A Stoat at Lemsford Springs

12th August 2025

Another hot day so need a local reserve with hides and the place that ticks all these boxes is Lemsford Springs. Nothing on view when I arrived but there had been two Green Sandpipers and a Kingfisher briefly so time to just settle down and wait.

Most of the action was provided by a family of Grey Wagtails, but only the adults were cooperative and fed on the sleepers in front of the hide.

The female above is ringed. Below is the male.

Then something brown was seen bobbing around in the watercress further upstream to the right of the hide. The long chestnut body and the black tip to the tail soon identified it as a Stoat. It was quite close to some Moorhens and its jumping up and down and rolling over antics are supposed to mesmorise the Moorhens into a false sense of security.

Here are some shots of some quieter moments.

Whether it was because of the mesmorising or not, the Moorhens seemed unduly trusting of this predator and were happy to stand just a few feet away, obviously believing their take off speed was faster than his sprint across water.

Here is the Stoat trying to decide which one was best.

Well that was an unexpected bonus and my first Stoat at Lemsford.

Also, always nice to have a chat with my good mate Big Kev and to meet Beau Bassich.

It was also a bit of a surprise on my way out to bump into Chris Gibson for the first time in five years. We first met on the 8th August 2020 when we were watching a Redstart at Stanstead Innings. Good to see you Chris and look forward to seeing in another five years.

An Afternoon Visit to Abberton

8th August 2025

Not the best of time of year to visit Abberton, but on the way home from Fingringhoe so lets hope some migrants have dropped in. As I drove up the Layer de la Haye causeway my worst fears were realised when there was only one car parked in the laybys and no scopes on the wall, but worth a look anyway.

I first peered over the wall on the eastern side to see just a lone male Yellow Wagtail which, despite being about 30 yards away, immediately flew out over the reservoir never to be seen again. On the western side between the two causeways there were three Common Sandpipers, but these were all very skittish and this is the closest I could get, about 25 yards. The juvenile Pied Wagtail was one of about 30 along that bank.

At the Layer Breton causeway there were two Spoonbills on Spoonbill Island in the south-west corner, although sometimes there can be 10+ birds present.

At the far end of the causeway in the north-east corner a Great White Egret was fishing quite close to the road, a sight you wouldn't have seen 15 years ago.

Great Crested Grebes have an incredibly long breeding season and can start nesting as early as February, and here is one incubating eggs in the middle of August. No wonder there are so many of them.

Also along the bank was a lone Common Tern having a breather from fishing,

But the real action was back at the sluice on the Layer de la Haye causeway where a small party of terns were putting on a fantastic aerial display. Enjoy!!!

High Tide at Fingringhoe Wick

8th August 2025

This is very early in the season to visit a high tide roost at Fingringhoe, although the alterior motive was to try and photograph the summer plumage Grey Plovers that have been seen recently.

It must be about 10 years now since the inter-tidal area was developed and in those days it was well profiled with many islands and spits for the waders to gather and roost on. Now after 10 years of two tides per day erosion has taken its toll with the whole area being much flatter with very few islands keeping their heads above water at high tide. This makes photography more difficult as when the islands get covered the birds move to the far bank by the river, a distance of 200 yards from Margaret's Hide.

What was also noticeable today was the absence of small waders so no Ringed Plovers or Dunlin and primarily only the larger species such as Avocets, Black-tailed Godwits and Greenshank. There were also Redshanks about but always out of camere range.

Avocets were represented by a single flock of some 50 birds.

They were very settled until something spooked the lot and all took to the air until the perceived threat had passed.

There were about 200 Black-tailed Godwits gathered on their now disappearing islands, nearly all still in their breeding plumage.

This small group were in a dilemma as they all wanted to move to higher ground, but were waiting for one of them to decide where to go.

One of the advantages of inceasing water levels is that it results in movement between the islands providing some opportunities for flight shots.

But one of the best bits at Fingringhoe even at this time of year are the roosting Greenshanks. This is just part of a flock of 30 birds.

So did I see any summer-plumaged Grey Plovers? Yes lots of them but unfortunately they were all on the far bank. It was only when I was going through my photos I realised I had actually captured five birds in a group of godwits.

Here is the Grey Plover four birds from the left enlarged.