Firecrest Highlight - Shuart to Reculver 21/03/19

I thought I would aim for a walk through from Shuart to Reculver today and see what I could find. The visit started well as almost the first bird that I saw was a Firecrest (112). I only managed one photo, and not a very good one at that, but I was very pleased to get it. Though I saw it several times more it was very active and stayed mainly deeper in cover, only coming into the open for a moment at a time. It was a beautiful bird and definitely made my day.

Firecrest

All the usual little jobs were around and a couple of Ring-necked Parakeets were calling noisily. There was a small patch of Violets by the side of the path. The flowers were coming to an end but they still looked very pretty.

Violets

A Chiffchaff was calling away and then helpfully flew across and landed opposite me. It was the second one of the day. The bird appeared quite pale but may have been an effect of the light.

Chiffchaff

Chiffchaff

Chiffchaff

Chiffchaff

It was a quiet walk through on the whole. There were several more Chiffchaff's calling and a Cetti's Warbler was singing away. There were several Water Boatman in one of the dykes. I could see where the tip of their abdomen was in contact with the air which shows as a little black dot in the photograph.

Water Boatman

As I came up to cross the railway line I got a surprise when I saw a Mink running across the crossing and then disappearing towards the dyke on the other side. When I was on the embankment on the other side the Mink reappeared and ran across the embankment and down to the dyke. It started to swim down the dyke and then turned around and swam back again before climbing out and running back across the embankment and presumably back towards the railway crossing. It is such a shame that they are so bad for the local water life as they are beautiful animals to watch and this one was very confident indeed.

Mink

Mink

Mink

Mink

There were a couple of Pied Wagtail pairs and several Meadow Pipits at the stables. The House Sparrows were chirping away and Corn Buntings were singing. A Corn Bunting gave some good views.

Corn Bunting

When I reached the sea it appeared very quiet with just 3 Great Black-backed Gulls on the water. It was incredibly calm with hardly any wind. It was hard to see where the sea finished and the sky began, both were a milky greyish white. 7 Collared Doves were on the rocks and a single House Sparrow. The subtle shades of colour in a Collared Dove are lovely.

Collared Dove

A single Brent Goose was on the sea with 17 more in one of the fields. The tide was on the turn and just starting to go out. I could see the group of Common Scoter a long way out at sea. I made my way towards Plumpudding. It was generally very quiet. 10 Curlew and 110 Oystercatchers were roosting on the beach behind Plumpudding island and 28 Redshank on Plumpudding Island itself. A pair of Mute Swan were also there and a pair of Mallard. One of the Redshank kept flying at another one and calling repeatedly.

Redshank

Further along, I came across a small group of mixed waders roosting which consisted of 62 Sanderling, 18 Grey Plover and 24 Turnstone. Some dog walkers flushed a large group of waders that flew my way. The flock seemed to consist solely of Turnstones and there was c130, which is the largest group of them I have seen.

Turnstones

 I also saw an adult Gannet flying east. Later on I saw an adult fly west and then an adult fly east. It seems possible that it was the same bird going back and fore.

Gannet

Just before Coldharbour I saw a male Wheatear. They really are very handsome birds.

Wheatear

Coldharbour had a couple of Little Egrets on it. With them standing near the edge of the bank they were throwing nice reflections into the water.

Little Egret

A pair of Shelduck were swimming around on Coldharbour and I could see the immature male Eider out to sea.

Shelduck

Shelduck

I sat and had lunch and then carried on to the Green bank. Corn Buntings were singing away when I reached there and I could see at least 28. A Short-eared Owl put in a brief appearance and then reappeared later when the male Marsh Harrier flew over the oyster farm. It flew straight up to it and then both birds circled higher and higher as the owl flew round and round above the harrier. It never came into contact with it but shadowed it the whole time until the Marsh Harrier moved away from the oyster farm. As soon as it was gone the owl lost height rapidly and landed. 

Short-eared Owl and Marsh Harrier

A pair of Stonechat were busy feeding and I enjoyed watching them. They were a little too distant for any decent photos today. A Mute Swan flew gave good views as it flew past. The sound that their wings make is quite something.

Mute Swan

It was quiet for the rest of the way back to Reculver. A couple of Oystercatcher were roosting on the rocks. I saw another 4 Shelduck. A pair of Black-headed Gulls were displaying on the rocks. An immature arrived and was seen promptly off by one of the adults and chased this way and that.

Black-headed Gull

Black-headed Gull

As I neared Reculver an adult Black-headed Gull was noisily defending the area and flying against anything that came near.

Black-headed Gull

It had been an enjoyable day but the definite highlight was seeing the Firecrest.


Birds seen this visit include: 4 Greenfinch, 15 Goldfinches, 5 Wren, 6 Robin, Blackbird, Dunnock, Chaffinch, 2 Pheasant, 2 Ring-necked Parakeet, 2 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 1 Mistle Thrush, 1 Song Thrush, 7 Chiffchaff, 1 Jay, 1 Common Buzzard, 1 Firecrest, 9 Collared Dove, Woodpigeon, 2 Goldcrest, 1 Green Woodpecker, 1 Moorhen, Great Tits, Blue Tits, 1 Cetti's, Skylarks, 7 Mute Swan, 2 Marsh Harrier, 11 Reed Bunting, Little Grebe, 4 Pied Wagtail, 25 Meadow Pipit, 2 Magpie, 22 House Sparrow, 1 Grey Heron, 37 Corn Bunting, 8 Linnet, 3 Great Black-backed Gull, Black-headed Gulls, Herring Gulls, 37 Common Scoter, 10 Curlew, 110 Oystercatcher, 32 Redshank, 4 Ringed Plover, 24 Turnstone, 18 Grey Plover, 62 Sanderling, 1 Gannet, 2 Little Egret, 6 Shelduck, 15 Mallard, 1 Coot, Cormorants, 3 Great Crested Grebe,

Little Grebes and Skua's - Bishopstone 11/10/18

It was a beautiful afternoon today but with a very strong southerly wind. I paid a visit to Bishopstone as I thought, with a bit of luck, I could get out of the wind a little there. It was very quiet in the Glen but also very windy. I only saw 1 Chiffchaff amongst the usual jobs. There were a couple of Collared Dove resting in one of the trees. One of them appeared to have lost quite a lot of its head feathers. 

Collared Dove

Collared  Dove

A little further on there was a large mushroom in the undergrowth, I think that it is a Parasol mushroom. I also saw another mushroom at the foot of the cliffs and think it must be a Fly Agaric of some sort. 

Parasol Mushroom

Fly Agaric Mushroom

I decided to have a sit on the rocks and watch the sea for a while. It was nice to be able to get out of the wind while I was down there. I was surprised to see a group of 8 Little Grebe on the sea. They are gorgeous little birds. I enjoyed watching them before they moved further out to sea.

Little Grebes

There was not a lot moving out to sea but I did manage to see 1 Arctic Skua east and 1 Great Skua east. I am so rusty at skua’s that I had to look the Arctic up when I got home to see what it was. My local patch does not have any water so these are not the kind of birds I am used to. I sent the photo to Chris Hindle in case I had got it wrong, when I sent him the list of birds, but he also said Arctic, so I was pleased. My first for many years.

Arctic Skua

I also had 3 duck east and again, I had to look at the photo with the books to see what they were. I have not watched the sea for years and I am so unbelievably rusty. 

Gadwall

I had 8 Brent Geese west and at least 12 Cormorants were fishing offshore. A Common Seal was offshore and a Cormorant came in quite close to fish. I am amazed at the size of some of the fish that they catch.

It was a lovely afternoon sitting there and I enjoyed seeing what flew past. There may not have been a lot of it but at least it gave time to enjoy them. I also had a Robin at the foot of the cliffs serenading me throughout the later part of the afternoon. On the walk back I saw a couple of Stonechat and they made the perfect finish to the day.

Stonechat

Stonechat

Birds I saw this visit included: 1 Chiffchaff, Blue Tits, Great Tits, Goldfinches, House Sparrows, Dunnock, Wren, Robins, Blackbirds, 8 Little Grebes, 1 Arctic Skua east, 1 Great Skua east, 3 Gadwall east, 8 Brent Geese west, 12 Cormorants fishing offshore and 1 Common Seal, 2 Stonechat.

Brook to Reculver - 09/10/18

I had a very busy day at work today so thought I would have a walk after work. It was a beautiful afternoon, sunny with a breezy southerly wind. I haven’t walked from Brook for ages so thought I would give it a go. It turned out to be surprisingly quiet for birds. There were good numbers of birds flying over high, calling, but I am so rusty on calls that for much of the time I didn’t know what was calling. I am going to need lots of practice to be able to get better at calls again. There were several Common Darter and Migrant Hawker’s on the wing. I am going to miss the dragonflies and butterflies.

Common Darter

Migrant Hawker

There were the usual birds on the way to Reculver but not the numbers, or variation, that perhaps I had hoped for. A Collared Dove watched me warily when I reached the trees at the caravan park and I had a Brambling fly west.

Collared Dove

I headed along the seawall and had a look to see what I could see on the falling tide. A Little Egret flew in to feed and a very smart Meadow Pipit posed for me at the pumping station.

Meadow Pipit

The definite highlight of the afternoon was seeing a Short-eared Owl. They are such a joy to watch and I felt so lucky to see it. Unfortunately it remained distant, hunting along the far green bank but gave some nice views in the sunshine. It disturbed a Little Egret at one point and regularly disturbed clouds of Linnets and several Redshank.

Short-eared Owl

10 Oytercatcher and 15 Redshank were feeding on the exposed shore and 1 Curlew. I also had 5 Sandwich Tern feeding offshore as well. 4 Grey Heron were scattered around and a couple had a dust up at one point. I finished with a nice view of one of the Grey Heron silhouetted against the sea.

Grey Heron

Even though I did not have long this afternoon, it was nice to be out and I really enjoyed watching the Short-eared Owl.

Birds seen on this visit included: 3 Blue Tit, 1 Robin, 3 Chiffchaff, 1 Wren, 20 Meadow Pipit, 2 Kestrel, 1 Goldfinch, 1 Reed Bunting, 4 Mute Swan, 1 Brambling west,  3 Skylark, 2 Chaffinch, 2 Magpie, 3 Blackbird, 2 House Sparrow, Starlings, 5 Collared Dove, 3 Sandwich Tern, 1 Short-eared Owl, 3 Little Egret, 4 Grey Heron, 1 Curlew, 7 Oystercatcher, 8 Redshank, 6 Turnstone. Common Darter and Migrant Hawkers were also on the wing.

Rock Pipits and Kingfisher - Reculver 30/09/18

I paid a visit to Reculver after work this afternoon. It was clouding over  with a light north westerly wind. The visit started well as I heard two pipits calling, sounding different to Meadow Pipit. They landed on the rocks, as I came down from the towers, so I headed down the steps to see if I could manage to see them. They were 2 lovely Rock Pipits which gave me good, if a little distant views. I felt really lucky to have seen them.

Rock Pipits

Rock Pipits

Rock Pipit

Rock Pipit

I carried on along the sea wall and, as usual on a Sunday, it was very very busy with people. There were 10 Collared Dove perched on a frame near the oyster farm buildings, the most I have seen here at once. 

Collared Doves

Out to sea there was a very distant bird which appeared to be a Red-throated Diver. 3 Sandwich Tern flew past calling away. It was pretty quiet otherwise. I had really hoped to see the Snow Bunting or a Short-eared Owl but unfortunately I was out of luck with both. I would very much like to see the Snow Bunting but I still have not managed to catch up with it. Out to sea Mallard were bobbing around. Altogether I saw 74 out to sea.

Mallards

There was a Kingfisher on the groyne near Coldharbour with some Turnstone but it got scared off by some people who came past. I did not expect to see it again but was lucky enough to see it fishing from some rocks as I made my way back to Reculver. It caught 3 fish in the space of 5 minutes. I had not realised that they fished in the sea.

Kingfisher

Kingfisher

Kingfisher

Kingfisher

I did not manage to catch up with the Snow Bunting but a Linnet gave me some lovely views. Normally they are so flighty but this one was obviously very hungry.

Linnet

Linnet

I carried on back and altogether had 6 Little Egret with 2 of them flying past. A Great Black-backed Gull was on one of the Cormorant poles. Light was fading fast but there was still no sign of any owls. I did however get a very nice surprise. I was checking out to sea and could see what appeared to be a diver much closer. It was a Red-throated Diver and presumably the same one that I had seen much further out. It caught a large fish which attracted the attention of both a Black-headed Gull and a Cormorant. I took some photos and hoped for the best as the light level was dropping all the time. I really was so lucky to see it. It was in full summer plumage. As expected, the photos are very noisy but I am pleased that I have them.

Red-throated Diver

Red-throated Diver

As I neared the end of the sea wall I saw a Devil’s Coach Horse beetle. They are impressive beetles.

Devil's Coach Horse Beetle

The wind by this time had picked up a lot and was very strong and very cold so I was pleased to be heading home but I had a very good visit.

Birds I saw included: 2 Rock Pipits, 6 Little Egret, 3 Mute Swan, 4 Meadow Pipit, 10 Collared Dove, 3 Redshank, 1 Wren, 3 Sandwich Tern, 1 summer plummage Red-throated Diver, 147 Linnet, 1 Kingfisher, 51 Turnstone, 15 Ringed Plover, 14 Oystercatcher, 74 Mallard, 1 Grey Heron, 1 Goldfinch