We needed two  cars for the six of us going to Elmley for the February HBW trip. One to take four direct to the venue while Debbie and I had a pit stop at Clacket Lane Services to get onto the laptop so we could get tickets for Brighton’s away footy match at Sunderland. A crucial stop as there weren’t many tickets still available on the day because we were not eligible to apply the day before. No Wi-Fi connection on laptop or tablet and my phone kept dying as soon as the “pay” sign came up. I was becoming a tad stressed since we had booked our hotel and Brian (in the other car) already had his ticket for the Sunderland end. A major surge of relief when suddenly it all worked! I bet you’re all on the edge of your seats.

So Debbie and I sped off to the meet hoping the others wouldn’t have to wait too long. All was fine until we had crossed onto the Isle of Sheppey at which point the Sat Nav gave us ridiculous directions and it was a while before we got onto the road I knew was right. It was even more time consuming when we realised Wendy (embarrassingly we have a name for our Sat Nav) proved to have been right in the first place. Anyway everyone was very polite and kind when we eventually arrived.

The trip started with a bit of a disappointment. Last year we saw double figures of Short Eared Owls so we were a bit deflated when we were told they were not at Elmley this year but further across Sheppey near Sheerness. In fact the first few hundred yards of our walk was fairly quiet apart from engendering a discussion on whether the creatures in an adjoining meadow were rabbits or Hares. Debbie heard Bearded Tits but this year they kept securely hidden in the dense reed beds. At least Roger started to find Marsh Harriers and things hotted up. This made me feel better and Rikki boosted me up by saying she was having a good time. It’s no picnic being leader!! Things were really starting to happen when Claire found Skylarks and Debbie reported Fieldfares. This was topped off by Brian producing the Extra Strong Mints.

Time whooshes past when you are birdwatching and we realised that we were getting peckish and lunchtime would nicely coincide with us retracing our steps to the car park. Roger’s Polos gave us energy to get there. As soon as sandwiches (the obligatory pasty in Brian’s case) were unwrapped a Robin came to join the party and the House Sparrows seemed to get rather excited.

The post lunch itinerary took us on a path bordered on side by wet meadows and on the other, beyond the seawall, the Swale Estuary. The sheer number of birds was breath taking. A straggly group of Curlews numbered well in excess of 200 and Lapwings were beyond estimation. Golden Plovers, Redshanks, Avocets, Oystercatchers and Starlings dotted the grassland while various duck species took advantage of small bodies of water. When one of the numerous Marsh Harriers or a Sparrowhawk went over the sky became a dense cloud of unimaginable volumes of birds. As you are witnessing, I don’t have the words to describe the thrill of it.

Out on the estuary the story was the same. The water was literally carpeted with ducks. Most prevalent were Wigeon and a member of the reserve staff passing in his jeep stopped and told me that a recent census estimated 31,000 Wigeon. We certainly saw many thousands. As we got our eyes in we started finding other species. There were Shoveler, Mallard, Teal, Pintail, Gadwall and a few Great Crested Grebes. It was while being amazed by this spectacle that I spotted a speeding raptor which I lost sight of as it passed the corner of the viewing screen. Debbie then picked it up and I got onto it again as it disappeared behind a building. It was almost certainly a Merlin but the “almost” word meant we couldn’t add it to our list. We did find a Kestrel though. Debbie provided the hat-trick of mint varieties with a Nuttall’s]’s Minto (at least that’s what we call them) and we moved on. A distant splodge on a fence turned out to be a Buzzard which added variety to the constant Marsh Harrier backdrop. There were very geese which was a bit surprising. Absolutely no Canadas and the few grey geese could not provide any White Fronted so we made do with some small groups of Greylag. There were large numbers of Shelduck, however. Once again time caught up with us and we decided to turn back before the final hide overlooking the estuary. Roger and I had vivid memories of being nearly locked in on one visit when we didn’t realise there was a 4 p.m. closing time. We actually hadn’t read the notice which clearly stated this!

Elmley wasn’t to be the last port of call. A decision was made to divert to the Capel Fleet raptor point where at dusk Harriers and the like start to think about roosting for the night. It was a nightmare drive on probably the worst road in the south of Britain but well worth it. Although we once again missed Owls (both Short Eared and Barn possible) we did see well into double figures of Marsh Harrier coming in plus a few Buzzards wafting around. To make up for not getting a Hen Harrier, we were entertained by a small group of Red Legged Partridges scurrying around here there and everywhere. There’s an outside chance they knew what all the fuss was about. For us it was time to make the long trip home and I am happy to confirm that all my early anxiety that people would not see lots of birds was totally unfounded. Bring on the Owls next year though.