Magical Mistley

 9th February 2023

When I last visted Mistley Quay on the 7th October 2022 it was very quiet, but perhaps not too surprising due to the time of year. However today was the quietest I've ever seen it with no Goldeneye, Pintail or Red-breasted Merganser just three Mallard. However it was comforting to see that the long-staying Mediterranean Gull aka Ahmed Gull was still in residence.

The trouble is that Ahmed sits around all day on his same fence so doesn't get enough exercise. Therefore Andy donated a crust from one of his sandwiches to make him fly.

It started with a crust and then half a sandwich, and after an hour he was looking a lot fitter but had put on two pounds.

Now on to The Walls where we normally enjoy a feast of waders being driven up the beach by the incoming tide. Only last time I was here there were no waders at all and all the action was concentrated west of Manningtree. Today it was looking a lot better with hundreds of waders out on the water-line and just a handful of gulls on the mud like this Common Gull

Always lots of Mute Swans here of which most are ringed, but this one is going to have to wash its colour-ring after a muddy landing.

Couldn't find any Pintail today but plenty of Teal and good numbers of Shelduck, most of which kept their distance.

Mistley has an over-wintering population of several hundred Avocets although they seem to prefer the north bank. However today a few birds were feeding on the mud in front of The Walls.

The usual Black-tailed Godwits were also present but in significantly reduced numbers.

Most were still in their winter plumage with just one already in full summer plumage. Just how stunning are they?

Always a very photogenic bird.

There was a flock of 100+ Dunlin which as far as my recollection goes is unusual for this particular spot with normally just a handful present mixed in with the other waders. They kept on over-lapping by the water's edge.

And a single Knot was a welcome surprise. On our very first visit several years ago there were 50+ quite close in, but this is the first one here for a few years in this particular location.

Amazingly Oystercatchers are not very numerous at Mistley................

........................whereas it is absolutely Redshank City with hundreds of birds present and today they even out-numbered the Black-tailed Godwits.

And just three Turnstones today which is amazing in view of the muddy and stony habitat.

But today The Walls were on fire. We have often had good days here but today took it to another level due to the high level of activity providing some great opportunities to practise those flight shots. Let's start with a small flock of Avocets.

Black-tailed Godwits are always photogenic with their black tail, white rump and wing-bar and helped along today by the superb light.

Always good getting them coming in to land

The large flock of Dunlin were particularly mobile and tended to fly as a flock rather than individually.

Even the sole Knot joined in.

And finally the Redshank which were not only present in good numbers but also very active so just sit back and click away.

Well Mistley is one of my favourite sites but can be quite variable. Today The Quay was dead compared to previous years but The Walls were the best we've ever seen. I wonder what they will be like next year?