BLACK BRANT WITH BRENT

 

The black brant was with some dark-bellied brent geese feeding along the saltmarsh in front of the Firs Chase caravan park on Wednesday 12th. Along the Strood channel were 200 brent geese in total, also 120 shelduck, 100 lapwing, 50 avocets, 100 knot and 100 dunlin.

The pair of wintering stonechat was along the hedge in front of the Firs Chase caravan park on Wednesday. A mistle thrush was in the poplar trees by the caravan park.

The regular female kingfisher was perched again by the Strood dyke on Wednesday. In the fields were two grey herons, ten meadow pipits, rock pipit and four corn buntings. Two sparrowhawks, two marsh harriers and a buzzard were noted too.

Offshore from the bottom of Seaview Avenue on Wednesday morning, Daryl Rhymes saw an adult gannet distantly on the water with gulls, also three great northern divers, two red-throated divers, 23 red-breasted mergansers and a pale-bellied brent goose.

On Tuesday 11 along the Strood, the kingfisher was along the dyke, a great white egret flew along the dyke before flying north-east, marsh harrier, ten stock doves, mistle thrush by the caravan park and a song thrush in the Firs Chase garden.

A grey plover was seen along the Strood channel on Monday 10th, also seen were 3 little egrets, marsh harrier, six ringed plovers, five greenfinch by the seawall, while 1500 brent geese were in the Ray Channel.

On Sunday 9th a kingfisher was photographed by Steve Entwistle beside the East Mersea boating lake. A water rail was seen walking in a ditch near the Youth Camp entrance. 

At Cudmore Grove a male pochard was seen on the park pond by Steve.

Offshore from the Esplanade were two great northern divers, while a female blackcap was seen in Steve's garden in Empress Drive.

Michael Thorley reported a grey squirrel in a nearby garden near Meeting Lane on Sunday.

On Saturday 8th a male pochard was on the country park pond, also two gadwall and some of the eight tufted ducks seen during the park walk. On the fields were 200 wigeon, 70 mallard, 50 teal, four shoveler, 200 brent geese and 18 curlew. A marsh harrier flew over the fields and continued across the Colne. 

One of the male wigeon seen along the park dyke on Saturday.

A buzzard was perched behind the grazing fields, green woodpecker, song thrush and 20 knot also of note at the park.

A common seal was in the river Colne close to the East Mersea Point on Saturday.

Michael Thorley photographed this female great spotted woodpecker that is regular to his garden feeder near Meeting Lane on Saturday.

In West Mersea a female blackcap was on Steve Entwistle's bird table in his Empress Drive garden on Saturday.

A black-tailed godwit was feeding in one of the Strood fields on Friday 7th - rare to see one in these fields. Other birds noted along the Strood seawall included kingfisher, 40 avocets, two little egrets and 8 greenfinches.

In Firs Chase a male and female blackcaps were at the garden feeders on Friday.

Two ravens landed at Barrow Hill on Friday, seen by Rob Lee.

Steve Entwistle saw a red-throated diver flypast the Esplanade on Friday, also two adult Mediterranean gulls there, while two distant Egyptian geese seen from the Hard over Salcott Channel.