Spent today looking for the Hawfinches without any luck, mind you it's a big place. I did see Nuthatch, Treecreeper, Green, and Great Spotted Woodpeckers, a Red Kite, and a Buzzard. I also witnessed an amazing territorial fight between two Coots. After an overcast morning the sun came out in the afternoon with blue skies and a temperature of 13c
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| Red Kite |
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| Cormorant |
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| Coots fighting |
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| They even continue underwater! |
Click an image to see a larger version
I went this afternoon to Rainham Marsh or more specifically Wennington Marsh in the hope of seeing the two Pink-footed Geese that had been seen earlier amongst a flock of Greylags. Alas, they had moved back to Gerphins Lane, so I missed them this time!
The five Barnacle geese were a little closer though.
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| Barnacle Geese |
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| The Kestrel and the Crow |
Click the images for a larger view
I went early this morning arriving around 8am. I parked in the free car park at the end of Hullbridge Road, which is right on The River Crouch opposite Hullbridge. I walked east or off to the left along the seawall footpath. As I arrived at the fields about 1/2 mile along the seawall the Brent Geese were beginning to fly in, quite a sight and sound some 400 hundred of them. Alas, I could not find the Red-breasted Goose so did a circular walk to Stone Point. Arriving back at the Brent flock the Red-breasted Goose had flown in and joined the main group. They were quite distant from the seawall so only record shots today! There was also a well-marked Black Brant in with the flock.
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| Red-breasted Goose in amongst the Brents |
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| Looking along the seawall River Crouch on the left |
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| I saw thousands of waders mainly Dunlin but this was the only Golden Plover |
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| Mute Swan coming in to land |
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| Some goose watchers. |
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| More Brents coming in |
Went to Navestock this morning. Navestock is a civil parish in the Borough of Brentwood in south Essex. It is located approximately 5 km (3.1 mi) northwest of the town of Brentwood and the M25 motorway cuts through the western edge of the parish. It covers an area of in excess of 1800 hectares (4500 acres) and had a population of 510 in 2001, increasing to 585 in 2011. The name means ‘the stump on the headland’, which reflects its topography and landscape.
In some of the stubble fields on either side of Church Road, a good number of birds were feeding. Mainly Bramblings (300), Chaffinch (60), Stock Dove (40), and a couple of Yellowhammers. Also seen were Mistle Thrush, Redwing, and Fieldfare. A Red Kite flew over on arrival. Also, a single Fox sauntered across the field while five Fallow Deer appeared opposite me. The fields were quite large and the birds were always feeding a distance away and very flighty making photography almost impossible!
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| Fallow Deer |
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| Fallow Deer buck |
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| Fallow Deer |
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| Mixed flock mainly Brambling |
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| Mixed flock mainly Brambling |
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| Mixed flock mainly Brambling |
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| Fox |
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| It's goodbye from me and it's goodbye from them! |
A frosty start to a walk along the River Thames at Rainham overlooking the reserve. I do like Goldfinches and have gone slightly over the top with this one feeding on Burdock seed heads.
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| Goldfinch |
A Black Swan on The River Thames was unusual and very close to the north shoreline as it slowly cruised east.
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| Black Swan |
A pair of Stonechats along with Meadow Pipits and Linnets were using the landfill perimeter fence as a perch at times.
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| male Stonechat |
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| female Stonechat |
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| Linnet |
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| Meadow Pipit |
Took Coco for her regular walk at our local park, a beautiful bright sunny day after a frosty start.
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| Coco |
The trees in Dagenham Avenue getting their yearly maintenance
Click image for a larger view Again quite blustery but without the rain. Still quite a few Little Auks along with Kittiwakes going north pas...
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