WATCHING THE WOODCOCKS

If you stood around for any length of time out in the park like I did above, on the afternoon of Saturday 10th, you'd soon disappear under a blanket of snow. My wife Nolly and I were the only people to walk along the seawall head-first into the blizzard with the cold snow pelting our eyes.

Wrapped up in several layers, except for Monty who despite being a "long-legged" Jack Russell, still found the thick snow hard work, we battled our way around the park.


It was another "woodcock-day" with five sightings of three different birds around the park. You're lucky if you get to see one woodcock in a day but to see three here at the park was unique.
One bird in a sheltered wet ditch in Bromans Lane near the park entrance, stood still as we stopped the car to admire it, on the way into the park and on our drive out an hour and a half later. A woodcock was reported from this part of the Lane a month ago, so is likely the same bird. This was also the same spot where the snipe was seen yesterday.

The second woodcock was still in the same area as before, under the trees on the cliff-top walking across the snow like a wary partridge, watching us with head up. As we walked along the path it scuttled along close to the cliff-edge, stopping occasionally with its long bill held out, before rising sharply into the air with its broad brown wings.

The third woodcock was in the opposite corner of the park, suddenly flying out of another sheltered ditch and disappearing quickly from view. This bird has been seen in this ditch-line on a couple of previous occasions in the last six weeks or so.

Not many other birds seen through the snow, although lots of blackbirds, robins and dunnocks had been busy trying to flick the snow away from the leaves under the trees. A reed bunting was seen disappearing inside a small hole in a snow covered sea-blite bush on the saltmarsh. A rock pipit and a couple of skylarks were noted beside the seawall.

The park pond in the picture above, still had an unfrozen section where 150 ducks gathered, some standing still for so long they were getting covered in snow. The usual mix of mallard, teal, gadwall, wigeon, shoveler but no tufted ducks. Six snipe were seen feeding in the snow near the pond. In the alder trees nearby 25 goldfinches briefly flew out of the trees before returning.

Along the East Mersea road with the snow beginning to drift, 150 skylarks were poking around in the snow covered fields, pecking at leaves of the sugar beet crop. A sparrowhawk headed back towards the gardens of West Mersea where several fieldfare and redwing flocks were noted during the day. A great spotted woodpecker was heard drumming on a tree by Firs Chase and then prospecting an old nest-hole. Seemed a bit early to think about breeding while it snowed.

The foxes have become less wary in recent days as the snow blankets the ground. They've often been seen during the day both at the park and crossing streets in West Mersea, as they check out all the gardens for food-scraps.