Mistley on an Incoming Tide

15th November 2023

Our first visit of the winter to Mistley, one of our favourite sites, and as is customary a quick look at The Quay to see if there were any winter ducks. Usually there are plenty of Goldeneye and Pintail and sometimes a couple of Red-breasted Mergansers, but today absolutely nothing, not even a Mallard, probably due to the unusually mild weather. So on to The Walls.

The tide was already well on the way in so we probably had about an hour before the mud was totally covered. Again, probably due to the mild weather, the only ducks here were Shelduck, not even a Teal which are normally quite common here.

By far the commonest wader at The Walls was the Redshank which is why I always call Mistley Redshank City. There are usually a few hundred Black-tailed Godwits here, but today they were gathered behing the Manningtree Coop.

And as the tide rolls in and waders get displaced there are plenty of opportunities for some flight shots.

There was also a small number of Dunlin.

Turnstones are common along the Essex coast but here at Mistley they are normally only present in low single numbers. Obviously not enough stones.

More Black-tailed Godwits were being displaced further down the estuary and were flying west to join the main flock behind the Coop.

What was a bit unusual today was the appearance of two Bar-tailed Godwits. I have been coming here for several years and can't recall seeing them here before.

But the biggest surprise was when I was going through my photos and discovered a single Little Stint in with the Dunlin. This was definitely a first for me at Mistley so I contacted Ed Keeble to find out their status here. Ed said that Little Stint is annual along The Walls in autumn (earlier than I would normally visit), but pretty unusual after September, although this year one was seen during the 1st or 2nd week of October. So not unusual but a fairly late record.

I am sure there will be several more visits during the winter.