Trip reports

Bird Walk at Coalhouse Fort, East Tilbury.

Saturday, 17 October 2009

A dry but cool day with a fairly stiff breeze from a northerly direction greeted the 11 participants that met in the 'free' car park. Apart from a large flock of House Sparrows little was seen around the fort. A Little Grebe was seen on the moat and we slowly made our way down to the river. Here we found the tide rather higher than we would have liked and it was still rising. There was very little foreshore for waders to feed but we noted a large number of Shelducks in the shallow waters edge. We watched a huge swirling flock of Dunlin which contained good numbers of Grey Plovers showing off their diagnostic black armpits. Several Black-tailed Godwits were present and also a couple of Curlews.

Moving eastwards we noted a Great-crested Grebe and a pair of Little Grebes on the moat and we then passed over an area of rough ground where we found a delightful pair of Stonechats perched on the top of small bushes and a Meadow Pipit on a wall behind them. On the river there was a good number of Cormorants and large numbers of gulls containing many of the larger species but due to light and distance problems we were unable to find any Yellow-legged Gulls at this site which is usually one of their strongholds at this time of year. However we did see two Great Skuas (Bonxies) and one gave splendid views in flight showing off its white wing flashes and then on the water where it fed on what looked like a dead gull as it drited slowly past us on the rising tide. Also on the river we saw a huge raft of over 200 floating Avocets, somewhat unusual behaviour for these elegant waders.

We walked back to the fort along the seawall but the fields on the landward side were bone dry after recent weeks with little rain and the hoped-for roosting waders did not materialise. Near the Fort we found a Pied Wagtail, and small numbers of Greenfinches and Goldfinches. Several Mistle Thrushes were observed feeding in the bushes across a field and at least three Green Woodpeckers were feeding on the ground in the same field, a male showing particularly well at close range. It might have been expected that a few Redwings would be around as huge numbers have come in to the country recently but unfortunately we did not find any.

After sandwiches at the car park some of the party departed but four of us drove a short distance along the A13 to the Mardyke valley at North Stifford to look for Ring-necked Parakeets which have now moved in to the county from Kent in reasonable numbers. After about ten minutes we heard their familiar call and a small party of six flew over. We could not find any present in the trees and so we drove over to Central Park in Chelmsford where somewhat strangely a Red-throated Diver had been present for the previous two days. It was still there and we had marvellous views down to only a few yards of this very maritime bird which away from its breeding grounds is normally only seen at some distance offshore. A fine bird to end our day.