Trip reports

Shellness

Sunday, 4 February 2007

This was our first trip to the coast in 2007 so we were all keen for some fine views of waders and other shoreline birds of which Shellness has in abundance. On our arrival the tide was out with the largest expanse of un-covered mud we could remember. We had soon found oystercatcher, curlew, dunlin, common gull, herring gull, brent geese and greater black backed gull.

With the tide coming in we quickly calculated that high time would coincide nicely with our arrival adjacent to the high tide wader roost. Continuing towards the spit we added turnstone, ring plover, grey plover, redshank, a solitary widgeon, cormorant and sanderling. Scanning the fields and marshes inland we were also able to spot good numbers of marsh harriers, kestrel, a flock of meadow pipits, a flock of green finches and a sizable family of house sparrows. There were also substantial numbers of starling, lapwing and golden plover. Near the Shellness hamlet we were lucky enough to spy a distant peregrine resting on a post, a flock of linnets and we also found our first of many knot. At the block house the birds were already arriving for high tide. The oystercatchers were well represented with large numbers of ring plover, dunlin and knot congregating in separate areas. As the tide encroached further the birds became more and more compacted on the beach. From the very end of the ness it is possible to see the mud flats in the Swale estuary. Here we found large numbers of birds including curlew, shelduck, dunlin, black tailed godwit and knot. A closer inspection identified a wimbrel and also a knot in full breeding plumage. Returning to the cars we were treated to close up views of the small waders on the high tide line and also spotted some red throated divers that were a fair distance out. After a late lunch we transferred to the raptor watch point at the Harty Ferry Road. On route we found a flock of goldfinches, corn buntings a little egret. At the watch point we counted at least 10 marsh harriers, a female hen harrier, kestrel, peregrine, green sandpiper and a merlin. As dusk fell began the was a pleasant surprise when bearded reedling became active and showed briefly and there was a fleeting glimpse of a distant Barn Owl.