It has been a good morning and I have barely set foot outside the visitors centre. It was very cold again with a thick frost and no hope of the ice melting across the pools and the Common Snipe were all initially huddling along the edges although most have now woken up and are now probing the margins which appear to have defrosted slightly. I could not find a Jack Snipe but fortunately on flew in off the saltmarsh and landed out back but out of view.
Thrushes were very evident with over 20 Fieldfare and at least 50 smart Redwings with their flashing supercillium and scarlet flanks. They were feeding on the remaining haws and have not yet tackled the big fat rosehips.
Down she goes!
Redwings...
Song Thrushes and Blackbirds were amongst them and included our very rusty coloured female. She posed very nicely before the early frost dissipated.
The best was still to come when a young male Waxwing appeared just outside and as I type this he is still making visits to the bushes along the riverwall and in the wildlife garden. There has been a very large national influx and flocks have been seen in nearby Harold Hill and Pitsea so it is great to have our own one as part of the story. Hopefully he will attract some more but at the moment even a single Waxwing is capable of making every visitor smile...
He has the red waxy tips and a super big punky hairdo like an adult but the yellow edges of his primary feathers only go down one side and not around the tip which is how we know that he is one of last years young.
What a cracker...
20-1-17
Howard Vaughan, Information Officer