Late afternoon today there were 9 Ruff amongst the 526 Lapwing on the flooded fields by the station at Newenden – the first record for TQ82I. Other birds present included 3 Golden Plover, 97 Shoveler, 11 Wigeon and 37 Gadwall. These fields turn up some nice birds, and the resident Whooper Swan is still regularly being seen on the fields on the station side of the road.
Curious? click here for BBC report.
It seems to me that the Rother Valley deserves much more birding attention. The area between the Blackwall Bridge and Maytham Wharf Farm to the north-west is a flood reservoir, and when it floods the birding can be spectacular. On the 18th Jan the wildfowl included over a 1,000 Wigeon plus Teal, Gadwall, Mallard, Pintail, Shoveler, Tufted Duck and Pochard, over 400 Greylag and Canada Geese, plus lots of Lapwing and even 2 Ruff. So far the Winter Atlas has turned up nearly 80 species in that square, highlights being Water Pipit, Peregrine, Goosander and Green Sandpiper.
Wild Hastings
wildRye
Hastings Country Park Nature Reserve Biodiversity