A Common Tern at Rye Meads

27th August 2026

As I arrived at Rye Meads I was aware that the third brood of Kingfishers had fledged and was therefore expecting very few cars in the car park, but in the event far more than I had expected. I was therefore expecting the Draper Hide to be fairly full. I walked up the ramp and opened the door..........to am empty hide.............. with only the sound of chasing Kingfishers in my ears.

They eventually landed in the trees to the left of the hide next to the Kingfisher bank, and after a few changes of perch both flew off and were never seen again. From the flight photo you can see brown feet which indicates a juvenile, so probably one of the Kingfisher Hide youngsters.

Of the usual suspects both Heron and Little Grebe were present right in front of the hide, with the latter feeding two young.

One of the Lapwings was getting ready for a bath and was having a soak in the shallow water.

And then splash time to get those feathers wet................

.....................before the compulsory wing flap.

There were four Snipe present which, fortunately, were feeding in the open rather than hiding in the vegetation.

What magnificent birds!!

Only one Common Sandpiper today.................

.....................but five Green Sandpipers.

But the star of the show today was the single Common Tern which kept us all entertained as it spent quite a lot of its time fishing in front of the Draper Hide before it leaves on its long migraton journey in the next few days.

Here are a few shots of its fishing attempts.

And then a well-earned rest..................

.......................and a preen to look after those precious feathers that will take it on its long journey

Well another fantastic couple of hours in the Draper Hide and good to have a catch-up with Chris Gibson, and talk cameras with Douglas.

Redstarts at Redwell Wood Farm

26th August 2026

This was my first visit to this site which took a bit of finding and not helped by the fact there is no sign saying Redwell Wood Farm when you get there. However, the cottage has a small sign by the doorbell saying Redwell Wood Farmhouse. Having established I had found the right place, the next task was to find the hedgerow where the Redstarts had set up home. This was not helped by the fact they had removed the main landmark, the Shetland Pony, from the paddock.

The Redstarts could be very elusive, especially the paler bird, so it was just a matter of settling down and waiting for some movement. I didn't have to wait long with a Hornet getting a drink from the water trough.

This was then followed by a Whitethroat, a Yellowhammer, a rather unexpected Spotted Flycatcher, and even more unexpected three Whinchats which were following a circuit in and around the hedgerow.

So what about the Redstarts? Well the first to appear was the pale bird which seemed to prefer the far end of the hedge, but was quite obliging in these shots.

This bird has always been reported as a female but the underparts seemed to me to be a bit too orange for a female so I took expert advice. The response was as follows:

"Juvenile Redstarts undergo a partial post juvenile moult before migrating so the new plumage should indicate male or female. The young male is very variable in the amount of black showing on the throat. Your bird is a young bird (retained juvenile outer greater coverts differ from the new inner ones by being shorter and having pale tips), and you are right to say the underparts are too orange for a female. So it is a young male. Over the winter any remaining pale tips on the throat feathers become brittle with hormonal change and drop off revealing the black throat without any more moulting."

The adult male preferred the middle of the hedgerow but was hidden most of the time, so it was a matter of grabbing a couple of shots when it emerged for a few seconds.

What a cracking bird.

Also good to have a catch-up with Ian Conn, and my special thanks to Gill Merritt for supplying a map showing the location of the hedgerow.

A Ring-necked Duck at Abberton Reservoir

23rd August 2026

First stop was the Layer Breton causeway where many ducks in eclipse plumage were roosting, and the only passerines were Pied Wagtails.

Common Tern numbers were now well down suggesting that many had already started their journey back to their wintering quarters.

I have been coming to Abberton since the late 1960s and have never realised up to now just how shallow the water is West of the Layer Breton causeway. Of course the water is low at the moment due to the heatwave and lack of rain, which had dropped the level to 18" below the top of the weir. So much so that this Heron was able to stand in the water in the middle of the reservoir, suggesting the maximum depth of the water is just four feet.

And of course today it is not only Herons that feed in the water but also plenty of Great White Egrets..................

....................and Spoonbills.

No idea what was happening here but one or two got quite frisky.

 

Also my first Layer Breton Ruff of the year which as usual was very obliging.

I then went to the North-west corner of the Layer de la Haye causeway to see if the Ring-necked duck was around. No luck there but there were a couple of Reed Warblers feeding around the base of the Phragmites reed bed in the corner.

At that point the Pectoral Sandpiper had been re-located in Wigorough Bay, so off to see how distant it was. And yes it was distant, almost on the limit of a telsecope let alone a camera, so I had to make do with a slightly less distant Whinchat.

Now back on the Layer Breton causeway where the female Ring-necked Duck had been found asleep on the bank. Only a few photos as it didn't do too much.

But it did bring an unexpected bonus as standing next to it were two Garganeys, one of which is shown on the left.

And if you needed any more proof of identification one of them provided a wing stretch!!!

Well, as I've said many times before, Abberton never disappoints.