Boxing Day birds

I have just had one of the most splendid short walks for bird spotting in my experience. We went to Woodbridge, for the usual riverside walk (from the station towards Kyson Wood). As you might expect on Boxing Day, there were a large number of groups of people, excitedly chatting to each other, but hardly anyone taking any notice of the cornucopia of bird life to be seen on the mudflats of the Deben on one side of the raised path, and on the shrubs in the marshy land on the other side.

This is my list (all seen within the space of half an hour):

  • Flock of curlews resting on one leg on a pontoon - about a dozen or more
  • About 20 Bar Tailed Godwits out feeding
  • About 6 Turnstones, doing what it says on the tin - turning stones!
  • Dozens of cute little dunlins on the water's edge
  • Swans
  • Black headed gulls
  • a couple of Oystercatchers
  • An enormous Whimbrel
  • Several pairs of Wigeon
  • A lonely Tufted Duck
  • Several Redshank busy feeding
  • Blue tits

I also saw a bird on a bush in the marshy area - sparrow sized, with brown and black strongly marked wing feathers, and a black head. Any ideas?

Karen (looking forward to buying a camera so I can get some shots of all of these)