There was a breezy south westerly wind when I arrived at Reculver with a mix of sunshine and cloud. A gentleman, walking round the concrete apron at the foot of the towers, flushed a Wheatear and a Black Redstart. The Black Redstart alighted momentarily on the fence but then disappeared from view and I did not manage to pick it up again. The Wheatear was more obliging and I could see it on the grassy area as I came past the towers. On scanning round I could see a Hobby moving out to sea.
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| Wheatear |
House Sparrows were busy collecting food and the towers echoed with their chatter. On the towers itself a pair of Goldfinch were pulling spiders webs from the stones. One of the Goldfinch was ringed.
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| Goldfinch |
Two Swift and small numbers of Hirundines were heading west as I came down onto the sea wall. I could see a female Mallard with 8 ducklings in one of the dykes and the song of a Blackcap and several Whitethroats filled the air. Another Wheatear flew past me and carried on past the towers having been flushed from the shore by a dog walker. Presumably the same Hobby I had seen heading out to sea was coming back in as I came down onto the sea wall.
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| Hobby |
Three Sandwich Tern were flying west while inland a Kestrel flew past carrying prey. 3 Little Egret, 2 Shelduck and a few Black-headed Gulls were put up from the oyster farm by a couple of Common Buzzard slowly spiralling west above.
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| Little Egrets and Black-headed Gull |
Cloud was continuing to build and the wind was continuing to strengthen. Coming past some rocks I could see another Wheatear framed in one of the gaps, the white in its tail catching the eye as it flicked it in the recess. It appeared to be sheltering from the wind and stayed there for several minutes. On the shore 6 Dunlin were roosting while offshore a couple of Common Tern were diving to fish.
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| Wheatear |
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| Dunlin |
The Common Terns gradually came closer and I spent the next quarter of an hour happily watching the pair fishing. Their agility and aerial skill is always a joy to watch.
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| Common Tern |
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| Common Tern |
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| Common Tern |
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| Common Tern |
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| Common Tern |
The weather, unfortunately, was deteriorating rapidly and a Painted Lady butterfly was being buffeted by the wind despite being tucked down on a flower and trying to gain some protection in the lee of the sea wall. A couple of Yellow Wagtail were moving between the shore and the sea wall.
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| Yellow Wagtail |
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| Painted Lady Butterfly |
As I reached Coldharbour a shower of rain moved through. A first summer Mediterranean Gull flew west just before the worst of the rain started.
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| 1st summer Mediterranean Gull |
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| 1st summer Mediterranean Gull |
A Rock Pipit was singing, once again, from one of the fence posts on Coldharbour while on Coldharbour itself the only inhabitants appeared to be a Mute Swan and a couple of Mallard.
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| Rock Pipit |
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| Rock Pipit |
I could see another bunch of rain clouds heading my way and hoped that I might just make it back to Reculver before they hit. On the way back one of the Common Tern was on a groyne post and with one eye on the weather I paused to watch. I could hear the other Common Tern coming and was carrying the gift of a small fish in its bill.
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| Common Tern |
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| Common Tern |
The next few moments were a privilege to watch. The tern flew in with his gift of a fish and alighted on her back. I don't know if she was unimpressed with the gift, or whether in his haste he omitted to give it to her, but she appeared to be reluctant to mate and shrugged him off.
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| Common Terns |
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| Common Terns |
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| Common Terns |
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| Common Terns |
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| Common Terns |
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| Common Terns |
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| Common Terns |
He did not attempt to mate again but flew in a large loop, coming back past me before moving back out to fish.
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| Common Tern |
I would loved to have stayed and watched to see what happened next but with the first drops of rain falling and a long walk back I headed towards Reculver. A Cormorant negotiated the gusts of wind to land without any problem on one of the marker poles. I love the shapes the wings make as it adjusts the angle of them to allow it to step onto the marker pole without overshooting.
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| Cormorant |
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| Cormorant |
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| Cormorant |
Within minutes the threatening shower arrived and as it hit 2 Fulmar flew west out to sea. With driving torrential rain I squelched my way back to Reculver. It was a relief when the shower finally moved away, as I neared the towers, and the sun breaking through brought a Wheatear up onto the rocks near to the towers. It was almost certainly one of the ones I saw earlier so did not count it again.
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| Wheatear |
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| Wheatear |
A flock of Starlings were busy on the grassy area catching Leather Jackets.
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| Starling |
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| Starling |
As the light caught their feathers they showed a rainbow of iridescent colour and just goes to show that there is immense beauty in the commonest of birds. It made a nice end to the visit.
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| Starling |
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| Starling |
Birds seen this visit included: 3 Wheatear, 1 Black Redstart, 1 Blackcap, 1 Mute Swan, 6 Whitethroat, House Sparrows, Starlings, 7 Swift, 20 Swallow, 1 Hobby, 18 Mallard including 1female with 8 young, 5 House Martin, 4 Linnet, 2 Collared Dove, 2 Kestrel, 1 Meadow Pipit, Cormorants, 3 Sandwich Tern, 3 Little Egret, 2 Shelduck, 2 Common Buzzard, 2 Oystercatcher, Herring Gulls, 1 Great Black-backed Gull, 2 Common Tern, 6 Dunlin, 8 Turnstone, 2 Yellow Wagtail, 42 Sanderling, 2 Ringed Plover, 1 Grey Plover, 1 Mediterrean Gull, 1 Sedge Warbler, 2 Fulmar,
