Wicks - North Essex

[Peewit]

Hi there

Any advice on this area on local Estuary area, as will be visiting there in the near future in September. Anything to take note of in the Bird/wildlife department. ;)

Manningtree is closeby as far as I understand. o:)

May have to expand here with information. I will see what initial response is here first ;)

Regards
Kathy

[Phil Carter]

I assume you mean Wix rather than Wicks. If so you'll be near to the River Stour which can be good for general birdwatching and not far from The Naze which can be excellent for migrants in the right conditions (mind you, it can also be devoid of anything but dog-walkers).
There are plenty of other places in the general area if you've got transport such as Colne Point and Abberton Reservoir.
Hope this helps.
Phil

[Xenospiza]

The saltmarsh of Hamford Water can be viewed from the seawall, and was full of Redshanks, Dunlins and Golden Plovers last Saturday (at least near Walton). No migrant warblers on the Naze (one Lesser Whitethroat, a Yellow-fronted Canary and dog walkers...). I didn't see anything special birdwise (Eider was a bit of a surprise), but I enjoyed the plantlife.

[ed keeble]

Hi there

Any advice on this area on local Estuary area, as will be visiting there in the near future in September. Anything to take note of in the Bird/wildlife department. ;)

Manningtree is closeby as far as I understand. o:)

May have to expand here with information. I will see what initial response is here first ;)

Regards
Kathy

Hello there- Mistley Quay and Mistley Walls (just a walk along the road from Manningtree) on the rising tide is a good place to watch godwits from- about 600 there last Sunday morning.

[jimibird]

I agree with the posts above. I work in Weeley not far from Wix.

Hamford Water is great and gets better in the winter as does the Stour. Stour Woods RSPB is a great little woodland and then you can walk along the stour to the hides overlooking Copperas Bay. Lots of waders and wildfowl in the winter! It's wide and a scope is needed IMHO.

Holland Haven can also be productive as can the beach at Frinton.

The walls at Manningtree is great if you dont want to get out of the car as everything is visible from the road.

I have had great birding all aroung the Tendring penninsular, it does not attract the birders that the Suffolk coast gets but its still great!

[Peewit]

I assume you mean Wix rather than Wicks. Phil

hi Phil

Sorry about the spelling here, Wix it is.

Need to go to this area for other reason, and have a day to kill, so it is on our agenda.

Thank you for all the super information here, and I will study the map of the area, and place all the information together from this thread.

I will write a report of findings too. ;)

Thank you again everyone. :t:

[Peewit]

Hi there

Well at last, we had our planned trip out yesterday. I was so tired once we where back, so I put this post of to today instead. :cat:

Our trip from Bedford heading towards Ipswich was fairly uneventful. We aimed towards Cambridge, Newmarket and then Bury St Edmunds on the A14 road.
There appeared to be large of flocks of birds everywhere we looked. Starlings and Crows where everywhere. A Kestrel appeared just above an embankment on the A14 motorway to search for food. He was very graceful to look at, and so quick in his one big swoop for his prey in the long grass on the embankment area. It now feels like winter is started and all the birds are starting to show how they feel about it as they do.

As we reached Manningtree, we could see that the area was very quaint and very beautiful to look at. We drove to our destination to visit a friend as we intended to.

As we drove towards Mistley, we passed along by the River Stour and we could see lots of Mute Swans ,Canadian Geese, and loads of wading birds. The estuary tide had started to go out, and the birds had arrived in their droves to eat all they could while the food was exposed to them. We decided to come back, and look further into things here after we has visited our friend.

As we made our way to our friends house, we passed Jimmy's Farm. I am sure this is the same farm that is a current program on TV. It had a sign outside stating that there are new born piglets at the moment. The farm looked small from the front view. It looked big on the program. ;)

Anyway we arrived at our friends farm, and parked our car and decided to wait for a while as our friend had to sort something out before seeing us. I had a short walk around and lots of small garden birds where flying in all directions partly because feeders had been placed on some branches of one of the mature trees. Lots of Sparrows flitting around, and the bird noises from the nearby trees was very apparent. A butterfly flew passed me, which looked like a Meadow Brown Butterfly from the colour that I could see. It was obvious because of its colouration. Strange as it is the time of year for butterflies to be less frequently around now. Nice to see one though. ;)

We left headed back toward Mistley, parked and decided to have something to eat at Mistley Place Park Rescue Centre.
The centre was full of all types of domestic animals. The other feature it has was a large selection of Owls, of all types. It stated that they are all rescues from all types of situations. Lots of exotic birds where there too.
As so many on BF I am against wild birds that are in cages but it was quite an experience seeing these Owls. To see Eagle Owls up close and personal was something else. There was a Bengal Owl (I think!) of all Owls to have. The only type I could not see where Tawnies in this selection on these premises.

I kept saying to myself, this is so unnatural, and wondered to myself if these birds would ever be free again to do what comes naturally to them, or have they been so humanised, that the chances are very slim for them indeed.
Another thought that entered my mind was that it was the thoughtlessness of some humans, who have put them in the predicament that they are in now.
It was sad to see, but at the same time it was interesting to see some of these birds so close up. :-C

Anyway we had a wander around the rescue centre and then headed towards River Stour Estuary. There where large numbers of Mute Swans and Canadian Geese and they where on the look out for food. Many of them where sleeping as we passed by.

With bins in hand Dave and I had a good look across the estuary, and could see lots of wading birds. Quite a few Godwits where apparent, with all the probing when their distinctive bills. Quite a few Shelducks, and smaller waders which I thought where Stints due to their size and the way they moved around. Lots of Lapwings where around, and their call was very apparent to us. It was a lovely sight to behold. I wish that someone was along with me to give me guidance to the species that existed at this point of time. *Sigh*
Small flocks of various birds flew in, and the numbers of birds increased in front of our eyes along with the tide going out.
Another bird which we could see was the Redshank due to the colour of the legs, and the size of the bird. The species is another thing to find out. Can I ask here how many birds have legs the same colour as the Redshanks?
So we had all of this to see when the tide went out around about 4-5pm in the afternoon. I wish I could of ID'd all the birds with a click of the fingers but not to be. It will take practice, and lots of it.

frecklezgecko: Thanks for your suggestion and yes River Stour was very impressive for waders of all types (I see what you mean about dog walkers) As for seeing the Mute Swans really close to us. They are very large birds, and impressive to look at.

We made our way back home and I could see a Buzzard as we drove back along the motorway to Bedford. It was a nice finishing touch to our day

We are planning to visit here next week so we will see what is what again and I will take my birds book with me this time, and see if I can get to the bottom of ID-ing the birds on River Stour Estuary. We will look for other places of interest too, and I am looking forward to this trip too.

I will look at this thread again for more information, and let people know where we go next week.

Thank you everyone for taking time to read this.

Regards
Kathy

[PaulE]

seems you had a nice day
i quite often do a walk from the white birdge at brantham back along the stour to flatford there is always a good variety of birds and has the advantage of not being as wide as the estuary further downstream and the last time i went a couple of weeks ago the bushes had loads of warblers in them.
depending what time of the year and the time of day
i've seen kingfisher,hobby,barn owl,a good variety of waders and wildfowl various terns so if your in the area it,s well worth a visit and even if you don't see many birds the scenery is pretty good aswell
cheers

[Peewit]

seems you had a nice day
i quite often do a walk from the white birdge at brantham back along the stour to flatford there is always a good variety of birds and has the advantage of not being as wide as the estuary further downstream and the last time i went a couple of weeks ago the bushes had loads of warblers in them.
depending what time of the year and the time of day
i've seen kingfisher,hobby,barn owl,a good variety of waders and wildfowl various terns so if your in the area it,s well worth a visit and even if you don't see many birds the scenery is pretty good aswell
cheers

Hi Paul

Thanks for your reply here

I have looked up the area on the map you have mentioned and I will look into to it for next week. Here is hoping that the weather is good too. Waders are on our list at the moment. It will give a better understnading how to indentify them. :t:

So I will use next weekend to explore this area as much to my advantage at the moment. Maybe the following week too, as we have some business to do in this area for a while.

I will look out for the warblers, as they are not the easiest to see, and are in the category of LBJ's as we all know.

This thread will go on a bit yet, I think at this moment of time. :-O

So will add more information as necessary. :t:

Regards
Kathy

[jimibird]

Sounds like you had a good time.

That was the same Jimmy's farm (off the A133) as you see on the TV, there is a good farm shop there, you should pop in next time.

The stour is great for wading birds, take your Collins guide with you to help out with the ID's next time! To be honest it is usually the sheer distance over which the birds are scattered which can make the ID'd difficult even with a good scope.

jimi

[Peewit]

Hello there- Mistley Quay and Mistley Walls (just a walk along the road from Manningtree) on the rising tide is a good place to watch godwits from- about 600 there last Sunday morning.

Hi Ed

We will be going to the same place this weekend (our car gets a yearly service at a SAAB dealer that we know, so the same applies each year)

So we will be on the lookout for any interesting birding once more.

We have thought of Minsmere for a 'different' trip but we are open to other suggestions for this neck of the woods.

I agree with the posts above. I work in Weeley not far from Wix.

Hamford Water is great and gets better in the winter as does the Stour. Stour Woods RSPB is a great little woodland and then you can walk along the stour to the hides overlooking Copperas Bay. Lots of waders and wildfowl in the winter! It's wide and a scope is needed IMHO.

Holland Haven can also be productive as can the beach at Frinton.

The walls at Manningtree is great if you dont want to get out of the car as everything is visible from the road.

I have had great birding all aroung the Tendring penninsular, it does not attract the birders that the Suffolk coast gets but its still great!

Hi Jim

Stour woods sounds interesting to. Any good sightings at all I would love to hear about. :t:

Of course not forgetting the other areas you have mentioned - I am an open book here. :t:

Thank you in advance
Regards
Kathy
x

[Fozzybear]

I remember walking around Stour and Copperas Woods a couple of years ago and being surrounded by more Great Spotted Woodpeckers hammering away than I've ever seen - pretty amazing!

[Peewit]

I remember walking around Stour and Copperas Woods a couple of years ago and being surrounded by more Great Spotted Woodpeckers hammering away than I've ever seen - pretty amazing!

Hi Fozzybear

Sound fabulous

Woodpeckers are a sound all of their own and it echo's though any woodland for miles.

Regards
Kathy
x

[Fozzybear]

Indeed! We used to have GSW's hammering around the site at my last workplace... made going to work somewhat more enjoyable! :t: