A Guillemot Passing By - Reculver 28/12/19

I paid a quick visit to Reculver this afternoon. It was very overcast but with next to no wind. I felt really rough today but it was good to be out as I have been able to do very little bird watching this month. I saw a male Sparrowhawk being chased by a Carrion Crow on the way down to Reculver.

There were a couple of Cormorant fishing just offshore but no sign of any little birds on the rocks. A little further along I could see a couple of resting Great Crested Grebes that were well out to sea. A few House Sparrow were around the towers and a couple of Blackbird were feeding on the grass. I only walked a short way along the sea wall, checking out to sea as I went. There were 12 Mute Swan inland as well as some Carrion Crows. I could see a distant Diver out to sea, which may have been the Great Northern Diver that Chris Hindle had seen earlier in the day, but it was too far away for me to be sure. It was definitely not a Red-throated Diver but that was as far as I could go. 

There were a group of 15 Meadow Pipit who were coming down to one of the puddles to have a wash and brush up, one of which allowed a photo. 

Meadow Pipit

Also a couple of House Sparrow joined them as well with the female close enough to try for a photo.

House Sparrow

I had a nice surprise out to sea when a Guillemot swam east while repeatedly diving for food. It is the closest I have seen one. It was still a bit distant for a photo but makes a good memory shot. 

Guillemot

Behind me, on the oysterfarm, a Short-eared Owl came to rest on a post. It was pretty distant but as I love seeing the owls I thought I would take a photo of that as a memory shot as well.

Short-eared Owl on post

I would like to have carried on to see if I could see any Snow Buntings but I felt too rough to go any further so I headed back. It had been really nice to be out. I might see if I can get the scope down to Reculver as it would certainly make looking for divers easier. I saw a couple of Mute Swan on the oyster farm and 3 Redshank as I walked back.

Birds seen this visit include: Black-headed Gull, Herring Gull, 1 Common Gull, 5 Great Black-backed Gull, 4 Brent Geese west, 56 Oystercatcher west, 2 Ringed Plover, 3 Redshank, 14 Mute Swan, 3 Blackbird, 5 House Sparrows, 15 Meadow Pipit, 1 Guillemot, 1 Short-eared Owl, 10 Linnet, 5 Starling, 1 male Sparrowhawk, 3 Great-crested Grebe, 1 Great Northern or Black-throated Diver.