BUILDING AN APPETITE

Managed to fit in a morning walk to East Mersea Point to help build up an appetite for the lunch on Tuesday 25th before the rain set in. There was still an area of mud not covered by the incoming tide where there was a large concentration of waders. The picture above shows some of the golden plovers flying around . Twenty avocets caught the eye as they stood along the edge of the water. Ten sanderling were seen along the beach at the Point and a couple of red-breasted mergansers in the river Colne.

Having just savoured the spectacle of masses of birds on the mud, the whole lot suddenly went flying off in panic with lots of anxious calling. The only clue as to the cause of the mass disturbance was given by a carrion crow which had pursued a small raptor. There was a split-second glimpse of what may've been a sparrowhawk diving into the thick cover of the sea-blite bushes at the Point, clutching a small bird. The crow gave up the mobbing once the raptor had dived into the cover and it appeared to stay down for some time after, presumably enjoying its hard earned Xmas lunch.

In the grazing fields the usual flock of 150 wigeon and 10 black-tailed godwits were feeding close to one of the flooded creeks. There were a few more wigeon at the rear of the fields and also a small group out at sea. Twenty goldfinches were also seen on the fields as the drizzle started to set in for the day.