I took the early bus to Maldon yesterday, a place I've been meaning to go to for ages. I've not been there since I started birdwatching but heard good things about it so decided the time had come, especially since the winter waders would be sure to start moving on soon.
It was extremely cold and windy on the coast, a very bitter easterly blowing in from the North Sea but the birds didn't seem to mind half as much as I did! I saw over three hundred Brent Geese out at Northey Island, over five hundred Black-tailed Godwits roosting with Lapwings and Shelducks on an island in the basin lake, some Pochard nearby, Reed Buntings calling in the reedbeds, Black-headed Gulls aplenty, Common Gulls, Canada Geese, Mute Swans, lots of Wigeon, Teal, Mallards, Redshanks, Grey Plovers, Turnstones, Dunlin, Oystercatchers, Tufted Ducks and yet more Black-tailed Godwits and Shelducks on the mudflats around the river blackwater, my first ever Knot feeding in a channel near the basin seawall and a Kestrel hovering practically over my head as it searched for prey in the rough ground near the seawall.
I made a short stop-off at the Queen's Head on the quay and had the pleasure of sitting with a drink sat in the beer garden while watching Teal and Black-tailed Godwits feeding down on the mudflats, although I retreated indoors to warm up before leaving to head along the quayside to Promenade Park. There were lots more Gulls, Redshanks, Wigeon, Teal and Shelducks along the way and on the excellent park pond lots of Mallards, Coots, Moorhens, a couple of Little Grebes, some Tufted Ducks, Mute Swans and a pair of Gadwall too. There were lots of Starlings and Jackdaws about and quite a few noisy Rooks in the trees surrounding the pond, where I could see a few on nests!
I ended up walking about 10 miles (again!) and got the bus home feeling pretty chilled - I was glad I'd warmed up a little in the pub at lunchtime! Excellent day though, the area was crammed with birds so I'll definitely head back there again. It was great to see the Coots running up hoping to get some bread too, something I never see around Chelmsford where the coots can seem quite shy!
Knot on the Blackwater
It was extremely cold and windy on the coast, a very bitter easterly blowing in from the North Sea but the birds didn't seem to mind half as much as I did! I saw over three hundred Brent Geese out at Northey Island, over five hundred Black-tailed Godwits roosting with Lapwings and Shelducks on an island in the basin lake, some Pochard nearby, Reed Buntings calling in the reedbeds, Black-headed Gulls aplenty, Common Gulls, Canada Geese, Mute Swans, lots of Wigeon, Teal, Mallards, Redshanks, Grey Plovers, Turnstones, Dunlin, Oystercatchers, Tufted Ducks and yet more Black-tailed Godwits and Shelducks on the mudflats around the river blackwater, my first ever Knot feeding in a channel near the basin seawall and a Kestrel hovering practically over my head as it searched for prey in the rough ground near the seawall.
I made a short stop-off at the Queen's Head on the quay and had the pleasure of sitting with a drink sat in the beer garden while watching Teal and Black-tailed Godwits feeding down on the mudflats, although I retreated indoors to warm up before leaving to head along the quayside to Promenade Park. There were lots more Gulls, Redshanks, Wigeon, Teal and Shelducks along the way and on the excellent park pond lots of Mallards, Coots, Moorhens, a couple of Little Grebes, some Tufted Ducks, Mute Swans and a pair of Gadwall too. There were lots of Starlings and Jackdaws about and quite a few noisy Rooks in the trees surrounding the pond, where I could see a few on nests!
I ended up walking about 10 miles (again!) and got the bus home feeling pretty chilled - I was glad I'd warmed up a little in the pub at lunchtime! Excellent day though, the area was crammed with birds so I'll definitely head back there again. It was great to see the Coots running up hoping to get some bread too, something I never see around Chelmsford where the coots can seem quite shy!
Knot on the Blackwater
No comments:
Post a Comment