Along the river into town... great stretch for wildlife! (1 Viewer)

[Fozzybear]

Took my regular walk to Asda this morning: across the Baddow Meads, along the river eastwards, a look around the Sandford Mill area and the sewage works and then up to Chelmer Village and Asda before heading back along the river home.

Saw two Bullfinches at Barnes Mill and two more out at Sandford Mill, 17 Fieldfare flying west along the river at the Baddow Meads (first winter thrushes of the autumn!), 1 Grey Heron out on the north meadow (first I've seen there for a long time!), 3 Little Grebes, 2 Mute Swan on the millpool and a Kestrel perching on the wires out at Manor Farm. I also saw lots of Woodpigeons, Moorhens, Skylarks, Mallards, some Robins and Blackbirds, Goldfinches, Chaffinches, Blue Tits, Great Tits, Carrion Crows, Magpies, Collared Doves and Starlings. I thought I saw a Song Thrush heading along one of the hedgerows but as I was looking into the sun I couldn't really be sure of anything but that it was a thrush-like bird.

Wasn't sure of the bullfinches to start with as they were flying and I haven't seen them in flight much so couldn't be sure they weren't chaffinches but when I saw one of those later on I was much more convinced and 100% so when I got home and looked up some photos of Bullfinches. I've never seen so many here! :t:

 

[palval147]

Lucky you, Fozzy, there has been no sign of Bullfinches in our gardens for months, nor anywhere else I've been.

 

[Fozzybear]

Indeed! They're birds I only see very occasionally but they do turn up at different places along the river here, I've seen them in three different places along the river.

The Little Grebes are spreading out along the river now, returning to some of their old haunts. Am hoping we don't get a big freeze this winter as I think that drove them out and they were absent until the start of the autumn! Am only just starting to see Grey Herons back and haven't seen any Little Egrets at all. I've not seen Reed Buntings for ages too, it appears that their numbers really crashed compared to last year - not good!

 

[palval147]

Interesting, Fozzy, your take on Reed Buntings because we get those here every Winter in the garden. It isn't late enough for them to arrive yet, but last year we had three males, feeding on the patio most days, no sign of females though. I'll let you know if they appear this Winter or not.

 

[BazR]

Now that's what I call a walk to the shops Paul. What was the round trip; and did you have much to carry on the way back?

It 'sounds' like a lovely area: is it as idyllic as it seems to be from your description? You certainly ticked some lovely birds.

Baz.

 

[Fozzybear]

It's unbelievably better than walking along the main road into town to go shopping, having all the traffic noise and pollution and concrete surroundings to deal with. I usually limit how much I buy to a full bag-for-life and maybe some stuff in my backpack (if there's room with my bins and camera in there!) as there's a very narrow and slippery checkerplate bridge over the river at the lock to get back home and carrying two bags over it makes it a bit 'interesting' to say the least - especially as it's quite a height over the water.

The distance depends on the route I take as I can either walk straight along the river or detour up to Sandford Mill or even walk around Manor Farm's footpaths and approach from the south. The shortest is probably a round trip of around two to three miles (not including walking the aisles in Asda!), the longest maybe five, although I'd walk back the short way!

It's probably as close to idyllic as you can get in a working landscape adjacent to a town of more than a hundred thousand people as you're never far from the sound of traffic, there can be rubbish in the river (especially if the river's been in spate), bicyclists, dog-walkers, people in boats and canoes so on the wrong day it can be hard to get away from people (especially if there's canoe races or foot races going on) but if you get the right day and are in the right mood there's nowhere else I'd rather be. I think it's a very special place.

 

[palval147]

You certainly live in a lovely landscaped part of our country, Fozzy. I guess it's pretty flat walking country too.

I used to walk the 'pretty' way to our Tesco, years ago, but it's totally hilly, it was all quiet country lanes then, which are far busier now, as incoming people, in cars, have discovered an alternate route to Tesco, other than along the main road. It is now almost as busy as the main road & no path to walk along either.

 

[Fozzybear]

The advantage of living in East Anglia is that it's not that hilly... it does mean the landscapes don't have the same beauty as hill country but still lovely in their own way and a lot easier to walk. :t: The river runs through its own valley so if you head out to Danbury to the east or Galleywood to the south it's a bit of a climb (...relatively! ) but along the river it's flat going.

 

[palval147]

Our river flows the wrong way for going to Tesco. It starts on Dartmoor, above us & flows South into the sea at Mothecombe.

 

[Fozzybear]

I managed to get out onto my patch when I was walking home from work today, just before it was getting dark. I heard a Reed Bunting by the river which I was really pleased about as I've not seen any here for months! I saw:

2 (possibly three) Cormorants,
6 Carrion Crows,
1 Magpie,
5 Blackbirds,
16 Black-headed Gulls,
1 Dunnock,
12 Moorhen,
4 Little Grebes,
2 Mute Swans,
1 Collared Dove,
4 Woodpigeons,
4 Starlings,
1 Reed Bunting,
15 (approx.) Meadow Pipits.

Considering it was cold and wet and the sun was setting (was starting to get quite dingy out there) there were still quite a lot of birds around - the Little Grebes were still fishing and most of the Gulls were clustered near one of the locks and were actively looking for food. Also saw a fair number of Rabbits at the little cottage at the edge of the meadow, which is their usual haunt but I'd not seen many around recently as it's been very wet.

 

[palval147]

Glad to hear you are still finding a good variety on your walk home, Fozzy.

 

[Fozzybear]

Thanks Val, surprising really how many birds were still around at that time of day.

This morning I was very pleased to see the Grey Wagtail still at the sluice in town, really cheered me up after a rather depressing trip getting caught up in all the pre-Christmas crowds (yup, the rush has started!). Also spent some time feeding some breadcrumbs to a pair of mute swans and a flock of black-headed gulls which I really enjoyed as I have quite a thing for BH gulls - gorgeous birds I always think. I also saw a lovely big flock of Goldfinches feeding on the teasels and burrs nearby. They're a bird I've only seen once or twice in my garden and whenever I see them it's really lovely, especially if they're perching on teasels or making their little whittering calls. :t:

 

[palval147]

Nice, shots, Fozzy, the Goldfinches particularly.

 

[Fozzybear]

Thanks Val, I was really pleased to get a photo of them on the teasels.

 

[palval147]

It's nice to see Goldfinches eating 'natural' food, Fozzy, though I love having them on my niger feeders, a couple like the husk free sunflower hearts too. We have 10 at present.

 

[Fozzybear]

The Robin in my garden loves sunflower hearts, I often see him hovering in front of the feeder grabbing them.

Whenever I've seen the goldies on the teasels or burrs it makes me smile, just such a feel-good sight to see. :t:

 

[BazR]

Hi Paul.
That's a beautiful pic of the BH Gull: such a strikingly clean bird. As Val said, it's lovely to see Goldies, or any bird for that matter, taking natural food. There'll be plenty of garden feeders to pick from, when the natural runs out.

Baz.

 

[Wendy Morris]

A few years ago I watched a charm of Goldies feeding off teasels on one of our regular walks. Delightful. I get them in the garden, but they seem to prefer the sunflower hearts to the nyger.

 

[Kits]

I saw goldfinches feeding on teasels down at Pagham Harbour a couple of years ago. As you all know, they are not found in my part of Hampshire. Grrrrrr!

 

[Fozzybear]

Hi Paul.
That's a beautiful pic of the BH Gull: such a strikingly clean bird. As Val said, it's lovely to see Goldies, or any bird for that matter, taking natural food. There'll be plenty of garden feeders to pick from, when the natural runs out.

Baz.

Thanks Baz, Wendy and Kits... I thought I'd posted a reply but apparently not! Glad to see I'm not the only one that enjoys seeing the Goldies on the teasels. :t:

Lots of Starlings out near the sewage works on Saturday, something like 150-200 I reckon. Nothing to compare to those on Autumnwatch but pretty good numbers for around here. Also saw an awful lot of Pied Wagtails, which was wonderful as they're a real favourite but a bird I see only infrequently here. There was a female Grey Wagtail there too and more Pied Wagtails along the river, a flock of seven or eight feeding on the field margins and having little scuffles amongst themselves.

Also saw a Kestrel out on the ploughed field that took off to show it had a small mammal, probably a vole, in its talons. It settled down further along the field to feed but was disturbed by one of the Magpies and flew across the river to land in a large willow not that far from where I was standing and I got a good view of it eating its prey there before flying off back across the river and out of sight.