The Colne estuary is well known for attracting large numbers of waders and other water birds. The problem is that its quite large, difficult to watch, and for a visitor with little knowledge of the habitats and tides, its a bit hit and miss.
What would be really useful is a specially excavated wetland that can take large numbers of birds as the tide rises and falls, ideally with a suitable hide with large windows and arm chairs where you can sit in comfort and calmly search through flocks of waders. And, as if by magic, here it is, the newly opened intertidal area at Fingringhoe Wick.
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| Taken from the EWT twitter feed |
A visit on Wednesday on arising tide had spectacular numbers of waders. Rough numbers only but many hundreds of
Black-Tailed Godwit, low hundreds of
Avocet, many tens of
Dunlin,
Ringed Plover,
Grey Plover,
Knot,
Redshank, add in some
Bar-Tailed Godwit,
Curlew,
Oystercatcher,
Lapwing, then at least 10
Greenshank, a
Common Sandpiper, and well picked out by another birder 2
Curlew Sandpiper, and that's quite a wader list. About 20
Wigeon, some
Little Egret, and an obliging
Kingfisher made for a cracking list.
The fields by the hide had
Meadow Pipit and some common finches, and there were some
willow Chiffs hoetting in the bushes. The reserve had lots of hornets around too, so a good visit.
An excellent addition to the list Essex birding sites. I think a return visit may happen in the near future.
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