AVOCET TRIO

A trio of avocets rested on the mud in the Strood channel on a sunny Wednesday 28th. Sixty avocets in total were noted, as well as 100 knot, 100 shelduck, 200 teal, 100 wigeon and five shoveler.

Twenty black-tailed godwits were also feeding along the Strood on Wednesday. Also noted in the area were a marsh harrier, sparrowhawk, stonechat and fifty linnets. A song thrush was singing in Firs Chase while a pair of blackcaps was in the Firs Chase garden.

Offshore from the Esplanade on Wednesday, Carrie Horwood saw two Slavonian grebes, 500 brent geese flying west and a kingfisher flying east. Two male blackcaps were in her Fairhaven Avenue garden.

At East Mersea on Wednesday Andy Field saw three fieldfares and a goldcrest in Shop Lane along with two red squirrels and four grey squirrels. A large flock of brent geese was on Reeveshall. A blackcap was seen at the bus turning circle at the end of East Mersea Road, 12 meadow pipits and five rock pipits on the Golfhouse paddock, seven red-breasted mergansers in the Colne, two marsh harriers also noted. A female blackcap was in Andy's garden in High Street North.

After a morning of continuous rain on Tuesday 27th, there was time in the afternoon for a walk along the muddy Strood seawall. This great white egret flew out of the dyke where it had been feeding and flew over to another section of dyke. A grey heron also flew over the fields, marsh harrier, 70 linnets also seen.

The sun tried to break through the clouds late afternoon on Tuesday over the Strood. Birds in the channel included 100 shelduck, 100 wigeon, 200 teal, 2 shoveler and 66 avocets. Over fields on the Peldon mainland a flock of 1000 brent geese was grazing and a flock of 1500 golden plover circled over before dropping back down there.

A song thrush was singing in Feldy View, while a goldcrest and pair of blackcaps were in the Firs Chase garden.

A male kestrel clutches what looks like a vole in its talons whilst perched beside the Firs Chase caravan park on Monday 26th. A goldcrest was nearby and a Cetti's warbler called beside Feldy View. Birds noted along the Strood seawall included four marsh harriers, 200 teal, 100 wigeon, 120 shelduck, 45 avocets, 30 linnets, pair of stonechat, ten skylarks, a corn bunting flying over and a fieldfare by the fishing lakes.

At Maydays farm Martin Cock on Monday afternoon reported seeing 100 fieldfares and three marsh harriers there.

A great white egret spent ages standing in the middle of a weedy field by the Strood on Sunday 25th. It spent most of the time standing staring, while also doing a bit of preening. It eventually flew off after an hour and a half. Two little egrets were also seen along the Strood channel.

A marsh harrier, stonechat, 60 avocets, 15 shoveler, two Mediterranean gulls, stonechat, 150 linnets were noted from the seawall, while 500 brent geese were on the Peldon side. 

At East Mersea a barn owl was seen by Jack Hoy hunting near the Youth Camp on Sunday, while 24 mallard and a little grebe were seen next to the boating lake and 400 brent geese flew east.

The local ring-necked parakeet visited the Firs Chase garden on Sunday 25th eyeing up the bird feeders. 

The ring-necked parakeet needed some acrobatics to reach the bird feeder whilst gripping onto a thin birch branch with one foot and then grabbing onto the feeder with the other foot. After ten minutes of feeding it flew off. A pair of blackcap was feeding on the fat-balls in the garden.

The sun shone on Saturday 24th during the walk along the Maydays and Reeveshall seawalls in the morning. At the mouth of this Maydays creek a greenshank stood on the mud before flying down the Pyefleet channel. In the channel during the low tide were 30 pintail, 350 shelduck, four red-breasted mergansers, great crested grebe and 100 avocets.

On the Reeveshall fields were 500 brent geese, 400 lapwing, 50 golden plover overhead, four buzzards over various copses, two kestrels and a marsh harrier over Langenhoe.

A brief visit to the Strood seawall on Friday 23rd produced 70 shelduck, 50 knot, 150 dunlin, 30 avocets, 20 golden plover, 30 linnets and 12 goldfinches. A song thrush was singing in The Lane.

A red-breasted merganser in the Strood Channel on Thursday 22nd was the first here this winter. Two shoveler, 42 avocets and a snipe flying over were of note, while two sparrowhawks, three marsh harriers and a buzzard were the raptors seen. On wires over the fields were perched 140 linnets and five corn buntings. A large flock of 1500 brent geese was feeding on the Peldon fields.

At East Mersea Steve Entwistle saw a merlin flying fast along Shop Lane on Thursday, also a large flock of brent geese in a nearby field.