GARDEN HAWK

This young male sparrowhawk stopped off in Andy Field's back garden in High St North on Thursday 13th.

It looks like it left the garden empty-handed on this occasion.

A walk along the Strood seawall on Thursday 13th produced views of 6 avocets along the channel, buzzard, stonechat, grey heron and 2 little egrets in the fields, while a red-breasted merganser was seen amongst the boats opposite the Hard.

Offshore from the Esplanade, two great northern divers, red-throated diver and fifty great crested grebes were seen on Thursday by Martin Cock.

At East Mersea a barn owl was seen by the East Mersea bus turning circle late afternoon on Thursday by Michael Thorley, also a fieldfare seen. Steve Entwistle reported four red-legged partridges near Bocking Hall with another four near Bromans Lane on Thursday morning, also a mistle thrush and fieldfare east of Weir Farm. 

There were plenty of ducks and waders on the grazing fields at the country park on a sunny Wednesday 12th. Here a group of wigeon was feeding by the water's edge while a large flock of several hundred black-tailed godwits were roosting.

At least a thousand wigeon were feeding in the fields, with 20 shoveler, 50+ teal and 9 greylag geese also. A roost of 50 herring gulls in the fields was unusual.

Counts made by Andy during that Wednesday afternoon high tide included 720 black-tailed godwits, 200 lapwing, 460 redshank, 318 dunlin, 137 curlew and 16 snipe. A buzzard flying over the fields flushed off many of the birds.

At the park pond the female pochard was with nine tufted ducks with another five tufteds on the park dyke. Also on the pond were 16 gadwall and 12 little egrets.

A flock of 70 brent geese dropped into feed in the flooded horse paddock by the Golfhouse. Earlier 500 brent geese had been grazing a pasture nearer Ivy Farm until some horses walked over to them.

By the foreshore 24 sanderling were feeding with 50 turnstone prior to high tide.

In the Colne fifteen red-breasted mergansers were seen by Andy.

A pair of mistle thrushes was feeding in a horse paddock near the East Mersea bus turning circle.

A female kestrel perched on railings by the seawall at the country park on Wednesday, photographed by Andy.

Andy also snapped these two pictures of the over-wintering pair of stonechats on Wednesday at the park.

The pair was by the tarmac ramp at the park mid afternoon, the female stonechat pictured here.

On Tuesday 11th along the Strood seawall, a Mediterranean gull, kestrel, 55 shelduck, 3 little egrets, 3 rock pipits and 30 wigeon were the main birds noted on an otherwise quiet walk.