Last week Keith and I made our annual trip to New Hythe and Leybourne in search of Nightingales. We started at Snodland station and walked down through New Hythe Lakes. In was a hot sunny day and boded well for our search.
We were immediately serenaded by a singing Nightingale, but despite our best efforts we were unable to find it in the trees and bushes. We heard two or three more singing males as we made our way along the side of the lake. Normally when we reached the bottom of the first lake we continue on to cross the railway into Leybourne Country Park. But this day we found a padlocked gate blocking the footpath, which meant we had to find a new way or else turn back.
We decided to take a path between the two lakes, heading towards the River Medway and continued to hear singing Nightingales along with Blackcaps, Chiffchaffs and Cetti’s Warblers. Eventually we reached the river and were able to look out over the marshes opposite where we could hear one or possibly two Cuckoos calling.
Our path now took us alongside the River Medway, where there was a single Shelduck and a Cormorant. Cetti’s Warblers continued to call from the far bank and we could still hear a Cuckoo.
Eventually we arrived at New Hythe Station and were able to make our way back into the Country Park.
One of the first things we saw was a family of Canada Geese
We decided, because of the time lost by our diversion and the increasing heat, that rather than do our usual walk we would focus on the area known as the Railway Scrub.
So we made our way there to have lunch. As we arrived two Eurasian Hobbies flew over and during lunch we could hear garden warbler, Whitethroat and Lesser whitethroat singing around us. We located the whitethroat in a tree adjacent to where we were sitting. As we finished lunch another Hobby flew through in the same direction as the previous two. After lunch we started to explore the scrub area looking for the other two warblers. A surprising finding was two Grizzled skippers resting on the bare ground.
We didn’t manage to find the warblers although the Lesser Whitethroat continued to sing from the bushes. Then it was time to make our way back to New Hythe station for the journey home. A final bonus was as we sat on the station a Peregrine Falcon flew over.
A good visit. plenty of Nightingales and other warblers heard, if not seen. In addition we recorded 11 species of Butterfly, the highlight being the Grizzled Skippers and 3 species of Dragonfly
Pete's Favourite Things 