STROOD GREAT WHITE

A great white egret dropped onto one of the Strood fields providing close views before it went stalking along the edge of the nearby borrowdyke on Friday 27nd. 

The great white egret at one point flew off to the west end of the fields, before returning to the area near the seawall sluice. After half an hour or so, it then flew over to the side of the Ray saltmarsh.

For comparison in size, there were two smaller little egrets with black bills briefly beside the great white egret on the Strood field.

The great white egret was seen beside this waterlogged field by the Strood on Friday. Also seen were a buzzard on a hedge, pair of mute swans, and a marsh harrier flying over Ray Island.

A large flock of 1000 golden plover was in the wet field, as were 70 lapwing and at least one Mediterranean gull in the group of roosting gulls.

A pair of shoveler was an unusual sight in the Strood channel on Friday after three were seen the day before - the first in this area for at least a year.

Also along the channel were fifty avocets, bar-tailed godwit and fifteen ringed plover.

Jonathan Norgate saw two great northern divers and eight great crested grebes from the Esplanade on Friday.

A red squirrel was seen gathering bark from a lime tree beside Firs Chase on Friday. It paused in a holly tree as it was heading away with its mouthful of nest material for its drey somewhere in the direction of The Lane. 

The red squirrel spent several minutes stripping bark off a branch.

It rolled the bark into a tight ball before running off.

The red squirrel had paused on a branch high over Firs Chase before stripping the bark off.

Up to four stock doves have been feeding in the Firs Chase garden in recent days along with up to twenty collared doves and a handful of wood pigeons.

Birds seen along the Strood seawall on Thursday 20th included a distant great white egret landing beside the Peldon seawall, a peregrine flew over the Strood clutching prey, marsh harrier also seen and a buzzard. Along the Channel were 60 avocets, 54 shelduck, 150 wigeon, 150 teal, three shoveler, 800 golden plover, 15 ringed plovers, and a bar-tailed godwit. A mistle thrush was in the poplar trees at the Firs Caravan park and 15 redwings flew over Firs Chase.

Martin Cock saw the eider on Thursday from the Esplanade and then later Steve Entwistle, Matt Turner and Steve Grimwade also saw two great northern divers and a Mediterranean gull. The peregrine was sitting on the nestbox on the Bradwell power station and 500 knot over Sales Point at Bradwell. 

Graham Ekins and Mark O'Rourke visited West Mersea on Thursday morning and saw eider, three great northern divers, red-throated diver, four red-breasted mergansers, two Slavonian grebes offshore from the Esplanade, also a kingfisher at the south-east end of the Strood, red kite over Strood and a marsh harrier over Old Hall Marshes.

Ten redwings were along the top of the Firs Caravan park and a single one feeding with blackbirds in Feldy View on Wednesday 25th. Two mistle thrushes, two song thrushes and two great spotted woodpeckers were also in the area.

In the Strood Channel near the caravan park were a bar-tailed godwit, 15 black-tailed godwits while in a field were fifty golden plover and fifty lapwing.

Andy Field managed this photo of the distant eider in the Blackwater, opposite Kingsland Road on Wednesday, also two great northern divers and two Mediterranean gulls.