Something of a surprise when looking for a reported Hen Harrier around Ulting, to look into a field and find a Chinese Water Deer staring back at me! They have been spreading into Essex from East Anglia in recent years but until now the closest reports have been from Mersea Island and Copt Hall. This record is over ten miles further west and the first record from the Maldon Tetrad. Unfortunately 100 yards just outside our Maldon recording patch😧 Hopefully more records to come!
My normal river walk is along the south bank of the Blackwater from the Prom Park eastwards, so it was a pleasant change to join a walking group heading out along the opposite sea wall, from Heybridge.
Like the bay by the Dump, there is a bay just past Blackwater Sailing Club that accumulates waders as the tide comes in.
Bay by Blackwater Sailing Club
Waders gathering at High Tide
It was good to see a flock of Wigeon grazing on the grass by the sailing club lake.
Further along it was big surprise to see a group of five Great White Egrets heading north. Larger cousins of the regular Little Egrets, this was a record local number.
Great White Egrets- drifting north
Past the Osea causeway, nice to see a Barn Owl perched by the nest box near the sewage treatment plant.
As the tide was rising, birds were running out of places to rest.
Dunlin, Turnstone, Brent Geese
Dunlin
By the time I reached the point beyond the causeway, the tide was almost in. There was an amazing gathering of waders- Knot, Dunlin, Turnstone, Grey Plover, Oystercatcher, Curlew... plus dozens of Shelduck on the water.
The Knot and Dunlin started rising up and swirling and I became a witness the best display of wader aerobatics I have seen locally. Thousands of birds, rivalling the footage from Winterwatch! Sadly my phone footage doesn't do the spectacle justice...
Heading back, a male Marsh Harrier was sat in the reedbed.
Male Marsh Harrier
There were still a few perches available for those waders delaying their flight to a roosting site, including here a Grey Plover and some Turnstone. A Little Egret was able to carry on feeding in the shallows.
Little Egret
After failing to see any sea duck by Osea Causeway, it was good to find a Red-breasted Merganser fishing off Heybridge Pits.
Red-breasted Merganser
Opposite the pits, the wintering Avocet flock was looking for somewhere to settle.
Avocets by the dredgings opposite Heybridge Pits
Three of the local wintering Greenshanks were feeding just by the sea wall.
Greenshank
All in all an enjoyable walk with good selection of year ticks!
Monday 8 January 2024
Northern Waterthrush, Heybridge 3rd-8th January at least
When I sat down to lunch on Wednesday, little did I know that I would not finish that meal for several hours...
I happened to see movement to my right, through the glass doors, on the patio. Stunned silence, then expletives, followed as I realised that I was looking at a Northern Waterthrush, a small songbird that should really be wintering in the Caribbean and Central America.
Having overcome the adreneline rush, and shaking hands, I took a series of shots and the news was released nationally mid afternoon, to a fair bit of incredularity!
To cut a long story short, the bird was refound the next day a short distance to the west of my house, in an area of scrubland which has been able to take the pressure of the twitch, something which my tiny garden would not have done! To date (8th January), perhaps a 1,000 people have successfully made the journey to see this remarkable little survivor.
