Goldeneye and Godwits

A little after 8am this morning and there were a handful of photographer/birdwatchers at Mistley Walls. The tide was just dropping and the sky was crystal clear.

Given that the high-tide was so low, the Black-tailed Godwits had decided to roost right next to the road, rather than the factory roost on the Suffolk side.

As the tide receded, the odd Knot and Dunlin appeared from the throng, affording a nice comparison and the two separate godwit groups joined together.

Round at the Quay, a few Goldeneye were busy courting and pair-bonding. Males predominated, but one pair were well and truly in love: heads were thrown back, wing-stretching and diving together. They looked like they would be very happy together.

 

Slim pickings on the Stour

The day dawned bright and clear - far better than the predicted strong winds in the 5-day forecast. A drumming Great Spotted Woodpecker greeted me as I left the house for Harwich and a barge trip along the Stour. Before that, a quick check of Alton Water was in order to see if the Black-throated Diver was still present. It was.

I took the camera more in hope than expectation, my priority had to be with the passengers (further insurance for the appalling photographs you are about to suffer).

The Great Northern Diver that had been lingering off Erwarton Ness had done a bunk, but was ably substituted by an (un-Brunnich's) Guillemot. Only the third time I have seen one on the estuary in 11 years. Parking would be chaos if one did turn up off Erwarton. Despite it being a four-hour trip over low water, the estuary never seemed to empty, so exposed mud was at a premium. In addition, numbers of Great Crested Grebe and Goldeneye were disappointingly low. Sixty-odd Red-breasted Merganser were adequate compensation (including one group of 48 off Wrabness). One Common Scoter allowed several views on and off, but this was the only shot I got of it.

The Dark-bellied Brent Geese did us all the favour of flying in off the winter cereals in Bradfield to have a wash and brush up off Stutton Mill.

An adult Shag also stood up on one of the cardinal markers with a Cormorant. A call to my patch-birding neighbour in Holbrook ensued, but by the time he got down to the shore it had flown off.

As we headed back to Harwich there was plenty of wader activity in Erwarton Bay and as hoped, a Peregrine was sat up on the lightship moored mid-channel. Clearly!

Peregrine just to the right of the light on the hand-rail.

Spacing please

For the first time this winter, what must be around 50% of the estuary population (3-4000 birds) of Knot was in view together at Mistley Walls this morning. Miserable light yet again, but the feeding flock got close enough to take some pictures that demonstrate their feeding behaviour.  Those new to waders always struggle to separate Knot and Dunlin and there really is no need when you see Knot feeding in such dense ranks. Something Dunlin never seem to do.

Aside from the Knot, the only birds feeding on the mud close to the road was a small group of well-spaced Redshank.

Muddy marvellous

The light hasn't got any better, but the birds are still there at Mistley Walls. Spent a pleasant hour or two as the tide came in around lunchtime before the weather and tide came in. A selection of photos with tiny images for you. At least they set the scene.

Dark-bellied Brent Geese on winter cereal:

Wader cloud (top left):

Black-tailed Godwits:

Then it rained:

Black-throated Diver

Got my twitching boots on this morning for the epic 1km journey to Alton Water. No sign for the first couple of minutes, but then it popped up about 100 metres off the marina. It then spent the next hour doing a fast feeding circuit up to the dam and back round along the southern edge.

I cranked up the zoom on the bridge to max (30x) and managed some identifiable shots.

A cropped effort:

Snorkelling:

Diving with diagnostic white flank:

If your house was on fire...

...and you were able to grab one thing, aside from family and pets of course, what would it be?

My choice would be my notebooks. In the back room, I have sixteen dating back to 1985 from my birding around the UK. For foreign trips I have pushed the boat out and used one per trip. Optics, despite the short-term pain of being Swarowski-less, are replaceable. You can't replace 27 years of hand-written memories. I really should buy a fire-proof box.

I am green with envy, when I see fabulous illustrations like @stewchat produced of the Ivory Gull in the north-east recently. I am not an artist and without a camera, I often wonder how I would cope making sketches of scarce or rare birds, but so long as I can write, those memories are there to be brought back to life.

Take this one here...

This is page from a ten-day trip to Iceland in April 2004 when I helped out the Operation Godwit team with their ringing mission. I wasn't much help, we only caught 12 Black-tailed Godwits, but we did see plenty of colour-ringed birds, included on the 20th - Lime/Yellow:Yellow/White.

Today I was down at Mistley Walls on the Stour Estuary and guess who I saw?

Four months short of ten years since pencil met paper and he is still going strong. He was ringed as an adult in 1998 on The Wash so he is at least seventeen years old. He has been seen on the Stour almost without out fail, spring and autumn, since 2003. What really hits home, is the clear demonstration of how important the estuary is for him and his fellow godwits. 

I have a smartphone, digital camera, laptop, access to tablet (who doesn't), but it would pain me to stop using a notebook and pencil. As an old friend once said, the bluntest one is better than the sharpest mind.