PALE-BELLIED IN WITH DARK-BELLIED

The pale-bellied brent goose was still with the main brent goose flock in the country park grazing fields. Pictured here in the centre foreground, present on both Tuesday 17th and Wednesday 18th. There have been up to 700 dark-bellied brent geese at times in the fields in recent days.

Also in the fields were 500+ golden plover and 700 wigeon on Wednesday along with several turnstone and a few grey plover during the afternoon high tide. Ninety greylag geese were feeding in the fields on Tuesday.

On Wednesday 18th a kingfisher and tufted duck were noted on the park pond, the kingfisher was also seen on Monday 16th. Twenty-eight little egrets roosted in the trees on Monday.

A lapland bunting flew south over the beach calling several times as it headed out over the mudflats on Monday morning. A siskin, fieldfare and a sparrowhawk were also noted at the park that day. A red admiral flew across the park stopping momentarily to check out the blue colour of the tractor in Monday's sunshine.

Eight siskins and a sparrowhawk were also noted at the park on Tuesday along with a rock pipit and 700 golden plover near the Point.

A little owl trying to hide in the cotoneaster bush near the park toilets on Wednesday attracted the noisy attention of lots of other birds. The little owl eventually flew over to trees in the middle of the car park where it then got dive-bombed by a jay which forced it to then flee towards the park entrance.
Possibly the same little owl flew into the car park just as darkness descended late on Thursday 19th.

A brambling was seen with chaffinches by the Golfhouse on Monday 16th by Andrew Tilsley and Martin Cock, the same bird was first seen a week ago in the same horse paddock.

A common buzzard was perched on one of its regular telegraph poles by the East Mersea road near Weir Farm on Thursday 19th.

The pied blackbird was seen again in Firs Chase on both Wednesday and Thursday mornings.

There's been a lot of coming and going with the mute swans at the park and it's a bit confusing trying to work out which pair belongs where. Pictured above is one of the adults chasing off what looks like a young adult.