heard that Owls can be seen. Our timing was good as dusk was almost upon us and the Owls would be starting to venture out onto the grassland to begin their hunt.

Well our tip off didn’t disappoint as it wasn't long before we spotted more Kestrel, Buzzards and Marsh Harrier. Soon after that we caught a glimpse of a short eared owl and then this Barn Owl. 

The Barn Owl is such an amazing species, a real silent assassin that seems to be able to effortlessly hunt for its prey. My wife and I were so pleased to not only see one but also be blessed with some nice sunlight which helped add a little extra depth to our photographs.

We continued to watch the Barn Owl until the light faded and headed home very happy indeed.

Hopefully we'll be as lucky on our next trip out!