Twenty Four little hours after the last walk I set off with Bonnie to ramble from East Head to Ellen Nore and back,
what a different seascape! Admittedly it was a bit earlier but we were greeted by vast areas of mud with the channels snaking through, lined with Brent Geese. The stand that happens at high tide seems to work in reverse, low water appears to take it’s time to turn and the incoming tide accelerates close to high water to make up for lost time.
On the ponds there are plenty of wigeon but also several Shelduck which haven’t been particularly noticeable recently. There are also significant numbers of Oyster Catchers about along the water’s edge together with the occasional Curlew. In the distant background were the kites of surfers having a great time on the beach.
In the channel that leads from the outfall we saw another Kingfisher, just a tiny flash of blue that darted over the water, up onto the dingy moored in the channel and away. This one didn’t hang about as is usually the case! Near the dingy was a lone Greenshank fishing out titbits from the bed of the stream. It’s light colour, dark legs and relatively long, black bill made it easy to verify it’s identity; no confusion with a Redshank.
On the way back the water was rising fast, making the stream wide enough to be a river in any other location. From time to time various skeins of Brent flew past, most quite low, some large, others comprising just a few individuals. It was clear where they were headed, the field north of the car park was covered in Geese; they were here now in large numbers and feeling social!
High up a flock of birds were flying together in unison but in a ragged sort of manner. They also had floppy wings with the characteristic flap of Lapwing. As they descended it became clear that was what they were, eventually landing on the margins of the ponds but only after flying round together in their unique manner.