I went for a walk along the sea wall this afternoon after
work. It was a sunny afternoon but with a breezy south south westerly wind. It turned
out to be a short walk as things were a bit too painful to go far and I only
went as far as the beginning of the oyster farm and back. Starlings were
feeding amongst the ruins of the tower and looked very smart in the sunshine and a couple of Pied Wagtail called as they flew past.
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| Starling |
As I headed down to the wall I could see 5 Grey Heron in a
field behind the oyster farm and another one landed in the Little Egret tree
displacing 3 Little Egrets as it came into land and then sitting and looking around.
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| Grey Heron in tree |
After I reached the wall there
was a loud commotion and 8 Redshank alarm called as they flew from the oyster
farm with 5 Little Egrets and 2 Grey Heron were also flying up in various
directions. A group of 180 Linnet wheeled tightly together. I couldn’t at first
see what had caused the alarm but then caught sight of a Peregrine shooting
through. I wasn’t quick enough for a photo but well pleased to have seen it. A Rock Pipit flew from the rocks while on the other side of
the wall Stonechats and Meadow Pipits looked striking in the light.
I sat and watched the sea for a while. It appeared to be
pretty quiet. I had a total of 11 Sandwich Terns west and 5 Gannet east. On the
sea I could see 3 Great Crested Grebe and 1 Red-throated Diver in winter plummage.
I am going to need lots more practice with sea watching. There were several
distant terns but they were too far for me to say with any certainty what they
were.
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| Red-throated Diver |
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| Sandwich Tern |
I headed back and as I reached the rocks opposite the old
caravan park I could see something dark in the water, about 100-150 yards out,
which appeared to be a small bird. At first I wondered if it might be a petrel.
A Black-headed Gull, who was also sitting on the sea, was moving nearer it. I
could see that the small bird was actually a Redwing that presumably had just
not been able to make it far enough to shore. The two birds got closer and then
seemed to sit together with very little distance between them for a couple of
minutes before the gull suddenly tried to grab the Redwing. Somehow the Redwing
managed to lift off the water, evade the gull and made it to the rocks. It was
only when I looked at the photos afterwards that I realised that the gull had been left
with the whole of the Rewing’s tail in its bill. It dropped this when it chased
after the Redwing. I was so pleased that the Redwing managed to make it to the
rocks but I wonder if it will be able to survive losing so much of its tail and
the damage losing it may have done, as well as the exhaustion from the journey.
I did not realise until today that a downed passerine could manage to take off
from the sea. A long time ago I saw a couple of Fieldfare’s come down in the
sea but neither managed to fly again. I walked down the steps and scanned along
the rocks but I could not see the Redwing. I really hope it can make it.
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| Redwing and Black-headed Gull |
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| Redwing and Black-headed Gull |
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| Redwing and Black-headed Gull |
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| Redwing and Black-headed Gull |
I also saw 28 Starling come in off the sea in small groups
and 15 Chaffinch were going west.
Birds I saw included: 1 Rock Pipit, 2 Pied
Wagtail, 4 Stonechat, 15 Meadow Pipit, 3 Great-crested Grebe, 1 Red-throated
Diver, 5 Gannet east, 11 Sandwich Tern west, 7 Grey Heron, 5 Little Egret,
1 Peregrine, 1 Redwing, Starlings, Woodpigeons, Carrion Crows, Black-headed
Gulls, Herring Gulls.
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