At the end of last week, Keith and I met up in Gravesend for a pre-Christmas lunch, but before eating we went for a walk along the riverside to see what wildlife we could find. Last time we did this walk, in November, we had large groups of waders on the tidal mud. but these have moved on and apart from a couple of Ruddy Turnstones on one of the pontoons, there were no waders to be seen. There were 3 species of Gull present (Black-headed, Herring and Common) plus a couple of Cormorants. We also found a Grey Wagtail along with around 5 Pied Wagtails along the front.
As we approached the yacht basin, two Mistle Thrushes were on the Promenade gardens.
In the distance, on the mud beyond the entrance channel, we could see 3 waders on the mud beyond. These turned out to be an Avocet and 2 Redshanks. This was the first time we had seen an Avocet on this part of the river.
We then turned inland to Promenade Gardens where, as in November, there were a large number of Moorhens on the lake together with Mute Swans, Mallard, Black-headed Gulls and a single Pochard, which was our first sighting of this species on a Gravesend walk.
The ravine walk continues to be flooded and so we could only go so far into it, but we were glad we did as we came face to face with a male Sparrowhawk perched in a tree. He let us get so close and then moved further down the ravine. He did this a couple of times till we reached the area of the flooding and then he doubled back past us towards the area where had first seen him.
A brief walk back along the promenade brought us back to the Town centre in time for lunch.
Not the variety of previous trips but it does show that even on seemingly quiet days you can still be surprised at what you find.
Pete's Favourite Things 
Very good write up as usual.