OFF THE RAILS

After a sunny morning on Tuesday 21st, it then turned cloudy for the afternoon and a walk round the park at the end of the day produced one or two things of note. After scanning the edge of the pond trying to locate a water rail, a brief squealing duet was heard between two birds that indicated where they were hiding. One bird was seen swimming through the reeds at the back of the pond looking rather concerned followed closely by a second bird. It was only when I looked closer, that the rails were watching a dog fox walking very close-by. The fox soon wandered off and left the rails to carry on skulking in the reeds.

On the water 14 tufted ducks and a female pochard were present along with 20 gadwall and a few mallard. Two snipe were feeding in the grass and a curlew was also watched in front of the hide.
In the distance a marsh harrier was seen flying up river to the Langenhoe roost.

In the morning the fields had a nice variety of waders and wildfowl on them with 500 brent geese and 400 wigeon the main flocks. Also seen were 18 snipe, 50 lapwing, 100 golden plover, 20 shoveler, 100 teal, 25 curlew, 20 dunlin and 10 turnstone.

However all the birds in the fields soon scattered in different directions when a peregrine glided along the seawall and headed past the Point and then out over the river Colne. Also at the Point was a displaying ringed plover and a singing reed bunting - both birds feeling the spring is round the corner. Ten bar-tailed godwits flew past the Point and 50 avocets were seen feeding on the far edge of the mud.

A red admiral flew across the car park during the sunny morning - the first butterfly of the park this year.

Heard that Richard Hull and Richard Brown visited Langenhoe late last Friday and watched 30 marsh harriers heading into the evening roost. Seven twite were also seen which was a very noteworthy sighting but their biggest surprise was seeing the colour-ringed spoonbill in the car-headlights as they were leaving!

HARRIER HOUR

Spent a chilly hour in the middle of the day on the seawall near Shop Lane on Monday 20th. There was still a thin layer of ice on the nearby ditches from the overnight freeze. The falling tide was just starting to uncover the mud along the Pyefleet Channel with lots of waders arriving to feed.

The marsh harriers were very much in evidence as usual both on Langenhoe with five seen there and on the nearby Reeveshall where 3 females and a male were seen. One or two of the females seemed to be showing an interest in the reed-filled fleet at Reeveshall.

On the Reeveshall pool 25 wigeon, 10 teal, 4 mallard and a redshank were noted here while 16 stock doves and 200+ rooks and jackdaws were feeding in the fields.

Along the Pyefleet next to Pewit Island a brown shelduck with a blackish head looking like an Australian shelduck, was roosting with 150 common shelducks. It was a bit distant to see the exact details and to eliminate a hybrid exotic shelduck but this seems to be the same bird reported here about 3 months ago. Also noted were 12 pintail, 4 red-breasted mergansers, 4 great crested grebes with scattered groups of wigeon and teal.



On a sunny Sunday 19th, there was a chill to the north-westerly breeze that swept across the Maydays area of the Island, pictured above. I timed my visit so that the tide was starting to drop, so that there would be some waders to look at.

There were certainly lots of flying flocks of waders heading up-channel to the newly exposed mud. The main waders were dunlin, redshank, grey plover, curlew, black-tailed godwit and bar-tailed godwits too. In the channel were 2 red-breasted mergansers, 2 great crested grebes and a goldeneye while a common seal basked on the edge of the saltmarsh further up-channel.


The small reservoirs at the back of Maydays held 4 pochard, 30 teal, 20 mallard and 2 snipe.
Some of the set-aside fields and game cover crops were host to lots of small birds with a brief view of a male brambling the most interesting amongst 100 chaffinches. This strip alongside Haycocks Lane also supported 50 linnets and at least 3 yellowhammers while Steve Entwistle later saw a ringtail hen harrier fly over this field. On the other area by the seawall 50 corn buntings, 30 skylarks and 150 linnets showed the real benefit of some stubble and set-aside.

On the nearby Reeveshall a peregrine hurtled across the fields flushing out one of the two marsh harriers. Also disturbed were 2000 starlings, 150 lapwings and 300 golden plovers.


At the end of the day a woodcock was seen landing at the back of the park's flooded grazing field, pictured above. After sitting motionless beside the hedge for a few minutes, it disappeared but soon came back out to feed. Despite all the woodcock sightings during the snow, none were actually seen feeding, like this one probing its bill into the grass. Steve Entwistle was lucky enough to see this bird and also a second woodcock flying near Bromans Lane as he left the park at dusk.

On the pond 14 tufted duck and 4 pochard were of interest amongst the small mix of gadwall and mallard. At least one water rail called from the back of the pond and a little owl called to the north.

At West Mersea a red-throated diver, Mediterranean gull, 4 red-breasted mergansers and 3 Slavonian grebes were seen offshore while 37 sanderling were seen on the beach. The previous day on Saturday, Steve Grimwade enjoyed a productive birdwatching boat trip with his group on Ray Hempstead's Sorcerer going into the river Blackwater. Of interest closer to West Mersea were a shag, 6 snow buntings on Cobmarsh Island and a yellow-legged gull on the beach.

WINTER SURVIVOR

Although the snow and ice have only just melted, it was still a bit of a surprise to see this peacock butterfly in the Firs Chase garden in West Mersea this morning on Friday 17th. It's a bit tatty but at least it's survived the winter. A Mediterranean gull flew over Firs Chase calling early in the morning and the regular pied blackbird was seen too. A weasel was seen rummaging through the log pile here the previous day.


Alongside the Strood were 700 brent geese feeding in the field, continuing to strip the field bare of a sort of rape crop. The outgoing tide meant there was lots of mud in the Strood Channel with 2 pairs of pintail noted amongst the 100 teal, 70 wigeon and 140 shelduck.

There was the usual mix of waders although no knot or golden pover were seen while both species of godwit were present in small numbers and also 500 dunlin was a good number here. Not many small birds seen with 10 reed buntings and 15 skylarks seen with one or two singing. Amongst the moorings were 16 little grebes but little else in the channels and by the Hard.



At the park pond on Friday afternoon several moorhens as usual were feeding in the field with this one moorhen noted in front of the hide. The last few days have seen up to 25 moorhens feeding near the pond. On the water 16 tufted ducks and a pochard with 28 gadwall the main wildfowl here.

At dusk on Thursday afternoon, the calls of 4 little owls could be heard coming from several different hedges to the west and north of the park. It was reassuring to hear a male tawny owl calling from the Manwood Grove wood in Shop Lane too.


There was still ice covering half of the park pond on Tuesday afternoon. Monty the grumpy terrier took a dislike to a fox that had wandered up too close to the hide and after barking loudly at it, the fox quickly sprinted away and dashed across the ice on the pond to the far side. There were still about 50 gadwall on the pond and 5 tufted duck present here.
Offshore from the park 10 red-breasted mergansers and 10 great crested grebes were seen.

Earlier on Tuesday 1o fieldfares, 5 song thrushes and a mistle thrush fed in a horse paddock to the north of the park. Four kestrels perched up at various points alongside the East Mersea road.

Howard Vaughan visited Mersea with his group of birdwatchers on Monday 13th and saw 2 red-throated divers, 8 Slavonian grebes, 30 great crested grebes and 26 red-breasted mergansers from the Esplanade. Later at Cudmore Grove a peregrine and 115 avocets were the main sightings of note here.

A woodcock flew from the copse by the pond and a redwing was seen perched up in a tree by the park pond on Monday at dusk. Steve Entwistle saw the spoonbill by the St Peters marsh in West Mersea early on Monday morning along with a little egret there too.

Local oysterman Wiliam Baker and Bev Perkins saw this big flock of 200+ cormorants standing on a sandbar near Thirslet Creek near Rolls Farm, Tollesbury a week ago, the picture taken with their mobile phone. There have been some big numbers of cormorants seen in the river for the past few weeks.

ON THE PROWL

The foxes have been spending more time recently out and about during the daytime, such as this one seen in front of the hide at the park on Sunday 12th.


The fox stopped and pounced down into the snow but didn't seem to catch anything. A couple of minutes earlier it had run onto the ice after it had seen some movement in the reeds by a great tit which quickly flew away to safety.

In the ice-free section of the pond a grey heron watched all the duck activity with still 80 gadwall, 70 mallard and 4 tufted ducks being the main wildfowl. A marsh harrier flew over the pond in the morning, glancing down at all the bird activity as it passed slowly westwards.
Sheltering from the cold northerly breeze below the park cliff was a woodcock which flew away from the scrub when I peered over the edge.



At the end of the afternoon I joined Andy Field on the Pyefleet seawall near Shop Lane, some of the view to Reeveshall in photo above, to watch the harriers going into the Langenhoe roost. It got very chilly but it was worth staying until darkness fell at 5.40pm as the hen harriers waited late before arriving on the scene. In the fading light 4 ringtail hen harriers and one male were each seen flying directly to their regular spot and then dropping straight down into the reeds. Earlier the marsh harriers had gathered on bush-tops and along the adjacent seawall with a single count of 23 birds being made during one single scan, with a further 3 birds having dropped earlier into the reedbed. A kestrel was the only other raptor seen here.

Along the Pyefleet the tide was on its way out with 14 red-breasted mergansers and 9 goldeneye slowly drifting down channel. Waders were gathering in big numbers with 100+ bar-tailed godwits of note including a ginger summer-plumaged bird.

Andy had earlier seen in the afternoon the immature colour-ringed spoonbill at the St Peters marsh at West Mersea. It perched in the same bush with a little egret as it did last Tuesday. Tim Clark had seen the spoonbill a short while earlier in the afternoon flying low west past the beach huts at the bottom of Seaview Avenue.

Daryl Rhymes saw 8 Slavonian grebes offshore from the bottom of Kingsland Avenue while Colin Mackenzie-Grieve saw the 6 snow buntings fly from Old Hall Point towards Cobmarsh Island.


The recent freezing conditions produced some odd icicles pictured above, that had grown almost horizontally off the roof of the information room at the country park.

ON WOODCOCK-WATCH

It's rare to find a woodcock pose out in the sunshine, like this one did in Bromans Lane next to the country park on Saturday 11th. I spotted this bird in the ditch as I drove along the Lane but had to go back to the park to fetch my camera and binoculars. The bird was very obliging as I held the camera up to the binoculars and clicked several pictures without it flying away.


This was the bird as it was first seen, with it's long bill tucked in behind it's wings. In previous cold winters I've seen woodcock in this ditch before as I've driven along but none have been as obliging as this one.


A zoomed-in image of the wonderful brown markings and the amazing variety of shades of brown that help to keep the bird well camouflaged on the woodland floor. Once all this snow melts I doubt I'll see any more woodcock until the next wintry spell, next winter-time.

In the meantime, three other woodcock were seen in flight at the end of the day from the hide. One flew past some trees near the hide where the gathering greenfinch roost of 80 birds flew off, presumably because they feared the woodcock looked like an owl in flight. A short while later two more woodcocks flew away from the copse at the back of the pond to begin the evening's feed.

Two woodcock were also seen towards darkness flying near the pond on Friday late afternoon, while at the end of Thursday one woodcock dropped down into a ditch along from the pond and a second bird flew over to a nearby backgarden. Martin Dence also saw a woodcock at his Bromans Farm on Friday. All these woodcock sightings each evening suggest there's at least three birds at the park at the moment. A little owl made a very late appearance beside the park pond on Friday when it sat up on a big bush as night fell.



The park pond froze up a bit more after temperatures dropped down to at least -8 degrees during Friday night. There was still the big gadwall melee of 80 birds feeding in tight bunches. Five tufted duck, 50 mallard, 18 coot, pair of mute swans, 3 little grebes and some teal and moorhens were noted here. A few snipe were seen dropping down to feed in ditches and even inside the copse behind the pond. A water rail was only heard today but yesterday was seen inside one of the ditches along from the hide.

The muntjac deer made another brief appearance at its usual spot beside the copse by the pond on Saturday morning. At the end of the day the foxes seemed to be everywhere you looked with 3 by the pond and one in the middle of each of the grazing fields.



The snow has been very slow to clear from the park and has been lying for a week now. Wrapped up warm it was great to be outside in the bright winter's sun and a nice lack of wind too.
At the end of the afternoon the chorus of the charm of 50+ goldfinches from the trees in the car park added some natural music to the scene. Offshore 50 great crested grebes and 9 red-breasted mergansers were noted and possibly a distant raft of 10 sleeping Slavonian grebes.

Earlier in the morning a striking male pintail flew over the fields and saltmarsh near the Point. The river Colne seemed very quiet for birds with only a couple of great crested grebes seen and also a common seal.

In Bromans Lane 40+ blackirds have been tucking into some ripe red fruit on some Malus trees in two gardens. Two kestrels perched up side by side in the morning's cold in a tree beside the East Mersea road near the pub.

WOODCOCK TIME

There was still plenty of snow covering the country park on Tuesday 7th making the place look a real winter wasteland. The car park pictured above, was empty for long periods during the day despite plenty of sunshine.

The blanket of snow everywhere usually provides opportunities for seeing woodcock as the weather forces them out in the open during the daytime. There were woodcock sightings from 3 different corners of the park during the day including the rare sighting of one bird on the ground.

The first woodcock was accidently flushed from a gorse bush near the car park, from where it flew over to the clifftop and dropped down amongst the small trees. It was seen again near the path another three times with one of the lucky views of it as it stood on the cliff-edge looking nervously at me as I passed by. After a few seconds it flew off and headed further along the cliff-top.

Later in the afternoon another woodcock was seen flying aross the pond passing close to the hide. The last sighting of the day was the classic winter woodcock in flight image with the distinctive silhouette against a fading sky, passing over the snow covered field as it headed towards Bromans Lane.


Across a snow covered park, a sparrowhawk flew from the clifftop carrying its small prey in the afternoon. A marsh harrier flew up the river Colne towards the Langenhoe evening roost, while a bossy kestrel chased off a grey heron that tried to settle in its oak tree at dusk. Earlier in the day a peregrine scattered the plover roost off the fields when it suddenly arrived and then stood amongst the snow. After briefly surveying the deserted fields, it headed menacingly over to the saltings near the Point creating more havoc amongst the roosting waders.

The park pond wasn't completely frozen although there was a big gathering of wildfowl in and around the open water. There's been an influx of gadwall in recent days to the pond with 65 being a record count here. Two water rails were seen foraging underneath the willow bushes where a snipe was also seen. A handful of snipe were also feeding in the boggy ground to the east of the pond. In the car park 60 goldfinches gathered late in the afternoon to roost in the bushes.

The foxes were out in force during the day with four dotted along the back of the fields curled up in the morning sunshine. In late afternoon a fox was discovered tucking into a suet-ball put out earlier in the day at the bird-feeding station along from the hide. There was also the sight of another fox sitting on the ice on the pond looking longingly at all the ducks in the nearby water. It soon gave up staring and slunk away.

SHOWY SPOONBILL

Andy Field dragged himself away from household chores and was rewarded with finding this very obliging juvenile spoonbill at the St Peters marsh in West Mersea on Tuesday 7th. Having met someone on the beach who'd said that he'd seen a spoonbill a short while earlier, Andy found the bird still feeding in the small freshwater ditch near the St Peters well.

I had got the call at lunchtime and dashed down to join Andy as we got excellent views of the bird especially once it landed on this bush at the back of the marsh. These first 2 photos above were taken by Andy, with the following shots below my attempt at hand-held digiscoping.


This spoonbill has been doing the circuit of north Essex since last autumn as the big colour rings on the legs have enabled it to be tracked by birdwatchers. It was born in Germany last summer and was ringed there in July, after which it was seen in Suffolk in September followed by Holland Haven Country Park in Essex in October. This juvenile bird has been seen in a number of locations in recent weeks such as Old Hall marshes, Colne Point and also a brief stopover at East Mersea.


After seeing the bird partially obscured whilst it fed inside the reed-lined ditch, it was next watched flying overhead providing brilliant-white views of the wings with the black tips. It was a memorable fly-past with the snow reflecting brightly up against the white body and set against a clear blue sky backdrop. The bird landed on this big bramble bush where it struggled to balance itself. A couple of metres beneath the spoonbill was a little egret also perched on the bush.


Not wanting to be upstaged by the exotic interloper, this kingfisher zipped back and forwards along the short section of ditch. It was spoilt for choice for willow bushes to perch in whilst looking down at the water. For once my camera just happened to be pointing in the direction of the bushes and the kingfisher obliged by posing in the sunshine.


The view of the bush with the spoonbill and little egret appearing as tiny white specks. This is the seemingly distant view without a zoomed-in image although the spoonbill shots above were digiscoped from exactly the same spot.

Also noted here were a couple of snipe dropping down onto the marsh, while 3 lapwing and 4 golden plover made the most of the snow-free meadow to feed. A water rail called from under the spoonbill bush and a mallard also dropped into the ditch, while a rock pipit was also noted.

Andy's visit to the area started well when he found 6 snow buntings feeding on the beach at the Point. They flew over the channel to Cobmarsh Island. Earlier in the morning there was the unsual sight of a snipe feeding in his back-garden in High Street North.