ORANGE-TINTED MUDFLATS

The change to British Summer Time seemed to encourage the sun to radiate a bit more warmth on Sunday 30th, in contrast to the wind and rain of recent days. Made the most of the extra light in the evening with a walk along the Reeveshall seawall. The day finished with a wonderful orange glow across the Pyefleet. The tide was just on its way out and left a memorable view of about 2000 waders all in silhouette against the orange-tinted mudflats.

At first the waders were close in, with this typical group showing a mixture of grey plover and knot with a couple of dunlin as well. Also in this area were 150 black-tailed godwits, 200 redshank, a few oystercatchers and turnstones and at least one bar-tailed godwit. In the Pyefleet Channel were 10 great crested grebes but not much else on the water.

On Langenhoe four marsh harriers were seen either perched up or quartering the marshes. A Mediterranean gull was heard calling as it crossed the Pyefleet.
On Reeveshall a female marsh harrier was seen by the reedbed, also 24 greylag geese, 6 Canada geese on the fields while 4 pochard were the only birds of note on the pool.

As the light faded 400 brent geese flew off the field by North Farm to roost in the river Colne and 2 little egrets were seen roosting for the night on the edge of the Shop Lane conifer wood. On the mammal front, 5 brown hares were seen crouching low in the grass field and the first pipistrelle bat of the spring was unexpectedly seen hawking over the saltmarsh.

Earlier in the day, Richard Brown and his father found a firecrest in the clifftop trees at the park. This bird was feeding with other small birds including blue tits, long-tailed tits and a goldcrest - which is slightly different behaviour and location to the firecrests seen on previous days. This could be the third firecrest at the park in the last few days. One firecrest was still seen close to the dell area near the car park yesterday. A siskin was also noted on the Saturday flying over the car park.

At the park pond the first willow warbler onto the Island was heard singing as was a chiffchaff. A female sparrowhawk was also noted as being close to the area where they nested last year.

The dull start delayed the adders coming out in the morning but eventually 3 were seen in the park.

Richard Brown saw the short-eared owl again at the Rewsall marshes, also a wheatear and 4 Mediterranean gulls on Saturday.

COUNTING CRESTS

More rain on Friday 28th but at least it stayed dry at the end of the day for a walk round the park. The grazing fields were supporting the same variety of birds as yesterday although fewer waders.

I walked along the path pictured above, hoping to track down the firecrest again from yesterday. Rather unexpectedly 3 brambling flew out of a tree calling, as they flew high eastwards. These are the first brambling of the winter at the park, presumably birds passing through on their journey back to Scandinavia.

The high pitched call of the firecrest was heard from nearby blackthorn bushes that were in flower. Without lifting the binoculars, the little bird could be seen close-by. It slowly worked its way along the bushes calling every so often. Whilst pointing out the bird to some friends, we watched a green woodpecker feeding on the ground that had to take evasive action as a rabbit ran straight towards it, apparently chasing it away.

Having stopped briefly to check the wildfowl at the pond, I carried on walking and heard a firecrest song again, coming from the area where the bird had been seen yesterday. The bird was seen at close quarters before the light started to fade. It is quite likely that there were two firecrests in different locations on the walk, as the first one was feeding about 100 metres away.

FINDING THE GEM

Although there was a lot of rain during the night of Wednesday 26th, it was only measured at about 12mm. However there was a lot of surface water everywhere, especially on the already saturated grazing fields. The picture above shows the water pouring out of the "plug-hole" in one of the fields. This control pipe was installed about three years ago to keep water backed-up along the course of a winding old creek.

The backed-up water in the photo above, has filled up the course of this old meandering creek. Two hundred years ago this field would've been saltmarsh with lots of creeks, before the seawall was built.

Birdlife was scattered across the fields in many of the pools and creeks. 300 wigeon, 50 teal and 15 shoveler, 20 mallard and 10 shelduck were the wildfowl seen. Ten redshank, 15 black-tailed godwits, 20 curlew, 8 lapwing and 5 snipe were the waders noted.

A pale male stonechat fed along the central ditch and 200 starlings fed amongst the grassland with the ducks. Three pairs of reed buntings were seen in different localities getting ready for the breeding season and so were a few meadow pipits with their parachute displays.

At the Point there was the brief view of a male snow bunting, its paleness providing good camouflage amongst the white shells on the beach. Two avocets were along the edge of the mud while in the river there was a male common scoter, along with 10 great crested grebes and one common seal.
Having enjoyed the sight of a snipe by the pond and 5 redwings and a pair of siskins along a nearby hedgerow,

However the real gem was waiting to be found on my walk round the park. My ears pricked up at the thin high pitched song coming from some nearby bushes. This was the barely audible song of the firecrest - one of Britains smallest birds. It is also has one of the most striking head patterns of any small bird. The bird flitted from branch to branch in bushes close enough so that the bright orange stripe on the top of the head could be clearly seen.

The firecrest is usually an annual visitor to the Island in the spring and in recent years has been regular at the park. It is best tracked down by listening for the distinctive song and luckily this time there were no leaves to obscure the views. The local bird-news grapevine flickered into life and before the end of the day, Andy Field, Steve Entwhistle and Michael Thorley enjoyed views of the bird near the car park.

The final bird highlight of the day was just before dusk when a barn owl was seen hunting along the East Mersea road as I drove along near Weir Farm. The bird perched briefly in the roadside hedgeline but flew off when I stopped to admire the close view. We both continued on our parallel journeys with the owl hunting along the opposite side of the hedge to the road, as I drove slowly along.

BLOGGED BUNNY

It stayed cloudy throughout Wednesday 26th but at least there was only a light breeze from the east, rather than the strong cold wind from the north of recent days. Early spring is when the first young rabbits appear and this little bunny was happily munching the grass in the back garden in the country park. No doubt there will be another bumper crop of rabbits in the summer, as there were last year.

The cold weather has deterred many of the brent geese from departing for Siberia and this flock pictured above, are still continuing to graze the big wheat field next to the country park. Around 300 geese were in the field in late afternoon, enjoying the early spring flush of growth of wheat.

In the park a chiffchaff was singing from a blackthorn bush covered in blossom and may've arrived last night. A second chiffchaff was calling loudly from the willows by the pond, pictured below. There has been at least one chiffchaff by the pond for almost two weeks now.
Also at the pond were the familiar wildfowl of recent days - pochard, tufted duck, shoveler and mallard. The mute swan appeared to be gathering materials for a nest on one of the islands.


This picture of the pond is a slightly elevated one as it was taken while standing on the roof of the bird-hide! Running repairs had to be carried out to the roofing felt as recent strong winds had torn a section off.

The sunshine yesterday brought out 5 adders and 2 common lizards out to bask at the park.


On Monday 24th, a late afternoon walk along the West Mersea beach to the Waldegraves caravan site provided a couple of items of note. At least three adult Mediterranean gulls were seen on the mud and also occasionally flying round and calling loudly. There was also a fine view of a male marsh harrier seen coming onto the Island, having just crossed over the Blackwater estuary from Bradwell. The bird dropped down quite low as it headed north over the field to the east of the caravan site.

Michael Thorley had one or two things to report from recent days. First wheatear of the spring on the Island was seen at the Youth Camp on 24th, as were 40 sanderling. On the 23rd there were 45 knot on the mudflats at Rewsalls / Youth Camp, while also here on the 19th was a short-eared owl and 2 Med gulls.
On the 18th 2 Med gulls were by the beach at West Mersea while a barn owl was at East Mersea near the Golfhouse. A barn owl was also seen at Rewsalls on the 17th and a brambling was noted in his garden near Meeting Lane on this date and the day before.

SNOW-FALL

Big snowflakes were falling by mid-morning on Easter Sunday. The snow eventually began to settle although not quite on the roads, such as here on Firs Road above. By the end of the morning there was almost an inch of snow everywhere, although a quick thaw during the afternoon, soon cleared the snow away.

A quick walk around the edge of West Mersea during the snow-fall not surprisingly was rather unproductive for watching any wildlife. One or two greenfinches were singing from gardens, a goldfinch was seen in flight and a few blackbirds and robins were heard singing too. The cheeriest group of birds was the regular flock of house sparrows beside the Yacht Club with about 20 chirping loudly beside bird feeders in a nearby garden.

The tide was coming in along the Strood Channel and only a few waders were seen, although the visibility was poor, while it snowed. Some small groups of brent geese could just be seen, whilst several noisy redshank gave their presence away.
By the Dabchicks, 10 bar-tailed godwits were feeding along the water's edge along with some dunlin and grey plover. Two great crested grebes and a little grebe were seen in the channel.
A shag was fishing in the area of the floating pontoon by the Hard.

Some of the spring flowers such as this blackthorn blossom, will have got a shock with all this Arctic weather of recent days.

WINTRY SHOWERS

Wrapped up warm wearing several layers, thick hat and gloves, I was ready for the walk along the Strood seawall late in the afternoon of Saturday 22nd. There were several wintry showers that passed over the Island during the day and luckily I managed to fit my walk in, between showers.

One big band of sleet and hail divided into two before reaching the Island with the picture above showing the dark cloud to the west. The other wintry cloud headed east to East Mersea.

In between the showers, the blue sky brightened up the Strood Channel mudflats. The cold strong wind didn't make it easy to keep the binoculars steady. Redshank, curlew, grey plover, dunlin, oystercatcher, turnstone were the usual waders, while 10 black-tailed godwits, 2 bar-tailed godwits and 100 knot were also noted. In the nearby arable field, 10 ringed plover were seen feeding. The commonest duck were the wigeon with about 150 seen in various groups, also 25 teal and 20 shelduck.

On a couple of occasions, lots of waders and wildfowl took to the air in a bit of a panic, which briefly made viewing a bit easier. The first bit of panic was due to a female marsh harrier as it headed north-east up the channel. A short while later a sparrowhawk, crossed over from Ray Island, creating chaos underneath it, as all the waders and wildfowl scattered away.

The only flocks of brent geese that were seen were around the southern end of Ray Island, either feeding on the saltmarsh or flying into the Ray Channel.
A little egret was probably looking for toads in the borrowdyke before heading onto the saltmarsh. The only small birds seen along the seawall were 8 linnet and a couple of meadow pipits, but otherwise it was not a day for small birds.
Three magpies headed off island late in the day, probably to roost on Ray Island.

The only birds seen in the channels by the Hard were one great crested grebe and a couple of little grebes.

Earlier in the day a chiffchaff was heard calling by Firs Chase. I wonder if this little summer migrant is pleased he got here so early this spring!

SUBMERGED SALTINGS

Wrapped up warm for the walk along the East Mersea seawall on a chilly and windy Good Friday. The strong northerly wind whipped the tide up very high, submerging all the saltmarshes in the process. The waders had to find alternative roost sites with the park grazing fields and the Point, hosting reasonable numbers.

Over 300 oystercatchers gathered at the Point, which had become inaccessible to walkers with the high water. In the grazing fields there were several compact groups of roosting waders including 150 black-tailed godwits, 50 redshank and about 50 curlew. Most waders were gathered around the large pools at the back of one of the fields. One or two grey plover and snipe were also seen.

A little egret sheltered side by side with a grey heron, up against a hedge. Fifty two shelduck was a reasonable count, whilst wigeon numbers seemed fewer than recent days with only 300 noted. Also seen were teal, mallard, shoveler and a few pairs of lapwing.

All the saltmarshes along the Pyefleet were completely underwater, such as in front of the Oyster Fishery, pictured above. The river Colne was too choppy to see any birds, except for several groups of brent geese and a distant great crested grebe.

A couple of pairs of reed bunting, some skylarks and meadow pipits were the only small birds seen along the seawall.

The main brent geese flock were feeding on the grass field at the north end of Shop Lane, where about 300 birds were seen. Also in this field near some pools of water were small numbers of shelduck and curlew.

Back at the park pond the only activity noted were the 3 pochard and 10 tufted ducks feeding out in the open water. No sight or sound of the chiffchaff which has been present for the last week.

Sheltering behind some bushes away from the chilly northerly wind were two adders in their usual spots.

There was the great sight yesterday over the park of a short-eared owl passing over, being mobbed by a carrion crow as it headed eastwards. This is the first sighting this winter at the park of one of these owls - always an exciting sight.
Andy Field saw the kingfisher briefly in flight near the pond yesterday.