ARCTIC WIND

The water levels around the park continue to creep up following more rain in recent days. The water in the dyke pictured above, was spilling over onto the path inside the seawall on Friday 28th. It was another cold day with the Arctic wind freshening up in the afternoon bringing with it, horizontal hail showers.

At daybreak there was a very musical start to the day at the park with the sound of the 20+ goldfinches rousing from their roost in some car park bushes. After feeding on alders near the pond, the birds gathered back again at the end of the day, singing noisily from some other car park bushes. Also in the afternoon 8 redwings and 10 blackbirds fed on the grass in the car park.
A woodcock was reported flying south over the car park at dusk earlier in the week.

A very obliging water rail was watched feeding in the grass field near the pond, although the amount of times it cocked its tail, it was obviously very nervous about being out in the open. A fox snoozed late in the day by the pond, while in the trees by the water 30 stock doves gathered for the night. On the pond there was the usual mix of ducks with mallard, gadwall, teal, wigeon, tufted duck and shoveler.

The flooded field held an impressive number of waders and wildfowl again with 800+ wigeon, 200 teal, 80 shoveler, 220 black-tailed godwits, 50 redshank, 50 lapwing, 30 curlew along with gadwall, mallard and a few golden plover, turnstone and 5 snipe.

At the Point there were 90 shelduck, 4 red-breasted mergansers while 4 avocets were seen flying past. A common seal that was about 40 metres away, kept a close eye on me from the safety of the river.

Also seen on Friday was a mixed flock of 100 fieldfare and redwings in fields near Chapmans Lane, West Mersea. Hugh Owen saw the male hen harrier just north of the Island on Langenhoehall marshes.

On Wednesday morning the barn owl provided close views from the car as it hunted alongside Bromans Lane just before 8am, while a fox trotted along the nearby road and a marsh harrier flew passed the East Mersea pub early in the morning.
Andy Field noted offshore from West Mersea, 3 great northern divers, 12 red-breasted mergansers, pair of goldeneye and also 3 Slavonian grebes (one less than the day before).



Despite the freezing temperature at the park early on Friday evening under the bright full moon, this early moth pictured above, was resting on the outside of the information room at the park along with a couple of winter moths.

ARCTIC WIND

Met up with Andy Field along the Reeveshall seawall on Friday 6th on a day when the wind appeared to get fresher and colder during the day. Instead of the snow that fell in many other parts of the country during the night, there was just more rain fell on Mersea, lying on top of ground already waterlogged.

There appeared to be plenty of bird activity on the Reeveshall and Maydays fields, maybe this was due to fields being wet. Andy braved the biting cold wind and spent the whole afternoon along the seawall here. The highlight being a ringtail hen harrier flying over the fields and disturbing the thousands of birds. A second view of a ringtail later on Langenhoe could've been the same bird, or maybe a second individual. At least 2 marsh harriers a male and a female, were also flying over the fields.

The fields had the highest number of birds on them for several years with the most noticeable being the 1100 brent geese grazing in 2 flocks. One field held most of the waders with 2000 golden plover, 1000 dunlin, 500 lapwing, 250 black-tailed godwits as well as smaller numbers of curlew, redshank, ringed plover and a grey plover. A couple of hundred starlings mixed in with the waders and in another field 11 stock doves were noted as were the usual big flock of rooks and jackdaws. A pair of greylag geese flew onto Reeveshall during the afternoon.

On the Reeveshall pool there was a female pintail with 50 teal, 2 mute swans and 3 little egrets with 12 linnets on the saltings nearby. On the Pyefleet 2 goldeneye were seen along with a few red-breasted mergansers and little grebes.
As dusk approached Andy saw the barn owl and 8 yellowhammers near the Shop Lane wood.