A Couple of Hours at Rye Meads

19th July 2024

Another hot day so need to seek out a breezy hide and what better place than Rye Meads. It's been a while since I have been here and the resident Little Grebe seemed pleased to see me and paraded in front of the hide.

Many reserves have their specialist species and here one of the unsung specialist species is the Stock Dove. Unfortunately they are often just passed of as pigeons and so you miss out on their beautiful pastel shades and iridescent neck markings. Rye Meads is the most reliable place in Herts and Essex that I know for Stock Doves, with anywhere from two to ten on the scrape at any one time.

And if you go to Rye Meads and wonder where all the male ducks are, they are all in female-looking eclipse plumage like these Gadwall.

It's the same for these Shovelers. Just look at the size of that bill!!!

And there were signs of a successful breeding season, although not as many as I had expected, with broods of Tufted Duck and Egyptian Goose.

This goose with her brood was photo-bombed by a Green Sandpiper.

And talking of Green Sandpipers they are now returning from their breeding grounds in Scandinavia.

Today there were nine present with this one feeding away from the others which were chilling out to one side of the scrape....................

.......................with three here.....................

......................seven here.................

......................and eventually all eight.

The start of the bird autumn.