MORE RAIN

More rain fell on the park on Sunday 28th with this area pictured above, showing the ground completely saturated. The park normally copes with lots of rain well because the soil is sand and gravel but this winter the rain just keeps falling!

A walk around the park in the middle of the day was done in the rain with a cold biting northerly wind buffeting you on top of the seawall. The strong wind combined with the spring high tide, covering all of the saltmarsh, although luckily the waves weren't bashing against the park cliff with any force.

Birds of note on the very flooded grazing fields included a record count of 155 shelduck as well as 11 greylag geese, 200 black-tailed godwits, 700 wigeon and a variety of other waders and wildfowl. The strong wind and rain meant it was difficult to stand still on the seawall and see many of the birds. However some of the other birds seen were teal, shoveler, gadwall, mallard, curlew, lapwing, redshank, dunlin and turnstone.

Two rock pipits were seen on the beach, 15 bar-tailed godwits flew past the Point, 9 tufted duck were on the pond, while in the field next to the park 18 fieldfares and 9 skylarks were noted.

Martin Dence witnessed a muntjac deer munching the flowers in his Bromans Farm garden at dawn this morning - the first sighting on the farm.

This picture of a waxwing was taken by Andy Field as it fed on the rosehips in the British Legion car park in West Mersea in the last few days. The two birds were first seen on Wednesday morning and were present on Thursday, Friday and first thing on Saturday for about an hour. They provided many local people and visiting birdwatchers with some great views. It was quite easy to drive into the small car park and enjoy watching them without getting out of the car.

The birds may still be in West Mersea feeding on berries or hips in someone's garden. Ian Black reported seeing one of the waxwings fly over his house in Mersea Avenue on Friday morning. There was also a report of a possible waxwing seen in a garden along the East Road the week before.

Andy Field took this picture of this female kestrel on a bush near the pond at the country park yesterday. He also saw 3 lesser redpolls feeding with some goldfinches in alders near the pond. At the Point 4 sanderling were noted on the beach at high tide.

Two little owls were seen alongside the East Mersea road by Fen Farm just after dark on Friday evening, one swooping alongside the car while the other sat nearby on top of a telegraph post.
In West Mersea a few more common toads were making their way along Firs Chase in the drizzle on Thursday evening for the second night in a row.