A Goosander, Guillemot and Hovering Wind Turbines - Reculver 08/11/20

As I finished work earlier than expected today I paid a short visit to Reculver this afternoon. It was a beautifully fine afternoon to begin with and a Starling on the rocks by the car park looked stunning in the light.

Starling

Wandering along the sea wall I saw some small duck, a good ways out, fly up briefly from the waters surface before settling back down again a short distance away. I had a sit on the sea wall and after a while the ducks once again flew up and flew low above the water before settling down again a little further on. I was able to see them better this time and I could see that they were 14 Teal.  

Teal

As I neared the green bank I saw a bird flying in from the sea quite high and about halfway between me and Reculver. I could see it was a female/immature sawbill and expecting it to be a Red-breasted Merganser I grabbed a few photos even though it was a long way off. The photos are very heavily cropped but all suggest it could actually be a Goosander with the bird showing a clear cut demarcation line between its head and neck. It isn't as thick necked as I imagined a Goosander would look in flight but is quite heavy bodied. A white chin spot is just about visible in some shots but could be the effect of heavy cropping of the photo. The white wing patch appears not to be separated by a black line but on a photo this cropped would probably be hard to see anyway. In the end I have come down on the side of Goosander because of that sharp demarcation between head and neck but, as always, I could be wrong.

female/immature Goosander

female immature Goosander

A little further along 7 Shelduck were on the sea and looking very smart. Out to sea the wind turbines were once again giving the optical illusion of floating in the air. I have seen it once before when the horizon line becomes lost and a darker band of sea fools the eye into thinking that it is the horizon line resulting in the turbines appearing to hover. 

Shelduck

Optical illusion of hovering Wind Turbines

Cloud cover started to build and the cloud formations looked very striking. The air was suddenly filled with the calls of Golden Plover and 177 birds were wheeling around, the most Golden Plover I have seen so far this winter. I couldn't see what had put them up.

Cloud formation

Golden Plover

I had another sit on the sea wall and just enjoyed watching out to sea for a while. Small numbers of Gannet were on the move with most heading west and a couple coming east.

immature Gannet

I caught sight of a little bird out to sea whirring along and had my only auk for the afternoon when a Guillemot flew east.

Guillemot

Three Great Crested Grebe were off shore and 14 Mallard came into land. I liked the shape they formed as they did so and the stages of landing on the water captured in the photo. It still fascinates me that photos allow me to see things that happen too fast in real life to be able to sufficiently appreciate them.

Mallards

I could see 190 Brent Geese on the sea towards Coldharbour and 110 Oystercatcher roosting on the beach. A Rock Pipit was investigating one of the groynes and 3 Pied Wagtail were along the shoreline with the male flying up to the groyne at one point. The Rock Pipit did not like that at all and chased it off. Out to sea a Sparrowhawk flew in from the north. Four Teal flew west and I wondered if they would join up with the other birds I saw earlier.

Teal

Teal

It was time to start heading back. I could hear multiple alarm calls from the Oystercatchers and turned to see they had been disturbed from their roost by walkers along the shingle bank.  The Oystercatchers flew my way together with some Ringed Plover, Turnstone, Sanderling and a couple of Dunlin. Tucked in with one of the flocks of Oystercatcher were 2 Curlew.

A couple of Mute Swan flew east out to sea as I made my way back, coming down onto the water near Coldharbour. A little further along another couple of Great Crested Grebe were on the water. A single Teal was close inshore and climbed out onto the rocks but keeping a wary eye on passers-by on the sea wall.

Teal

Teal

I finished an enjoyable visit watching a stream of Brent Geese move west out to sea in an undulating long line. It was a bonus to have had some time for some birdwatching this afternoon.

Brent Geese

Birds seen this visit included: Teal, Shelduck, 9 Gannet 7 west 2 east, 1 Guillemot, 25 Sanderling, 10 Redshank, 18 Mallard, 7 Pied Wagtail, 5 Great Crested Grebe, 5 Meadow Pipit, 1 Rock Pipit, 2 Stonechat, 2 Mute Swan, 190 Brent Geese. 38 Ringed Plover, 5 Turnstone, 2 Curlew,

An Unexpected Goosander and a Handsome Mandarin - Memorial Park, Herne Bay 22/02/20

As I came through the park today I got a very welcome surprise. I was idly looking towards the lake to have a quick scan through the duck when I caught sight of a bird asleep on the water that appeared to be a sawbill and I was really chuffed, as it raised its head to check out a gull that had come too close, to see that it was a female Goosander. What a beauty. She promptly tucked her bill in and went back to sleep.

female Goosander

female Goosander

I sat on one of the benches, in the hopes she might wake up, and a little while later the gulls on the water suddenly flew up in alarm as a dog jumped into the water on the other side of the lake causing her to be instantly alert. I couldn't believe my luck when she started to swim my way and settled near the island and I was treated to the best views of Goosander I have ever had.

female Goosander

female Goosander

Peace was broken when a male Mallard came too close and instantly her head crest came up and with bill gaping laying her body flat against the water she saw him off.

She tucked herself in by some rocks and started to preen but if another bird came too close she immediately became alert and her crest started to raise. As they moved off her crest would start to lower.

I wondered how long she had been on the lake for and while chatting to another couple of bird watchers, who were passing by, they said that she was on the lake at first light and there had not been any sign of her yesterday. After another commotion amongst the gulls her posture became more alert before she moved out from amongst the rocks.

Luckily for me she did not seem too fazed by the large number of people passing by and though, initially, she moved further out onto the lake it wasn't long before she moved back in again and once again gave some super views.

The male Mallard came back and decided to try his luck again and coming in close started to drive her back towards the bank. Once again she reacted and the crest came up and with bill gaping she charged at him and causing him to beat a very hasty retreat.

With the arrival of a large family party coming to feed the ducks the Goosander moved round to the other side of the island and started to dive frequently to look for prey. I moved round to another handy bench and though she was a little further away now I was still lucky enough to have some great views as she hunted. Her head feathers became slicked right down after several dives resulting in a vigorous head swing to shake the water off.

When diving she would rear forward, sometimes with a leap, sometimes not. I tried to capture it on the camera but often she was too fast for me. She would travel a little way under water before coming up again.

After a while she moved back round to the main part of the lake and a sudden gust of wind gave her a decidedly bad hair day before all settled back into place again.

I had thought that I had seen signs of a dark line in the white on her closed wing and when she obligingly flapped her wings it was clear that there was indeed a dark band. I would have expected that on a Merganser but not on a Goosander. Having looked it up it seems that there can be an indistinct line on on some or all of the outer greater coverts. Here it appears to be all of them. It is something that I will have to find out more about.

While watching the Goosander I was also treated to some great views of the long-staying male Mandarin Duck. He really is an extremely handsome bird and it was great to get some of the best views I have had of it.

It had been an unexpected and greatly enjoyable experience and hopefully, after resting up after the high winds, the Goosander will be able to carry on her way.