Looking back at 2012. (Part 2)

July is a quiet month and this year was no different. As mentioned in part 1, the Peregrines raised two young and were often seen learning to hunt with the parent birds along the cliff top at Dover.

Also in July, a young family of Black Redstarts were photographed as they foraged for food around the vegetation on the beach at Dover.

The beginning of August saw me at Oare Marshes where the early returning Waders were the target birds. A nice Wood Sandpiper was photographed and a flight shot of an incoming Greenshank was rather pleasing.

Oare Marshes were frequently visited throughout August and mid month I was able to get a few images of a Temminck's Stint seen feeding on the East Flood.

Backsands scrape on the Sandwich Bay estate comes into play for me during the summer months and a few Wader images were taken from this venue. It's a great spot for getting close to the birds, especially from the Falling down hide situated on the water’s edge.

A Great White Egret was on the reserve at Grove during August but apart from the returning Waders it was all pretty quiet. As the birding photo opportunities drop during the summer I try my hand at other subjects which is a different ball game altogether.

I flew out to Pathos in Cyprus on the 25th for my daughter’s wedding, packing my camera and a 300mm lens just in case!!!! Although the wedding and general holiday took up much of my time, I did manage on two occasions to check out what was on offer in the way of Cypriot wildlife.

I returned from Cyprus and my first trip to Stodmarsh on the 14th of September resulted in the spectacle of 4 Great White Egrets and 3 juvenile Grey Herons all squabbling out in front of the Reed bed hide. I must admit I never expected that when I opened the hide window.

On the 20th I caught up with the 2 Pectoral Sandpipers on the Backsands scrape at Sandwich and whilst in the hide a Kingfisher landed on a post just a few feet from the hide window. Bearded Tits were seen and photographed at Grove Ferry and the 4 Great White Egrets remained at Stodmarsh throughout the month.

October arrived and so did a young Kingfisher to the posts placed in front of the Reed bed hide at Stodmarsh. The hide was full for most of the month with most of Kent's camera lenses attending.

It was on one of the Kingfisher visits that a Black-necked Grebe was found on the pool in front of the hide. A rather nice distraction from the endless Kingfisher images gained during the month of October.

Snow Buntings and a pair of Shore lark’s were seen and photographed at Reculver, both species being particularly co operative and the highlight of the month regarding rare or scarce birds was a Red Breasted Goose seen and photographed at Seasalter.

November was my disaster month. Jumping from a wall at Samphire Hoe I managed to break my arm and smash my camera. The camera was soon repaired but the arm is a little slower to put right. I did manage a few photos through the month but not much. A Stonechat at Reculver and Sanderling at Minnis bay were probably the best of the bunch.

And on to December, another year done and dusted. Waxwings were here and in large numbers. The flock at Pegwell grew to 500 strong and I was able to photograph them there and at Dymchurch, Whitstable and Sandwich Bay. I even had 60+ birds on the industrial estate at Hersden where my yard is situated, seeing them every day as I turned up for work. I got some images of a juvenile Black-throated Diver at Dover, a bird that I have only seen distantly at sea before. The Glaucous Gull returned to Dungeness and was twitched, (Gull twitching, whatever next) with the bonus of 2 Great White Egrets seen on the Arc pit and the earlier mentioned Waxwings at Dymchurch being photographed on the way home.

To anyone still awake and having the stamina to trawl through both parts of my 2012 review, thank you. I would like to wish all visitors to my blog and also viewers to my flickr site a prosperous and happy new year. Our annual 2013 jolly is in June and we will be starting at Bempton in Yorkshire and then on to somewhere hopefully where I can at long last get my Dipper image. I am going back to Cyprus in August, this time with my 400mm lens. Two weeks and no wedding this time around will give me ample time to find something to point the camera at.