I arrived at Reculver early morning with the aim of an hours sea watch to see if anything was moving. There was a east south easterly wind and, although decidedly misty beyond the red and green buoys, visibility was reasonable nearer to. The tide was mostly in. The usual Robin and Wren were busy amongst the rocks as I walked up to the towers. During the first half an hour there was a small movement of Red-throated Divers with a total of 22 east. The largest group was of 5, with several 3's, otherwise 2's and singles. A total of 154 Oystercatchers came east, mainly in three large groups. Tucked in with the second group was a single Wigeon. A good number of Cormorants were heading south in various sized groups with a total of 444 seen. Otherwise it was fairly quiet with a single Common Scoter east, a Shelduck west, a few Great Black-backed Gulls, 2 Common Gulls and a Curlew east. I was chuffed when I had a very handsome male Pintail (162) east. I tried for some photos but it didn't help that I had the camera set to a far too high a ISO initially, still it does give some memory shots. A small flock of Brent Geese passing below the towers consisted of mainly 1st winters with a single adult.
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| male Pintail |
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| male Pintail |
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| 1st winter and an adult dark-bellied Brent Geese |
As the last 20 minutes of the sea watch remained very quiet I decided to have a wander along the sea wall and see how far I could get. Visibility was dropping throughout the visit as it became increasingly misty and murky. A Golden Plover called as it flew up from one of the fields behind the oyster farm before settling down again. I watched a Kingfisher making a few unsuccessful dives from the pumping station before being flushed by a dog walker. A small group of 4 Goldfinches were feeding on the shore close to the sea wall and I enjoyed watching them as they extracted seeds. They are beautiful birds.
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| Goldfinches |
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| Goldfinch |
One of the Herring Gulls on the shore appeared to have markedly larger 'mirrors' than the other, less streaking and a piercingly pale eye. It also appeared larger. Is this down to individual variation, age variation, or could one be argenteus and the other argentatus? I need to get a lot better at gulls before I can answer that.
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| Herring Gull |
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| Herring Gull |
The tide was starting to go out as I made my way up to Coldharbour and 23 Redshank had congregated on one of the first small areas of exposed shore together with a few Turnstone and Ringed Plover. Small groups of Brent Geese were moving off giving an opportunity to try for some take off shots.
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| Redshanks, Turnstones and Black-headed Gull |
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| Brent Geese |
On reaching Coldharbour a Little Grebe was tucked into the bank and a Little Egret flew in and started to search for prey items along the waters edge.
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| Little Egret |
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| Little Egret |
After a break I decided to head back towards Reculver rather than push on any further. A couple of Mute Swan were on the river as were 4 Coot. While scanning round I caught sight of a bird flying east inland and was well chuffed when I realised that it was an Egyptian Goose (163). Now that came as a very nice surprise and I tried for some photos. They are very poor and heavily cropped but are enough to confirm that it was indeed an Egyptian Goose and a very welcome sight indeed.
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| Egyptian Goose |
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| Egyptian Goose |
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| Egyptian Goose |
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| Egyptian Goose |
As I continued on towards the green bank junction a couple of Shleduck were on the shore and a single Teal was amongst 6 Mallard. A Lesser Black-backed Gull flew past out to sea as did a single Red-throated Diver. 3 Mute Swan gave a fly past.
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| Shelduck |
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| Teal and Mallard |
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| Mute Swans |
A couple of Grey Plover were on the shore and I enjoyed watching them until they were flushed by a dog walker.
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| Grey Plover |
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| Grey Plover |
The mist by Reculver was thinning somewhat as I approached while over a still misty oyster farm a male Marsh Harrier made the same rise and fall manoeuvre several times as it flew along the rear green bank. I am not sure what the purpose of the manoeuvre was as to whether it gave a better view for checking for prey or whether the bird was getting a better view of its surroundings. Whatever the reason it was obviously enough for the Marsh Harrier to do it repeatedly as it flew following the green bank.
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| Reculver |
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| male Marsh Harrier |
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| male Marsh Harrier |
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| male Marsh Harrier |
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| male Marsh Harrier |
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| male Marsh Harrier |
On the shore I had another Grey Plover who was also flushed by yet another dog walker walking along the shore. The birds really do not get any peace here at all. I felt sorry for the Grey Plover but it did give the opportunity for a shot as it took off. They are beautifully marked birds and their black armpit is striking.
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| Grey Plover |
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| Grey Plover |
It was good to reach Reculver as walking hadn't been a strong point today but it had been an enjoyable and productive visit and I felt very lucky to have been able to have had the time out.
Birds seen this visit included: 3 Robin, 1 Wren, 23 Red-throated Diver, 154 Oystercatcher east, 1 Wigeon east, 5 Gannet west, 6 Great Black-backed Gull east, 444 Cormorant, 1 Common Scoter east, 1 Shelduck west, 1 Curlew east, 1 male Pintail east, 106 Brent Geese, 1 Golden Plover, 5 Blackbird, 1 Kingfisher, 32 Redshank, 4 Goldfinch, Carrion Crows, Wood Pigeons, 7 Mute Swan, 32 Ringed Plover, 1 Grey Heron, 5 Stonechat, 3 Meadow Pipit, 3 Reed Bunting, 29 Turnstone, 4 Coot, 2 Shelduck, 11 Mallard, 2 Little Egret, 2 Little Grebe, 15 Linnet, 1 Blue Tit, 1 Teal, 2 Sanderling, 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull, 1 Egyptian Goose, 1 Common Buzzard, 3 Grey Plover, 1 Marsh Harrier,
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