I came to Reculver on a beautiful morning with the sun rising into a clear blue sky and with next to no wind. The tide was starting to go out and the sea was very calm. As I approached the towers I had a very confiding Wheatear on the grass who did not seem to mind my presence at all. It was nice to be treated to such a close view as it moved closer to me. Unfortunately I didn't get long to admire it as 3 cyclists came up, with one of them on the grass, and it flew towards the rocks by the car park but it had made a lovely start to today's visit.
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| Wheatear |
A group of Black-headed Gulls were resting up on the rocks below the towers and several rabbits were out feeding on the grassy areas. Out to sea appeared to be very quiet with only the odd Black-headed or Herring Gull flying past. I had a couple of Robin on the way down to the sea wall and a Kestrel flying over the towers lead to a lot of alarmed chirping from the House Sparrows. I saw 4 Little Egret over the oyster farm and another Wheatear on the rocks with another couple seen, at the same time, on the beach made a welcome sight.
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| Wheatear |
It was nice to see that both Whinchat were still present but one of them was having a fairly rough time from a male Reed Bunting that was regularly flying up at it to dislodge it from the bush. Once it moved the Reed Bunting seemed to lose interest. 2 Stonechat were also out fly catching. I came across 2 Common Tern roosting on the beach with some Black-headed Gulls. A little further along there was a group of waders with 22 Ringed Plover spread along the shore, and 12 Sanderling and a couple of Dunlin roosting together. I couldn't manage much in the photo line but they make good memory shots for me.
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| Common Tern |
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| Sanderling and Dunlin |
The walk up to Coldharbour remained fairly quiet. Some Common and Sandwich Terns had started to be on the move with the largest group being 15 Common Tern flying west. Both Hobby and Sparrowhawk were patrolling and both were met with alarm calls from Meadow Pipits and Swallows. Coldharbour itself was very quiet with just a few Black-headed Gulls. A Common Sandpiper called as it flew to cover. Meadow Pipits appeared to be chasing the couple of Yellow Wagtails present and there also appeared to be several clashes between Linnet and Meadow Pipit. I turned off the sea wall and headed up to Chambers Wall. I could see a Mute Swan and 5 Coot in the dyke. One of the Coot swam parallel with me for a while before it spotted me and headed for cover. A Cormorant flying down the river was moulting several of its flight feathers.
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| Coot |
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| Cormorant |
I came across some Peacock caterpillars on some nettles. Quite a few of them had white/clear spines and white prolegs rather than the usual black spines and orange prolegs. I wondered if the ones with white/clear spines had recently shed their skin and whether the spines change colour as they harden and age. I could not get much of a photo as they were fairly far into the nettle patch but it does show several with white/clear spines.
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| Peacock Caterpillars - some with white/clear spines and white prolegs |
Common Toadflax was in patches along the side of the path and was proving attractive to some bees. A Common Blue butterfly went from unseen with its wings closed to glowing like a blue jewel amongst the grass as it opened them to sunbath. They are beautiful butterflies.
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| Common Toadflax |
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| Common Blue Butterfly |
A Willow Emerald showed well and a Common Darter settled at eye level and gave some super views. Several Migrant Hawkers were on the wing and settled now and then.
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| Willow Emerald |
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| Common Darter |
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| Migrant Hawker |
It remained fairly quiet for birds but with all of the usual jobs present. A Common Buzzard was soaring high up and a little further along I was treated to some super views of a large female Sparrowhawk soaring right overhead.
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| Sparrowhawk |
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| Sparrowhawk |
It made a nice end to the visit.
Birds seen this visit include: 4 Wheatear, 2 Robin, Starlings, House Sparrows, Black-headed Gulls, Herring Gulls, Wood Pigeons, 4 Carrion Crows, 3 Kestrel, 8 Swallow, 5 Goldfinch, 2 Cormorant, 65 Linnet, 5 Little Egret, 6 Pied Wagtail, 5 Redshank, 8 Reed Bunting, 14 Turnstone, 2 Mallard, 2 Common Sandpiper, 26 Meadow Pipits, 2 Whinchat, 18 Whitethroat, 2 Stonechat, 1 Grey Heron, 9 Sandwich Tern, 12 Sanderling, 25 Ringed Plover, 2 Dunlin, 17 Common Tern, 1 Hobby, 7 Sedge Warbler, 3 Sparrowhawk, 2 Mute Swan, 5 Coot, 1 Oystercatcher, 1 Magpie, 6 Yellow Wagtail, Chiffchaff, 3 Reed Warbler, 2 Pheasant, 1 Green Woodpecker, 2 Moorhen, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 2 Wren, 2 Magpie, 2 Blackbird, Blue Tits, Great Tits, 1 Common Buzzard,
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