BURNING THE CALORIES

Burnt off a few calories on Boxing Day with a good long walk along some of the East Mersea footpaths. It was a brighter day today but still chilly with some of the ground still frozen, as in this field at Rewsalls Farm.

A peregrine flew over the fields here disturbing some of the golden plovers, lapwings and wood pigeons feeding in the fields. On the frozen Rewsalls marshes, 40 curlew and golden plover were roosting during the high tide along with a few lapwing. Three corn buntings perched on a dead tree and a reed bunting was also noted near here too.

The tide was just starting to turn early in the afternoon and along the beach by Coopers Beach, were 50 turnstone, 15 sanderling as well as a few redshank, oystercatcher and grey plovers. There was nothing of interest at sea other than a number of gulls, one great crested grebe and 4 mallard.

There was a very impressive flock of 200+ skylarks flying about the rape field to the east of Coopers Beach. Helping to scatter these larks was a sparrowhawk, hunting slowly around the field, hoping to surprise a small bird out of the crop. Two hundred brent geese were also feeding in the rape field, occasionally flying out to land on the nearby sea if they got disturbed.

There was no sign of the waxwings near the East Mersea pub today, although 25 waxwings were seen feeding on the bushes by the road near the Peldon Rose pub, just off the Island, in the afternoon.

One coal tit was visiting the feeder by the Shop Lane conifer wood in the afternoon. Two swans flew over Shop Lane in the late afternoon and could've been Bewicks, heading to Reeveshall. Earlier in the day Martin Dence reported seeing a barn owl hunting again at Bromans Lane in the morning and also the kingfisher was seen at their farm pond again.