Not much was happening at Alton Water, there was no sign of the Black-throated Diver and the Yellowhammer flock along Alton Hall Lane was not showing either. The south-westerly still had a bit of oomph about it as I got down to Stutton Mill, but the sky was the best kind of blue and the sun was on my back. Red-breasted Mergansers were flirting out in the main channel: 41 of them, and then one of the Great Northern Divers that had been found a few days back hove in to view, followed by the second ten minutes later. The 75th species for the year in the village. Just Red-throated, White-billed and Pacific to go then for the patch. Red-throat being the scarcest regular diver on the estuary.
Feeling that my morning could not get much better, I stood at Stutton Mill Sluice (the parish boundary) for a scan of the reeds, fields and trees as it was approaching Buzzard o'clock (11am). There were a few crows bouncing up and down distantly over Brantham and I was delighted to pick up a female Marsh Harrier among them, rather than the expected Buzzard. A short time later, it popped up close by before disappearing behind some poplars. As I dropped my bins, my eyes fell upon a male Hen Harrier no more than 30 metres away. Unbelievable! It floated over the 'beet field before shaking up the saltmarsh roost. A wisp of 15 Snipe was a bonus from it's marauding. Hens that do make an appearance around the estuary are invariably ring-tails and normally don't come anywhere near me. Frustratingly for Chris, he had gone off to do some chores and missed it by minutes. Hopefully it will linger and next time I will not leave my camera in the car.
I did take the camera round to Mistley in the afternoon, where the godwits and Goldeneye were putting on a show.
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