Essex Birding (1 Viewer)

[Fozzybear]

Seems quite a good stretch of the river there Tony, I remember walking along there a year or so ago thinking it looked quite a good area for wildlife. Pre-birdwatching though, so didn't see much other than some mallards and swans.

Got over to Chelmsford today for the Goosanders, thanks for your help Fozzybear. 24 on the lake today, 6 males and 18 redheads. They showed well enough but the dismal weather ruined the photography quite badly. I thought it was supposed to be sunny. Also saw the Kingfisher on the lake.

Glad you saw them ok - good that the Kingfisher was still around too. :t:

Nice shots too... better than the ones I got.

 

[Original PaulE]

my mate and i had a productive trip to the wind tunnel known as abberton reservoir today with male and female smew,2 male and 1 female red crested pochard up to 15 gooseanders 13 of them together in one flotilla loads of goldeneye,pochard and tufties
the highlight was very well camouflaged bittern which eventually gave good views
there were also humongus numbers of coot and ruddy ducks
and a few siskins around the visitor centre
cheers

 

[Essex Tern]

I finally got my first Essex Bittern at Abberton today - thanks to the 2 men who initially kindly pointed him out to me - I would have hopefully got it in the end, but it did help to know exactly the angle to stand at that point in time, as it was totally obscured from most angles.

It gave really good views for what must have been half an hour or so, moving backwards and forwards in the branches and reeds, but never came right out into the open for me unfortunately.

Malvin.

 

[Fozzybear]

Sounds like you both had a pretty good day!

 

[Clive Watson]

Had another go for the Goosanders in Chelmsford on Saturday in better light....only to find they've all buggered off. I tried to salvage the day by practising flight photos on the gulls but to be honest that was a serious disappointment.

 

[Fozzybear]

I guessed that with the very cold weather and the rivers freezing over the lake probably would be too. I guess some 'may' have moved to join the flock at Abberton (...not Hanningfield - oops!) Reservoir as PaulE saw some there the other day.

 

[Original PaulE]

I guessed that with the very cold weather and the rivers freezing over the lake probably would be too. I guess some 'may' have moved to join the flock at Hanningfield Reservoir as PaulE saw some there the other day.

hi fozzy
goosanders i saw were at abberton i suppose they could have easily moved up from chelmsford
cheers

 

[Fozzybear]

hi fozzy
goosanders i saw were at abberton i suppose they could have easily moved up from chelmsford
cheers

You're absolutely right - completely misread that! |8(|

 

[Fozzybear]

In case anyone's interested, saw one female goosander on the lake in Central Park in Chelmsford late morning today. Didn't walk around to see if more were hiding behind the island, but this female looked reasonably relaxed and settled.

Some of the Mallards there are getting very friendly indeed (or hungry) a male and female ran right up to me when I sat at a waterside bench and were stood quietly quacking right at my feet - ok so about as common a bird as you can find but I think they're gorgeous things and these two really cheered me up after an irritating morning!

 

[Original PaulE]

i heard there were some black necked grebes in summer plumage at abberton the weekend before last do any essex birders know if they are still there as i'm thinking of heading south at the weekend and would like to see em
would be interested to know what other birds present any yellow wagtails yet? etc
cheers

 

[POP]

I was in a wood near Navestock Essex last weekend and had 6 Common Buzzard in the air together.

POP

 

[Viv Connett]

They were certainly there on Sunday just gone, also some Slav Grebes.

 

[Fozzybear]

Went back to Central Park in Chelmsford again this morning and now there are two female Goosanders. Spent about an hour watching and photographing* them preening, resting and occasionally diving. Also was enjoying the gulls flying around, the mallards going mental all over and one very territorial swan that kept hooshing the canada geese out of the water right at my feet!

The lovely warm sunshine and constant background of Chiffchaff song made it a very, very enjoyable time indeed!


*haven't gone through the photos yet, hoping I will have at least one or two good shots out of the huge number I took!

 

[Original PaulE]

They were certainly there on Sunday just gone, also some Slav Grebes.

hi viv
cheers for that i presume you mean at abberton
this thread is very under used it would be handy if some of you regular essex birders could update it occasionally with your sightings especially from abberton,fingeringhoe etc as i can't find a website that does the job we are lucky in suffolk that we have the bins website and we keep the suffolk thread regularly updated which has certainly put me on to birds and places i wouldn't have known about and hopefully others have benefitted from my reports
poor old fozzy seems to be a bit of a lone voice at the moment

cheers

 

[Fozzybear]

Well there may not be that many active Essex birders coming to the forum regularly - I don't post in the thread that often (I spend a lot more time in the garden birds area of the forum) - I don't really see much newsworthy that often, but post when I do... or think I have.

Chelmsford is really getting stuffed full of Chiffchaffs at the moment, have been seeing them all over! Superb! Also noticed in some of my photos of the Goosanders at Central Park that there was a Tufted Duck in the background that I didn't even notice, which is a bit of a bummer as I really would have liked to have got a decent shot of it. Good to see they're in town though, I know there are loads at a reservoir to the east of Great Baddow (on Manor Farm just off Maldon Road). Can't beat a nice Tufty. :t:

 

[Viv Connett]

hi viv
cheers for that i presume you mean at abberton
this thread is very under used it would be handy if some of you regular essex birders could update it occasionally with your sightings especially from abberton,fingeringhoe etc as i can't find a website that does the job we are lucky in suffolk that we have the bins website and we keep the suffolk thread regularly updated which has certainly put me on to birds and places i wouldn't have known about and hopefully others have benefitted from my reports
poor old fozzy seems to be a bit of a lone voice at the moment

cheers

Ok if I see anything on my travels I will post it on here, I imagine a lot of Suffolk birders cross the border in the same way as we go to Suffolk!!!

 

[Phil Carter]

Anyone else noticed a lack of Willow Warblers in Essex over the last couple of years. I haven't actually seen one in 2 yrs and only heard 1 last year(none in '07)! I cycle to work along the Colne in Colchester and up until 2 years ago would hear them all the way in Spring. They seem to have been replaced by Blackcaps which have been very common. I heard my first two of the year this morning.
Had a pleasant walk through the Roman River Reserve on Sunday to look for Purple Toothwort( loads of it ). There were some lovely Mealy Redpolls, Green and Great Spotted Woodpeckers, Chiff Chaffs singing and a carpet of Wood Anenomes topped off with a couple of pints in the Donkey & Buskins. Well worth a couple of hours of anyones time.
Phil

 

[Fozzybear]

Sounds wonderful Phil, I feel pretty calm and at peace just reading about it so walking through it you must have been like, wow, man. :hippy: ||

Can't answer about WW's - my first spring as a (very amateur) birdwatcher and robin stroker.

 

[Viv Connett]

Anyone else noticed a lack of Willow Warblers in Essex over the last couple of years.



No, there seem to be several about - perhaps they just don't like Colchester!!

Try Fingringhoe, they seem to be there OK or certainly Chigborough Lakes. Seem to remember some at Abberton last year too.

 

[Phil Carter]

perhaps they just don't like Colchester!!

Can't really blame them for that.

I do go to Abberton, Fingrinhoe and other places where Willow Warblers used to be common(and still may be) and I'm sure if I really tried to see one I could fairly easily. My point is, you shouldn't really have to "try" though, never have before, usually just bumped into them wherever I went.

Phil