I visited Reculver this morning with a fairly cool south westerly breeze keeping temperatures down. A couple of Common Sandpiper flew west calling away and made a nice start to the visit. As I made my way towards the towers a very smart male Pied Wagtail was on the rocks and was collecting nesting material and spiders webs.
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| Pied Wagtail |
Five Sand Martin flew west as I rounded the towers and a Grey Heron flew over to the oyster farm. Coming down onto the sea wall I was greeted by a Wheatear on a fence post but I was only able to grab a very quick shot as I could hear dog walkers coming up behind me. Next minute the Wheatear flew to the concrete apron and another flew up from the rocks and followed it. They paused briefly on the concrete apron before flying on past the towers.
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| Wheatear |
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| Wheatears |
The tail less Kestrel appears to be starting to regrow its tail but it is still very stunted. It doesn't seem to affect its ability to hunt and it flew past carrying prey.
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| Kestrel and prey |
There was another Wheatear on the cut grass towards the water pumping station, a smart male this time. It also was flushed by a dog walker, moving briefly to the fence before landing in the old caravan site. Hopefully it was going to get a little more peace there.
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| male Wheatear |
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| male Wheatear |
A Little Egret was in the channel below the pumping station with a plume of feathers catching in the wind on one side. It did not appear to be particularly successful at catching any prey items.
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| Little Egret |
It was very quiet out to sea as I made my along the sea wall. An immature Mute Swan flew past and I always enjoy seeing the mix of juvenile and white feathering.
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| immature Mute Swan |
Another Kestrel was hunting over the lower track and this bird also appeared to re-growing its tail feathers but was not the same bird as I had seen earlier. This bird's tail re-growth was a fair bit further on than the other bird I saw earlier. He made a couple of unsuccessful drops onto prey before successfully making a catch.
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| Kestrel |
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| Kestrel |
A Whimbrel flew west out to sea while on the other side of the sea wall a Marsh Harrier was hunting over one of the dykes before being mobbed by a Carrion Crow.
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| Whimbrel |
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| Whimbrel |
A Black-headed Gull took an exception to a passing Herring Gull and flew up to mob it. It was persistent in its pursuit but remained at approximately the same distance from the Herring Gull as it chased it. Otherwise it remained very quiet out to sea.
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| Herring Gull and Black-headed Gull |
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| Herring Gull and Black-headed Gull |
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| Herring Gull and Black-headed Gull |
A Rock Pipit was singing when I arrived at Coldharbour and defending its territory vigorously. It would 'parachute' down, singing away, continuing its song briefly from whatever perch it had selected, before stopping to check round. Both a passing Meadow Pipit and a Reed Bunting were challenged and chased from its territory.
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| Rock Pipit |
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| Rock Pipit |
A couple of Mute Swan and a pair of Shelduck were on Coldharbour and it was aptly named today as the wind was making it feel decidedly chilly. I had a wander up to Chambers Wall and had another 4 singing Cetti's Warblers on the way through. Despite the coolness of the wind some hoverflies were making the most of any shelter and taking advantage of the reflected heat from some leaves while resting up.
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| Helophilus pendulus |
It had proved to be a pretty quiet wander through but a bonus to have a Bank Holiday off and to be able to do some bird watching on it.
Birds seen this visit included: 2 Common Sandpiper west, 15 Sand Martin west, 10 Blackbird, 2 Pied Wagtail, House Sparrows, Wood Pigeons, 5 Magpie, 1 Grey Heron, 12 Whitethroat, 3 Wheatear, 29 Swallow west, 2 Kestrel, 7 Linnet west, 3 Little Egret, 2 Mute Swan, 7 Reed Bunting, 6 Oystercatcher, 14 Sedge Warbler, 5 Shelduck, 7 Turnstone, 1 Whimbrel west, 2 Mallard, 6 Meadow Pipit, 3 Ringed Plover, 1 Marsh Harrier, 1 Rock Pipit, 2 Tufted Duck, Skylarks, 1 Lapwing, 6 Cetti's Warbler, 3 Reed Warbler, 2 Chaffinch, 1 Green Woodpecker, Blue Tits, Great Tits, 2 Blackcap, 5 Goldfinch,
