A Jaunt Around Essex - Part 2

 1st October 2020

After a successful morning at Abberton we moved on to another of our favourite sites, Fingringhoe Wick. On our way to the intertidal area we called in to the Kingfisher Hide to hopefully see a Kingfisher or the resident Water Rail. Nothing doing on that front, but at the far end of the pool was a roost of seven Greenshanks which was a nice surprise.

At the intertidal area it was high tide so the plan was to wait until the tide receded uncovering the mud in the hope of some waders making the most of the newly exposed food source. A few waders were making the most of the islands for a high tide nap including this flock of some 100 Avocets, a pair of Oystercatchers and a pair of Shelducks.

Unfortunately, even when there were acres of mud on show very few waders appeared and kept mainly on the seawall side of the retreat. It is of course still very early in the season, so on to Robbie's Hide to see if there was more action there.

There were plenty of Dunnocks flitting around the suaeda in front of the hide as well as a lone Robin which posed nicely on the ironmongery of an old shipwreck.

Out on the mud the waders were predominantly Redshank with just the odd Curlew and Grey Plover, both of which kept close to the receding water. Only a couple of Redshanks came close enough for some shots.

But the stars of the show today were a pair of Stonechats that were flitting around along the path just outside Margaret's Hide. They were not too confiding, but the beautiful light made up for that, and what a fantastic way to end the day.