WARY WOODPECKER

This wary green woodpecker was feeding in the small paddock near the Firs Chase Caravan park on Monday 12th. The red and black moustache stripe indicates this is a male, as females have all black moustaches. Other birds seen during a walk along the Strood seawall included a great white egret seen flying along the Peldon seawall, three marsh harriers, 160 shelduck, 20 shoveler, 40 avocets, pair of stonechats, 70 linnets and 15 goldfinches. Eight red-breasted mergansers were among the boats in the Mersea Quarters, a song thrush was singing near the Lane and a blackcap was in the Firs Chase garden.

A great northern diver was seen offshore from Kingsland Road by Andy Field on Monday morning.

A kingfisher sat beside the Strood seawall sluice for a couple of minutes on Sunday 11th. It had been seen perched in the nearby borrowdyke briefly before flying to the sluice. A red kite and two marsh harriers were seen flying about on Ray Island. Along the Strood channel were 120 shelduck, 5 shoveler, 30 avocets and ten little grebes. 

The pair of stonechat was in the regular location near the start of the Strood seawall by the Firs Chase caravan park on Sunday. Twenty linnets and 15 goldfinches were also in the area.

Two green woodpeckers were feeding in one of the paddocks beside the Firs Chase caravan park on Sunday.

On Saturday 10th, there seemed to be more shelducks in the Pyefleet Channel following the recent cold snap with 200 birds noted during a walk along the Maydays and Reeveshall seawalls. Also along the Pyefleet were 100 wigeon, 100 teal, 70 avocets and 30 black-tailed godwits.

A great white egret was seen flying low over Reeveshall and then landing in the Broad Fleet there, also on Reeveshall were 800 brent geese and 30 stock doves. A peregrine flew along the Langenhoe seawall, two marsh harriers were noted, while at Maydays there were forty fieldfares and a yellowhammer seen.

Rob Lee saw a great white egret at the Bower Hall Marsh on Saturday and an unusual avocet with a predominantly black left-wing.

A brief visit to the Firs Chase caravan park area on a wet Friday 9th, showed 15 brent geese, five black-tailed godwits, 30 dunlin, 25 goldfinches, and there was also a blackcap in the Firs Chase garden.

A colour-ringed knot recently seen on New Year's Day feeding in the Strood and photographed in an earlier post, has been found to have been ringed on the northern Dutch coast on the offshore island of Schiermonnikoog in September 2025. This was the first sighting since being ringed.