I headed to Reculver this morning. It was sunny when I arrived but rapidly clouding up with a brisk west south westerly wind. The tide was out but starting to come in quite fast. Approximately 170 Starling were around the towers area alternating between the grassy area and then onto the concrete apron where they were searching for insects amongst the seaweed. 2 Grey Partridge flew up with a whirr of wings from the grass area on the old caravan site before disappearing into cover. As I came down to the sea wall a Little Egret was near the waters edge with a couple of Common Sandpiper on the shore line. Sand Martins were hawking for insects. I saw a Black-tailed Godwit flying west and though distant I tried for some photos. They haven't come out well and are heavily cropped but I was pleased to be able to get them.
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| Black-tailed Godwit |
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| Black-tailed Godwit |
I carried on along the sea wall and there was a good mix of waders on the shore with Common Sandpiper, Redshank, Oystercatcher, Dunlin, Ringed Plover and Turnstone all busy feeding and a couple of Curlew flew west. A single Wheatear popped up onto the sea wall and was chased off by a particularly belligerent Linnet. 2 Mediterranean Gulls were on the beach.
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| Mediterranean Gulls |
A couple of Green Sandpipers flew up from the oyster farm before settling down again. A Mediterranean Gull flew west and Swift were over the oyster farm. I met Chris and Anne Hindle who said that Marc Heath had had 2 Wood Sandpiper early morning on Coldharbour. I hoped that they would still be present once I reached there. A female Tufted Duck was in one of the dykes and a couple of Coot with 2 youngsters in another one.
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| female Tufted Duck |
I met Chris and Anne on their way back from Coldharbour and they had seen a Wood Sandpiper but it had flown shortly after so I was not hopeful of catching up with it. I met Marc Heath and while chatting with him a flock of 21 Common Tern flew past out to sea. A Great Crested Grebe was offshore. I reached Coldharbour and had a look to see what I could see. A couple of Dunlin were preening, as was a Redsank. There wasn't any sign of a Wood Sandpiper. Three Common Sandpipers were present and 4 Sandwich Tern flew east out to sea. I couldn't believe my luck when I heard a bird calling and a Wood Sandpiper (146) flew back in. It landed near a Common Sandpiper and started to feed. It was a beautiful bird and I was treated to some lovely views as it fed almost continuously the whole time I was watching it.
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| Wood Sandpiper and Common Sandpiper |
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| Wood Sandpiper |
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| Wood Sandpiper |
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| Wood Sandpiper |
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| Wood Sandpiper |
At one point a large group of cyclists came past and it flew a short distance before settling back down in the same area as a couple of Common Sandpiper. I did not manage much of a flight photo but it does show the pale underwing, well projecting toes and more narrowly barred tail.
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| Wood Sandpiper |
A juvenile Common Sandpiper and 2 adult Dunlin with a juvenile also gave good views as they worked their way along the same edge.
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| juvenile Common Sandpiper |
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| Dunlin |
I carried on and sat on the sea wall for a while to watch the sea but it was very quiet apart from a few passing Sandwich Terns. As I carried on along the sea wall a flock of 10 Common Sandpiper flew east, presumably ones moving as the tide rose, so I have not counted them in the numbers below as I do not know how many I may have already counted as I came along. A Common Tern was fishing offshore and a Grey Seal popped its head up and had a look round before sinking under the water again. A flock of 4 Common Sandpiper flew west and I have counted those below.
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| Common Tern |
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| Grey Seal |
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| Common Sandpiper |
The weather was improving rapidly and becomming sunny and warm. I had more Common and Sandwich Tern passing out to sea as I approached Plumpudding Island with a juvenile Sandwich Tern giving some good views. I did not manage much of a photo but it makes a good memory shot.
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| juvenile Sandwich Tern |
I got a nice surprise when I saw a Wood Sandpiper on Plumpudding Island. I have counted it as a separate bird but it is possible that the one from Coldharbour had flown down. It was turning out to be a very good visit. A juvenile Yellow Wagtail and a juvenile Pied Wagtail close to each other gave good opportunities to compare them.
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| Wood Sandpiper |
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| Wood Sandpiper |
I carried on along the sea wall. I could see at least 6 Whimbrel roosting on the beach together with 62 Oystercatchers, Black-headed and Herring Gulls, and Sandwich and Common Terns. A Common Sandpiper on some rocks stayed longer than I expected with the waves breaking over the rocks. I was beginning to be somewhat concerned that it was going to be washed off the rock but once a large wave came in it flew up and away and escaped unharmed.
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| Common Sandpiper |
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| Common Sandpiper |
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| Common Sandpiper |
As I neared the point to come off the sea wall for Shuart some Black-headed Gulls gave some very good views as they flew into the wind. 11 Common Scoter flew east.
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| Black-Headed Gull |
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| Black-headed Gull |
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| Black-headed Gull |
Lots of Starlings and House Sparrows were around the stables area and several more Pied Wagtail. Linnets were chattering away and a couple of Whitethroat scolded from the bushes. A teneral Migrant Hawker's wings caught the light as it rested amongst nettles.
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| teneral Migrant Hawker |
On crossing the railway line I saw another Migrant Hawker sheltering out of the wind. As I turned from photographing that I saw a large brown bird disappearing from view with a large wing span and it was definitely not a bird of prey or an owl. From the very brief glimpse I thought that it was a Bittern but it seemed so unlikely that I doubted myself too much to count it as such. As an update to this it later turned out that a farm worker had photographed a Bittern in one of the dykes and showed the photo to Matt Hindle. He had seen it in the same area and around the time that I saw this bird so it was really nice to confirm that I had not got the identification wrong even though it was only the briefest of views.
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| Migrant Hawker |
As I came up to the beginning of the hedgerow I could see several hawkers on the wing ahead. There were several Migrant Hawkers and an interesting looking hawker that, luckily for me, settled as it clouded over and I could see that I was looking at my first Southern Hawker. I was so chuffed. It was a beautiful dragonfly.
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| female Southern Hawker |
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| female Southern Hawker |
Extremely well chuffed I carried on down the path and had not gone very far when I saw a couple of hawkers settle. The first was a Migrant Hawker and it gave nice views. A Common Darter was determined not to be left out and settled in front of me allowing a good close view.
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| Migrant Hawker |
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| Common Darter |
I moved forward slowly towards where I had seen the other hawker go down and caught sight of blue and expected to find a male Migrant Hawker. What I actually saw as I crept closer took my breath away. There was a beautiful blue hawker sitting there. Blue eyes and blue and black markings. I couldn't believe it as I thought I may well have a Southern Migrant Hawker but it did not really seem possible and I thought that I must be mistaken. I could not manage to remember exactly what were the definitive identifying features for Southern Migrant Hawker and knew that I would need to check my photos against my books before I could be sure. I was able to get some photos before the sun came back out and suddenly it was off and back to hawking for insects. What an incredibly beautiful dragonfly. As I had to leave shortly afterwards and did not get back until late I wasn't able to check my photos against my books until late evening but they seemed to confirm what I thought. For confirmation I sent a couple of photos to both Chris Hindle and Marc Heath who agreed with identification. What a beauty.
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| male Southern Migrant Hawker |
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| male Southern Migrant Hawker |
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| male Southern Migrant Hawker |
I finished off a very enjoyable and productive visit with close views of another Common Darter.
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| Common Darter |
Birds seen this visit include: 5 Blackbird, Starlings, House Sparrows, Herring Gulls, Black-headed Gulls, 9 Pied Wagtail, 67 Oystercatcher, 48 Sand Martin, 20 Common Sandpiper, 2 Grey Partridge, 8 Redshank, Carrion Crows, 138 Linnet, Wood Pigeons, 4 Little Egret, 31 Meadow Pipit, 20 Ringed Plover, 5 Dunlin, 5 Whitethroat, 12 Turnstone, 2 Green Sandpiper, 1 Wheatear, 1 Grey Heron, 2 west and 1 east Curlew, 3 Mediterranean Gull, 2 Reed Bunting, 53 Swift, 1 Tufted Duck, 2 Pheasant, 5 Sedge Warbler, 1 Reed Warbler, 4 Coot, 30 Common Tern, 1 Great Crested Grebe, 1 Mute Swan, 6 Whimbrel, Skylarks, 16 Sandwich Tern, 2 Great Black-backed Gulls, 3 Magpie, 2 Wood Sandpiper, 1 Yellow Wagtail, 11 Common Scoter east, 1 Marsh Harrier, 6 Corn Bunting, 3 Collared Dove, Blue Tits, Great Tits, 2 Chaffinch, 1 Blackcap, 1 Moorhen
