A blistering day at Cliffe. The birds taking to the deeper cooler pools for respite. Shelduck, redshank, lapwing and black-headed gulls all sat together on the black barn pools seen from the first viewing mound. Reed bunting from the thick growth singing furiously by black barn too. A grey heron flew overhead towards rye street. Many thanks to Danny for accompanying me, a pleasure as usual. A slight drop in water levels from this weeks heat has been noticed. 16 shelduck chicks were spotted over the sea wall with 2 adults and three egrets were seen stood together on flamingo.
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Attn:
PUBLIC HEALTH WARNING; Following a recent report of dead eels seen in Elf pool, the environment agency has confirmed the presence of potentially toxic blue green algae. Blue green algal blooms and scum may be harmful. Toxins if swallowed or in contact with the skin can cause adverse health effects in people and animals. Domestic animals can be at greater risk than people as they are likely to consume significant quantities of water potentially leading to serious illness or death. Please remain vigilant.
Report any incidents of dead fish by calling the EA 24h incident line. 0800807060
Spent the very early part of the day at the 1st viewing mound on Sunday morning. 2 Spotted Redshanks in full summer plumage showed very well with 3 Black Tailed Godwits, 60+ Common Redshanks, 40+ Lapwing and 120+ Avocets. A Cuckoo flew over the pools. Pochard, Gadwall, Shoveler and Tufted's all transforming into eclipse plumage. Chatted with a guy called Jeremy from nearby New Hythe, covering a range of subjects from past rarities seen from this viewpoint to the future of the reserve. It was quite hot even at 7.30am. I wonder how much longer it is before these pools dry up for the summer. At the moment they seem very attractive to waders.
May all your Sandpipers be Curlew.