Corn Buntings and Yellow Wagtails at Bradwell

12th July 2020

Today was a recce trip to Bradwell with a view to a winter visit. I haven't been here since 1961 when I saw my first Little Tern. And has it changed? Most certainly. Not anymore the bleak Essex coast with hardly a human in sight, but now full of people out for a walk and going to the beach. The Little Terns have also gone, not because of the crowds, but because the tides washed away the shell/shingle bank where they nested.

Most of the action seemed to be on the track between the car park and the Chapel of St Peter-on-the-Wall, so-called because it was built on the wall of the old fort. Here the commonest bird was the Corn Bunting which were numerous, singing from both the marginal trees and within the crop of wheat.

There were also a handful of Yellow Wagtails on the other side of the track. This female obligingly stayed out in the open........................

..........................whereas the males stayed buried in the stubble of a newly-cut hay meadow.

And the verdict? Certainly worth a visit during the colder winter months when the bucket-and-spade brigade are tucked up indoors and only the hardier dog-walkers venture out.