DOZY BARN OWL

This barn owl was found snoozing in the sunshine, on a bramble bush at Rewsalls Marshes at East Mersea on Friday 21st. Having first spotted it from the seawall nearly 300 metres away, I was able to get close to it using a little used public footpath and take one or two photos before it took off.

Although the owl looked as if it was snoozing, I could see it open its left eye very slightly so that it could watch what was going on. After getting as close as 25 metres, the barn owl lifted off from the bush and headed swiftly over the fields towards the Youth Camp. I don't think I've come across a barn owl like this, snoozing in a bush in the middle of the day before. It's also the first barn owl I've seen on the Island for several months - sightings this winter have been very scarce.

Shortly after seeing the owl, there was the unexpected view of a female marsh harrier that appeared along the beach from the west and crossed onto the marshes. It perched on a fencepost near the dyke for a few minutes before slowly crossing over the rough grasslands. The group of 300 grazing brent geese all stopped feeding for awhile as the harrier passed them close-by.

Other birds of note included 2 stonechat, 25 fieldfares, green sandpiper, snipe, 6 shoveler, 2 little egrets and a flock of 20 chaffinches feeding on various weeds on the seawall.

There were plenty of waders that quickly descended onto the mud as the tide went out. What was impressive was the variety of waders around with 15 species being logged for the walk. The most notable being 20 sanderling and at least 100 bar-tailed godwits with one individual in striking ginger summer plumage.

Brent geese were all along the coast with many starting the day on the sea, waiting to fly onto the nearby fields. As well as the Rewsalls flock, another group of 500 fed on the wheat field near the country park. This is part of the flock, pictured below, flying over the car park - always a magical sight.