A Windy Chambers Wall to Reculver - 26/06/19

It was good to have a day off work today but it was somewhat disappointing to find grey skies were the order of the day with an increasingly strong north easterly wind. I had hoped to catch up with some dragonflies today but that did not look hopeful. Still it could have been worse. It could have been tipping down as well. I decided to head for Chambers Wall and aimed to walk through to Reculver with the hope of finding some sheltered areas on the way.

A Common Buzzard was circling above on arrival and Skylarks were singing away. Small groups of Herring Gulls were making their way over towards the coast. I had a peep in the dyke before starting down the road to Chambers Wall. Apart from one Blue-tailed I could not see any other damselflies but there were 10 or so of what I think are Three-spined stickleback swimming near the surface of the water.

Three-spined sticklebacks

As I walked down the road a couple of Reed Warblers were flitting through the reeds, both carrying food and a Reed Bunting was singing away while a Yellow Wagtail called as it flew over. A faded and tattered Painted Lady butterfly was on the road and appeared to have a small feather protruding from just below its left eye and it must have got caught at some point.

Painted Lady butterfly

A couple of Whitethroat, Reed Warbler and Blackbird were around the car park area with Wren, Dunnock and Chaffinch in song. A Red Admiral butterfly was tucked in out of the wind and a Great Tit peeped out at me as it made its way through the hedgerow. A young Moorhen was down the river while a few Blue-tailed damselflies were tucked down amongst grass stems in sheltered areas. There was a rufescens form as well as a violacea form.

Blue-tailed damsefly rufescens form

Blue-tailed damselfy violacea form

The walk down the track remained quiet. A family of Blue Tits were busy looking for food and a family of 5 Long-tailed Tits also moved through. Swallows and Sand Martins were hawking for insects over the fields. A male Small Red-eyed damselfly was resting up out of the wind, the black 'x'-shaped mark on the top of S10 confirming identification. In the same area I saw a Darkling Beetle Lagria hirta while in amongst the grasses below I could see at least 15 Blue-tailed damselflies resting up.

Small Red-eyed damselfly

Darkling Beetle Lagria hirta 

The walk down to Coldharbour remained quiet for birds. A Pheasant called from the field and Reed and Sedge Warblers could be heard. A Common Tern flew up the river a short way before turning back towards the sea. I could also hear a Coot calling.

Common Tern

Coldharbour itself had 3 Little Egrets on it and a couple of Black-headed Gulls. 5 Meadow Pipits were also there with one perching for a photo on one of the posts. A Moorhen was tucked into the bank. There wasn't any sign of the Shelduck family.

Little Egret

Meadow Pipit

The Shelduck family were roosting on the beach behind Coldharbour and I could see the 2 adults and at least 6 youngsters but there may have been more out of sight. I sat and watched the sea for a while. Overall it was pretty quiet. Small groups of Herring and Black-headed Gulls were heading east and I also saw 8 Great Black-backed Gulls in total and 1 Lesser Black-backed.  Swifts were hawking for insects both over the sea and high above.

Great Black-backed Gull

A Great Crested Grebe was out to sea and a total of 15 Gannet passed east in small groups. Three Common Tern were fishing.

Gannets

Common Tern

I carried on towards Reculver. A couple of Common Tern were resting on the beach while a Black-headed Gull gave some good views as it came past. It had caught a small fish but was unable to keep hold of it and dropped it. It tried catching it off the surface of the water but without success as the fish disappeared deeper. It appeared to be one lucky fish. A couple of Ringed Plover were feeding along the shore line together with 5 Turnstone and 3 Oystercatcher.

Common Tern

Black-headed Gull and fish

Black-headed Gull

I was finding it increasingly difficult to keep my balance in the wind so came down off the sea wall and onto the bottom track to have a look at a sheltered area that was in the lea of a bush. For such a small area it proved to be productive and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing what I could see. A Shaded Broad Bar moth Scotopteryx chenopodiata gave some very nice views, as did what I think is a Pyrausta despicata.

Shaded Broad Bar moth Scotopteryx chenopodiata 

Pyrausta despicata

A Meadow Brown butterfly was tucked well down and a dash of orange amongst the green alerted me to a Small Skipper butterfly, the orange brown on the underneath of the tips of the antennae helping to confirm identification, together with the size and shape of the sex brand.

Meadow Brown butterfly

male Small Skipper butterfly

male Small Skipper butterfly

A Conehead nymph was resting up as was a Small Heath butterfly. The Conehead nymph is either a Long-winged or Short-winged but apparently it is difficult to discern from the nymph. I came across another Small Skipper, a Small Heath butterfly and also a Common Red Soldier Beetle.

Conehead nymph

Small Heath

Common Red Soldier Beetle

I had enjoyed looking here but time was getting on and I needed to get back for a meeting so I headed back up to the sea wall and continued on to Reculver. The wind, if anything, seemed even stronger. Another couple of Common Tern were fishing offshore. It was hard to be sure that I wasn't counting the same Common Terns more than once so I erred on the side of caution and only counted what appeared to be separate birds but I could have counted some twice. A couple of Grey Heron flew up from the oyster farm and 14 Mallard were tucked in out of the wind there together with a little Egret. A Cormorant gave a close fly by. Little groups of Linnet were along the sea wall.

Cormorant

I was pleased when I reached Reculver and as I came down into the car park I got a nice view of a Pied Wagtail. It was good to be out of the wind. Though overall it had been fairly quiet for birds it had still been an enjoyable visit and I was pleased to have had the chance to come.

Pied Wagtail

Birds seen this visit include: 1 Common Buzzard, Skylarks, Herring Gulls, 11 Reed Warbler, 10 Reed Bunting, 4 Yellow Wagtail, 4 Blackbird, 1 Wren, 19 Linnet, Wood Pigeons, 15 Whitethroat, 6 Dunnock, 3 Chaffinch, Great Tits, Cormorants, 2 Moorhen, Rooks, Carrion Crows, Jackdaws, Blue Tits, 5 Long-tailed Tits, 1 Cetti's Warbler, 5 Swallows, 2 Pied Wagtail, 3 Magpie, 14 Sand Martin, 5 Sedge Warbler, 1 Pheasant, 1 Coot, 11 Common Tern, 5 Oystercatcher, 4 Little Egret, 7 Meadow Pipits, 8 Great Black-backed Gull, 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull, 5 Turnstone, 2 Ringed Plover, 12 Swift, 8 Shelduck, 15 Gannet, 1 Great Crested Grebe, 3 Mute Swan, 1 Curlew, 2 Goldfinch, 2 Grey Heron, 14 Mallard,