A light shower of rain greeted me as I arrived at Shuart and on the way down the approach road I saw 16 Red-legged Partridge along a field edge. There was a cold north easterly wind blowing with the advantage that the shower clouds were moving over quickly and clearer sky was starting to appear. 4 Goldcrests were in the trees by the car park and several Robin were tic-ing away. As I headed down the track a Siskin flew west overhead and a Brambling called as it was put up at the back by a Sparrowhawk. Coming to the first gap in the hedgerow I could see a flock of 63 Lapwing flying up over some back fields.
 |
| Lapwing |
I met another bird watcher, who was walking back, and he said that he had been watching a pale Shrike near the end of the hedgerow for about 10 minutes. Unfortunately it had flown up when a dog walker came through and he had not been able to pick it up again. Thanking him I tried to see if I could re-find it as I would loved to have seen it, but I did not have any luck and after trying for quite a while I carried on, with a certain amount of kicking myself for missing it. A Goldcrest, who had worked its way out to the outer edge of the hedgerow, gave some lovely views as it made its way along and cheered me up no end. They are beautiful little birds and it had been lovely seeing good numbers of them today. A Merlin streaking over the fields was also a welcome sight as I always enjoy seeing them.
 |
| Goldcrest |
 |
| Goldcrest |
 |
| Goldcrest |
 |
| Goldcrest |
Twenty five Fieldfare were in one of the paddocks at the stables and 3 more Goldcrest in the bushes. A couple of Stonechat were noisily calling away and a few Corn Bunting tucked into the bushes. I met another birdwatcher and said about the Shrike and she said that she had seen a Little Auk close in to shore between Coldharbour and Reculver. It must have been a lovely sight. I have not seen a Little Auk for a very long time. I was sorry to have missed two really good birds in one day and I really hoped that it might still be around as I made my way down. The tide was in as I came up to the sea wall and flocks of Brent Geese were heading east with some turning and coming back west before heading east again.
 |
| Brent Geese |
Just past Plumpudding I came across a large roost of mixed waders strung out along the top of the shingle ridge. Mostly the birds had stayed in their own groups apart from a couple of Bar-tailed Godwit, a Curlew and a single Sandwich Tern that were tucked in amongst the Oystercatchers and the odd Dunlin and Turnstone that were amongst the Sanderling. The Ringed Plovers mainly kept forward of the rest in a long well spaced out line. The birds had been pushed higher than normal by the incoming tide and were an impressive sight. Normally I am only able to see the wader roost distantly from the sea wall as I come up to Plumpudding so it was really nice to see them this side of the shingle bank for a change. They were a striking sight and appeared to be coping well with the number of people going back and fore along the sea wall.
 |
| Part of wader roost |
 |
| Part of wader roost |
 |
| Part of wader roost |
Preening or sleeping seemed to be the order of the day and apart from a bit of spray they were safely out of high tides reach.
 |
| Oysterctachers and Ringed Plover |
 |
| Sanderling, Dunlin, Oystercatcher and Ringed Plover |
 |
| Part of wader roost |
Brent Geese flocks were still flying both east and west out to sea and it was nice to see some sizeable flocks of them.
 |
| Brent Geese |
 |
| Brent Geese |
Three Shoveler were tucked in with a Brent Geese flock before separating and dropping down to sea level and carrying on east.
 |
| Shoveler |
A little further on 4 Grey Plover were roosting on the beach, once again close to the sea wall, in the company of a Knot. One of the Grey Plover was a very smartly plumaged juvenile contrasting beautifully with the adults. All were striking birds and I thoroughly enjoyed watching them.
 |
| juvenile Grey Plover and Knot |
 |
| juvenile Grey Plover and Knot |
 |
Grey Plover
|
 |
| Grey Plover |
 |
| juvenile and adult Grey Plover |
 |
| Grey Plovers |
It was nice to see Derek Smith who was heading down to see if he could catch up with the Little Auk and he stopped to talk. He had also looked for the Shrike but without any luck and hoped it might still be in the area.
As I carried on towards Coldharbour I had a sit on the sea wall for a while but the sea remained quiet apart from the flocks of Brent Geese now and then. Just before I came to Coldharbour I caught sight of movement and I was really pleased when I saw a Snow Bunting on the shingle, my first one for the year. It was a little beauty and was working its way rapidly along the shore as it searched for food. They really are gorgeous little birds, full of character, and any day that includes a Snow Bunting has to be a good one. That is one of the great things about birdwatching. It can be one of the really bad, pain filled days, where trying to walk is a nightmare and your legs don't want to do a thing you tell them, and then you see a little beauty like this and just feel so lucky to be able to see it at all.
 |
| Snow Bunting |
 |
Snow Bunting
|
 |
| Snow Bunting |
 |
| Snow Bunting |
 |
| Snow Bunting |
I did not manage to see any sign of the Little Auk on the way back and hoped that Derek had been able to have more luck. I couldn't see any sign of a Short-eared Owl today over the oyster farm. House Sparrows were chattering away and a couple of Reed Bunting took exception to a Stonechat. It was good to reach Reculver and though I had managed to miss a couple of really good birds today I was chuffed to have seen the Snow Bunting and enjoyed seeing the birds I had come across.
Birds seen this visit included: 16 Red-legged Partridge, 17 Goldcrest, 15 Robin, 1 Magpie, 3 Song Thrush, 27 Blackbird, 4 Wren, 7 Chiffchaff, Skylarks, 2 Moorhen, 3 Jay, 27 Redwing, 17 Siskin west, 2 Brambling, 38 Goldfinch, 1 Sparrowhawk, 4 Blue Tit, 26 Chaffinch, 2 Mute Swan, 2 Goldfinch, 185 Starling west, 63 Lapwing, 1 Song Thrush, 3 Cetti's Warbler, 2 Long-tailed Tit, 1 Merlin, 34 Fieldfare, 7 Stonechat, 5 Corn Bunting, 25 Fieldfare, 168 Oystercatcher, I Curlew, 2 Bar-tailed Godwit, 1 Sandwich Tern, 110 Ringed Plover, 36 Turnstone, 149 Sanderling, 4 Dunlin, 160 Brent Geese, 3 Shoveler, 4 Grey Plover, 1 Knot, 1 Snow Bunting, 8 Reed Bunting, House Sparrows, Starlings
No comments:
Post a Comment