Stonechats and Divers

I walked into Chelmsford town centre to try to see the Red-throated Diver again yesterday, was a sunny morning this time and I walked across the Baddow Meads water-meadow and along the river Chelmer. I saw some Reed Buntings and some unidentified small birds flying overhead (just silhouettes), then I spotted a group of little birds fly across from the other side of the river to some reeds on the near bank. I assumed they were more Buntings but when I got my bins on them I found they were Stonechats! I was thrilled when I saw one the other week so to see three or four was brilliant. I couldn't get very close to them but I stalked as close as possible and took some very distant photos, pretty low detail but considering how far I was one or two were surprisingly good.

Just past the Stonechats I disturbed a small group of Little Grebes, which I watched for a bit after I'd moved off a little way, then at the road bridge a group of Mute Swans came flying downstream, flying really close to where I stood. It was very impressive as you certainly get a better idea of the sheer size of these birds when they fly close to you!

Past the bridge I found another small group of Little Grebes and a Cormorant fishing in the river, then off in the meadow a fair sized group of Magpies feeding on the ground, seven or eight that I could see. Lots of little birds in the trees as I approached the town, Robins and Dunnocks and Wrens, and in the water the Moorhens and Coots with a good crop of young Moorhens there. I went through town to Central Park and at the lake saw the Grey Wagtail bobbing around the bank, then at the far end spotted the Red-throated Diver still here, accompanied by a small group of birders.

I took some photos of the Diver as it moved around the lake before resting near the large paved bank section, where it stopped and had a little preen before taking a nap right in front of us! Very cool. I chatted with the birders a little and then packed my gear and headed off to do some shopping but then decided to head back along the river again, passing the Little Grebes and then past the road bridge watching a Kestrel hunting for some time, hovering over the meadow and perching in a dead tree before zooming off and landing some way off. I didn't see it come back up although I watched for a little while, I assume it caught something or flew off when I glanced away and I missed it so I picked up my shopping bag and tromped along the meadow path home.

Stonechat beside the Chelmer

Diving with a red throat

A tip-off from a friend on flickr led me to walk to Central Park in Chelmsford this morning where a Red-throated Diver had been seen at the weekend. Initially I thought it was not here and had already prepared myself that it was unlikely to still be around but when I reached the paved bank section I found the bird was there, and only a few metres away calmly preening! I set up my camera and tripod and spent some time photographing the Diver and when it moved on I followed it and bumped into snapper1966, the guy that had told me about the bird. We followed it around the lake, spotting a Kingfisher along the way and taking a few photos of it as it hid in the depths of a Willow. We also met another birdwatcher who'd come to see the Diver and chatted for a while before parting, when I headed off home to check out the photos.

Red-throated Diver

A late update

I haven't really updated the blog as often as I should, I've missed writing about some of the things I've seen so I'll make this a catch-up...

Sunday the 27th of September,

I went on a 'flickrmeet' walk around Galleywood Common with a couple of other photographers that are members of the Chelmsford group on Flickr. We spent time chasing insects on the heath, including a lot of Small Coppers, we wandered around looking for fungi and found some big examples at the Napoleonic defences and I managed to get very close to a Kestrel and got some photos.

Kestrel at Galleywood Common

Thursday the 8th of October,

I walked along the river Chelmer from Barnes Mill to Sandford Lock and looped back through Manor Farm. Just to the west of Barnes Mill I found a group of Little Grebes and by moving slowly and keeping low and in cover I managed to get close enough to take some photographs. Beautiful little birds but very, very timid! Further along the river I saw quite a lot of Green Woodpeckers and in one of the horse paddocks two were feeding on the ground, along with at least 15-20 Meadow Pipits! Not many birdwatchers get excited about meadow pipits but I think they're great and it's only the second time I've seen them around Chelmsford and I'd never seen so many in one place either. At Sandford Lock the ivy on Bundocks Bridge was covered with wasps, flies, Red Admiral butterflies and Hornets - I finally got a photograph of a Hornet and a Red Admiral (a butterfly I'd been trying to get a photo of all year!). On Manor Farm I spotted a Kingfisher, a Reed Warbler and a Great Crested Grebe in winter plumage on the reservoir near the farm buildings, along with a number of Coots.

Little Grebe on the River Chelmer

Monday, 12th of October,

Went into Chelmsford and spent some time in Central Park. Sitting on a bench next to the lake I watched a Mapgie only 10-15 feet away and was also watching a Kingfisher as it flew from tree to tree around the lake and fished from different spots around the lake. In the afternoon I went into the garden and found a female Sparrowhawk sitting in the conifers, just her yellow eyes showing through the branches. She flew up onto the roof and I rushed inside to get my camera and managed to take some photographs of her. She has an injury to her eye but otherwise looked in good condition, hopefully she is still able to hunt (I've found very recent kill signs in the garden but whether there are other hawks here I don't know). I've seen her harrying Starlings overhead a couple of times this week after that and even saw her go into a stoop high overhead, but she disappeared behind the house so I couldn't see what she was hunting.

Female Sparrowhawk on my roof

Thursday the 15th of October,

I went for a walk to Asda in Chelmer Village in the afternoon, heading across the Baddow Meads and along the river Chelmer to the horse paddock where I'd seen the Meadow Pipits where I headed away from the river and followed the footpath beside the paddock to Sandford Mill Road and on to Asda. Not very notable in itself but crossing the Baddow Meads to the river I saw my very first Stonechat, perching high on top of the weeds on the north side of the river just by the dogleg where I saw the Little Grebes just a week earlier. I'd been wanting to see a Stonechat for ages and had been intending to go to Two Tree Island near Southend to see them... as it was I found one just a short walk from my house, which was very cool indeed.