BERRIES AND BRENT

Autumnal feel to Wednesday 10th at the country park with leaves turning and lots of berries everywhere. On one section of slumped cliff behind the beach is a clump of sea buckthorn with one bush covered in orange berries. This clump of bushes seems to have flourished more since they slumped down two or three years ago. The berries are popular with the birds, so they might not last long.

The park pond was paid a visit by the kingfisher who announced his arrival with lots of loud whistling before perching in a sallow bush. The colourful reflection of the bird could be seen on the calm water below. After a few minutes of resting and preening, it disappeared into another nearby sallow bush and not seen again. On the pond were about 20 mallard, 10 teal and a couple of shoveler as well as the usual coots, moorhens and little grebes.

This was the first day of the autumn that the wigeon have been seen grazing on the park fields with 50 birds seen. The fields have become a popular grazing site for the wigeon with numbers increasing every winter. Numbers peaked earlier this year at 750 in February and along with the hundreds of brent geese, there wasn't much grass left for them to eat.

The brent geese are still out in the estuary at the moment feeding on the algae on the mudflats with 50 out from the park and another 100 beside Brightlingsea. One small group flew past with one or two young being seen, so that is a good indication that the brent were able to breed in Siberia this summer.

The pair of stonechats flew onto the bushes on the seawall and perched prominently on the top. As I walked along the path towards them, they flitted along the seawall changing perches with lots of wing-flicking and also loud chacking calls - just like someone knocking some stones together.

The dusk chorus came to life as daylight faded and the tawny owl called from Bromans Lane and the little owl from some trees just north of the park.