PINTAIL ON POND

A smart male pintail was an unusual visitor to the country park pond on Thursday 30th. It appeared to be paired up with a female mallard, feeding together on the flooded area of the grazing field and when they landed on the pond, the male started displaying to his companion. The ducks flew off when a dog on the loose spooked them. Also on the pond were 9 tufted ducks, 15 gadwall and 25 mallard.

 

The ten white-fronted geese were still in the park's grazing fields on Thursday, feeding at the back where the grass is still lush. Also in the fields were 8 greylag geese, 1500+ wigeon, 300+ black-tailed godwits, 3 snipe and 6 stock doves. A female stonechat was perched up beside the dyke, while at the back of the fields a muntjac deer was feeding.

A flock of 100 lapwings was in the grazing fields, as well as three in the Golfhouse horse paddock, while 150 brent geese fed in a field beyond the Golfhouse. On the mudflats at Ivy Dock 100+ avocets were resting.

In Chapmans Lane on Thursday a little egret was feeding in the horse paddock.

At Maydays farm on Wednesday 29th a ringtail hen harrier flew over fields near the farm and then landed in a game cover crop near the seawall for about ten minutes. It flew off towards Reeveshall. Two marsh harriers were also seen while one buzzard sat in a field near Haycocks Lane, also beside  the Lane were 15+ corn buntings, 6+ yellowhammer and 30+ chaffinches.

From the Esplanade on Wednesday a great northern diver, 7 red-breasted mergansers and 10 great crested grebes were offshore.

A black brant was feeding with 200 dark-bellied brent geese in a field to the east of Waldegraves caravan site on Tuesday 28th. The brant is in the picture above with its head down, showing a blacker back about a third in from the right! The flock was quite distant and always walking away.
A small flock of 15 ringed plovers arrived in the field just before high tide
Along the Waldegraves beach were 80+ sanderling feeding just before the high tide. A great northern diver and Mediterranean gull were seen offshore. Around Waldegraves and Cross Lane were a kestrel, grey heron, 15 goldfinches, 2 coot and 50+ moorhens.

One brent goose was feeding by itself inside the Waldegraves caravan site on Tuesday.

The coal tit and male blackcap were seen at the feeders in the Firs Chase garden on Tuesday.

A kestrel perched on various bushes inside the Strood seawall on Monday 27th. A common buzzard was also perched at the back of the Strood fields. Ten Mediterranean gulls were resting by one of the floods in the field while the stonechat was still by the dyke. Along the Strood channel were 2 avocets, 3 little egrets and 82 shelduck. Beside the caravan site was a goldcrest and 30 goldfinches.

David Allen reported on Sunday 26th seeing a great northern diver, 10 sanderling, 16 great crested grebes from West Mersea.

Two great northern divers were seen by Andy Field off the Esplanade and another from the Monkey Beach on Saturday 25th. At Cudmore Grove 7 Slavonian grebes offshore, ten white-fronted geese and 4 snipe were seen in the fields by Andy.

A red squirrel was seen in the Firs Chase garden on Sunday 26th and the day before too, where one was seen stripping bark from a branch nest to the roadside, before carrying a mouthful back over the road, through the cedar tree, along our roof and then across to a neighbours garden.
A red squirrel was also reported crossing Bromans Lane on Tuesday 28th while the previous week Andy Field watched one overhead crossing branches over Shop Lane near Fishponds Wood on Sunday 19th.