Darters, Wall Brown and Chaffinches On the Move - Shuart to Reculver 22/10/20

I started out from Shuart today on a sunny morning with building cloud and a cool south westerly wind. Two Ring-necked Parakeet were calling loudly near the start of the track. There were a lot fewer Goldcrests around today as I made my way along. A Water Rail calling was a welcome sound and 2 Siskin flew over followed by another 2 a short while later. Some Redwing were enjoying the berries and a single Blackcap worked its way through the hedge. A young Wood Pigeon appeared to have a deformed bill but I do not know if the skin under the bill expands as it almost looked as if it could be berries or something jammed in there if it was not an actual deformity. It has managed to get to the size it is so perhaps it does not interfere with feeding as much as it looks like it would do.

young Wood Pigeon with ? bill deformity

Good numbers of Redwing and Fieldfare were in the hedgerow.  I had not realised quite how many until they were flushed from the back of the hedgerow by somebody walking down that side. I had seen 7 Fieldfare, could hear others but 37 took to the air when flushed by the walker. Likewise with the Redwing, I had only seen a fraction of the 24 that took to the air when the Fieldfare flew up alarm calling. It just goes to show how many birds I miss. A couple of Migrant Hawkers were on the wing as I made my way along and 2 Stonechat were near the railway crossing as I came up onto the embankment. I decided to see if I could get as far as Chambers Wall and headed that way. A flock of 12 Swallow flew west and as I made my way along flocks of Chaffinch of various sizes were moving west. A Common Darter was on the wing and obligingly settled near to me. I saw several as I made my way along. I will miss seeing dragonflies and damselflies. It always seems a long time until they are on the wing again. I enjoyed watching both a Merlin and a Sparrowhawk over the fields.

Common Darter

Common Darter

Common Darter

A couple of Tufted Duck were on the river in the company of 3 Moorhen and a couple of Mute Swan. Two Redpoll flew west and a little later a single Crossbill also flew west. Chaffinch were continuing to move through and several small flocks of Starling also moved west with another 115 in one of the fields. A Ring Ouzel called but remained out of sight. As I neared the junction with Chambers Wall a flock of 15 Redpoll flew west. I had planned to walk up to Chambers Wall but I had tried to walk too far today and the need to sit down won out and I headed to the sea wall instead. A Cetti's Warbler greeted me loudly as I made my up with another a little further along. A Mute Swan on Coldharbour was on its own little island and apart from having a quick look round now and then it was busy preening. Its mate was nearby.

Mute Swan

Mute Swan

A couple of Redshank on Coldharbour were flying around noisily and apart from 2 Black-headed Gulls and a few Meadow Pipit it appeared quiet. I sat on the sea wall for a while and the tide was coming in quite fast. Out on the rapidly shrinking exposed mussel bed 30 Sanderling were along the edge and a single Curlew and Oystercatcher were busily feeding. 2 Brent Geese slowly drifted east. As the tide advanced a Little Egret moved from the mussel bed to the waters edge and made its way steadily along looking for prey.

Little Egret

Using a sit, walk, sit, walk approach I worked my way towards Reculver and with each sit on the sea wall I enjoyed just watching out to sea for a while. Though it remained fairly quiet, as the tide continued to rise Sandwich Terns began to appear and fished a fair way off shore.

Sandwich Tern

A flock of 22 Golden Plover took to the air and out to sea a couple of Grey Plover flew east. A Pied Wagtail on the shore was exploring the high tide line and was a pleasure to watch.

Pied Wagtail

Two Chinook Helicopters were circling and coming past quite low sending the Golden Plover back up as they came round. After a couple of circuits the helicopters headed off but I could still hear them for quite a while over at the back.

Boeing Chinook Helicopters

Boeing Chinook Helicopter

Small numbers of waders were on the move as the tide continued to rise. 43 Turnstone flew past and settled on the rocks and a flock of 25 Ringed Plover flew east and had a few Sanderling tucked in with them. The movement of Chaffinch overhead seemed to have tailed off with a total of 436 seen during the visit.

Turnstone

As I made my way past the oyster farm 7 Redpoll flew west and a Grey Partridge was calling from over on the oyster farm. A couple of Common Darter flew up briefly. A single Common Gull flew west out to sea and a Brent Goose also flew west. Carrying on I saw a butterfly that appeared to have been caught in a gust of wind and was tumbling through the air. It crash landed on the shingle and rested there for a few moments before taking to the air again. I was surprised to see that it was a male Wall (Brown) Butterfly as I do not remember seeing one this late before. Presumably this is a 3rd brood male. It made a very nice end to the visit.

male Wall (Brown) Butterfly

Birds seen this visit included: 2 Ring-necked Parakeet, 22 Robin, 19 Blackbird, 5 Chiffchaff, 436 Chaffinch, 3 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 2 Green Woodpecker, 8 Blue Tit, 7 Pied Wagtail, 7 Wren, 5 Goldfinch, Wood Pigeons, Skylarks, 4 Dunnock, 12 Goldcrest, 3 Great Tit, 5 Siskin, 5 Cetti's Warbler, 1 Water Rail, 1 Blackcap, 2 Common Buzzard, 33 Redwing, 3 Mistle Thrush, 8 Long-tailed Tit, 42 Fieldfare, 22 Meadow Pipit, 6 Stonechat, 38 Swallow, 24 Redpoll, 1 Crossbill, Starling 325, 3 Kestrel, 7 Magpie, 1 Merlin, 6 Mute Swan,  2 Tufted Duck, 3 Moorhen, 1 Sparrowhawk, 6 Great Black-backed Gull, 10 Mallard, 1 Ring Ouzel, 4 Reed Bunting, 35 Sanderling, 1 Oystercatcher, 1 Curlew, 5 Little Egret, Black-headed Gulls, Herring Gulls, 3 Brent Geese, 8 Sandwich Tern, 48 Turnstone, 2 Redshank, 22 Golden Plover, 2 Grey Plover, 25 Ringed Plover, 1 Rock Pipit, 1 Grey Partridge, 1 Common Gull