I paid a couple of visits to the Reculver area today. In the morning I walked from Chambers Wall to Reculver and, after a break at home, in the afternoon I went from Reculver to Shuart via the sea wall. It is very unusual for me to have the opportunity for a full day's birding so I tried to make the most of it today. There was a very fresh to strong south south westerly wind throughout the day with sunny intervals and a couple of brief rain showers in the morning.
The morning visit to Chambers Wall started well with a Hobby (132) as I walked down to the car park which was a very welcome, if brief, sight. Skylarks were singing away and a male Marsh Harrier was hunting along a field edge. A couple of Garden Warbler (133) came as a nice surprise. I do not know if they were a pair or competing males. Photography was proving to be a challenge today as I struggled to keep my balance in the wind and to be able to get the camera on subject in time, before the bird moved on and I failed miserably with the Garden Warblers and only got very poor photos of the Hobby. Hopefully I might have more success another time.
The rest of the walk down to Coldharbour was fairly quiet, apart from the usual jobs. I hoped to catch up with a Grasshopper Warbler but did not have any success. Coldharbour was very quiet with only a couple of Redshank on it. A Whitethroat perched on the fence gave some nice views as it sang.
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| Whitethroat |
The tide was almost in with only small areas of exposed mussel beds left. There were a few Oystercatchers and Herring Gull hanging on until the last moment as the tide came in. While I was sat watching a couple of Sandwich Tern passed by first west, then back east, then back west again but otherwise the sea was pretty quiet.
I headed back towards Reculver and came across a smart male Wheatear on the shore. I love watching them, they are beautiful birds.
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| Wheatear |
I could see a Common Tern out on part of the exposed mussel bed, preening, after which it came in and landed on one of the cormorant poles. Another couple of Common Tern called as they flew past and landed on the ribbon of exposed mussel bed that was left. As the first flew to join them they called loudly as they displayed and seemed to give a clear message that three was a crowd and it moved off after stopping briefly.
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| Common Tern |
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| Common Terns |
The highlight of the walk back was a single Little Ringed Plover (134) and a single House Martin west (135). I was well chuffed to see both. I also had 3 groups of Yellow Wagtail west of 4, 6 and 8. A pair of Stonechat were sheltering out of the wind before resuming catching insects from the track parallel to the sea wall.
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| Stonechats |
I had a short walk at the back of the oyster farm and had another Little Egret, a couple of Redshank and a Kingfisher. A Green-veined White Butterfly was active, feeding on some blossom flowers between sheltering in the grass.
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| Green-veined White Butterfly |
As I headed back towards the towers I saw my first dragonfly of the year resting briefly on the concrete running down from the sea wall. I could not manage much of a shot before it moved on, and it is heavily cropped, but I think that it is a male Hairy Dragonfly.
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| Hairy Dragonfly |
On the walk round back to the car park I saw my first Wall Brown of the year. Again, I could not manage much of a photo but they make good memory shots.
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| Wall Brown |
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| Wall Brown |
There was also a striking male Armed Melecta Bee.
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| Armed Melecta Bee |
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| Armed Melecta Bee |
I finished off the morning visit with another Wheatear on the rocks by the car park.
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| Wheatear |
I headed back to Reculver late afternoon and headed along the sea wall. It was still very windy but with good amounts of sunshine. There were a couple of Common Tern on one of the Cormorant posts but they could have been the same pair I saw earlier so I have not counted them again. 7 Sandwich Terns were active off shore and it gave the opportunity to sit on the sea wall and enjoy watching them while trying for some flight photos as they came closer at times.
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| Sandwich Tern |
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| Sandwich Tern |
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| Sandwich Tern |
I headed on towards Coldharbour and had a couple of Wheatear on the shore. They could have been the same two from earlier so I have not counted them again. A Ringed Plover was roosting on the shingle close to the sea wall and did not seem bothered by the people passing by.
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| Ringed Plover |
I saw a total of 9 Mediterranean Gull west. It may have been because of the direction of the wind but I did not hear any calling today.
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| Mediterranean Gulls |
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| Mediterranean Gulls |
27 Sanderling flew into roost and 8 Turnstone were a little further along.
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| Sanderling |
Coldharbour was still very quiet, the only addition from earlier being a Shelduck roosting on the shingle bank. Between Coldharbour and Plumpudding I had another 4 Wheatear bringing the total present to at least 6.
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| Wheatear |
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| Wheatear |
A male Reed Bunting looked very handsome in the sunshine and I could hear a Ring-necked Parakeet calling from over towards the railway embankment. A pair of Shelduck flew past and I tried for a photo.
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| Reed Bunting |
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| Shelduck |
Plumpudding Island was also quiet but there was a pair of Gadwall at the back and a very smart male Whinchat (136).
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| Gadwall pair |
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| male Whinchat |
When I reached the stables there were 6 Pied Wagtails and 10 Yellow Wagtail in the horse paddocks including 1 what I thought at the time was a Blue-headed Wagtail. Since looking through the photos I am not sure if it is a Channel or Blue-headed Wagtail. It was a little too far for getting much in the photo line but at least it does make good memory shots and in time I may be able to work out which it is.
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| Blue-headed or Channel Wagtail |
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| Blue-headed or Channel Wagtail |
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| Blue-headed or Channel Wagtail |
2 Lesser Whitethroat were singing away and as I crossed the railway line I could see 3 Marsh Harriers in the air at the same time. I kept my eyes open for a Barn Owl but did not have any luck. 2 Cetti's Warblers were singing away and the sky looked spectacular as the light began to fade. It made a good end to the visit.
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Birds seen during this visit include: 14 Linnet, 18 Sedge Warbler, Skylarks, 12 Chaffinch, Blue Tit, 18 Goldfinch, 3 Song Thrush, 1 Hobby, 23 Whitethroat, 5 Wren, 3 Marsh Harrier, 5 Blackcap, Blackbird, Carrion Crow, 6 Cetti's Warbler, 6 Chiffchaff, 3 Reed Warbler, 2 Garden Warbler, 2 Long-tailed Tit, 3 Dunnock, 4 Mute Swan, 1 Moorhen, 22 Oystercatcher, Herring Gull, Black-headed Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, 3 Common Tern, 11 Sandwich Tern, 15 Turnstone, 8 Pied Wagtail, 6 Wheatear, 7 Reed Bunting, 16 Swallow, 1 Ring-necked Parakeet, 25 Yellow Wagtail including 10 west in groups of 4 and 6, 3 Little Egret, 1 Little Ringed Plover, 7 Stonechat, 5 Shelduck, 8 Ringed Plover, 18 Meadow Pipits, 5 Redshank, 1 Kingfisher, 10 Mallard, 1 Kestrel, House Sparrows, Starling, 9 Mediterranean Gull west, 23 Sanderling, 3 Lesser Whitethroat, 2 Gadwall, 1 Cuckcoo, 2 Pheasant, 1 Mistle Thrush, 2 Stock Dove
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