Great Northern Diver, Gannets and a Leucistic Mallard - Reculver to Shuart 30/10/20

There was a breezy south westerly wind as I walked from Reculver this morning with some sunny intervals and out to sea the tide was coming in quite fast. The rocks by the car park were quiet with even the local Robin seemly keeping its head down in the wind. A single Brent Goose was out by the point and 3 Pied Wagtails on the grass by the towers as I made my way to the sea wall. Overhead 5 Swallow flew west and coming up to the oyster farm I could see a single Turnstone and 17 Ringed Plover roosting on the shore with a few Black-headed Gulls. Out to sea appeared quiet apart from any gulls that were on the move. A Grey Seal popped its head up briefly, showing its head profile well, but submerged again moments later and that was the last I saw of it. I had a sit on the sea wall for a while and enjoyed watching the few Gannets that were on the move with most heading west. They were mainly very distant but one came through closer in and shone brightly against the sky.

Gannet

Gannet

As I carried on a few Great Black-backed Gulls were off shore or heading east. 10 Sanderling and 17 Ringed Plover flew east in a mixed flock and a single Great Crested Grebe lifted off from the sea and headed west. Skylarks were calling from above and 5 Chaffinch flew west. I was watching a Turnstone tossing sea weed around on the shore and idly looked up to see a large thickset diver flying west. Looking good for a Great Northern I grabbed a few photos which, though they are really bad and heavily cropped, do give me a couple of memory shots of a very welcome and smart Great Northern Diver. What a beautiful sight.

Great Northern Diver

Great Northern Diver

Carrying on towards the Green Wall I caught up with more Turnstone and Ringed Plover and a couple of Redshank called from the oyster farm. I had a flock of 11 Little Egret flying west and they are always quite a sight in a large flock.

Little Egret

I paused again to watch a Turnstone as it looked for food amongst the items left behind at the high tide line. Bits of seaweed were flying this way and that as it tossed them aside.

Turnstone

Turnstone

A little further on some Ringed Plover were roosting on one of the shingle ridges. Most were hunkered down from the wind but one intrepid Ringed Plover was excelling in the art of standing on one leg despite being repeatedly buffeted by the wind.

Ringed Plover

Ringed Plover

Out to sea 48 Mallard flew west before wheeling round and heading back east and coming down near Coldharbour. There appeared to be a very pale duck amongst them so I hoped it would still be around if I caught up with them again. A Great Crested Grebe flew west and another few Gannet were also heading west.

Mallard

During another sit on the sea wall I enjoyed watching a Gannet also giving a closer flypast before it carried on west, plunge diving at one point for fish before carrying on. A Sandwich Tern followed the Gannet in before carrying on east.

Gannet

Sandwich Tern

I couldn't hear the Water Rail today, when I reached the junction with the Green Wall but the wind was steadily picking up and made hearing calls difficult. Another 7 Chaffinch flew west. A Cormorant flew in and successfully ousted a sitting bird off the marker pole before sitting with its feet holding on to the edge to help keep itself in place.

Cormorants

Cormorants

A few Common Gull were flying west in ones and twos as I made my way along towards Coldharbour. 3 Corn Bunting paused briefly at the top of one of the bushes before carrying on towards the oyster farm and a Rock Pipit flew along the shore. A Kestrel showed its total mastery of the air as it hovered perfectly facing into an increasingly strong and gusty breeze yet managing to keep rock steady. As I neared Coldharbour another Gannet started to fly in closer before continuing west. They are striking birds and I love watching them.

Gannet

Gannet

Gannet

Coldharbour held the usual two Mute Swans and 16 Redshank were roosting on the bank. A Little Egret was disturbed as two dog walkers walked along the shingle bank at the back and gave a great view of its wings as it moved over before watching the dog walkers warily and only settling down again to roost once they were well past. The Redshank alarmed called but held their nerve today, instead of their usual panicked response, and stayed put until the people had gone past.

Little Egret

Little Egret

Once I reached the other side of Coldharbour I had another sit on the sea wall and enjoyed watching the small numbers of Common Gull that were heading west and giving good views as they came past.

1st winter Common Gull

1st winter Common Gull

2nd winter Common Gull

The Mallards I had seen flying earlier were still steadily drifting east and rather obligingly came straight past me giving the chance to catch up with the pale bird which appeared to be a leucistic Mallard. The flock size had increased to 94.

leucistic Mallard

leucistic Mallard

leucistic Mallard

Four Brent Geese were off shore and after lifting off they gave some good views as they flew in. The first winter birds pale upperwing covert tips showing well and as the geese turned in the sunshine their flanks shone, appearing quite pale before becoming the usual darker colour once again as the birds turned from the light.

Brent Geese

Brent Geese

The weather appeared to be going off with threatening rain but I decided to try and continue through towards Shuart as it is unlikely that I will get much chance for bird watching for the next few days. As I neared Plumpudding I could see some Grey Plover ahead roosting on the shingle edge.

Grey Plover

A flock of 58 Sanderling came into land with a few Turnstone and 28 Ringed Plover. I could see some kids heading along the beach and next second all the waders took to the air. There turned out to be 20 Grey Plover and also 1 Dunlin tucked in with them.

Grey Plover and Turnstone

Eleven Brent Geese were in one of the fields beside the sea wall and did not seem too perturbed by the people passing by.

Brent Geese

Brent Geese

12 Redshank were roosting on Plumpudding Island but apart from a Stonechat and a couple of Meadow Pipit all else was quiet there.

Redshank

By the time I sat on the sea wall on the other side of Plumpudding the Mallard flock were still drifting east and gave me another chance to catch up with the leucistic Mallard. It was certainly a pretty duck.

leucistic Mallard

I could see 8 Curlew and c80 Oystercatcher roosting at the back of Plumpudding but they were too far away to see what else may be amongst them. Nearing the turn off for the stables a flock of House Sparrows were flying down to the rocks and small flocks of Chaffinch continued to head west now and then. A couple of Goldfinch flew from the Teasels and another 3 Pied Wagtail were along the shore. I have certainly done well for Pied Wagtail today. A couple of Sandwich Tern headed west.

Sandwich Tern

As I passed the stables I could see 3 Lapwing in one of the paddocks but otherwise it was surprisingly quiet and I could only see the usual jobs. Making my way through Shuart there were 42 Stock Dove in one of the fields feeding on the remnants from the harvested Sweetcorn crop. 5 Magpie and a couple of Mute Swan had also joined them together with a flock of Wood Pigeon and some Feral Pigeons.

Stock Doves

Stock Doves

I disturbed 3 Common Darter from the ground at various points as I walked along the track at Shuart, having missed them each time until they flew. I hoped that they might resettle within sight but none of them played ball today. A Mistle Thrush called and a couple of Redwing and a few Blackbird were making the most of the berries. A mixed flock of Blue, Great and Long-tailed Tits were making their way rapidly through the hedgerow but I could see how many of each. I paused to take a photo of a Robin and it flew over to take a closer look before disappearing back into the hedgerow.

Robin

Robin

Three Green Woodpecker were alongside the track and a couple of Jay alarm called as I passed by. 2 Ring-necked Parakeet were vocal and gave a fleeting view as they appeared briefly above the trees. A Migrant Hawker was on the wing despite the cool conditions. I finished the visit watching a Grey Squirrel that was busily burying its food cache for the winter.

Grey Squirrel

Grey Squirrel burying food cache

Birds seen this visit included: 16 Brent Goose, 20 Pied Wagtail, 11 Blackbird, Herring Gulls, Black-headed Gulls, 13 Magpie, 8 Mute Swan, 15 Swallows west, 38 Starling west, 6 Robin, 10 Meadow Pipit, 88 Turnstone, 109 Ringed Plover, 6 Great Black-backed Gull, 2 Great Crested Grebe, 6 Stonechat, 16 Gannet 13 west 3 east, 6 Sandwich Tern, 6 Reed Bunting, 1 Rock Pipit, 3 Corn Bunting, 31 Redshank, 12 Skylark, 6 Wren, 36 Chaffinch west, 68 Sanderling, 1 Great Northern Diver, 12 Little Egret, 97 Mallard, 4 Kestrel, 9 Common Gull, 20 Grey Plover, 1 Dunlin, 8 Curlew, c80 Oystercatcher, 11 Goldfinch, House Sparrows, 3 Lapwing, 4 Dunnock, 48 Stock Dove, 3 Common Buzzard, 2 Redwing, 2 Jay, 1 Mistle Thrush, Blue Tits, Great Tits, Long-tailed Tits, 3 Green Woodpecker, 2 Ring-necked Parakeet, 

Divers and a Battle With a Fish - Reculver to Chambers Wall 25/10/20

When I arrived at Reculver this morning out to sea was calm and it appeared quiet. I could see 12 Brent Geese sitting just off shore towards the point where a small area of exposed shore was dotted white with Herring Gulls. I couldn't see the Black Redstart, from yesterday, but the usual Robin was on the rocks checking out its domain from various vantage point and clearly defending territory so may already have had a run in with it. As I made my way past the towers 3 Pied Wagtails were on the concrete apron looking for insects. 

A Common Buzzard was up at the back and a few Mute Swan dotted around the back fields as I started out along the sea wall. Out to sea a diver surfaced a good way out. It reared up and did a wing flap and started to settle back down. I was expecting it to be a Red-throated but it did not look right for one and I wondered if it could be a Great Northern or Black-throated Diver. It held its thickish and quite large bill straight and its head shape appeared quite angular with a reasonably steep forehead. It proceeded to sit mainly facing away which therefore gave quite limited views. When it turned its head it appeared to have a white cheek that did not extend above the eye. Its neck from the back did not appear very thickset, possibly paler than its back but that could just have been a trick of the light at that distance. It did have strikingly white rear flank patches which could be seen from both the side and the back and suggested that it could be a Black-throated Diver. 

? Black-throated Diver

? Black-throated Diver

Frustratingly at that point I lost my balance and by the time I got back on the diver it had taken off and was flying away from me. Luckily for me it turned and started to come back east, coming past me, still a good way out, before turning again and this time continuing strongly west. Still struggling for balance I only managed some really poor photos which are heavily cropped and I have to admit, that having zero experience of either Black-throated or Great Northern in flight, I still wasn't sure which it was and hoped the photos might help.

? Black-throated Diver

? Back-throated Diver

? Black-throated Diver

Having looked at all the information I could find I still do not think that it is a Red-throated and have come down on the side of Black-throated rather than Great Northern but could easily be wrong. That for me is one of the joys of birdwatching. Each time I come out I learn or notice something new, it doesn't matter whether its a bird I seen loads of times before or one like this where I have so much still to learn. All are great to watch. With more sea watching experience I will be able to look back at this bird and, will hopefully, instantly know which diver it is, and will correct the ID then if, as is highly possible, I have it wrong.

A little further along I noticed another diver off shore, this time a Red-throated Diver. It dived frequently, slipping smoothly below the surface without any of the jump of the nearby cormorant. It appeared slimmer necked, with no sign of a markedly white flank patch, a finer bill held pointing upwards and was nice to see and compare so soon after looking at the previous bird.

Red-throated Diver

Red-throated Diver

An immature Grey Heron called noisily as it flew up from the oyster farm before settling back down and a Wren scolded at me from the bushes by the sea wall. Overhead streams of Cormorants were moving out to sea in straggling formations.

Cormorants

Cormorants

I sat on the sea wall for a while and could see 1 Gannet flying west with another couple heading east a short while later. A couple of Red-throated Divers were flying east in the distance. A Herring Gull who had managed to catch a large flat fish settled on one of the marker poles and proceeded to try and eat it. However hard it tried, it could not manage to swallow it as it was just too wide at its widest point for its bill. The bird tried every which way to swallow it whole without any success, dropping it frequently to reposition and then try again.

At one point it almost looked as if if had managed to swallow much of it but that last part proved to be just too difficult and with the gull literally choking it had to spit it out and start again and ending up back where it started. And this became the repeated cycle for the next few minutes.

Having tried for several minutes and with the gull looking visibly tired by now it must have decided to move to plan B and headed out to sea with the fish still firmly held. I thought it would come down and try swallowing it on the sea but it appeared to keep going and I wonder if it ever succeeded.

Carrying on I could hear a Water Rail calling again from the dyke near the junction of the green wall and 14 Sanderling flew east out to sea. A Stonechat and a Reed Bunting were in dispute and another Reed Bunting joined in forcing the Stonechat to move along aways. It was nice to have a chance to catch up with Marc Heath and he let me know that a couple of Wheatear were on the rocks a little further along. I carried on towards Coldharbour with the rain clouds gathering apace behind me. Unfortunately a dog walker was on the shore where the Wheatear had been and I did not get a chance to catch up with them. A Cetti's Warbler was vocal and out to sea a Great Crested Grebe was offshore. 4 Sandwich Tern were fishing and I paused to watch them for a while. Out to sea the numbers of Oystercatchers flying east started to increase as groups of various sizes headed past.

Sandwich Tern

With clear signs of heavy rain showers on the way it was time to make a move. The walk up to the pick up point at Chambers Wall did not turn up anything unexpected and I got soaked on the last stretch during a heavy shower. It had only been going to be able to be a short visit today as I needed to get to work later but it had been good to be out and I have enjoyed trying to sort the diver out.

Birds seen this visit included: 9 Robin, 12 Brent Goose, Black-headed Gulls, Herring Gulls, 4 Pied Wagtail, 10 Mute Swan, 4 Little Egret, 6 Magpie, 3 Dunnock, 118 Oystercatcher, 1 Common Buzzard, 1 Black-throated Diver, 3 Red-throated Diver, 1 Grey Heron, 3 Wren, 2 Ringed Plover, 420 Cormorant, 14 Meadow Pipit, 2 Redshank, 6 Reed Bunting, 8 Stonechat, 10 Gannet 4 west 6 east, 3 Pheasant, 14 Sanderling, 1 Song Thrush, 1 Water Rail, 3 Corn Bunting, 2 Great Crested Grebe, 4 Turnstone, 3 Cetti's Warbler, 4 Sandwich Tern, Skylarks, 3 Kestrel, 2 Coot, 2 Blue Tit, 2 Chaffinch, 8 Blackbird, 1 Goldcrest, 1 Fieldfare,