Essex Birding (10 Viewers)

[Essex Baker Boy]

I still firmly believe there is without doubt just the one bird - whether it is in Norfolk or elsewhere is less clear.
Apparently there have been a few questions on Twitter about the 3:50pm sighting in Norfolk...keep looking up as maybe it has passed through Suffolk and is now somewhere in Essex!

 

[neil78]

Unconfirmed report of WTE munching on a duck at Horsey Island before flying SW at c10.50am.

 

[andygolfer]

He states he saw the red kite over rayne, but a report that the eagle passed him with no actual sighting, lest I be wrong

Generally the way it goes

I don't think I mentioned the eagle, bit of a sod really as I was in Suffolk (Minsmere) on Friday 13th - unlucky for me, so my eyes would have needed to be exceptional to see it over Rayne, just a shame I was in the wrong place at the time rather than at home.
Even then there's no guarantee that I would have been looking upwards at the right moment, it was only that I was late walking the dog that I saw the RK and it was so low I couldn't miss it (or mis-identify it).

That's the way it happens sometimes.

and didn't see anything worthwhile at Minsmere either to make it even worse.

 

[Sharp Shin]

Spent a good few hours scanning the skies for the WTE today, first from Wrabness, then from Fingringhoe Wick - not a sausage!

Stewart

 

[Steve_Halstead]

black Redstart

If anyone gets wind of sightings of the Abbo Black Redstart today, please can you let me know on here, it means that I do not go, with a massively swollen toe, escaping work as soon as I can, for nothing.

Many thanks

I hope to leave work at 15 35 and get there asap!

 

[Sharp Shin]

If anyone gets wind of sightings of the Abbo Black Redstart today, please can you let me know on here, it means that I do not go, with a massively swollen toe, escaping work as soon as I can, for nothing.

Many thanks

I hope to leave work at 15 35 and get there asap!

Reported as still there (below the church, by the substation) at 8.15 this morning. Don't expect that it will shift for the rest of the day.

Stewart

 

[Steve_Halstead]

Reported as still there (below the church, by the substation) at 8.15 this morning. Don't expect that it will shift for the rest of the day.

Stewart

Happy dance.... Happy Dance

 

[Steve_Halstead]

Black redstart, clear and wonderful fieldfare, barn own popped along,

Nice 20 minutes..

Back to foot agony

 

[Sharp Shin]

Green-winged Teal

The Green-winged Teal was still present at Abberton Reservoir this morning at 9.30am. It was in the Peldon Bay area, viewable in the newly constructed (and not very usable!) cane blind, at the end of a short walk down from Abberton Church. With the strong wind shaking the scope and the light in the wrong direction, it was far from an easy bird to find and view. If you go (and if it stays in the same location), stand at the left-hand side of the blind and view towards Bradwell Power Station. The bird is with about 6-7 other Teal and a few Wigeon, on the bank opposite.

I managed to see an adult Kittiwake out on the main body of water. There may have been more, and whether this one was a remnant of yesterday's birds or a new bird blown off the sea and passing through, I don't know.

Yesterday, two Velvet Scoter were viewable distantly from the Visitors Centre. Again. views were far from good. Both were probably sub-adult birds - a male and a female.

Stewart

 

[Steve Arlow]

Two Osprey were reported from Wat Tyler Country Park on Friday to the Essex Email group, about 4pm if I recall heading north whilst yesterday one was seen from Canvey Point struggling up river against the wind late afternoon which was then seen flying up Hole Haven Creek towards Pitsea / Vange.

 

[JamesA]

Stewart, you were viewing Peldon Bay from Abberton Church?! Or have I got the location of Peldon Bay all mixed up...?

Edit, yes, yes I had got the location of Peldon Bay all mixed up. Please ignore.

Anyway, does anyone know what this footpath is like? Is it actually there, or one of those "public" footpaths that's not really a thing? Any view of the res from there?

 

[Sharp Shin]

Stewart, you were viewing Peldon Bay from Abberton Church?! Or have I got the location of Peldon Bay all mixed up...?

Edit, yes, yes I had got the location of Peldon Bay all mixed up. Please ignore.

Anyway, does anyone know what this footpath is like? Is it actually there, or one of those "public" footpaths that's not really a thing? Any view of the res from there?

I'm not wholly sure of the status of that track, but my sense is that it is no longer a public footpath. I once drove down Lodge Lane at Peldon, looking for that path, but gave up in a mass of farm outhouses. It is interesting that on the Street View map that you link to, there is a dotted line that continues to cross right over the water of the reservoir! Perhaps the green dots and the dots across the reservoir refer to an old right of way before the reservoir was built.

As for the churches, there is always scope for confusion when people talk of 'Abberton Church'. It usually refers to St Andrews Church, which is down a single lane track off Layer Road, that affords views over the dam (and now, Peldon Bay). The other church, off Wigborough Road on the hill that looks over what used to be Hide Bay, is St John the Baptist. (The recently present, but now departed, Black Redstart was 'below' the latter church, but people were still giving the location as 'below the church' without saying which.) Anyway, to see the GWT, go to St Andrews Church, but instead of heading to the viewpoint over the dam, take the new footpath off the car park that leads to the blind overlooking Peldon Bay. Hopefully the wind will drop after tomorrow, which will make viewing a tad easier.

Good luck - Stewart

 

[neil78]

I'm not wholly sure of the status of that track, but my sense is that it is no longer a public footpath. I once drove down Lodge Lane at Peldon, looking for that path, but gave up in a mass of farm outhouses. It is interesting that on the Street View map that you link to, there is a dotted line that continues to cross right over the water of the reservoir! Perhaps the green dots and the dots across the reservoir refer to an old right of way before the reservoir was built.

All you need to know about rights of way apparently:

http://www.magazine.ordnancesurveyl...orials/outdoor-skills/2011/rights-of-way.html

I'm none the wiser..:h?:

 

[JamesA]

Huh, you seem to be right Stewart. I don't think it's a path anymore. Just checked the online version of the "definitive map" and while the OS shows it as a bridleway, it's not marked on the definitive map. So if I understand what I've just read, someone's applied for, and won, a change to the public rights of way...

 

[Sharp Shin]

Old Hall Marshes

A pair of Garganey, first reported on Sunday 5th April, remain on Irongate Flash at Old Hall Marshes. This afternoon they were on the far bank of the central section. Despite there not being a great deal of cover around the flash, these birds can prove illusive. It took a good half-hour today to find them and, on a visit three days earlier, I failed to locate them at all (and I wasn't the only one).

Four summer-plumaged Spotted Redshank were roosting on the flash. A fairly early Common Whitethroat was singing in bushes near the car park.

On my visit to Old Hall Marshes on the 7th April, I found a freshly dead Barn Owl near the car park. It didn't look injured, so the cause of death was a mystery. A sad find. (I left a note for the warden, though I don't know if he found it.)

Stewart

 

[Weatherloach]

Old Hall Marshes

A pair of Garganey, first reported on Sunday 5th April, remain on Irongate Flash at Old Hall Marshes. This afternoon they were on the far bank of the central section. Despite there not being a great deal of cover around the flash, these birds can prove illusive. It took a good half-hour today to find them and, on a visit three days earlier, I failed to locate them at all (and I wasn't the only one).

Four summer-plumaged Spotted Redshank were roosting on the flash. A fairly early Common Whitethroat was singing in bushes near the car park.


Stewart

Thanks for pointing us in the right direction today Stewart! These are the best pictures I could manage I'm afraid. Bit too far away unfortunately! Stonechat was along the edge of the Bale Field.

Andy

 

[Steve_Halstead]

There was reports on Birdguides of a Ring Ouzel in Braintree,

Did anyone get a hold of where in Braintree

Many thanks

 

[Sharp Shin]

There was reports on Birdguides of a Ring Ouzel in Braintree,

Did anyone get a hold of where in Braintree

Many thanks

Two birds were reported from Leez Reservoir - which I understand is near Leez Priory (some wedding venue - Google it if you want!). Anyway, they were reported to have flown off north (the Ring Ouzels that is, not the bride and groom).

Stewart

 

[Steve_Halstead]

Two birds were reported from Leez Reservoir - which I understand is near Leez Priory (some wedding venue - Google it if you want!). Anyway, they were reported to have flown off north (the Ring Ouzels that is, not the bride and groom).

Stewart

What is interesting is that it has picked it up on the EBWS as a site in Codicote, near Welwyn GC in Hertfordshire, used to get an MOT there when I was at uni funny enough.

However it is an odd one, there is the fishing lake there by the church, no issues there, there is also the lavender and lodge lakes up a bit from there in Essex too.

I think there is a ghost in the machine, but the point remains that leez priory lake by church does give some great sightings throughout the year.

Whilst the very nature of migrants is that it has gone, I will have a look at the area after work tomorrow.

 

[Sharp Shin]

Bowers Marsh: Stilts, Black-necked Grebes, and a probable Glaucous Gull

The pair of Black-winged Stilts were still present on the main freshwater lagoon at Bowers Marsh today. Also present on the lagoon were two Black-necked Grebe.

Amongst the roosting gulls (somewhat separate from them at first) was what I took to be a 1st winter Glaucous Gull. Always wary of hybrids, I'll give a brief description here (sorry it is lacking in some important points, such as primary projection) and Steve Arlow or others might have the local knowledge to point out possible pitfalls for identification (e.g. is there a hybrid around this area that has previously been misidentified?) It was a large gull, probably larger that the nearby Herring Gulls. The overall plumage was light grey-brown, but the primaries were pale – whitish grey/creamy coloured – which showed much paler than the secondaries in flight. The bill was large and its colour was two-thirds flesh/pink coloured with a marked black tip. Save for the pale primaries, the bill colour was the clearest distinguishing feature, and it made me opt for probable Glaucous Gull.

Any help is welcomed.

Stewart