I headed to Reculver after work and thought I would have a round trip via the path along the back of the oyster farm, as the sea wall was so busy, and return via the sea wall once it was quieter. It was sunny and warm with building cloud and a south south westerly breeze. 4 Pied Wagtail were around the tower area and as I came down to the bottom path I could see a Wall Brown butterfly. It had a duel with another Wall Brown before settling long enough to allow a photo. They are beautiful butterflies. I was also lucky enough to see the Hummingbird Hawkmoth again in the same area I had seen it last time. A Blackbird was enjoying some berries, but I am not sure what they are. Lots of Gatekeepers were on the wing.
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| Wall Brown Butterfly |
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| Hummingbird Hawkmoth |
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| Blackbird |
I had a look out to sea but it was very quiet with just a few Black-headed Gulls and Herring Gulls on the water. 24 Swallow and 5 Sand Martin were swooping round. A female House Sparrow on the pumping station fence watched a fly as it flew above it and I thought it was going to try for it but it just watched it and then moved on.
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| House Sparrow watching fly |
Some of the Swallows and Sand Martins were coming down to the water at the pumping station to drink. I did not manage to be quick enough or good enough to get much of a photo but I liked the reflection in this one even if the photo is pretty poor.
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| Swallow drinking |
A Common Carpet Moth was sheltering amongst the grass stems and as I moved forward a Marbled White butterfly that had been doing the same thing flew up and after perching briefly moved on. I saw 3 Marbled White Butterflies as I walked along.
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| Common Carpet Moth |
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| Marbled White Butterfly |
3 Little Egrets were on one of the oyster farm lagoons and 15 Black-headed Gulls were roosting on the the roof of one of the buildings. A Redshank was working its way along a muddy margin. 2 Adult Mute Swan were swimming along the dyke but I could not see any cygnets. A Little Egret flew up from the lagoon and landed in one of the small trees giving good views.
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| Little Egret |
A Mute Swan was at the beginning of the next dyke and had 2 cygnets with it. A Grey Heron roosting in one of the fields attracted the attention of a couple of Carrion Crows but it managed to just ignore them and after a few desultory passes they moved on. A couple of mating Picture-winged Flies caught my eye.
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| Mute Swan and cygnet |
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| Picture-winged Fly |
The rest of the walk to the sea wall remained fairly quiet. A Kestrel was hunting over one of the fields and the odd Sedge and Reed Warbler were here and there. An Emperor Dragonfly was on the wing. 2 Little Ringed Plover flew over calling. Even though they were quite high and it is not the best of photos, the lack of a wingbar can be seen clearly.
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| Little Ringed Plovers |
The Starling numbers appeared to have increased with c160 over the sea wall and feeding on the shore. Linnet numbers had also increased with 98 coming in to roost.
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| Starlings |
A juvenile Mediterranean Gull was on the shore and gave some good views and was a beautifully marked bird..
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| juvenile Mediterranean Gull |
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| juvenile Mediterranean Gull |
A colour ringed Golden Plover in full summer plumage was on the shore and was a gorgeous bird. Chris Hindle had seen it earlier in the day but I hadn't expected it to still be present so it was a very nice surprise to be able to catch up with it. It actively looked for food for most of the time that I was watching it. What an absolutely gorgeous bird and a definite highlight of the visit.
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| colour ringed Golden Plover |
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| colour ringed Golden Plover |
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| colour ringed Golden Plover |
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| colour ringed Golden Plover |
I couldn't tell if one of the rings was dark blue or black, the others being yellow, red and white with the dark blue/black coming between the red and the white and appearing to be a little smaller.
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| close up of colour rings |
A little further on a Green Sandpiper was on the oyster farm and 2 Kestrel were busily hunting.
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| Green Sandpiper |
I could see 9 Mallard in the air over the fields at the back of the oyster farm. A couple of Redshank flew up and headed over to the sea and a pair of Oystercatchers were calling noisily as they flew over. A Whitethroat popped up and peeped at me giving some nice views and making a good end to the visit..
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| Whitethroat |
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| Whitethroat |
Birds seen this visit include: 4 Pied Wagtail, 2 Blackbird, Wood Pigeons, House Sparrows, 32 Swallow, 8 Sand Martin, Carrion Crows, 5 Sedge Warbler, 6 Little Egret, 4 Mute Swan and 2 cygnets, 2 Redshank, 98 Linnet, Grey Heron, 7 Reed Bunting, 3 Reed Warbler, 1 Kestrel, 2 Little Ringed Plover, 2 Stonechat, 2 Pheasant, 2 Whitethroat, 1 Golden Plover, 1 Green Sandpiper, 5 Oystercatcher, 9 Meadow Pipit, 3 Mediterranean Gull, 9 Mallard, 1 Yellow Wagtail
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