Rain was blowing through the wind on a very overcast day as I arrived at Chambers Wall but luckily it did not come to anything. Skylarks were calling from above as I made my way down the approach road and a handsome male Sparrowhawk streaked away from the hedgerow as I approached. Above, 10 Siskin flew west and along the hedgerow I was greeted by the sight of flocks of Goldcrest working their way through. Within moments I had seen flocks of 7, 6 and another 6 flying to various bushes before dropping in and starting to acrobatically look for food. It was just beautiful to see so many of them.
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| Goldcrest |
More Goldcrests were in the bushes around the car park area and as I made my way down the track the hedgerow was alive with Goldcrests and a good mix of birds. I paused to watch several Goldcrests acrobatically working their way through one of the bushes and while scanning through them I was thrilled when I saw a small wingbarred warbler move out into view amongst them. It only gave two brief views and did not call but even though brief, the views were good, and seeing it both from the back and the side enabled me to see everything that made it perfect for a Yellow-browed as well as seeing its rump (not lemon yellow) as it flicked back into cover and its crown from the front (no obvious crown stripe) when it turned. Having noted what I could I tried for a photo but saw it move to the next section of bush and could not see where in the view finder so grabbed a few photos of the bush in the hopes that I might be lucky enough to get a shot of it. Moments later all the birds had continued moving through to the next bushes and I didn't manage to catch up with it again. When I got home I looked through the photos to see if by any chance I had managed to catch it. I found something in one of the photo and though it is incredibly heavily cropped, and it may be that I haven't actually even managed by sheer luck to get a photo of the Yellow-browed, it will always remind me of the brief encounter I had with a beautiful warbler.
A Mute Swan and a Little Egret were on Coldharbour and 25 Redshank were roosting. A couple of Stonechat were active and Meadow Pipits headed back and fore but otherwise it was quiet. I had a sit on the sea wall for a while and the tide was on its way out. Though it was quiet out to sea I just enjoyed watching the odd gulls that were moving around and amongst the usual Black-headed and Herring Gulls a Common Gull and also 3 Great Black-backed Gulls flew east. Two Greylag Geese called briefly as they flew high overhead. I was grateful for the call as I had missed them coming in from the north while I was watching the gulls. They gradually lost a little height as they headed inland but carried on and did not appear to come down.
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| Greylag Geese |
Another couple of Stonechat popped up as I made my way towards Reculver and a Snow Bunting was searching for seeds along the base of the sea wall and could have been the same one I saw the other day. They really are beautiful birds and it appeared to be finding a good number of seeds amongst the vegetation at the foot of the sea wall. It only moved back to the shore side when a group of cyclists passed by.
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| Snow Bunting |
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| Snow Bunting |
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| Snow Bunting |
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| Snow Bunting |
I had another sit on the sea wall and realised that I had missed a message from Matt Hindle saying that there was a Pallas's Warbler in Reculver bushes. What a great find. Getting there in time with enough light would be a bit more of a problem, as my walking ability was having a decidedly off day today and I was still quite a way away but it was worth trying for. It was amazing as I headed back to see so many Goldcrest in the vegetation alongside the sea wall. I can honestly say that I have never seen so many Goldcrest on a single day as I have seen today. They were everywhere and an absolute joy to watch.
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| Goldcrest |
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| Goldcrest |
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| Goldcrest |
A small flock of Goldfinch were busy extracting seeds from some of the Teasels and one of them was close to the sea wall and gave a good view as it delicately picked them out and pausing to eat them.
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| Goldfinch |
A Brent Goose was close inshore and appeared to be eating thin strands of vegetation that it picked up from just under the seas surface.
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| Brent Goose |
The sun light coming below the clouds had broken into a ribbon of sunbeams and was an amazing sight.
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| Sunbeams |
Even though the light was fading fast Goldcrests were still active and the vegetation alongside the sea wall continued to be alive with them.
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| Goldcrest |
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| Goldcrest |
It was dusk by the time I reached Reculver and I could not manage to find the Pallas'. I enjoyed watching the last few Goldcrest I saw in the gloom but with walking ability almost non-existant by now I was very grateful to reach the pick up point. Today though will be a day I remember for a long time. The sight of so many Goldcrests was a sight to behold and a gem of a Yellow-browed Warber the icing on the cake.
Birds seen this visit included: Skylarks, 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 9 Chiffchaff, 25 Robin, 7 Wren, 1 Sparrowhawk, 10 Siskin, 86 Fieldfare, 15 Meadow Pipit, 1 Kestrel, 3 Song Thrush, 44 Chaffinch, 145 Goldcrest, 5 Dunnock, 12 Blackbird, 7 Mute Swan, 32 Goldfinch, 3 Cetti's Warbler, 2 Golden Plover, 4 Brambling, 12 Redwing, 12 Lapwing, 4 Magpie, 3 Grey Heron, 7 Blue Tit, 1 Yellow-browed Warbler, 3 Brent Goose, 8 Long-tailed Tit, 4 Reed Bunting, 8 Stonechat, 2 Coot, 27 Redshank, 1 Black-headed Gulls, Herring Gulls, 1 Common Gull, 1 Snow Bunting, 1 Moorhen, House Sparrows, 1 Oystercatcher, 1 Little Owl,
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