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Mud Flats

A visit to Leigh on Sea at the weekend was pleasant. We arrived when the tide was at its lowest ebb and, naturally, there was very little around looking across Leigh Marsh from the car park on the road to Two Tree Island apart from gulls and crows. A solitary redshank was wading in what little water was left in the creek and we could hear a curlew in the distance although we never managed to see it.

At Bell Warf things perked up with more redshank and a ringed plover. There is something about that location that the ringed plovers like as I have had more sightings there than anywhere else that I have visited. With over a quarter of century of visits to Leigh it certainly isn't the same individual.

After a little sightseeing and our customary plates of roe on toast at The Strand Cafe for lunch the tide was visibly on the flood and more birds were appearing. The only brent geese were in the far distance, visible only with the glasses but there was a cluster of turnstone on a drift of shells beside the creek. There was a black headed gull in the middle of the group and the turnstone running around like little satelites. A flock of dunlin landed a little way off then moved to the creekside near the turnstones. Suddenly they all ran across the mud and joined in, the shells must have been pretty "fresh" to bring in the quantity of invertebrates that must have been attracting the birds. The day was rounded off with the sight of a solitary grey plover as we returned to the car. It's just a shame that the combination of a day when we had the time and the weather weren't quite in sync with the tides but a good day nevertheless.

A couple of days previously I was stuck at roadworks in a country road. A couple of seconds looking around revealed a redwing in the hedge within reach of the passenger window. It was the closest that I have ever been to one and brought home the value of paying attention to the surroundings.
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