Seymour Birdies Diary: High Tide at Fingringhoe Wick

20th January 2026

Half way through January now so time for a visit to Fingringhoe to see how the high tide roost is developing , but first a quick look at Robbie's Hide. The tide was still a fair way out but remarkably very few waders on the mud, so little for the tide to eventually push in closer to the hide. In fact most of the waders, a fairly substantial flock were on the other side of the River Colne at the mouth of Alresford Creek.

The main interest here today were the dozen or so Shelducks feeding quite close to the shore.

At that point a tug chugged upstream and surprisingly put up all the Shelduck...............

.....................and some Brent Geese.

Now on to Margaret's Hide overlooking the inter-tidal area. There was a strong wind today so the tide was higher than predicted and the water was already starting to come in and cover the mud and had attracted a pair of Mute Swans............................

.........................and a few Ringed Plovers had already claimed their small island.

Also Redshanks are often one of the first species to fly in, but not in large numbers.

Grey Plovers usually keep to the back of the lagoon and are often heard rather than seen, but some stray a little closer like this one in flight. Notice the black armpits.

Lapwings are never far away and are very easily spooked and provide some great opportunites for flight shots.

And then the large flocks start arriving, today being mainly Dunlin, although a Grey Plover slipped into the first photo.

What a spectacle!!!!

Then as more and more birds poured in they started taken up their positions on their preferred islands and as you can see there were nine species of wader present - Avocet, Ringed Plover, Grey Plover, Lapwing, Dunlin, Turnstone, Knot, Redshank and Oystercatcher.