Appledore - Snargate
1st June 2009, Monday
The Royal Military Canal east of Appledore has a very different feel, compared to the section I’m used to at Pett Level. Trees on the southern side of the Parapet obscure views of the marsh beyond, while others on the landward side of the Back Ditch often give the impression of a narrow corridor. However they shelter a wide variety of birds of which we saw 39 species along the RMC Path between Appledore Bridge and Higham Farm.
The trees are native species: Oak, Ash, Hawthorn, Holly, Elder, Alder, but at one point (TQ975312) we came across something with completely unfamiliar leaves and branching pattern, and stood for a while making notes in warm rose-scented air, to a sound-track of Blackbirds, lambs, Marsh Frogs, screaming motor-cycles and stuttering gunshots from a clay-pigeon shoot.
The tree, I now know, is a Roble Beech (Nothofagus obliqua), a species from Chile & Argentina. Its presence at this point, devoid of other exotic species, sugests a memorial planting.
Had we not stopped to examine this mystery tree, we would have missed the Nightingale which burst into song in the scrub beneath, joining a chorus of Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Lesser Whitethroat, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Chaffinch & Green Woodpecker, while the female croaked from cover.
All the time, were passed by a continuing stream of migrant Painted Ladies, with one Clouded Yellow.
There were plenty of Yellowhammers and Whitethroats singing from the adjacent farmland, with Kestrel and Hobby hunting overhead.
Along the lane across The Dowels, towards Bourne Bridge, there were Sedge Warblers (only Reed along the Canal) and a single Cetti’s, while in an old orchard I was delighted to find Tree Sparrow and Turtle Dove in the same crusty tree.
Past the Red Lion, as a couple of Red-legged Partridges scuttled across a field as an overdue Marsh Harrier cruised up from Brookland. Only it wasn’t - it was a Buzzard, shortly joined by a second.
A Marsh Harrier did turn up later though, along with several Yellow Wagtails, a Little Egret and a Med Gull, bringing the total to 56 species.
