I headed for Reculver for my first visit after being away. I want to make the most of the few days of annual leave I have left before I have to go back to work so I thought I would aim for a longer visit today. It was sunny with a west south westerly wind when I arrived and the tide was on the way out. The group of Starlings were up around the towers area again with many of them foraging on the concrete apron or down on the sea weed covered rocks and finding insects etc amongst the tufts of vegetation or seaweed. Good numbers of House Sparrow were flitting between the grassy areas and down to the nearly exposed debris left at the foot of the rocks.
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| Starling |
As I headed along the sea wall to the oyster farm a few Black-headed Gulls and Herring Gulls were on the shore but overall it appeared to be very quiet. Nearing the oyster farm I caught sight of a Kingfisher as it flashed through and 2 Common Sandpiper flew up calling while another answered from the shore. 3 Redshank were working their way around the edge of a dyke. Once again I saw a couple of large flocks of Mallard go up over the far fields at the same time and there appeared to be approximately 100 of them altogether so the numbers are still increasing. Once again I could not see what had put them up.
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| part of the flock of Mallards |
A flock of 15 Common Tern flew west, out to sea, followed by a couple of Sandwich Tern. I saw another couple of Grey Heron flying over the oyster farm and Meadow Pipit and Linnet were busy moving from the sea wall to the shore. It was nice to see a couple of Whinchat, they are lovely birds. They remained fairly distant but were a joy to watch.
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| Whinchat |
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| Whinchat |
A Sandwich Tern was fishing off shore and successfuly caught several fish and I had small numbers passing west during the visit of both these and Common Terns. A female Sparrowhawk shot through the oyster farm and sent up a cloud of 88 Linnet in alarm. I saw 4 duck flying west fast out to sea and as they neared I could see that they were Shoveller. They suddenly did an abrupt turn and headed inland before flying east again.
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| Sandwich Tern fishing |
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| Shovelers |
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| Shovelers |
Redshank, Turnstone and Ringed Plover were on the shore and also 3 Sanderling. 2 Yellow Wagtail were repeatedly chased by Meadow Pipits before moving on. I could hear a Great Spotted Woodpecker calling and a moment later one flew from one of the bushes by the sea wall and headed towards Chambers Wall. The dog walker that was approaching along the bottom path also made a Grey Heron make a hasty exit from the dyke before taking off. They are always such an impressive sight as they take off.
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| Grey Heron |
I could see a Green Sandpiper on the oyster farm and as I neared Coldharbour 2 Coot and a Mute Swan were on the dyke. Coldharbour appeared quiet when I arrived with just a few Black-headed Gulls. As I walked round I could see a Redhank and a Common Sandpiper. 3 Yellow Wagtails were calling frequently and very active and a couple of Reed Bunting were amongst the seed heads. Swifts were continuing to pass west in small numbers as they headed over the fields. I turned off the sea wall and headed towards the embankment. A Sedge Warbler gave as a nice view as it perched in a bush and a Willow Warbler was moving rapidly through.
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| Sedge Warbler |
I decided to head along the embankment to Shuart. Blue Tits and Great Tits were moving through the bushes on the embankment and the odd Whitethroat was seen but othewise it was very quiet for birds. 5 Migrant Hawkers were on the wing and I saw several Common Darter as well. A female Holly Blue butterfly partly opened her wings as she sunbathed.
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| Migrant Hawker |
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| Common Darter |
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| female Holly Blue Butterfly |
I saw some very pretty female Common Blue butterflies. The males were very active but one did pause long enough to allow for a photo.
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| female Common Blue Butterfly |
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| female Common Blue Butterfly |
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| male Common Blue Butterfly |
A Painted Lady butterfly had large areas missing from its wings but was still managing to fly well. A Silver-Y Moth flew up from the vegetation and after settling again it sat vibrating its wings.
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| Painted Lady Butterfly |
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| Silver-Y Moth |
A female Mute Swan was with a couple of cygnets in a dyke and a Grey Heron was on the bank as I neared where I would turn off for Shuart. The walk through to Shuart was also very quiet overall. A Chiffchaff and a Willow Warbler were both working their way through the hedgerow. 6 young Mallard were keeping tightly together down one of the dykes and a couple of Coot were also there. I heard at least 3 Green Woodpeckers calling away. I could not manage to find any other hawkers except for Migrant Hawkers.
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| Migrant Hawker |
I finished the visit listening to a couple of Wrens singing away with gusto. It had been nice, even though it was fairly quiet for birds, to have the opportunity for a longer wander today.
Birds seen this visit include: 3 Little Egret, 13 Oystercatcher, Starlings, House Sparrows, 3 Pied Wagtail, Cormorants, Black-headed Gulls, 107 Mallard, 29 Meadow Pipit, 1 Kingfisher, 3 Common Sandpiper, 105 Linnet, Carrion Crow, 6 Redshank, 6 Grey Heron, 24 Common Tern, 10 Sandwich Tern, 7 Swallow, 2 Turnstone, 4 Magpie, 2 Whinchat, 1 Sparrowhawk, 3 Sanderling, 4 Shoveller, 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 14 Swift, 11 Ringed Plover, 6 Turnstone, 5 Yellow Wagtail, Carrion Crow, 1 Green Sandpiper, 7 Coot, 6 Mute Swan, 2 Willow Warbler, 1 Sedge Warbler, Blue Tits, Great Tits, 4 Whitethroat, 1 Reed Warbler, 1 Kestrel, 1 Chiffchaff, 1 Great Black-backed Gull, 3 Green Woodpecker, 3 Wren, Blackbirds, Robins,
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