Monday 3rd May

After yesterday's deluge it was good to see a few clouds with silver linings!  I was pleased to get out the house for a cycle around Barming Woods with my lads.  Nothing out of the ordinary, more Blackcap and Garden Warbler song, I was hoping to maybe hear a Turtle Dove but the clattering of the coppice in the strong NE put pay to that.  Back at home I was pleased to see three fledgling Dunnocks in the garden - the first young of Spring I've seen.

At a loose end looking after the kids (my wife was working a 12-hour shift) I decided to take them trainspotting - they're both into trains - Lenham Heath seemed the ideal place for some reason!  I was pleased to see the Hoopoe again - such an exotic bird to have in the neighbourhood.  I managed a couple of poor record shots before it took flight, giving fantastic views as it dipped and rose through the air.  Nearby a Willow Warbler was singing, five Linnets were tinkling away and a couple of Swallows sat on the wires in Harrietsham.

Saturday 1st May

Yesterday's Hoopoe was still around at Lenham Heath and with it being so close to a railway line and my litttle lad being a train buff I thought it would hurt to go and have another look.   We arrived in time to see a Javelin train go through - James was happy - and a Hoopoe preening on a fence post next to the line - me happy.  It took flight and landed in the sheep field it's been frequenting of late, where it crept through the long grass giving brief but decent views.  Another train passing spooked it and it took flight over the adjacent cereal field and briefly landed in a dead tree, again giving good scope views, before flying back into the trees by Bowley Lane.  My lad, James, had by this point clocked up four Javelins and two Eurostars and I was pleased with the views I had (better than last night's 15 seconds!) so we moved on.  Good to see fellow local blogger Simon Ginnaw (http://www.motepark.blogspot.com/) there and glad I wasn't the only one straying off patch today!

Driving back along the M20 I noticed what I though was a huge rain cloud.  Sweeping around it was a single Swift, but I soon released it was smoke and as I exited on Jcn 5 I could see it was eminating from the Quarrywood Industrial Estate - Homebase in flames!

It being the first of May I finished the day watching the Kettle Bridge Clogs (http://www.kettlebridgeclogs.org/) dance across Barming Bridge, a tradition that's gone on for at least the last 25 years.

Friday 30th April

An early start - the kids got me up 05:15, so it seemed criminal not to go for the Iberian Chiffchaff that was residing in a wood in Walderslade only 15-20 minutes away.  So just before 06:00 I found myself standing next to Andy Appleton and another birder from Bromley listening and watching this Spanish sprite.  It was noticeably different from my local chiffies - more yellowy tinge and of course the call and song were very distinctive.  Five Swifts overhead, my first of the year, were an added bonus
.

Back in Barming I made another attempt to locate the Cuckoo that everyone apart from me seems to have heard, but no luck.  The first apple blossoms were just starting to unfurl in the orchards just east of South Street.

The cycle into work turned up a showy Garden Warbler on the east side of Oaken Wood, it's bubbling warble competing with a nearby Blackcap. A quick sortie of the paddocks round East Malling turned up my third Wheatear of the week, sitting on a telegraph wire of all places near the Paris Farm paddocks - possibly Wednesday's bird lingering?  Three Swallows were also seen to scythe across the paddock turf.

I finished the day with the briefest of views of the Hoopoe at Lenham Heath.  Good to see it, even if it was for such a short time and good to catch up with a few familiar faces!  All in all not a bad day.