Although only mid-October this is really the first visit of the year to see if any of the winter visitors have arrived. Sadly nothing on the floods on the grazing meadow which is still dry after three years of low rainfall, so straight on to the beach on an incoming tide. There were very few waders on the beach but a nice flock of Brent Geese, obviously the scouts for the hundreds that are hopefully on their way.
Just a few Dunlin and Ringed Plover at the water's edge, although there were a few hundred including some Redshank and Grey Plovers in the high tide roost on the saltmarsh further up Brightlingsea Reach, albeit very distant, with very few on the golf-house pools.
The stars today were a pair of Stonechats on Stone Point which were reasonably cooperative as they perched on top of some Shrubby Seablite.
But that's not all. On the way home we stopped at Abberton for the compulsory cup of coffee before doing battle with the A120, and there back in its favourite bay was one of the Great White Egrets. When these egrets first arrived in the UK they were fairly shy and were often a distant blob of white further up the reservoir, but now they are getting evermore trusting and this one was strutting its stuff just 30 yards away.
Here is a sequence of an unsuccessful stab at a fish.
Well still fairly quiet on the winter visitor front, but still early days yet. At least the Stonechats and Great White Egret saved the day.
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