BARNACLES WITH BRENT

Two barnacle geese were found by Andy Field in the country park grazing fields feeding with the 600 brent geese. The dull upperparts and the lack of barring on the flanks suggest the birds were juveniles. Andy took these two barnacle pictures.

It's difficult to tell if these barnacle geese are wild ones or just feral ones having a fly-about. The last barnacles seen at the park were four seen on this same day, the 30th October two years earlier in 2017!

Andy counted the brent geese and found 70 juvenile geese among the flock of 600 birds, possibly a below average breeding season. Also noted in the area were 200 wigeon, some in the fields and some on the saltmarsh, as well as 25 shoveler and 35 little egrets. At the Point were two sparrowhawks one carrying a turnstone, 2 stonechats, rock pipit, 40 linnets while 100 shelduck were on the mud.

The female eider was seen in the Colne by Andy on Wednesday, while at West Mersea a red-throated diver was seen flying offshore from the beach huts by Jonathan Norgate.

At Firs Chase on Wednesday 30th a flock of ten fieldfares flew over and appeared to land nearby, also in the garden was a chiffchaff, two goldcrests and two great spotted woodpeckers flying over. The regular female red squirrel was seen at the garden feeder.

A blackbird with a white face was seen beside the Firs Road cemetery on Tuesday 29th. A flock of 10 redwing and 2 fieldfare flew over and another flock of 20 redwing was seen later in Firs Chase.

Along the Strood seawall on Tuesday, the kingfisher perched on the sluice outfall, a peregrine flew over the fields, stonechat, 2 rock pipits, 50 linnets, 25 skylarks, 20 meadow pipits, 70 brent geese, 50 wigeon, 15 knot, 10 black-tailed godwit and 23 avocets were all noted from the seawall.

There was a high tide covering all the saltmarsh in the little bay at Reeveshall on a sunny Monday 28th. On Reeveshall a sparrowhawk, common buzzard, 4 little egrets and a muntjac deer were seen, while a brambling called as it flew west along the seawall. Four marsh harriers were seen over Langenhoe.

A firecrest was found on the edge of Fishponds Wood in Shop Lane on Monday, along with a couple of goldcrests. A male siskin dropped briefly in and a fieldfare was heard calling. A red squirrel was seen beside the wood.