FINE VIEWS OF FIRECRESTS

More sunshine at the start of Friday 23rd made it a another pleasant day at the park. The rowan trees in the car park, one pictured above, still have a few berries on them and is where some of the 20 chaffinches are normally to be found feeding.

Two firecrests were still present in the clifftop trees for the third day but were still a challenge to find if they didn't call. Views in the late afternoon were rewarding as one was close enough inside a bush that binoculars weren't needed to see the striking head pattern. A little later it climbed high up a pine tree with the afternoon sunshine helping to provide fine views of its bright markings.

A lesser redpoll flew over calling and landed briefly in the car park and a few reed buntings were also seen flying over the park in the morning. The long-tailed tits, blue and great tits were still roaming around the bushes in the park but there was no sign of the goldcrest or chiffchaff of yesterday.


On the pools in the grazing fields 200 teal were gathered along with a couple of snipe and a black-tailed godwit. Not so many ducks on the pond although mallard, shoveler and gadwall were all noted. On the mudflats 400 golden plover were roosting in one main flock in their usual place. At the Point 2 corn buntings landed briefly amongst the sea-blite bushes for a few minutes, before continuing on their way over the river Colne. A stonechat was also seen in the bushes with a handful of reed buntings.