Thursday 4 January 2018

RUFF START TO NEW YEAR

The New Year started dull and damp on Monday 1st with conditions not really brightening up during the day. The first walk of 2018 was along the Strood seawall where five ruff, one pictured above, were feeding on a flooded corner of an arable field.


A glossy ibis was seen on the Ray Island saltmarsh preening itself whilst it roosted during the late morning high tide. Mid afternoon it was seen by George Brown flying past the West Mersea Hard towards Old Hall.


The pair of stonechats was near the central ditch, 30 linnets and 15 skylarks were seen in the fields.
Feeding on the Peldon arable fields were 2000 brent geese.

Sixteen tufted ducks were on the Strood fishing lakes on New Years Day, also 2 great crested grebes, while a Mediterranean gull flew over and a common buzzard perched in a nearby hedgerow. Twenty fieldfares were in tree tops near the Mersea Barrow.

A shag and two red-breasted mergansers were seen from the Hard, feeding among the moorings.

Birds noted from the Esplanade by Graham Ekins and Steve Entwistle on New Years Day included 28 common scoter, 15 red-breasted mergansers, 4 red-throated divers, great northern diver, 100 great crested grebes, 2 Slavonian grebes, shag, guillemot, 2 Mediterranean gulls, also 2 peregrines on Bradwell while near the Dabchicks was a blackcap and five corn buntings flying over.


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