November 2010

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November can provide our local birdwatchers with plenty of opportunities to see many wintering species especially geese, duck and waders. A visit to Essex Wildlife Trust’s Tollesbury Wick reserve can be particularly rewarding with flocks of brent geese; wigeon; golden plovers; and lapwings with, usually, a big flock of avocets in the estuary creeks and fleets.

There is also a good chance of a peregrine falcon and marsh harriers and, if you are lucky, a short-eared owl or a hen harrier. There will be a similar range of birds at the RSPB’s Old Hall Marshes reserve, Tollesbury and there can also be some surprise visitors. Paul Charlton, the reserve’s site manager, reported a family party of whooper swans which flew over at the end of October probably en-route to their customary wintering site on the Ouse Washes, Cambridgeshire. Usually there are merlins and regular sightings of marsh harriers.

The Essex Wildlife Trust’s Fingringhoe Wick reserve can offer some excellent birding with plenty of avocets, curlew, redshanks, golden and grey plovers and, of course, little egrets. There are also possible sightings of marsh and hen harriers plus the occasional peregrine.

By mid-November at Abberton Reservoir there will be a galaxy of wintering duck with goosanders being the real stars along with colourful drake shovelers and pochard. In recent winters bitterns have frequented the reedbeds on the Layer Bretton side and sometimes come out of cover along the edge or fly.

There’s quite a lot of mud at Abberton before the big inundations which will follow in due course as part of the massive enlargement now under way. Look for black-tailed godwits, redshanks, spotted redshanks, ruff, ringed plovers, greenshanks and sometimes green sandpipers (pictured left - in flight see its white rump). A chance too, of occasional black-necked and Slavonian grebes which have joined the resident great-crested grebes.

If you want to get close views of waders and wildfowl there’s nothing to beat Mistley where you can watch them from the comfort of your car parked alongside the estuary waters. As well as the many mute swans you can see lots of pintail, wigeon and goldeneye with flocks of waders which include black-tailed godwits, redshanks, dunlin, knot, ringed plovers and grey plovers. I always fit in a visit to Frinton and Holland Haven. At the latter reserve there are always splendid views of waders and wildfowl from the hide as they feed on the lakes and pastures while along the beach you’ll see little flocks of sanderling in their beautiful grey winter plumage as they scamper along the tides edge. There are always turnstones probing the bladderwrack on the seawalls and groynes and sometimes they are joined by purple sandpipers.

Out at sea there can be flocks of common scoter (black sea ducks) with some red-throated divers and eider. In the woods and on riverside alder trees flocks of siskins and redpolls enjoy feeding on the little seed cones often joined by goldfinches. It’s the time of year, too, for mixed flocks of finches and buntings to roam the countryside foraging for seeds, especially on stubbles which haven’t been ploughed in. The flocks can include linnets, greenfinches, yellowhammers and reed buntings.

The tree sparrow is now a very scarce and declining passage migrant which has been lost to Essex as a breeding species and is on the Red Data List. So Hugh Owen of Langenhoe, a member of CNHS and teh RSPB, was thrilled to see two at his garden feeders in late October. There are still some tree sparrows nesting at Rutland Water and also in one or two of the North Norfolk nature reserves and in winter there are some migrants from the Continent so possibly Hugh’s were such visitors.

Where there are still some ivy blooms they attract insects including red admiral butterflies, bees, worker wasps and hornets and at night several autumnal moth species. I have a strawberry tree (Arbutus) in my garden which at this time of year is wreathed in white blossoms which are highly attractive to bees and also some late flying red admirals. This is a Mediterranean tree which is hardy here and gets its name from the fact that it bears its blossoms at the same time as strawberry-like fruit.

Updates

Nuthatches return to Hillhouse

After an absence of many years nuthatches have been seen and heard in two woods at West Bergholt. Two were seen Hillhouse Wood on November 4th and one seen earlier on September 26th. Two were seen in Grove Wood on September 24th. The nuthatch is an increasingly scarce woodland bird in Essex and naturalists hope these new sightings may herald nesting next spring. Tree creepers also returned to breed in Hillhouse, another welcome return.

Top left: nuthatch. Bottom left: tree creeper

 

 

 

Waxwings sighted in Essex and Suffolk

Following a sizeable ‘invasion’ of the UK by waxwings from Scandinavia, flocks have been reported from Frinton, Holland-on-Sea and Wivenhoe, Essex and also several sites in Suffolk and Norfolk. Look for them wherever there are shrubs with berries including in Supermarket gardens.

Rough-legged buzzards sighted in Essex

Rough-legged buzzards, large birds of prey from the continent, are appearing in more numbers this year than previously, with two sightings at Holland Haven Country Park and also in Suffolk, Norfolk and Kent. In other years they have been seen at Walton Naze, St Osyth and Tollesbury.

 

 

Left: Note the obvious white, black fringed tail of the rough-legged buzzard.

Flocks of avocets can be seen in the estuaries of the Colne and Blackwater. They winter here now there are usually milder winters.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Although they are getting rarer due to persecution on northern grouse moors, hen harriers (male pictured) can sometimes be seen along the Essex coast in nature reserves.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Look for flocks of redpoll feeding with siskins on the seed cones of alder trees.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Waxwings can be expected in Essex in November following a large scale invasion from Scandinavia.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The tree sparrow is now only a scarce passage migrant in Essex and last nested in the county in 1999. Two were seen by High Owen in his garden at Langenhoe in late October.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sanderling, wintering waders from the north, feed at the tide’s edge. Favourite beaches are at Walton, Frinton, Holland Haven and Mersea.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Among the ducks which can be seen off the Essex Coast in winter is the common scoter. A diving sea duck which feeds on shelfish.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Goosanders are among the colourful wintering ducks at Abberton Reservoir. Drake lower figure.