I paid a visit to Bishopstone this afternoon. There was a breezy south westerly wind with sunny intervals. The Glen appeared to be surprisingly quiet for birds but certainly not for dog walkers with a constant stream of them moving through. I cannot imagine that the birds get a lot of peace here. As I headed through I caught up with a fair number of common birds but surprisingly did not see a Goldcrest. A Great Spotted Woodpecker called and a couple of Jays gave some nice views as they flew from tree to tree. A Grey Squirrel peeped out at me as I passed and a profusion of small mushrooms grew at the base of one of the trees.
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| Grey Squirrel |
I made my way down to the shore and there were 10 Common Gulls mixed in with the Black-headed Gulls that were dotted along the shoreline, with another 5 further along. I enjoyed the opportunity to watch them for a while
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| Common Gull |
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| Common Gull |
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| Common Gull |
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| Common Gull |
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| Common Gull |
4 Redshank were nervously patrolling the shoreline and a Rock Pipit was busy searching for food.
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| Redshank |
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| Rock Pipit |
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| Rock Pipit |
I came across a good variety of mushrooms. The Parasol Mushroom was huge and was the largest I have seen, easily the size of a dinner plate. There was another large one higher up that gave the chance to see the underside well.
With the tide a fair way out I decided to head along the shore to Reculver. I watched fascinated as a Carrion Crow flew up several times with the same bit of seaweed. The first couple of times it dropped it onto the sand before landing and picking though it. It then tried a different tack of teasing it out mid air before landing and, once again, picking through it.
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| Carrion Crow |
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| Carrion Crow |
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| Carrion Crow |
I had hoped for some waders but with the afternoon turning fine and sunny the shore proved to be popular with both dog walkers and walkers and there was a steady stream through and apart from another few Redshank and a Curlew going past out to sea I didn't see any other waders. A couple of Little Egret gave some good views as they came past with their yellow feet showing well in the sunshine.
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| Little Egret |
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| Little Egret |
A small group of Brent Geese dropped in briefly with more flying west while chattering away.
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| Brent Geese |
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| Brent Goose |
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| Brent Geese |
On reaching the car park at Reculver I was greeting by a gorgeous little Wren and a very smart Pied Wagtail making a nice finish to the visit.
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| Wren |
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| Pied Wagtail |
Birds seen this visit included: 15 Blackbird, 7 Blue Tit, 1 Long-tailed Tit, 11 Chaffinch, 4 Wren, House Sparrows, 6 Robin, 4 Dunnock, 5 Collared Dove, 3 Jay, Herring Gull, Carrion Crows, Black-headed Gulls, 3 Goldfinches, Starlings, 3 Great Tit, 2 Magpie, 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 15 Common Gull, 5 Great Black-backed Gull, 9 Redshank, 1 Curlew, 2 Little Egret, 48 Brent Geese, 1 Pied Wagtail
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