USUAL STROOD SELECTION

The early sunshine on Thursday 19th soon petered out and the rest of the day ended up being cloudy accompanied by a cool easterly breeze. A brief walk along the side of the Strood and the West Mersea Hard produced the usual selection of birds as the tide came in.

Redshank were the commonest wader, dotted along both sides of the channel with a few curlew, oystercatchers, grey plover and turnstone with just one black-tailed godwit noted. Brent geese were also in small groups feeding along the water's edge, as was a flock of 20 wigeon near Ray Island.

Amongst the boats there were several little grebes but no sign of any seals or shags near the jetty. Plenty of herring gulls in the area with many adults in their pairs along with a number of the brown sub-adults. A lot of the black-headed gulls have recently donned their blackish hoods ready for the impending breeding season.