Wingham Fish-In Sat Apr 25th to Mon Apr 27th

[Steve Walker]

Think it got a bit lower than 4C over here!

 

[Vagabond]

 

Very quiet since then apart from the owls and nightingales during the night and the bittern and cuckoo this morning.

 

 

Norma was very pleased with her bird sightings, which included early swifts and a hobby. According to the locals, the latter was the first seen this year at Wingham. All three common hirudines (sand martin, house martin and swallow) were scarce on Saturday but arrived in force over the lake on Sunday morning - presumably in response to a fly hatch.

 

A Cetti's warbler sat in a thick bush to my right and yelled into my hearing aid whenever it thought I was not paying attention - it was like a handful of gravel hitting a window.

 

Probably the bittern was in the dense reed-beds half a mile downstream of the lakes - the sound carries a very long way.

 

Had the usual sightings of the parakeets, but owls and cuckoos were heard and not seen. Norma did get a sight of a nightingale.

Edited April 27, 2015 by Vagabond

[Dave H]

Norma was very pleased with her bird sightings, which included early swifts and a hobby. According to the locals, the latter was the first seen this year at Wingham. All three common hirudines (sand martin, house martin and swallow) were scarce on Saturday but arrived in force over the lake on Sunday morning - presumably in response to a fly hatch.

 

A Cetti's warbler sat in a thick bush to my right and yelled into my hearing aid whenever it thought I was not paying attention - it was like a handful of gravel hitting a window.

 

Probably the bittern was in the dense reed-beds half a mile downstream of the lakes - the sound carries a very long way.

 

Had the usual sightings of the parakeets, but owls and cuckoos were heard and not seen. Norma did get a sight of a nightingale.

It was the most impressive thing i thought about Wingham when i was a member the different wildlife but more so with the birds. Hirudines really were there in flocks one moment and gone in the next. Sparrowhawks are getting very common nowadays and many are spotted up to the gates and like you said i have never seen so many Hobbies in one area and i used to breed them. Bitterns are quite popular in that area of the SE. I once saw a Merlin there which although i have flown have never seen in the wild. You would get more birds of prey if it was not for the fact that the rabbits are shot due to its geographical area including possibly Buzzards and just maybe as they are slowly on the increase Goshawks but that's mainly because novice falconers are losing them and they are adapting to the wild...

 

PS....I tried not to be anywhere near a Nightingale when i fished and if i did i just stayed up to night fish as whats the point

[Steve Walker]

This morning I chucked the water wolf out for a couple of hours just to see what I could capture. Just reviewing the footage, and so far, no fish. Even twenty odd years after my degree, I must still be an aquatic biology nerd, because I am fascinated by the zooplankton it has filmed!

[Steve Burke]

I've come home to a family problem that's going to need some attention. I won't therefore be able to put up the final scores yet. Please do post on the catch report thread and I'll add the results here in due course.

[Tony U]

It was the most impressive thing i thought about Wingham when i was a member the different wildlife but more so with the birds. Hirudines really were there in flocks one moment and gone in the next. Sparrowhawks are getting very common nowadays and many are spotted up to the gates and like you said i have never seen so many Hobbies in one area and i used to breed them. Bitterns are quite popular in that area of the SE. I once saw a Merlin there which although i have flown have never seen in the wild. You would get more birds of prey if it was not for the fact that the rabbits are shot due to its geographical area including possibly Buzzards and just maybe as they are slowly on the increase Goshawks but that's mainly because novice falconers are losing them and they are adapting to the wild...

 

PS....I tried not to be anywhere near a Nightingale when i fished and if i did i just stayed up to night fish as whats the point

 

 

We were next to Nightingale Alley,what a to go to sleep serenaded by Nightingales! We missed out on hearing the Bittern as the Saturday Rock concert from the Pub in Wickhambreaux drowned it out.

Edited April 27, 2015 by Tony U

[chesters1]

It was the most impressive thing i thought about Wingham when i was a member the different wildlife but more so with the birds. Hirudines really were there in flocks one moment and gone in the next. Sparrowhawks are getting very common nowadays and many are spotted up to the gates and like you said i have never seen so many Hobbies in one area and i used to breed them. Bitterns are quite popular in that area of the SE. I once saw a Merlin there which although i have flown have never seen in the wild. You would get more birds of prey if it was not for the fact that the rabbits are shot due to its geographical area including possibly Buzzards and just maybe as they are slowly on the increase Goshawks but that's mainly because novice falconers are losing them and they are adapting to the wild...

 

PS....I tried not to be anywhere near a Nightingale when i fished and if i did i just stayed up to night fish as whats the point

 

 

We were next to Nightingale Alley,what a to go to sleep serenaded by Nightingales! We missed out on hearing the Bittern as the Saturday Rock concert from the Pub in Wickhambreaux drowned it out.

I always thought the lakes were near lyminge ,now i know

[Steve Walker]

We missed out on hearing the Bittern as the Saturday Rock concert from the Pub in Wickhambreaux drowned it out.

 

M-m-m-my Sharona!