It was very nice to have a day off today and I started out from Shuart on a beautiful morning with wall to wall sunshine and next to no wind. The air was crisp and cold but beautifully clear and the grass and remaining leaves shone in the early morning light. Nine Red-legged Partridge were disappearing to the other side of the hedge on the approach road and from the car park the alarm calls of Magpie, Blackbird and Blue Tit alerted me to the presence of a Sparrowhawk tucked in at the back. I had a walk up to the start of the bridleway and was having a scan round when I heard the unmistakable sound of a Woodlark calling as it flew south west. I literally couldn't believe it and to say I was chuffed would be putting it mildly as it is a bird that has taken me a very long time to catch up with at Reculver. Picking my pole up that I had dropped trying to get my recorder out of my pocket to try and record the call, which I didn't manage as it was out of range too soon, I nearly missed two Greylag Geese that were flying south east and I could hear them calling as they disappeared off in the distance.
Extremely well chuffed I headed back down to have a wander along the main track to the sound of a Great Spotted Woodpecker calling away noisily and catching up with many of the usual suspects on the way. A Water Rail was calling from the dyke and a Jay's harsh alarm call filled the air as it warned of my passing by. I paused to have a look through the first gap and could see a raptor perched in the top of a bush. My morning got even better when I realised it was a Hen Harrier, as though one has been in the area regularly recently I had not managed to catch up with it yet. Though distant its facial features were highlighted in the light as it turned this way and that, keeping an eye on all that was going on.
It started to preen which gave the opportunity to see its white rump well.
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| Hen Harrier |
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| Hen Harrier |
As is so often the way I took my eyes off it for a moment to watch a passing Grey Heron and when I looked back it had flown and was heading away from me to start hunting. It quartered along at the back before doing such an incredibly fast change in direction as it tried for a Wood Pigeon, the Wood Pigeon literally upside down trying to avoid it before being hotly pursued. The Harrier missed as the Wood Pigeon crashed into cover and flew over the track to try its luck on the other side. The photo is extremely blurred as it went for the Wood Pigeon, as the speed of its turn and drop caught me out, but it gives me a nice memory shot of an amazing bird turning on a sixpence and showcasing its agility beautifully and also just how agile and attuned to danger a Wood Pigeon is.
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| Grey Heron |
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| Grey Heron |
I could see a Common Buzzard with a fresh kill in one of the fields and it wasn't long before it was spotted by a Carrion Crow who flew in to try its luck with stealing some of the catch.
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| Common Buzzard and Carrion Crow |
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| Common Buzzard and Carrion Crow |
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| Common Buzzard and Carrion Crow |
I was surprised that the Wood Pigeon in the background stayed throughout the encounter as I thought it would have flown as soon as it saw the Buzzard coming, all it did was wander along a little. The Carrion Crow proceeded to hassle the Buzzard by repeatedly pulling its tail feathers. Each time the Buzzard turned away the Crow would head behind it and start pulling its tail feathers again.
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| Carrion Crow pulling the Common Buzzards Tail |
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Carrion Crow pulling the Common Buzzards Tail
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As it turned out it appeared to be a strategy that worked as eventually the Crow was able to nip in and steal a sizeable chunk of the Buzzards catch. I wondered if the Buzzard would chase it but it just looked up, stared for a bit, and then carried on eating what was left of its catch. It was fascinating watching the encounter between them and they were so intent on each other that neither seemed bothered by the various dog walkers passing along the footpath.
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| Carrion Crow having successfully stolen a sizeable chunk of the Buzzards catch |
It was time to move on and a little further along another Cetti's Warbler was vocal. Redwing and Blackbirds were on the track and also enjoying the berries in the bushes and I saw a single Fieldfare. and three Stonechats were busy looking for insects. A flock of 94 Lapwing went up in the distance and I enjoyed watching a couple of Mute Swan as they came past. As I came up to the railway crossing I could see in the distance 10 Red-legged Partidge along a field edge.
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| Lapwing |
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| Mute Swan |
Around the stables seemed quite quiet with nothing noticeably different although Corn Bunting numbers had increased and the air was filled with their calls. A Robin posed nicely and though I didn't catch the whole of it when it flew I liked that I could see its eye clearly.
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| Robin |
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| Robin |
A male House Sparrow looked very handsome in light as I made my way up towards the sea wall.
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| male House Sparrow |
The tide was partially out when I reached the sea wall and on its way in. A Little Egret and a Curlew both flew west out to sea. I came across a small group of Black-headed Gulls on the beach and tucked in with them was a very smart 2nd winter Mediterranean Gull. It was a beautiful bird and at times looked surprisingly darker grey than the Black-headed but presumably that was the effect of the light.
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| 2nd winter Mediterraean Gull |
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| 2nd winter Mediterraean Gull |
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| 2nd winter Mediterraean Gull |
With the sea wall becoming busier and multiple groups of cyclists passing by the gulls became increasingly nervous and flew as the next large group raced past. I felt sorry for the gulls but it did give a chance to try for some flight photos.
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| 2nd winter Mediterranean and Black-headed Gull |
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| 2nd winter Mediterranean Gull |
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| 2nd winter Mediterranean and Black-headed Gull |
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| 2nd winter Mediterranean Gull |
I headed on towards Plumpudding and a flock of 41 Mallard were on the water a good ways out to sea. From the sea wall I could see 54 Oystercatcher and a single Curlew in the wader roost behind Plumpudding and 4 Redshank came into land on Plumpudding. I was idly scanning the islands on Plumpudding when I caught sight of slight movement in amongst the vegetation and found myself looking at a Snipe, that though well hidden, looked gorgeous in the light. It gradually moved a little more into a more open patch allowing me to try for some photos. I ended up seeing 3 with one flying now and then between islands.
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| Snipe |
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| Snipe |
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| Snipe |
Six Redshank were also present and 2 Stonechat and several Pied Wagtails and a Meadow Pipit. As I carried on towards Coldharbour there were 6 Brent Geese offshore and a male Pied Wagtail gave some very nice views as it searched for insects.
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| Pied Wagtail |
I caught up with the Mallard flock again and they were closer in this time and had increased to 54. In amongst them were a couple of, what appeared to be, slightly smaller duck with neat dark grey/black bills. I was really pleased as they appeared to be a couple of Pintail and though they remained a little distant for the camera I tried for some photos before just enjoying watching them as they drifted back west. One is clearly a male and appears to either be an immature or still in eclipse but looks as if it is starting to moult into breeding plumage. I am not sure on the other bird. I assumed it was a female at first but it appears to also have quite a lot of grey feathering and fairly strong head patterning in some views so I am not sure if it may in fact be another male or whether it is indeed a female. Whichever the case they were beautiful duck and a nice surprise.
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| Pintail |
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| Pintail |
An obliging wing flap enabled me to see the males Speculum and also the underwing pattern.
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| Pintail |
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| Pintail |
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| Pintail |
On the way to Coldharbour I saw small numbers of mixed waders roosting with more flying in as the tide rose. A couple of Sanderling looked lovely in the sunshine in their winter plummage.
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| Sanderling |
12 Grey Plover flew up briefly from behind the shingle bank before dropping out of sight again. A little further along another couple were on the shore in the company of a few Turnstone.
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| Grey Plover |
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| Grey Plover |
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| Grey Plover |
As I neared Coldharbour I could hear Redshank frantically calling and could see a large flock of them appearing to have wheeled up from Coldharbour due to a bunch of dog walkers walking along the shingle bank at the back and sending them into panic mode. I managed to grab a photo of part of the flock before they headed off and was surprised to see just how many of them there were with 58 birds in total in the whole flock. Even though they were distant it was an impressive sight.
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| Redshank |
On Coldharbour 8 Redshank had held their nerve and were hunkered down and a Little Egret flew back in. A single Ringed Plover was on the shingle bank at the back and appeared to be limping badly. A Cetti's Warbler called from the bushes on the other side of the sea wall and 166 Brent Geese were in one of the nearby fields. It is nice to see their numbers building. I had a sit on the sea wall on the other side of Coldharbour and a Red-throated Diver had caught a large fish off shore and was dive bombed by a Herring Gull as it tried to steal its catch, the diver instantly sinking under the water and resurfacing much further out. Another Red-throated Diver flew east out to sea. A Rock Pipit was investigating the groyne and I heard Golden Plover call behind me with a flock of 36 coming into land near the sea wall. The light on the newly sproutibg crop made it hard to get a photo but I liked how they had settled into the furrows in the field.
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| Golden Plover |
As I made my way towards Reculver I heard multiple Brent Geese calls and the flock had gone up wheeling round before resettling again. I could see the culprit as a Peregrine came down near the back of one of the fields. A little further along a Merlin streaked across and was probably the same bird I had a little later out to sea as it pursued a Chaffinch. Another 27 Mallard were offshore and the leucistic Mallard was in amongst them and a single Dunlin flew west.
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| Dunlin |
Small groups of Brent Geese were offshore and as I passed the green bank I could hear a Water Rail calling from the dyke in front of the oyster farm. While heading on towards Reculver with the next sit on the sea wall I could see a distant Gannet heading east and a Red-throated Diver going in the same direction. A Red-throated Diver surfaced briefly before diving again and when it resurfaced it had moved a good ways west.
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| Red-throated Diver |
As I neared the towers I saw a flock of ten Gannet heading west and a couple of Redshank alarm called from the oyster farm.
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| Gannets |
I finished a very enjoyable and productive visit watching a Common Gull paddling for worms on the grass near the towers and successfully drawing a good number to the surface enabling it to catch them.
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| Common Gull catching worms |
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| Common Gull catching worms |
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| Common Gull |
Birds seen this visit included: 19 Red-legged Partridge, 8 Magpie, 26 Blackbird, 4 Song Thrush, Blue Tits, Great Tits, 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Woodlark south west, 2 Greylag Geese south east, 15 Robin, 8 Wren, 4 Pheasant, 1 Jay, Carrion Crows, Jackdaws, Wood Pigeons, 12 Chaffinch, 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 11 Goldfinch, Herring Gulls, Black-headed Gulls, 3 Dunnock, 1 Hen Harrier, 4 Water Rail, Stock Doves, 2 Common Buzzard, 3 Green Woodpecker, 5 Grey Heron, 4 Cetti's Warbler, 1 Fieldfare, 12 Redwing, 3 Song Thrush, 3 Mute Swan, 9 Stonechat, 1 Siskin west, 12 Pied Wagtail, 12 Meadow Pipit, 27 Corn Bunting, 3 Little Egret, 2 Curlew, 90 Mallard, 60 Oystercatcher, 7 Great Black-backed Gull, 68 Redshank, 3 Snipe, 237 Brent Geese, 23 Turnstone, 2 Pintail, 29 Ringed Plover, 48 Sanderling, 14 Grey Plover, 1 Rock Pipit, 4 Red-throated Diver, 1 Peregrine, 1 Merlin, 1 Dunlin, 13 Gannet, 2 Common Gull
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