It was great to be at the start of a week's annual leave and on a beautifully fine spring morning, with little wind, I had a wander up to the top of the Bridleway at Shuart. Bird calls and song surrounded me and seemed even more exuberant today as if appreciating, as much as I did, the warmth from the early morning sunshine. While scanning round I suddenly heard a wader calling and moments later a Greenshank flew over my head, calling away. It made a nice addition to the mornings birds. I came back down to the bottom track and a Wren popped up onto a branch while another disappeared into cover with a bill full of insects.
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| Wren |
As I made my way along Four Grey Squirrels were chasing each other up, along, and down some of the trees at breakneck speed. The speed they can move while assessing jumps from branch to branch is just amazing. Bird song surrounded me with every step. As I neared the railway line a Greylag Goose was in its usual spot but on its own today.
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| Greylag Goose |
I decided to have a wander along the embankment and see if anything new was in. 3 Lesser Redpoll flew west calling away and the odd Swallow was also heading west. Whitethroats were in good voice as were another couple of Cetti's Warblers. A Green Sandpiper was on the distant flooded area of one of the fields and I presume it is the same bird I saw the other day. Male Chaffinches were much in evidence, keeping watch and belting out their song from various perches along the way.
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| Chaffinch |
A singing Lesser Whitethroat was a welcome sound, my first of the spring. A Yellow Wagtail flew over, its flash of yellow shining out against the blue sky. Another Lesser Whitethoat was singing away with yet another Cetti's giving it a run for its money. Above I heard a Grey Wagtail call and moments later it flew over heading west. The male Marsh Harrier came past giving some good views. They are beautiful raptors.
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| male Marsh Harrier |
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| male Marsh Harrier |
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| male Marsh Harrier |
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| male Marsh Harrier |
A little later the female was also up and I saw both birds at various times carrying nesting material.
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| female Marsh Harrier |
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| female Marsh Harrier with nesting material |
Sedge Warbler and Whitethroat song followed me all the way along and by the time I was nearing the end of the embankment I had had 5 Lesser Whitethroat. I had hoped I might catch up with a Redstart and/or Grasshopper Warbler but did not manage either. Still it had been a lovely walk through on what was proving to be a beautiful spring morning. A male Linnet's breeding plumage colours shone out in the sunshine and from the oyster farm a Red Fox peeped out at me as I headed past for the sea wall.
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| male Linnet |
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| Red Fox |
I headed back to Reculver along the sea wall and saw a nice mix of waders. A smart Grey Plover was with a Turnstone, both looking lovely in the sunshine.
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| Grey Plover and Turnstone |
An Oystercatcher pair were sticking close to each other. I still remember, even though its a long time ago, when I first started bird watching, the excitement I felt when I first saw my first Oystercatcher in flight. I knew so few birds that I didn't even know at that time what it was, never having seen one before, but I was absolutely captivated by it. I am still a pretty rubbish bird watcher but I have never lost that sense of sheer beauty, excitement and thankfulness every time I get to see and experience a days birding. And to be fair, the beautiful weather this morning was definitely helping towards feeling incredibly lucky to be able to be out today.
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| Oystercatchers |
Two adult Mediterranean Gulls flew west helpfully alerting me to their presence by their call. Off shore there were 12 Common Scoter.
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| Mediterranean Gull |
A single Dunlin was roosting on the shore, 3 Curlew flew east out to sea and small numbers of Whimbrel were flying west with 1 out to sea and then 2, 4 and 1 overland over the oyster farm. Turnstone were dotted along the shore roosting.
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| Turnstone |
I glanced up from watching the Turnstone and had nearly missed a couple of geese flying past. They were an unexpected surprise and were a couple of very smart Barnacle Geese. I could only manage a couple of photos as they were flying away but was lucky I had not missed them completely.
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| Barnacle Geese |
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| Barnacle Geese |
As I neared Reculver a Cormorant on the one of the marker poles plumage gleaming in the sunshine.
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| Cormorant |
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| Cormorant |
Late afternoon I decided to try and make the most of my days holiday and headed to Chambers Wall with the aim of a walk through to Reculver. As I walked down the approach road the air was alive with Skylark song and I tried to see if I could manage to get any photos of one of them in song flight. It was fun to try with the added bonus of pausing long enough to really appreciate the beauty of their song.
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| Skylark |
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| Skylark |
As I headed along the track I could hear a Lesser Whitethroat singing and had a little more luck trying for a photo than I had managed this morning. Though distant it makes a nice memory shot.
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| Lesser Whitethroat |
I was watching a handsome male Chaffinch tucked into the hedgerow when alarm calls rang out and a Sparrowhawk flew overhead and the Chaffinch took instant cover in the hedgerow.
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| Chaffinch |
The pair of Shelduck were on Coldharbour again and a pair of Oystercatchers were on the shingle at the back. At one point the male Shelduck suddenly took exception to one of the Oystercatcher pair and headed straight for it, head low in the water and his whole demeaner making it very plain that the Oystercatcher wasn't welcome. The Oystercatcher held its ground for a moment and then beat a very hasty retreat. Satisfied the male Shelduck returned to its mate.
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| Shelduck |
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| Shelduck and Oystercatcher |
A Rock Pipit was picking food items from the surface of the water where the water weed was at the surface. At times it appeared to be feeding on small white oval egg cases.
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| Rock Pipit |
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| Rock Pipit |
I had a sit on the sea wall for a while and a small flock of three 1st summer Black-headed Gulls flew east.
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| 1st Summer Black-headed Gulls |
The tide was on the way out and as the first little patch of the mussel bed became exposed a flock of 64 Turnstone flew in and made the most of it.
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| Turnstone |
A Little Egret flew past heading east and showed well against the blue reflecting sea.
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| Little Egret |
I started to make my way back towards Reculver. A single Common Tern was out to sea while on the other side of the sea wall a Short-eared Owl flew up to hunt briefly over the oyster farm, looking spectacular as the light shone through its wings, before dropping down again.
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| Short-eared Owl |
A little further along a Linnet was carrying nesting material. After a little while it suddenly discarded it before flying off.
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| Linnet |
A Grey Heron was stalking slowly through one of the lagoons while on the lower track a Magpie was spectacular with its feathers fully splayed as it came into land.
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| Magpie |
The Short-eared Owl came up again but remained distant. I heard a Whimbrel call and one flew east over the oyster farm. I could hear a Cuckoo calling and scanning round I could see it atop one of the distant bushes.
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| Cuckoo |
On the shore there was another Whimbrel. It fed for a little while before stopping for a wash and brush up and a quick wing flap. It was nice to be able to spend some time watching one somewhat closer than I normally see them.
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| Whimbrel |
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| Whimbrel |
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| Whimbrel |
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| Whimbrel |
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| Whimbrel |
I had thoroughly enjoyed the first day of my holiday but luckily for me it was just about to get even better. The Short-eared Owl came up again and started to hunt in almost perfect light. I love watching owls and this one was just so beautifully lit highlighting its gleaming yellow eyes that even though it never came particularly close I was able to get some great memory shots of a magical experience.
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| Short-eared Owl |
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| Short-eared Owl |
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| Short-eared Owl |
It moved a little further away again and allowed a last couple of shots before it went down again. I waited a little while but it did not come back up and it was time to carry on to Reculver.
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| Short-eared Owl |
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| Short-eared Owl |
The Whimbrel I had been watching earlier was flushed from the beach by a gentleman walking along the shore and came past, over the oyster farm, and continued on west.
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| Whimbrel |
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| Whimbrel |
As I came up to the towers a pair of Great Black-backed Gulls were on the beach and trying to eat a Dogfish. Both tried and neither had any luck however they approached it. They didn't, however, at any point work together. Either one or the other took the fish and tried and the other only watched, never assisted. Once one had dropped the fish the other would pick it up and try. It was obviously one very tough skinned fish. One bird in particular was very persistent while the other would wander off and then come back to see how things were going before giving another try itself. I don't know how long they had been trying before I saw them but from then they were still at it nearly ten minutes later before they eventually gave up and abandoned it.
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| Great Black-backed Gulls and Dogfish |
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| Great Black-backed Gull and Dogfish |
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| Great Black-backed Gull and Dogfish |
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| Great Black-backed Gulls and Dogfish |
On reaching the towers I heard a Little Owl calling and it made a good end to the visit. Today had been a really good start to my holiday and I had thoroughly enjoyed my day and the birds that I had seen.
Birds seen this visit (morning visit) included: 3 Chiffchaff, 1 Robin, 6 Blackbird, 6 Wren, 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 4 Blackcap, 2 Green Woodpecker, Jackdaws, Wood Pigeons, Blue Tits, Great Tits, Long-tailed Tits, 2 Stock Dove, 1 Greenshank, 2 Ring-necked Parakeet, 2 Song Thrush, 1 Pheasant, 25 Whitethroat, 3 Willow Warbler, 7 Cetti's Warbler, 2 Lapwing, Sedge Warblers, 9 Chaffinch, 3 Red-legged Partridge, 3 Reed Warbler, 4 Reed Bunting, 1 Greylag Goose, 6 Goldfinch, 21 Swallow west, 3 Lesser Redpoll west, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 1 Yellow Wagtail, 4 Magpie, 1 Green Sandpiper, 3 Lesser Whitethroat, 1 Grey Wagtail west, 2 Marsh Harrier, Mute Swan, 3 Coot, 12 Linnet, 9 Whimbrel, 1 Grey Plover, 4 Oystercatcher, 7 Turnstone, 1 Dunlin, 7 Ringed Plover, 120 Sanderling, 2 Mediterranean Gull, 12 Common Scoter, 2 Barnacle Geese, 3 Curlew, 5 Shelduck, 7 Sandwich Tern, 1 Kestrel, 2 Stonechat, Meadow Pipits, Skylarks
Birds seen this visit (afternoon visit) included: 2 Yellow Wagtail, 2 Reed Bunting, Chaffinches, 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Green Sandpiper, 3 Cetti's Warbler, Skylarks, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 8 Linnet, 2 Shelduck, 1 Rock Pipit, 64 Turnstone, 1 Common Tern, 2 Whimbrel, 2 Short-eared Owl, 2 Great Black-backed Gull, 1 Little Owl
