Andy Field and I walked the north side of the island from Maydays to Cudmore Grove CP on a very chilly Friday counting the waders and wildfowl as part of the monthly bird count for the B.T.O.
A single Egyptian goose was a surprise find along the Pyefleet Channel on Friday, standing on the saltmarsh near the Reeveshall seawall. Other highlights on the north side of the island included great white egret, 41 shoveler, 24 pintail, 694 shelduck, 13 red-breasted mergansers, red kite, peregrine, two marsh harriers, 230 avocets, 1200 knot, one snipe, while at Maydays were 50 fieldfare, ten redwing and a stonechat. Two brown hares were running over the fields while four common seals were at the top of the Pyefleet.
The great white egret was first seen in the field near the allotments on Wednesday, photographed from the car on East Road, just fifty metres west of The Fox pub.
At Coopers Beach on Wednesday 10th a common seal was seen feeding inside the breach of the old seawall during the high tide period. A peregrine caught a grey plover on the Rewsalls Marshes and carried it to the nearby field to feed on. Also in the field were 60 golden plover keeping their distance.
A flock of thirty sanderling was feeding on the beach at St Peters on Monday 8th.
The sanderling were scuttling along the edge of the water as the tide began to recede on Monday morning. Offshore from St Peters were a great northern diver and 25 great crested grebes.
The six snow buntings were still feeding on the beach at the East Mersea Point, a distant immature male eider was in the Colne, 300 wigeon, 7 gadwall and a pair of stonechats at the country park.
Also on Friday Charlie Williams walked the west end of the Island from Maydays round to Seaview and noted 298 black-tailed godwits, five bar-tailed godwits, 439 teal, 91 avocets, red-breasted merganser, while offshore were a great northern diver and a red-throated diver.
The red-necked grebe and a great northern diver were seen in the Mersea Quarters on Friday morning by Colin Mackenzie-Grieve. A Slavonian grebe was seen off St Peters by Steve Entwistle, also two great northern divers, maybe three of them, four little grebes, two avocets, two greylags and a lesser black-backed gull near Packing Shed and Cobmarsh Islands.
On Thursday 10th the black brant was feeding with 500 brent geese in a field behind Rewsalls Marshes, also 70 golden plover, 150 curlew, black-tailed godwit, ten little grebes, two fieldfare and 20 goldfinches in the area. From Waldegraves a red-throated diver, red-breasted merganser were offshore, 76 sanderling on the beach and 35 ringed plover roosting in a nearby field.
At Maydays on Thursday a barn owl perched on a fence-post mid-morning on Thursday, also a kingfisher, 100 fieldfare and a few redwing seen by Martin Cock.
A barn owl was seen last light on Thursday late afternoon by Shaun Bater, by the East Mersea Road / Dawes Lane area.
A great white egret was in the field next to the West Mersea allotments on Thursday seen by Steve Entwistle.
A song thrush returned to the Firs Chase garden on Thursday, feeding on some ivy berries - the first sighting here since last summer.
On the marshes were 6 snipe flying off with the rising tide, 50 brent geese, 20 teal, 20 grey plover, two Mediterranean gull, ten skylarks, Cetti's warbler, 30 linnets, rock pipit and ten reed buntings.
In East Mersea on Tuesday 9th Steve Entwistle watched a barn owl hunting fields near the north end of Shop Lane, and a tawny owl perched on wires half-way along Shop Lane late afternoon. Also goldcrest and long-tailed tits seen near Fishponds Wood, later near Dawes Lane 25 fieldfares and a redwing.
Caroline White saw a little owl fly across the path near the East Mersea Golfhouse on Tuesday afternoon.
Two buzzards flew low over the Firs Chase gardens being chased by a carrion crow on Tuesday.
No comments:
Post a Comment