Little Terns, Snipe, Fulmar and a Weasel - Shuart to Reculver 22/08/19

For the last day of my holiday I started out from Shuart. I will not be able to spend much time bird watching for next couple of weeks so it has been good to have had the time this week to just enjoy some slow wanders through the area and I thought I would try and make the most of it today. It was a very fine morning with a light westerly wind. Willow Warbler and Blackcap were calling from the car park and a good mix of the usual jobs were either singing or calling away. As I had a wander along I kept my eyes open for a flycatcher but I did not manage to find one. Passing a gap in the hedge I could see 3 Red-legged Partridge in the field and a little further along I could caught sight through the little gaps in the hedge of another 12 at the edge of the field.

Red-legged Partridge

Red-legged Partridge

I saw good numbers of Blackcap today as I made my way along. 2 Common Buzzard were frequently calling and a Carrion Crow gave, first a Kestrel, and then a Sparrowhawk a rough time, coming up to meet both and then harassing them until they moved on. I saw a couple of Migrant Hawkers resting up and a couple of Common Darter were on the wing.

Migrant Hawker

I got lovely views of a Reed Warbler enjoying the warmth of the early morning sunshine. It sat for a couple of minutes and then after a quick yawn moved on.

Reed Warbler

Reed Warbler

A Mute Swan was preening at the edge of a dyke with 4 youngsters round it. A Grey Wagtail called as it flew over. In the stables area a Willow Warbler was working its way through the bushes and Swallows were hawking for insects above the Paddocks. Clouds of House Sparrow and Linnet were on the path ahead of me with more in the bushes. There was a mass of alarmed chirping as a Sparrowhawk streaked past brushing the bushes as it went. It was moving so fast that I did not see if it had successfully caught one or not. 2 Yellow Wagtail and 5 Pied Wagtail were in the paddocks. The manure heap was steaming and the warmth from it had attracted a fox who was sunbathing on it.

Fox

The sea appeared very quiet when I reached the sea wall and the tide was on its way out. A few Herring Gulls and Black-headed Gulls were on the shore or the sea. A couple of Sandwich Tern were heading east. The walk along to Plumpudding was very quiet. I saw a couple of Teal flying west well out to sea before coming down and settling on the sea. Plumpudding Island itself was very quiet with just 3 Redshank on it. A confiding Reed Bunting looked lovely in the morning light.

Reed Bunting

As I neared Coldharbour I had 5 waders flying west. There were 2 Ringed Plovers and 3 Snipe. They turned inland at Coldharbour and I thought they were going to come down but they turned again and continued west.

Snipe

A Whitethroat peeped out at me as I walked past Coldharbour. A Common Sandpiper and a couple of Redshank were present together with a few Black-headed Gulls. The usual Meadow Pipits, Yellow Wagtails and Reed Bunting were also there.

Whitethroat

I could hear some shingle being dislodged on the bank at the back of Coldharbour and looked up to see a Weasel streaking for cover. They are so fast. It continued to move back and fore along the edge of the vegetation and remained mostly hidden. When it paused it was surprisingly well camouflaged against the shingle. I only managed a very poor memory shot but was pleased to get it. They are amazing creatures to watch.

well camouflaged Weasel

I sat on the sea wall for a while and apart from the odd Common and Sandwich Tern it appeared to be very quiet. I was idly following a Sandwich Tern when I saw a group of small birds moving out to sea and tightly grouped together. I thought they were going to be waders but when I got on them I could see that they were in fact terns and even better it was a fairly large group of Little Terns with a few Common Terns interspersed with them. I was very lucky as once they started to separate out they turned my way and flew steadily west bringing them past me. I really hoped that they might move in a bit closer but unfortunately they didn't. They were a very welcome sight indeed and definitely made my day. Unfortunately they were too far out for any decent photos, particularly with the heat haze, but I gave it a go and although they have come out very badly, and are heavily cropped, they make really good memory shots of a lovely sight. There appeared to be c30 Little Terns and 5 Common Terns. I bumped into Marc Heath on the sea wall later on, as he was also out at Reculver, and he said that Chris Hindle had had a group of Little Terns amongst the Gull roost behind Coldharbour earlier that morning so it seems likely that they were the same birds moving off from there.

Little and Common Terns

Little and Common Terns

Well chuffed I sat for a while longer just enjoying the glorious morning's weather and watching an immature Yellow Wagtail looking for insects along one of the groynes. It appeared to be catching plenty.

immature Yellow Wagtail

I looked up from watching that to see a Fulmar flying west close into shore but it had already started to pass me and all I could see was a rear end view. Luckily a little further along it turned slightly and I was able to get some photos before it turned again and continued west. It was a lovely sight. A group of 17 Common Tern were also going west.

Fulmar

Fulmar

Fulmar

A Grey Heron was hunting along the dyke running parallel to the sea wall and gave some good views as it did so. It did not seem concerned by the activity on the sea wall.

Grey Heron

A couple of Stonechat were active and a Whinchat popped up briefly amongst them. I caught sight of a Wheatear on the rocks and then, at the same time, had another one on the beach.

Wheatear

I could hear Grey Herons calling and had 4 flying in off the sea from the north. They turned as they neared the shore and flew west.

Grey Herons

I was sorry that my holiday was coming to an end but it had been an enjoyable visit to finish on.

Birds seen this visit include: 4 Willow Warbler, 10 Blackcap, 9 Robin, Blue Tits, Great Tits, 5 Wren, 1 Dunnock, 8 Blackbird, 3 Green Woodpecker, 4 Chaffinch, Carrion Crows, 2 Great Spotted Woodpecker, Wood Pigeons, Jackdaws, 2 Common Buzzard, 2 Chiffchaff, 15 Red-legged Partridge, 1 Jay, 4 Mallard, 5 Long-tailed Tit, 9 Whitethroat, 1 Kestrel, 9 Goldfinch, 2 Kestrel, 3 Sparrowhawk, 3 Reed Warbler, 8 Sedge Warbler, 7 Mute Swan, 2 Sand Martin, 1 Grey Wagtail, Linnets, House Sparrows, Starlings, 25 Swallow, 10 Yellow Wagtail, 5 Pied Wagtail, 12 Sandwich Tern, 5 Magpie, 12 Meadow Pipit, Cormorant, Black-headed Gulls, Herring Gulls, 1 Collared Dove, 20 Ringed Plover, 12 Oystercatcher, 36 Common Tern, 6 Redshank, 2 Teal west then settled on the sea, 7 Reed Bunting, 3 Snipe west, 12 Turnstone, 2 Green Sandpiper, 3 Little Egret, 2 Common Sandpiper, 6 Coot, 5 Grey Heron, c30 Little Tern, 1 Fulmar west, 1 Pheasant, 2 Stonechat, 1 Whinchat, 2 Wheatear,

A Stormy Stodmarsh and Reculver - 08/02/19

The forecast was very bad for today with gale force southerly winds and increasing rain. In view of the forecast, and as I had a day off work, I thought I would pay another visit to Stodmarsh Nature Reserve and spend a little bit of time in the Reed bed hide and just see what I could see.

The walk to the hide was very quiet for birds, apart from a very confiding Robin that was actually too close for a photo. Once I reached the hide I could see that a fair number of duck were sheltering in the bay with at least 28 Shoveler, 38 Mallard and 67 Teal. The wind appeared to be increasing and with some of the gusts the water became very choppy but was much calmer in the sheltered areas.The Teal and Mallard seemed to prefer the area near the hide while the Shoveler were nearer the far bank.

Mallard and Teal

Shoveler

A Merlin shot across, which came as a nice surprise, but it was moving too fast to be able to get a shot of it. A very handsome male Mallard was resting up, right outside the hide, as were a pair of Teal.

Male Mallard

Male and female Teal

A head on Teal and Mallard gave a chance to compare head shape.

Male Teal

Male and female Mallard

A Great Crested Grebe swam into the bay briefly but remained distant and did not stay long. A little later a Cormorant swam in and, though it dived frequently, I did not see it catch anything.It did, however, come up with a twig at one point and a leaf at another, both of which it dropped after carrying it for a little way. The photo does enable me to see just how hooked its upper bill is. No wonder they can manage to hang onto fish, often of a fair size.

Cormorant and stick

Cormorant throwing leaf

The Teal were, once again, quite flighty and at one point most of them flew up in alarm and flew off but I could not see what had disturbed them. Neither, it appeared, could the Mallard or Shoveler because, although all their heads came up, they soon settled down again. I tried for some flight photos of the Shoveler as they flew in, which they did now and then, but I struggled to get a shot of both upper and underwing. These were the best that I could manage and they are not very good. I managed a poor shot of the underwing of an approaching Mallard but it does give a comparison to the Shoveler.

Shoveler in flight

Shoveler coming in to land

Mallard in flight

Amongst the male Shoveler there was an immature male. He appeared to have a thin white line around the base of its bill. I did not see any other noticeably immature males. He stood against the much cleaner plumage of the other males. Their bills really are quite something and it truly is a very well named bird.

Immature male amongst adult male and female Shoveler

Because of the strength of the wind I was not expecting Marsh Harriers to be flying much but I actually got some very nice views. I saw at least 2 different female/immature birds and 1 or 2 males. Despite the force of the wind, they appeared to cope very well. I thoroughly enjoyed watching them.
The photos are not great but I was very pleased to be able to get them.

Marsh Harrier

Marsh Harriers

Marsh Harrier

Marsh Harrier

A single Greylag Goose swam out from amongst the reeds and at one point had a short flight before quickly settling down again. It is incredible how they can run across the surface of the water prior to gaining height.

Greylag Goose taking off

Greylag Goose - lift off

A young Cormorant was determined to settle on a dead tree but picked one of the windier moments to try it. It was buffeted in all directions and had to abort several times before finally managing to land.

Cormorant balancing act

I finished the visit with a Magpie digging through some of the vegetation. It was calling frequently and subsequently was joined by another bird. The colours are amazing as the light catches their feathers. The photo does not do it justice, but did catch some of the blue sheen, and it makes a nice memory shot.

Magipe

The rain was starting to come down in earnest now and, with the wind, if anything seeming stronger,  I made my way back to the car park.

On the way home we dropped into Reculver and watched the sea for a little while from the car. Overall it was very quiet. I was, however, very pleased to catch up with a Fulmar (92) as I had one going east. I also saw 6 Red-throated Divers east but apart from some Herring Gulls, Black-headed Gulls, a Great Black-backed Gull and a Common Gull, that was about it. Even the Cormorants were keeping their heads down and I only saw 4.

With heavy rain and a howling wind we packed up and headed for home. It was great to be able to get out today, despite the weather, and I had thoroughly enjoyed my day.

Birds seen on this visit include: 1 Robin, 5 Chaffinch, Blue Tits, Great Tits, Fieldfare, Redwing, 1 Common Buzzard, 48 Shoveler, 46 Mallard, 92 Teal, 58 Cormorant, 1 Great Crested Grebe, 1 Greylag Goose, 3-4 Marsh Harrier, 1 Merlin, 56 Lapwing, Woodpigeons, Collared Dove, 1 Fulmar, 6 Red-throated Diver, Black-headed Gulls, Herring Gulls, 1 Common Gull, 1 Great Black-backed Gull.