Fingringhoe Wick 26/11/2016

As the day entered into afternoon we moved from Abberton to Fingringhoe (don't laugh). This is an Essex wildlife trust reserve, consisting of scrubby heath with views over the Colne estuary.

 

The reserve was recently doubled in size when an area of unimportant farmland was allowed to be flooded and become part of the estuary.

Redshanks are very common on estuaries throughout Britain

The tide was out when I got there, but there were still some birds about. A large variety of waders and BRENT GEESE were present.

The beautiful Essex marshes with their grand skies

A bittern and a smew - Abberton Reservoir 26/11/2016

Following a heavy frost the day turned out to be nice and sunny, perfect for a trip down to north Essex. First port of call was Abberton Reservoir, which is huge in area, almost like an inland sea.
This was all new to me as I haven't explored this area of the country for some years (maybe 20+), despite it being relatively close to where I  live. The reservoir seem to be going through a transformation, as all the facilities were brand new, with newly planted trees round the reserve.

It is not an easy place to birdwatch as there is only limited access, only on the southern shore, and two causeways that cut across it at different points.
First access point was the Visitor Centre a nice brand new monument to man's achievement over nature. The reserve area sticks out into the reservoir with hides on three sides. Out on the great expanse of water there were few birds about, they were mostly hanging round the edges. The sheer numbers of ducks (claimed to be over 40,000 present) had me hoping at there would be huge flocks, but there weren't any really.



As the reservoir was so big, most birds were too distant to photo. Here are two pictures of two PHEASANTS squaring off.

After the visitors centre, then across one causeway to a screen that looked across Wigborough Bay. For some reason this was very attractive to PINTAIL with more than a hudred present - easily the commonest duck there. Also present on the mud were small flocks of GODWIT and DUNLIN.
The second causeway, to the south of the visitor's centre was called Layer Breton and whilst it didn't have the numbers of birds, it had the variety. The only duck present was a female SMEW with its beautiful red headed plumage. A WATER RAIL was present in a small clump of reeds, whilst even better a BITTERN was seen flying across the back end of the reservoir between clumps of reeds.

Christchurch Park - Birding in the heart of Ipswich 11/11/2016

I had an hour to spend in Ipswich, so I spent the time in Christchurch Park. The park is the usual mixture of grass and scattered trees including some huge ancient ones. Despite its location in the centre of Ipswich it is still good for birds.

These pictures are of a very friendly ROBIN who badgered me to take photos of it!

 

 

 

 

There is also a duck pond, where geese, ducks, and even a turtle live. The next picture is of my favourite duck, which despite everything is actually a farm yard version of a mallard.

 



 

 

Of course no mention of birds in Christchurch Park could be without Mable the famous TAWNY OWL. The owl sits on the top of an old tree, out in the open, modelling herself for many photographs. TAWNY OWLS are very hard to find, as they never come out in daylight, so this owl is special. 

Photos Published!

Two of my photos were printed in the local paper - the East Anglian Daily Times - today (8/11/2016).
Here they are:

Tree in Autumn sunshine

 



Hawkes Mill, Needham Market



Winter waders and wildfowl at Loompit Lake and Levington Creek 7/11/16

Apart from Trimley Marshes, Loompit Lake is the only fresh water habitat on the river Orwell. As a result it is an important place for wintering and nesting wildfowl. At this time of year wildfowl numbers are quite low with the maximum peak around late summer/early autumn period. The most numerous wildfowl was the GADWALL, with over 100 present of this discrete, grey duck. There were also smaller numbers of COOT and TUFTED DUCK out on the water, but they didn't break double figures.

 

 

In one corner of the lake large numbers of CORMORANT had started to arrive, as a prelude to the breeding season. Around 200 pairs nest  in trees in this corner of the lake. This area was strictly reserved for the cormorants so there were few other birds there.



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Adding a taste of the exotic was a pair of BLACK SWANS. Now I can't count these birds on my bird list as these birds did not arrive here naturally - the nearest population is in Australia! This pair had probably escaped from captivity, so good on them. They still provided a good sight.

 





 

There weren't too many small birds about - this STONECHAT, a GREY WAGTAIL and a ROCK PIPT.

 

 

 

It was approaching high tide and most of the mudflats had become submerged. Levington Creek is the last place in the area to get covered in water, so birds are pushed further in as the water rises, so there are large flocks of waders and WIGEON there. It was all pretty much the usual suspects - REDSHANK, DUNLIN, GREY PLOVER, CURLEW, OYSTERCATCHER, GODWITS. There were small numbers of BRENT GEESE about as well.

 



Okay, so it was a fairly bog standard early winter's day, November always seems to be a fairly uneventful month as Autumn migration has finished and Winter hasn't properly begun yet. But I'm glad that these places still exist in such an industrialised countryside and our feathered friends can keep a toe hold in this world.