Purple Sandpipers, Shag, and Common Whelk Egg Casings - Reculver to Coldharbour 27/12/19

It was good to be able to head to Reculver this afternoon as I have been unable to bird watch for a fair while so it was great to be out. It was very overcast, dull, and slightly misty with an almost non-existant north westerly wind. The tide was in and the sea appeared quiet with just a few Black-headed and Herring Gulls loafing around off-shore and the odd Cormorant on the move. I always enjoy watching Cormorants coming into land on the marker poles as they put the breaks on and, for such a large bird, manage to judge it superbly and step gently down to land, spread wings and tail, and skillfully controlled wing beats providing all the breaking power they need.

Cormorant coming into land

Both the sea wall and the shore were very busy with visitors and dog walkers so it did not bode well for birds and ahead I could see that dog walkers clambering over the rocks had disturbed a small group of waders that included 2 Purple Sandpipers (164). One of them headed past Reculver, but too far out for a photo, while the other turned back and I lost it from view. I would really have liked to have been able to have seen them on the rocks but I just hoped that I might be lucky and be able to catch up with one further along. A Rock Pipit landed briefly before carrying on and I enjoyed watching a small flock of Sanderling coming into land.

Sanderling

A couple of Redshank called from the oyster farm and another was searching for food along the tide line. 3 immature Mute Swans circled around a couple of times before coming down on the oyster farm. Along the shore there were large numbers of Common Whelk egg casings spread along the tide lines and they had also collected in hollows in the shingle.

Common Whelk Egg Casings

Common Whelk Egg Casings

A Stonechat was busy looking for insects as I neared the green bank and a male and female Chaffinch were calling to each other. I could hear Corn Buntings calling from the oyster farm but could only see 12 although there sounded like there were a fair number more. A Common Buzzard was at the back of the oyster farm. I had a sit on the sea wall for a while and out to sea 3 Teal and 4 Wigeon flew west.

Teal and Wigeon

It was a fairly quiet walk up to Coldharbour with just the odd Turnstone dotted here and there along the shore. I could see 78 Oystercatchers and 10 Curlew roosting as I neared Coldharbour while Coldharbour itself was quiet with just 13 Redshank roosting on it and the immature Mute Swan near its favourite spot.

Immature Mute Swan

c370 Brent Geese were in one of the fields and seemed unperturbed by the gas guns that were going off nearby. A Little Egret was in a nearby field and it appeared beautifully graceful as it came into land having moved to a new part of the field to try its luck there. A flock of 30 Corn Bunting flew over with the air alive with contact calls.

Brent Geese

Brent Geese

Little Egret

I had originally planned to head for Chambers Wall but with walking still pretty problematic I decided to head back the way I had come as the sea wall allowed for plenty of sitting points. It turned out to be a good decision. A Herring Gull that had managed to catch a good size fish managed to hold its nerve as it was chased by a Great Black-backed Gull and a couple of other Herring Gulls. It managed to evade them all and flew strongly away still carrying its prize. I was chuffed when I caught sight of a 1st winter Purple Sandpiper roosting on some rocks, it blended in extremely well and was a very welcome sight. What a little Beauty.

1st winter Purple Sandpiper

I sat and waited to see if it would wake up and after a little while it did precisely that and had a wander, this way and that, across the rock picking here and there amongst some of the cracks in the rocks to see what it could find. Though the light was fading fast I was treated to some lovely views of a beautiful wader.

1st winter Purple Sandpiper

1st winter Purple Sandpiper

1st winter Purple Sandpiper

1st winter Purple Sandpiper

1st winter Purple Sandpiper

1st winter Purple Sandpiper

1st winter Purple Sandpiper

As I neared Reculver 20 Common Scoter flew east and a single Red-throated Diver was fishing distantly off shore. 2 male Pheasants were in dispute over on the oyster farm.

Red-throated Diver

I finished the visit with a nice surprise when I saw an immature Shag busy preening on the rocks below the towers. The light by then had almost completely gone so I tried taking some photos at the highest ISO the camera can do. The photos are very noisy but they make good memory shots and I was very pleased to get them. The pale legs and feet were striking in the poor light. It made a very nice end to the visit.

immature Shag

immature Shag

immature Shag

immature Shag

Birds seen this visit included: Herring Gulls, Black-headed Gulls, Cormorants, Starlings, House Sparrows, 6 Blackbirds, 24 Sanderling, 2 Purple Sandpiper, 15 Redshank, 5 Great Black-backed Gull, 13 Meadow Pipit, 14 Ringed Plover, 1 Rock Pipit, 6 Mute Swan, 3 Magpie, 1 Stonechat, 2 Chaffinch, 6 Turnstone, 1 Common Buzzard, 42 Corn Bunting, 3 Teal, 4 Wigeon, 10 Curlew, 78 Oystercatcher, 7 Reed Bunting, 7 Skylark, 78 Oystercatcher 10 Curlew, c370 Brent Geese, 1 male Marsh Harrier, 6 Wren, 4 Coot, 20 Common Scoter, 1 Robin, 1 Shag