Pied Flycatcher and a Fire Bug - Reculver to Chambers Wall 30/09/20

I headed to Reculver on an almost windless but overcast morning and out to sea there was barely a ruffle on the waters surface in the calm conditions. I passed a couple of Chiffchaff in the bushes up by the towers and as I came down onto the sea wall there were another 6 in the bushes and scrub area suggesting some new birds in. A Little Egret flew over the oyster farm showing clear signs of moult in its flight feathers.

Little Egret

Overall, it appeared very quiet as I headed along the sea wall. 10 Siskin flew west followed a short while later by 10 Skylark and 5 Meadow Pipit in the same direction. Small numbers of Swallow were moving through and a few House Martin. Ringed Plover and Turnstone were restless as several dog walkers were along various parts of the shore.

Turnstone and Ringed Plover

Turnstone and Ringed Plover

The odd Chiffchaff were in various bushes on the other side of sea wall and a male Blackcap popped up briefly and scolded a Stonechat. A Sparrowhawk overhead caused panic amongst the Golden Plover and they wheeled up in alarm. Flocks of Turnstone and Ringed Plover were still back and fore out to sea, appearing dark and light as they banked from showing upper to lower wings. Sadly they did not get much peace as disturbance from people along the shore was quite high today.

Turnstone and Ringed Plover

Turnstone and Ringed Plover

House Martins started to stream through both on the land side and out to sea. They would come through in pulses and were quite a sight and there were many more than I managed to count. 4 Dunlin dropped in with some Sanderling and a little further along Ringed Plover and Sanderling were joining some Turnstone on a rapidly diminishing tideline.

Turnstone and Ringed Plover

Sanderling, Ringed Plover and Turnstone

Ringed Plover

Coldharbour was quiet with just a few Redshank and Black-headed Gulls. I had a sit on the sea wall for a while and out to sea remained quiet although I did see three small flocks of 3, 3 and 4 Little Egrets flying west far out to sea.

Little Egrets

I had a wander along to Chambers Wall which turned out to be surprisingly quiet. A few Chiffchaff were calling but there did not appear to be any new birds in but they might just have been in super skulky mode. The hedgerow alongside the road was, however alive with birds with several Chiffchaff and a lovely Pied Flycatcher.

Pied Flycatcher

Pied Flycatcher

As I neared the pick up point the visit held one last surprise for me. I caught sight of a flash of red on the road and could see an insect scurrying across. I could hear a tractor coming up the road behind me and I wonder if the insect could feel the vibration because it was certainly in a hurry. It did not look right for a Corizus hyoscyami, a bug I have seen before, so I grabbed a few photos before it disappeared into cover and looked it up when I got home. I was really surprised to see that it was a Fire Bug Pyrrhocoris apterus. Not something I would have expected to see here at all as it is nationally very localised and not, as far as I could see, usually in this part of the country. Having checked as much information as I could in books and online I think that I have identified it correctly and wonder how it came to be here and whether it could have been blown in with any of the strong winds we've had recently. It certainly made a very interesting end to the visit and was a little beauty.

Fire Bug Pyrrhocoris apterus

Fire Bug Pyrrhocoris apterus

Fire Bug Pyrrhocoris apterus

Birds seen this visit included: 28 Chiffchaff, 63 Swallow, 6 Pied Wagtail, Starlings, Black-headed Gulls, Herring Gulls, 5 Mute Swan, 2 Dunnock, 4 Wren, 10 Mallard, 4 Grey Heron, 2 Oystercatcher, 9 Redshank, 3 Little Egret, 18 Linnet, 10 Siskin west, 12 Meadow Pipit, 13 Skylark, 1 Pheasant, 7 Stonechat, House, 3 Great Black-backed Gull, House Sparrows, 13 Reed Bunting, 11 Goldfinch, 1 Kestrel, 5 Magpie, 35 Golden Plover, 138 Ringed Plover, 87 Turnstone, 835 House Martin, 3 Blackcap, 1 Sparrowhawk, 78 Sanderling, 4 Dunlin, 3 Robin, 1 Pied Flycatcher

A Gale With Skuas and Gulls - Reculver 25/09/20

I tried for a short sea watch early morning but it proved to be quite quiet so I thought I would give it another go this afternoon. The wind was a very strong gale force north north westerly and became almost pure northerly at times. I tucked into the most sheltered spot I could find which unfortunately still gave very little protection from the wind. The visit started well with a group of Arctic Skua's moving west, as were all of the birds I saw during the afternoon. This turned out to be the largest group I saw during the afternoon and they were quite a sight as they made there way through.

Arctic Skuas

Arctic Skuas

Arctic Skuas

Arctic Skuas

Arctic Skua's continued moving in groups of 2 to 4 birds as well as singles during the afternoon but there were fairly long intervals in between. Great Skua's were also heading past and, once again, there were fairly long intervals between them coming through. A couple were obliging enough to come through a little closer than the others enabling me to try for a photo.

Great Skuas

I had a single, what I thought was a Long-tailed Skua, move west. It kept very low to the sea as it came past but was too far out to get a useable photo. At present I have not got enough experience or enough confidence with my identification of Long-tailed Skuas to be one hundred percent happy that I had identified it correctly so it will have to remain a query. But each of these experiences will only help me to get better at identifying them in time.

In between looking out for whatever was passing by out to sea I enjoyed watching the various gulls that were also moving west and coming in close to the towers as they did so. A lot of photos came out blurred as I was really struggling to hold the camera steady enough in the wind but though none of these are the sharpest of images they give me some good memory shots of what I saw, as well as the chance to see upper and lower wing patterns. The first gulls I tried for were the juvenile Herring Gulls that were giving good views as they came past.

juvenile Herring Gull

juvenile Herring Gull

juvenile Herring Gull

All the adult Herring Gulls coming past were showing signs of wear and various stages of moult in their wings, some with bigger gaps than others.

adult Herring Gull

adult Herring Gull

adult Herring Gull

The Black-headed Gulls looked very smart in the dull light and a first winter gave good views of its upper wing pattern as it came past.

Black-headed Gulls

first winter Black-headed Gull

Small numbers of Common Gulls were heading west and came close in to the towers as they did so. They are beautiful birds.

Common Gull

Common Gull

One of the Great Black-backed Gulls on the move was strikingly plumaged in the light as it came past and I think that it is a 2nd winter bird.

2nd winter Great Black-backed Gull

2nd winter Great Black-backed Gull

2nd winter Great Black-backed Gull

A 3rd winter Herring Gull gave some good views as it moved west. Out to sea I could see 3 distant Common Terns heading west.

3rd winter Herring Gull

3rd winter Herring Gull

3rd winter Herring Gull

3rd winter Herring Gull

It was time to head for home so I grabbed a quick photo of the rough sea to give a reminder of the afternoon. 

Rough Sea

Unfortunately disaster struck as I left when I was blown off my feet by a particularly strong gust of wind and having landed badly it was clear that bird watching was going to cur-tailed, at least for a few days. The fall also damaged the voice recorder I carry so I am unable to put down the numbers of birds that I saw as that was on the recorder. It did not make the best of endings to the visit but I had enjoyed watching the pulses of Skuas that came through and watching the various gulls that passed by close in.

Wheatears, Rainbows and Fishing Terns - Reculver to Coldharbour 24/09/20

I headed for Reculver early afternoon and had a walk up to Coldharbour. Rain was threatening but I started out in some sunshine with a breezy south westerly wind. A Little Egret was flying over as I came past the towers and a pair of Pied Wagtail were on the rocks by the start of the sea wall.

Pied Wagtail

Out to sea appeared quiet with just a few Black-headed Gulls and Herring Gulls around. A single Sand Martin flew west with 3 House Martin and 5 Swallow. Meadow Pipits were calling here and there and 2 Kestrel were hovering over the oyster farm. A Common Blue Butterfly was being buffeted by the wind, as it tried to make its way along, and landed for a rest on the shingle before carrying on.

Common Blue Butterfly

The shore was quiet apart from a couple of Redshank and 4 Turnstone. A single Sandwich Tern made its way west while on the oyster farm a Sparrowhawk surveyed proceedings from one of the posts.

Sparrowhawk

A Pied Wagtail on the shore was making the most of any Cranefly that it could find tucked down amongst the shingle. No sooner had it dispatched one then it was off looking for its next prey item.

Pied Wagtail eating Cranefly

Pied Wagtail eating Cranefly

Pied Wagtail

Small groups of Meadow Pipits were actively feeding amongst the low vegetation on the shingle while always on the look out for danger.

Meadow Pipit

I did well for Wheatear today. Two were in their normal area but it was nice to see another 3 further along towards Coldharbour. One was particularly confiding and did not seemed at all phased by the people going past along the sea wall. 

Wheatear

Wheatear

Wheatear

Wheatear

Wheatear

I had a sit on the sea wall for a while and a Rock Pipit gradually worked its way closer as it searched for food. A Meadow Pipit was equally confiding. 

Rock Pipit

Rock Pipit

Meadow Pipit

The Rock Pipit moved to the other side of a groyne before reappearing with a Cranefly. Overhead another small group of House Martin and Swallow moved west.

Rock Pipit

Out to sea rain clouds were on the move and as the sun broke through I was treated to a changing display of partial rainbows, never forming more than half of the bow but beautiful all the same. The double rainbow did not last long and instead of a pot of gold a ship was at the end of one of the rainbows.

Rainbow

Double Rainbow

Rainbow

It was time to head for home and on the way I saw a good mix of waders with 3 Knot and 2 Bar-tailed Godwit west and Dunlin, Turnstone, Redshank and Ringed Plover along the shore. 35 Oyystercatcher also flew west and 30 Mallard were out to sea.

Oystercatchers

I enjoyed watching the Stonechats that were busy at various points on the walk back and I was never walked far before seeing Pied Wagtail or Meadow Pipit on the shore. Small groups of Sandwich Tern were feeding offshore and I sat at various points along the sea wall to watch them. They made a nice end to the visit. As one shook the water off its head after fishing, with its head turned upwards it almost created the illusion of it flying upside down.

Sandwich Tern

Sandwich Tern

Sandwich Tern

Sandwich Tern

Sandwich Tern

Birds seen this visit included: 5 Little Egret, 17 Pied Wagtail, 20 Meadow Pipit, Black-headed Gulls, Herring Gulls, 1 Sand Martin, 11 House Martin, 12 Swallow, 3 Kestrel, 45 Oystercatcher, 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Wren, 4 Redshank, 35 Turnstone, 5 Wheatear, 18 Sandwich Tern, 3 Corn Bunting, 11 Ringed Plover, 2 Dunlin, 1 Rock Pipit, 1 Coot, 30 Mallard, 25 Linnet, 5 Stonechat, 2 Bar-tailed Godwit, 3 Knot,