Happy New Year! Short Eared Owls at Rainham

The busy Christmas period drawing 2009 to an end saw just one outing at the silts at Rainham Marshes looking for Short Eared Owls. This visit was unsuccessful with only a small party of Ring Necked Parakeets and a large flock of 100+ Fieldfare found. I returned as the sun was setting on Jan 1st. Up on the silts I found Sir Les of the Garrison and eventually a Short Eared Owl! Also seen were Sparrowhawk, Kestrel, Stonechat and 16 Parakeets noisily heading south over the Thames. We were soon joined by Jono Lethbridge, Bradders Junior and Paul Whiteman who had been out all day busy listing and no doubt freezing! A second SEO was seen towards the Ferry Lane end of the silts before heading home.