I've been thoroughly enjoying having some free time recently before work starts again at university - as a result I've been able to spend some decent time in the field. With the shared car available for half a day and news that the Stone-curlews were still present at Coalhouse Fort scrape, I thought I'd try my luck with these long-staying birds. It was also an excuse to visit a site that I had never birded before.
I'd been intending to make the short journey for months but had kept putting it off for one reason or another - Stone-curlew is certainly a great species to see in my native county of Essex and having only seen the species once before at Cavenham Heath a couple of years back, it would have been rude not to.
Upon arrival, I was greeted with a light north-westerly breeze as I walked along the sea wall. There were high numbers of Linnets constantly passing over my head and a pair of Great-Crested Grebes elegantly graced the River Thames. A Marsh Harrier briefly got my heart racing after having views of Pallid earlier in the week - nonetheless the bird showed beautifully closely as it quartered the sea wall.
But my priority was to get to the scrape and begin scanning for the hoped for species. On first looks the scrape held decent numbers of eclipse ducks with Wigeon, Teal and Mallard all on show. On the wader front it was a bit thin but a few Black-tailed Godwits roamed the islands in addition to good numbers of Lapwing. A pair of Little-ringed Plovers provided some quality as they scurried across the scrape. A scan at some close pools (which were originally obscured by some bushes) revealed 5 Snipe feeding close by. However, still no sign of the hoped for Stone-curlews.
But there was a more than ample support cast to keep me entertained, a Hobby became the first year tick of the day as it elegantly weaved and dived at distance over the Thames - such an elegant bird. A couple of Yellow Wagtails were heard and a brief flash of yellow was had in my scope as they flew over. This year I've been really making an attempt to get a good year list so a Green Sandpiper which was picked up feeding very distantly was yet another much welcomed year tick (even if it is embarrassingly late in the year to be ticking this species). Although I was certainly happy with this haul, the hoped for birds were still eluding me.
A birder whom I passed earlier had said he'd seen the Stone-curlews distantly in the grass so they were definitely somewhere. However, it was going to take some patience to find the notoriously elusive birds. After scanning the scrape - looking in grass and bushes - I was about to give up when... BOOM. Into my scope view came a Stone-curlew resulting in me breathing a sigh of relief at connecting with my target bird. Even better still, some movement to the bird's left revealed yet another Stone-curlew! What a quality bird to see in Essex and the views were half decent as well.
Clearly my patience had payed off and I stood watching the fairly still birds for a good half hour or so before the temperature dropped. Not knowing when the car park closed, I decided it would be better to head back as to avoid being locked in!
But surprisingly the best was yet to come! Walking back towards the car I saw some movement in some scrub near to the scrape. I lifted my binoculars and to my disbelief I saw the red flash of a Common Redstart! A bird that I had never even seen in Essex before so was delighted to find. I punched the air in delight as the adrenalin at finding a good bird kicked in. Yes, I know it's not a rarity but it's a nice find for Essex and was simply so unexpected! Its one thing finding a Redstart at Spurn but I was pretty chuffed to find one in deepest, darkest Essex. But I wasn't done just yet as a Lesser Whitethroat then flitted into the same scope view as the Redstart - another species that I don't see all that often. Perhaps I'd taken back some migrants with me from migfest!
As far as I was concerned, the car could just wait at this point. I was determined to enjoy the nice views of my Redstart and I certainly did - watching the bird for a good half hour or so as it became acquainted with one of the local Robins. I simply love finding migrants and I've already had my fair share this autumn - I wonder what else is out there waiting to be found in the coming weeks. Eventually, I headed back to the comfort of my car quite frankly delighted with the days birding I had had - which resulted in 3 year ticks and a fine self-found migrant. Great stuff! I certainly hope the luck continues. Bring on the rest of autumn...
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