Migrant waders at Oare

This is a juvenile Ringed Plover - white not buff above the eye, no sharp dip in the dark below the eye, a relatively thick bill and possibly a little orange on the legs, and a fairly clear primary projection.

This is a juvenile Curlew Sandpiper, with neat anchor-marked scapulars with clearly outlined white edges. Pale and pastel, longer-legged in comparison to Dunlin.

Wonderful Whimbrel at Oare

I think all the birds on the salt marsh seaward of the West Flood at Oare Marshes seemed to me to be Whimbrel, and certainly the pictures I took seemed to confirm this.

Here is a clear indication of the central white line along the middle of the crown.

This severe crop of the single bird on the sheep pasture does show a reasonable head stripe and typical Whimbrel beak shape. The overall bird shape is fairly in proportion.

I heard Cuckoos and a Water Rail squealing. Particularly interesting were the "Blehh" mating calls of Common Pochard flying in a group of four over the West Flood. Also very pleasant were the bubbling calls of Little Grebes, and the songs of Reed Bunting, together with multiple Reed Warblers and Sedge Warblers. I was very pleased to get a good view of a Reed Warbler in the sallow seaward of the car park.

Turnstones at Lower Halstow

Oare Marshes

3 or 4 Ruffs, Philomachus pugnax, some juveniles, 1 poss adult. 500 Black-tailed Godwits and about the same number of wonderful Golden Plover. Dozens of Teal, some Shovellers, a few Redshank, about a hundred Lapwing, all on the main scrape, an amazing place to see birds close-up. No photos unfortunately.

Warmer Cliffe

About 500 Avocets, 500 Black-tailed Godwits, 20 plus Great Crested Grebes, same again of Little Grebes, at least a dozen Little Egrets, a few Redshanks. 

Green Sandpiper at Cliffe

A good all the way round walk of just over four miles certainly tired Monty out, and my knees felt it as well.
The new camera lens worked excellently and gave me as good detail at long distance as I think I could have hoped for. I tried to do a count of some of the waterbirds, and got good numbers of coot, tufted, mallard, teal, shoveller and some pintail duck, and a good group of greylag geeses, together with lapwing and godwits, at least some of which (probably all) were black-tailed. although the RSPB website claims high numbers of Dunlin can be seen at the reserve I have only seen the occasional handful.

On the far side of the radar pool, a gull was beating up the coots on the water, and then I got a long-distance snap of it as it wheeled away:

It is a Common Gull, but I am pretty sure it is a second winter bird, because of the dark brown patches at the front and back of the upper wing just to the inside of the black wing tip patches, and also the reduced white mirrors at the very tips of the wings.

Other gulls were wheeling around and they might also have been common gulls at a guess, young ones mainly. I got one shot at the precise moment that an adult wheeled close to the surface of the water, its wingtip apparently only an inch or two from cutting into the surface:

I missed most of the ships coming in and out of the Thames but here is a shot of the relatively small dredger "Marieke" coming up river across the Marsh, and then another shot, closer to.

As we went around the Mead wall I shouted at Monty rolling in some muck by the side of the path and thereby put up a smallish dark wader with a very distinct white rump. According to the sightings board, Green Sandpipers have been around for several weeks, so it was probably a Green Sandpiper, Tringa ochropus, my first ever properly identified -  However I am now quite certain that I had misidentified the two waders I saw in the autumn which I had called Curlew Sandpipers on the basis of their white rumps alone - in my ignorance - they were almost certainly my first Green Sandpipers. So what made me think the bird today was definitely a Green Sandpiper on the spot this time? It was the very dark colouring to the upperparts, the very distinct white rump, the sandpiper-like look to the bird in flight, the sandpiper call just like the Green Sandpiper on Xeno-Canto (a three note whistle), and of course the fact that the Sightings Board predicted that Green Sandpiper was there!

This is from the Itchen birds website (I hope they don't mind!

The Green Sandpiper actually nests in old nests of other species of birds, such as a Fieldfare (Turdus pilaris) or a woodpigeon (Columba palumbus) or a squirrel (Sciurus) drey in trees (!), or on stumps or mounds where trees are unavailable. Separate nesting and feeding territories are thought to be held. little extra nesting material will be added to the existing structure, although some may be re-arranged. This nesting style is rather like the related Solitary Sandpiper in North America and the two together are thought to be quite close to the ancestral Tringa type.

The Green Sandpiper lays 2–4 cream with brown or purplish blotches eggs in a clutch, which take about three weeks to hatch. Incubation is by both parents, starting with the last egg, and hatching is synchronous. The young are precocial and nidifugous.

The species is generally said to be one of the darkest on the upper-side in its group, and in non-breeding plumage, there are none of the myriad small light spots that grace the breeding plumage. Although the upperparts are therefore darker, in contrast the underparts are whiter at this time of the year.

The birds breed in areas such as the Sweden and Finland. The range is quite wide, and extends through the Sub-Artic region North to the Low Artic, and through the Boreal region South to the Temperate, with a montane outlier in Transcaucasia. Females tend to leave the breeding grounds first, perhaps before the young are fledged, followed later by the juveniles and the males.

They winter in Western Europe (a few), around the Mediterranean, in Africa or across Asia, to avoid the snow and ice that would cause them to starve on their breeding grounds. In Britain most over-wintering birds are found in Southern Britain.

Feeding is relatively secretive, regularly entering ditches, stream beds and enclosed ponds, shunning wide horizons and open coastal habitats. In such habitats the only waders likely to be seen are Snipe, Common Sandpiper and Green Sandpiper. The only one of these with a bright white rump is the Green Sandpiper. Food is small invertebrate items picked off the mud (it isn't a great "prober") as the bird works steadily around the edges of its chosen pond. The picture below shows the somewhat sheltered ditch that my particular bird was seen at - doesn't seem to exactly fit.

As the light faded, I tried to see the gulls behind a large ship going out, but failed to get much detail. Possibilities of a couple in the crowd, where the dark wings and whitish tail were caught by the sun, included Black-Backed Gulls, either Lesser or Greater. Others could have been Herring Gulls.

As I looked, a large cloud of waders (at least 150) flew rapidly upriver, too fast and small for curlews. The beaks I thought looked relatively small, so my best guess would be Grey or Golden Plovers, but they could have been a lot of other things as well.

Dank and drear at Cliffe Pools

Got to Cliffe at just after 2 p.m. and we took the central track after Monty had disgraced himself by eating most of the large bread chunks a couple had scattered in the car park as bait - of course I apologised most profusely but I'm secretly not that sorry for the birds' sake!

Far too dark for photographs all day, low tide perhaps I thought (I was wrong, it was only 2 hours after high tide), and rather few birds around overall. It was a bit breezy and chilly sitting at the flamingo Viewpoint. However there were loads of gorgeous Pochard on the Conoco Pools, together with the normal Coot, Mallard, Great Crested Grebes, Little Grebes and Black Headed Gulls. There was one possible Teal. A Cormorant and a Redshank overflew, with several large gulls I didn't even try to identify.

At Flamingo, the patch of mud certainly seemed bigger after news of recent supplementation by dredging operations, and at least some of the birds might have been a bit nearer. Lapwing, Black-tailed Godwits, Redshank, 1 Grey Plover, Mallard in pairs or groups, Great Crested Grebes, Little Grebes, Black Headed Gulls and a couple of Little Egrets with 2 Grey Heron were seen. Starlings joined the Lapwings on the mud, and a few more flocks wheeled like smoke in the distance. More cormorants and gulls overflew. On the causeway towards Radar we saw and heard a group of Fieldfares, together with a couple of blackbirds and robins, but the rest were just LBJs in the poor light.

At Radar Pools, more Lapwing, Mallard, some Shelduck, a few Tufted Duck, Great Crested Grebes, Little Grebes and a couple more Little Egrets were picked up, but the light was very poor by now, the brightest things were the remaining flowers of both species of Oxtongues, so off we trotted (wounded foot permitting) back to the car and shopping at Asda's Kings Hill superstore! I would like some Delia Smith cooking books for Christmas I think, I've got an odd desire from somewhere to cook Lancashire Hotpot tonight.

Point of Ayr at high tide, or just after.

2,000 oystercatchers, 500 curlew, 100+ black-tailed godwit, 50+ redshank, 3+ grey plover, 4+ dunlin, 100 black-headed gulls, 40+ herring gulls, 10+ lesser black-backed gulls, 10 teal, 30 mallard, 80+ shelduck, 20 wigeon, 20 cormorant, 1 kestrel (nice and fairly close on a ridge).

Excellent views and what a great afternoon!

Here is a distant shot of the female kestrel on the ridge in front of the shoreline.

and some of the approximately 2,000 oystercatchers,

RSPB Conwy and Rhos Point

RSPB Conwy


20 black-tailed godwit, 12 dunlin, 40 redshank, 40 teal (just gorgeous), 10 mallard, 2 shellduck, 1 little egret, 1 grey heron, 40 black-headed gulls, 10 herring gulls, 3 mute swan, 5 red-breasted mergansers, 4 widgeon, 5 coot, 1 moorhen,

Here is a very distant shot of two of the five red breasted mergansers, Mergus serrator. The one on the right is definitely a male, with the right colour pattern on its side, and a fairly clear dark green crest on the head. You can also just see the dark line running up the back of the white neck. Even at this distance the male's bill looks noticeably thin, one of the main recognition points of all these saw-billed duck species.
Wonderful and colourful saw-billed ducks, these are excellent divers and catchers of fish such as trout and salmon that tend to be coastal during the winter, unlike the rather similar Goosander which is generally restricted to freshwater all year round. Both species are thought to breed on occasions I believe on the river that runs through Tomich.

These particular Red Breasted Mergansers could have come from breeding sites on rivers in Wales, Northern England, Scotland, Iceland or Scandinavia for example. The total UK breeding population is said to be about five thousand. This small flock of five, perhaps a family unit, may have taken up residence here for a short or long period in the winter. Others may arrive to build this particular flock up further, as numbers are said to peak in December - on some waters very large flocks of this bird may develop, as it is quite gregarious in winter.

Here are two females of the many teal, Anas cracca, scattered around the reserve, which seem not to mind the presence of humans so close to hand.

Here are some of the roosting mallards, Anas platyrhynchos, together with one of the oystercatchers, Hematopus ostralegus, and one of the mute swans, Cygnus olor.

Overall this is a really fantastic reserve created from the Conwy tunnel spoil, it really caters for visitors very well.

Rhos Point


2(?) turnstone, 20 curlew, 6 redshank, 10 oystercatchers, 20 black-headed gulls, 18 herring gulls, but no purple sandpipers I'm afraid!

And it was too dark to take pictures.

The Thames Foreshore and Green Sandpipers!

13 dunlin, 270 lapwing, 1 grey heron, 40 redshank, 14 black-tailed godwits (still can't see any bar-tailed), 1 curlew, 5 little egrets, 3 grey heron, 2 curlew sandpiper?? 1 kingfisher, 4 blackbirds, 23 cormorants, 1 grey plover, 7 great crested grebes, 8 little grebes, 23 black-headed gulls, 20+ herring gulls, 13 lesser black-backed gulls, 6 pochard, 5 mallard, 60 coot, 14 collared dove, 7 woodpigeon, 25+ starling, 4 magpies.
We had a long walk on the Thames foreshore on the far side of Cliffe Pools today, and certainly stretched our legs. Monty was excellent today, its so great when he more or less keeps to the track we are walking along, rather than wandering away too far, and comes back straight away when called. When I settle down with the telescope he will usually come and sit with me, or even lie down close by, fairly shortly after I stop, and wait patiently for me to get going again. This makes things so easy, and its so delightful that we "work" so well together!

We had a quick look at the Conoco Pool, and picked up the duck for the day, about 5 Pochard, Aythya ferina, new for me on this site, together with a couple of pairs of Mallard, Anas platyrhynchos. We moved on fairly quickly, reaching my favourite vantage point looking at the waders on the far side of the Flamingo Pool, and in particular at the wonderful Black Tailed Godwits. A couple of these were a bit frisky today, but rather confused about who was who, apparently swopping roles, each in turn aggressively trying to be the male! I was able to see the black tails and the striped wings in all the individuals I had good views of, so no Bar Tailed Godwits noted as yet. I also got a grey plover here, with its distinctive black patches under the wings very clearly seen.

Once we got to the seawall overlooking the Thames Estuary, the industrial view became even clearer with the power station on the Essex side looming up in the mist in the distance.

In the picture below, a little further downstream, you can see a small container dock on the far side. The green buoy in both pictures marks the far side of the navigable channel, and as this is fairly close, the ships obviously have to pass close up on the Kent side of the River, as I had already suspected from previous visits to Cliffe Pools when I saw their superstructures gliding past apparently very close indeed! No ships seen going by today, perhaps because it was very definitely low tide.

Beside this industrial hive of activity, sheep were calmly grazing, quite oblivious to the views of man's activities around them - the North Kent grazing marshes are traditionally famous for the very high quality of the lamb! The Isle of "Sheppey" itself is actually named for its sheep! The overall feeling was one of isolation, with hardly anyone else seen and very little noise from the works around. The wind was blowing strongly, increasing the feeling of being out "on the edge" of civilisation.

The industry includes a lot of gravel or ballast extraction, with huge heaps of spoil scattered across the landscape, giant oil terminals and refinery operations, and of course, the shipping:

Other grazers seen on the marsh today included two very large black bulls, the first of which was, rather unusually, actually sitting down.

and these rather traditional looking horses, perhaps belonging to travellers

As we got further along into the loneliness of the marsh I picked up two small dunlin or sandpiper-like waders with very white rumps and clearly defined black tail bars wandering along the bottom of the right hand bank in this drainage ditch - with this tail pattern showing so obviously, these birds could only have been Green Sandpipers, a reasonably rare bird, but seen regularly along the North Kent coast. What an absolutely great sight, even if I only recognised its significance in retrospect! This may be one of the rarest bird I have seen since a Baird's sandpiper vagrant from the Americas glimpsed from a very long way off on a school bird watching trip to Cley Marshes in Norfolk when I was 17 or so. If the white rumps didn't make them such a simple bird to identify, I would have thought I was mistaken, but because I saw this one feature so clearly I am as certain as I can be that the identification was good.

and then we got to some large shallow pools, where the shallows at this far end were covered in hundreds of lapwings, together with some 20 Redshank and about 12 Dunlin (its several years since I last saw Dunlin, they are really cheeky and brave little waders) with 1 rather odd looking grey heron, which I think I had seen yesterday on one of the main Cliffe pools themselves. It just sits oddly, rather too "horizontal" in its overall body, both today and yesterday, but I can't see what else it could be.

Walking fairly briskly, I put up a kingfisher from below me on the bank and then as I turned the corner of the track to head back to the car park, I got fairly close to this couple of great crested grebes, the one on the right being rather "warmer" retaining a fair bit of its summer plumage,

I caught this black-headed gull in flight, but not a very sharp photo I'm afraid

On the chalky track on the way back, I saw some chicory in flower, really late in the year. Its blue flowers are quite disconcerting!

The light was really going now, and to finish off, here is Monty on the last section of track, looking ahead into the setting sun!

Cliffe pools

1 young(?) male kestrel, 70 avocets, 12 black(?)-tailed godwit, 40 redshank, 30 little grebe, 20 great crested grebe, 2 overflying cormorant (1 young), 50 lapwing, 30 starling, 40 herring gull, 5 lesser black-backed gull, 20 black-headed gulls, 130 coot, 1 grey heron, 7 little egret.

The Cliffe Pools RSPB reserve is becoming a favourite walk of mine, quite far out of my area, but so exciting to visit as there is always the likelihood of new birds to be seen, its a good long circular walk, interesting at all stages, and the reserve welcomes considerate dog owners and well-behaved dogs! Monty seems to find it very satisfying as well. I don't say things are perfect, Monty sometimes wanders off a bit, but things go well most of the time.