Chiltern Birder

A little trip to the coast today, lovely clear sky, the tide on the way out. Parking at Two Tree Island there were teal roosting on the edge of Leigh Creek. Walking down to the old town there were plenty of redshank as well as the usual collection of gulls and corvids. The tide was receeeding across the flats with a lot of waders following it. Redshank obviously as well as grey plover and turnstone. I only had the lightweight spotting scope so I couldn't see the tideline in detail but it is a good guess that the little black dots were dunlin. Brent geese numbers weren't high but there were plenty to be seen and heard. There was also a curlew somewhere out on the flats, audible but I didn't get a view, I can't get use to seeing egrets at Leigh but there were several around. Little egrets I think but I will have to read up on their id, all of my field guides were published when they were still very rare vagrants.

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...

For the first time in quite a few years I was able to find time for a trip to Leigh on Sea. I hadn't checked the tide tables and took my good bins but not the scope so I didn't see a lot but there were some old favorites taht I hadn't seen for a long time. On arrival we parked in the car park on the marshes. This was free last time I was there but the princely sum of one pound wasn't going to break the bank. An old boat, partially sunk in the mud was totally covered in redshank while another, afloat this time, seemed to be home to most of the resident turnstones. There were some changes around the cockle sheds but in the old town itself Osbornes were still providing traditional sea food and the wonderfully old fashioned Strand Cafe seemed unchanged with soft roes on toast on the menu just like my last visit. Its always a hard choice between the two. As the tide went out the turnstones swarmed along the shore while the brent geese just seemed to put their feet down...