Trip reports

Farlington Marsh

Sunday, 30 September 2007

Our trip to Farlington produced a healthy bird list which included a major rarity, but that was the last sighting of the day, so read on. As soon as we arrived we found that the scrub was very active with small birds. We identified blackcap, chiffchaff, wren, stonechat and found a juvenile moorhen in a tree! The tide was out so the waders were distant. On the exposed mud we found black-tailed godwit, redshank, teal, shelduck and curlew. At the high tide roost there were more interesting sightings despite there being very few birds present. Snipe could be found at the fringe of the reed bed and a group of small waders were identified as little stints. A passing birder tipped us off that a water rail had been seen earlier. We watched and waited and sure enough the water rail emerged where it had been seen previously, showing well for some time. At this point we were aware that the bearded reedlings were pinging and a beautiful male came into view. While this was going on a distant raptor was causing an identification problem. It was a long way away from us with its back firmly on display. It was not until we continued around the sea wall path that we had a better sighting that allowed the cuckoo to be identified. Lunch was taken at the furthest point. On the water a number of wigeon were seen and the first brent geese of the winter were spotted. A wheatear, landed on the path near to us and a flock of several hundred starlings were feeding on the blackberry bushes nearby. A willow warbler was found in the scrub and as the day began to brighten skylarks and a cetti's warblers began to sing. A dozen or more meadow pipits flitted amongst the grass and pitched on a fence. At the far pond the highlights were a curlew sandpiper, common sandpiper, ringed plover and a stunning spotted redshank. A merlin was sighted perched on the fence line between the fields. A large flock of goldfinches put in an appearance and a number of yellow wagtails were feeding around the cattle. A small number of greenshanks were roosting on the creek. We returned to the high tide roost as the tide was now in. The roost had arrived in force. There was a large flock of dunlin, with little stint, curlew sandpiper, oystercatcher and ringed plover interspersed on the near shore. On the far shore there was a large flock of black-tailed godwit with redshank, knot and an occational bar-tailed godwit interspersed. We were at the end of the day and thoughts were turning to the return journey when our leader uttered an excited cry to 'check out the egret'. It flew into the pool sporting a large yellow bill. The grey heron adjacent to its landing spot was positively small in comparison. A great white egret was a UK first for us all. A fabulous end to a wonderful day trip.