The photos on this posting were kindly passed to me by Andy and Shirley Field who have been out and about trying out their brand new camera.Thanks to these two photos I can see for myself the sickly gannet that was found on the West Mersea beach opposite Broomhills Road on Tuesday afternoon.
This large seabird apparently didn't fly off when approached but it did threaten anyone who got too close with its big sharp beak. By the time I arrived on the scene in the evening, the bird had already been taken into care.Gannets are rarely seen from Mersea although they regularly pass other parts of the Essex coast.
This turnstone looked as if it has flicked over a stone rather too big for its beak to handle, as the lower part of the mandible has broken off.
This little egret will be the regular one that took up residence on the saltmarsh at St Peters Well. It had a favourite perch in a nearby willow tree where it stood waiting for the tide to recede.
It was Dave Bragg who very bravely (thats a very big beak!!) kept the gannet overnight and took it to the Mersea vets the next morning. He was collected by the Seabird Santuary who reported that the bird was 50% underweight.
ReplyDeleteI've since heard that the gannet died in care.
ReplyDeleteDougal
Found a dead gannet washed up on the beach at West Mersea at high tide today (5 July). Photo on my blog. Is this part of a worrying trend?
ReplyDelete