With a breezy north westerly blowing this morning I decided to try a sea watch to see if anything was passing. Overall it turned out to be fairly quiet but I enjoyed seeing my first Arctic Skuas (136) of the year with a couple of singles seen heading west during the morning. Even though distant, one came close enough to try for a memory shot.
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| Arctic Skua |
Wader wise it was fairly quiet. Oystercatchers were heading east in small groups and a Bar-tailed Godwit (137) west was nice to see. A single Snipe also headed past. It was mainly Sandwich Terns that were heading east in small numbers while 3 Common Terns (138) passed west close enough to the towers to try for a photo.
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| Common Terns |
The undoubted highlight of the morning was when Marc Heath, who was also sea watching, spotted a distant Osprey (139) coming in from the north. I really hoped that it might head our way but it remained too far away to try for a photo and came in over Coldharbour instead and carried straight on, presumably ending up at Stodmarsh. I would have loved to have been able to get a photo of it. As a first sea watch for a long time it had been an enjoyable morning and I am very grateful to Marc for all of the help he gave me during the morning.
In the afternoon I headed to Coldharbour and sat on the sea wall to see what was moving out to sea. It was clear that there were more terns on the move this afternoon, with both Sandwich and Common Terns moving west. One of the Sandwich Terns gave a nice close fly past.
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| Sandwich Tern |
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| Sandwich Tern |
I also saw a single Great Skua (140) west and an Arctic Skua east.
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| Great Skua |
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| Arctic Skua |
I enjoyed watching as groups of Terns moved through, sometimes small mixed groups of both Sandwich and Common, other times larger unmixed groups. All were a pleasure to watch.
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| Common Terns |
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| Sandwich Terns |
Small groups of waders were on the move as the tide continued to come in and it gave an opportunity to try for some flight shots as they came past.
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| Sanderling |
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| Ringed Plover |
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| Oystercatchers |
With the movement of terns seemingly come to an end I started to make my way back to Reculver and as I did do a Rock Pipit landed on the beach and gave some very good views as it searched amongst the shingle for food. A nearby Meadow Pipit was equally obliging.
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Rock Pipit
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| Meadow Pipit |
A Common Sandpiper was on one of the groynes and I did well with them on the way back seeing 8 in total. Waders were roosting on the beach and a single Dunlin was amongst the Ringed Plover whilst a very smart Sanderling gave a very nice view.
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| Common Sandpiper |
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| Dunlin and Ringed Plover |
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| Sanderling |
Four Whimbrel flew west calling and a short while later another Whimbrel flew west before turning and returning east. They have a very distinctive and far carrying call.
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| Whimbrel |
Three Yellow Wagtails were on the beach in the company of a couple of Pied Wagtails while Linnet and Goldfinches chattered away from the other side of the sea wall. A Whitethroat peeped out at me from one of the bramble bushes and another three were more skulking.
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| Whitethroat |
An adult and juvenile Cormorant were feeding in close proximity to each other close in to the shore. A Cormorant coming into land showed just what an impressive wing span they have and was moulting various flight feathers.
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| Cormorants |
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| Cormorant landing |
A juvenile Sandwich Tern was resting on the beach as I neared Reculver. They are beautifully marked and it showed its wing markings well as it wing stretched several times. It called as another Sandwich Tern flew past out to sea but it did not receive a reply.
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| juvenile Sandwich Tern |
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| juvenile Sandwich Tern |
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| juvenile Sandwich Tern |
A Common Gull was on the beach as I approached the towers and a large number of Herring and Black-headed Gulls were swooping and soaring, presumably catching the many insects that were on the wing. The juvenile Sandwich Tern joined them briefly before flying back east.
It was good to reach the car park but had been an enjoyable and productive visit.
Birds seen during the morning sea watch included: 2 Arctic Skua west, 27 Sandwich Tern, 3 Common Tern, 1 Bar-tailed Godwit west, 1 Dunlin, 1 Snipe, 3 Little Egret, 1 Osprey in off the sea and south over Coldharbour.
Birds seen during the afternoon visit included: 1 Great Skua west, 1 Arctic Skua east, 86 Sandwich Tern west, 49 Common Tern west, 2 Dunlin, 29 Turnstone, 63 Ringed Plover, 78 Oystercatcher, 5 Whimbrel, 6 Meadow Pipit, 61 Sanderling, 8 Common Sandpiper, 1 Sparrowhawk, 56 Linnet, 3 Redshank, 2 Dunlin, 2 Little Egret, 5 Sand Martins, 25 Swallows, 15 Goldfinch, 2 Stonechat, 1 Reed Bunting, 5 Yellow Wagtails, 4 Whitethroat, 2 Pied Wagtail, 1 Common Gull
