I had the gift of a free day today and though it was proving to be a very problematic day for walking, it was great to be out, and with a slow wander the order of the day I set out from Reculver. There was a westerly wind with scattered cloud. The tide was on its way out. A couple of Pied Wagtail were up near the towers and Starlings wheeled round as they moved to feed amongst the grass. 3 Robins greeted me as I came down to the sea wall and 10 Brent Geese flew west out to sea. As I headed along Brent Geese continued to pass west at irregular intervals in small groups but otherwise out to sea remained quiet. 5 Blue Tit and a couple of Great Tit were in a bush near the pumping station. Good numbers of Meadow Pipit were along the shore and both Redshank and Greenshank called from the oyster farm. As the sun broke through I came across a very confiding Stonechat and it was a joy to watch as it moved from bush to sea wall in search of insects. What a little beauty.
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| Stonechat |
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| Stonechat |
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| Stonechat |
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| Stonechat |
A flock of 32 Goldfinch were busy amongst the Teasel heads and 12 Skylark flew west. A pair of Reed Bunting were on the shore fluffed up against the cooler morning temperature.
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| Reed Bunting |
I saw a Rock Pipit fly along the shore and then came across another 5 feeding within a short distance of each other. It was great to be able to have an extended period of time watching them and one of them enabled me to get some good views as it worked its way closer.
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| Rock Pipit |
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| Rock Pipit |
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| Rock Pipit |
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| Rock Pipit |
I carried on and had 3 Shelduck fly west out to sea and a Dunlin west following the coast. 2 Sandwich Tern were off shore. A Grey Heron on the shore watched me warily as I passed by. I came across another 4 Stonechat and a single Whinchat gave some nice views.
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| Grey Heron |
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| Whinchat |
It had become very overcast again with rain threatening. The wind started to noticeably pick up and as it did so small numbers of House Martin started to pass west with a few Swallow as well. A Great Crested Grebe flew west before landing on the sea. 10 Mallards flew in and 13 Brent Geese flew west out to sea.
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| Brent Geese |
Coldharbour was quiet apart from a Little Grebe, closer to the sea wall than normal, and a Redshank roosting and a few Black-headed Gulls on the water.
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| Little Grebe |
I sat on the sea wall for a while. The tide was well out by now and a Little Egret feeding on the shore was spooked as a flock of Black-headed Gulls came into land.
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| Little Egret and Black-headed Gulls |
The wind had continued to increase and the trickle of House Martins turned into a flood as they started to stream through. They were passing out to sea, along the sea wall and large numbers over the fields. Once again I had no idea how to count them. They were everywhere. Smaller numbers of Swallow were amongst them and as I made my way up to Chambers Wall both continued to stream past me. Suddenly a frantic number of alarm calls from the House Martins alerted me to the presence of a raptor and next second a Merlin came though trying to take advantage of the sudden glut of birds. As it shot past it tried unsuccessfully for a couple of birds with the alarm calls following it as it twisted and turned. A Coot looked round nervously as the alarm calls rang out and it started to head for cover. 4 more Coot were along the same stretch of river.
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| Coot |
As I headed up to the railway crossing I came across a mixed flock moving through some of the sheltered bushes consisting of 5 Chiffchaff, 3 Goldcrests, 8 Long-tailed Tit,7 Blue Tit and 7 Great Tit. Once on the other side I had a single Redwing drinking from a puddle on the track. I could only get a very distant shot but it makes a nice memory shot of my first Redwing of the Autumn.
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| Redwing |
I finished off with 3 Mute Swan on the river and a Painted Lady butterfly on some Ivy flowers while 7 Grey Partridge were along a field edge.
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| Mute Swans |
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| Painted Lady Butterfly |
I headed homewards and after an extended break there I went back down to Reculver for a bit of walk and sit birdwatching. It was still windy when I arrived but gradually the wind dropped right down and the sun came out and it turned into a really beautiful late afternoon. Matt Hindle had a Yellow-browed Warbler in the trees near the cafe in the morning so I had a wander round to see if I could catch up with it. I did not have any luck but I enjoyed watching a Goldcrest, which are lovely little birds, as it worked its way around deep within a bush and 3 Chiffchaff were nearby. 14 Collared Dove flew up from where they had been feeding in a field. I headed back to the sea wall and saw a 1st Winter Mediterranean Gull out to sea which luckily enough for me flew in at that point and came past me before moving back out to sea again and giving me some great views as it came past. Now that really was an obliging bird.
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| Mediterranean Gull |
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| Mediterranean Gull |
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| Mediterranean Gull |
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| Mediterranean Gull |
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| Mediterranean Gull |
A single Brent Goose flew west but otherwise out to sea still appeared to be pretty quiet. A Wheatear was on the shore but very flighty as people passed by on the sea wall.
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| Wheatear |
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| Wheatear |
While watching the sea again a juvenile Gannet flew west. I wonder if it is the same youngster I saw the other day. I also saw a distant adult Mediterranean Gull fly east and 4 distant Wigeon west.
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| juvenile Gannet |
7 Sanderling flew west as did a single Curlew. I saw a moth that appeared to come in off the sea before settling on the other side of sea wall. I am not sure what the moth is at the moment and will update when I can find out.
7 Ringed Plover flew in with a couple of Turnstone. The Whinchat gave some good views. Though it seemed to be associating with a couple of Stonechat neither seemed to tolearate each other all that well with frequent disputes breaking out.
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| Whinchat |
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| Whinchat |
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| Whinchat |
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| Whinchat |
The same type of moth that I had seen earlier flew over to where I was sitting on the sea wall and upon landing started to make its way to the edge and disappeared down into a crevice. Out to sea another 3 Curlew flew west.
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| Curlew |
Another 20 Ringed Plover flew past, together with a couple of Dunlin. A long way out 85 Oystercatcher flew west. 7 Little Egret were in their usual tree.
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| Little Egrets |
As the sun started to set it gave a stunning effect as a beam of light broke through a gap in the clouds. Once the sun had dropped below the horizon those same clouds now were filled with colour.
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Birds seen this visit included: 2 Pied Wagtail, Starlings, 54 Brent Geese west, 5 Robin, House Sparrows, 5 Blackbird, Black-headed Gulls, Herring Gulls, 6 Rock Pipit, 65 Meadow Pipit, 12 Blue Tit, 7 Great Tit, 17 Linnet, 14 Skylark west and 7 resident, 2 Redshank, 1 Greenshank, 34 Goldfinch, 5 Stonechat, 7 Little Egret, 1 Dunnock, Swallows west, 87 Oystercatcher, 8 Reed Bunting, 3 Shelduck west, 4 Sandwich Tern, 2 Kestrel, 3 Magpie, 2 Dunlin, 3 Grey Heron, 3 Turnstone, 1 Whinchat, 71 Mallard, 1 Great Crested Grebe, 1 Great Black-backed Gull, 17 Chiffchaff, large numbers of House Martin west, 5 Coot, Carrion Crows, 5 Goldcrest, 8 Long-tailed Tit, 1 Redwing, 2 Cetti's Warbler, 9 Chaffinch, 3 Mute Swan, 1 Common Buzzard, 7 Grey Partridge, 14 Collared Dove, 2 Mediterranean Gull, 1 Wheatear, 4 Wigeon west, 7 Sanderling, 27 Ringed Plover, 4 Curlew
