QUIET ALONG SEAWALL

It seemed to be hard work trying to find anything of note along Reeveshall on Saturday 8th. Despite plenty of mud on show and little wind, there was very little activity. It was still quite warm although the sun failed to shine in the afternoon.

The main highlight was watching the male marsh harrier crossing the Pyefleet Channel three times in two hours from Mersea to feed its two well-grown chicks on Langenhoe Point. Each time the young would rise up to meet the adult, calling loudly for the food, which it would then lob over for the young to catch with its outstretched talons. When the young landed and lifted the prey in its beak it looked like a brown rat from Mersea that had been caught. The second prey item could not be seen clearly but the third successful hunting foray appeared to bring in a bird like a young moorhen.
An adult female marsh harrier was also seen in the distance flying around on Langenhoe and probably from a different family.

Waders were more thinly dispersed along the Pyefleet than usual. The wader tally for the walk just managed to reach ten species and without the ever present redshank, the mud would've been really deserted. Calls were heard from spotted redshank and whimbrel but neither were seen.

On the Pool 3 snipe dropped in to join 4 black-tailed godwit, 12 lapwing and a green sandpiper. A group of 20 black-tailed godwits fed in the nearby grass field with a few curlews. Also on the pool were a pair of dabchicks, just one teal and a little egret.

Perched on a bush by the pool was a whinchat who seemed happy to sit still for quite a time. On the ground nearby was a wheatear running about after some insects. Very few other small birds were noticed on the walk.

Out on the big grass fields at least 16 stock doves were seen feeding in scattered groups. The most bird activity on the fields belonged to the big regular group of crows, flying around and feeding on the ground. The mixed flock of around 200 birds involved mainly rooks and jackdaws but with a few carrion crows too.

On the mammal front two common seals were basking on their usual area of the Pyefleet on the mud, while my eager little companion Monty's keen sense of smell alerted me to a brown hare crouching down in the field fifty metres away.


Dropping down off the seawall there was the wonderful aromatic smell coming from the clumps of sea wormwood. The greyish-green clumps have a foothold along the lower part of the seawall, never any higher on top of the seawall and never any lower out on the main part of the saltmarsh. Positioning themselves just out of reach of the high tides, as in the picture above.

Andy Field visited Reeveshall earlier in the day and had a more rewarding walk. The highlight was a common buzzard which flew over Reeveshall, also a spotted flycatcher in Shop Lane was a good record. Also on Reeveshall he saw a second wheatear, two yellow wagtails, 100 grey plover and a marsh harrier hunting over Reeveshall.