Nigel's Nature

  Sunny spells, moderate westerly, low tide 18.33. On arrival at the parking area mid-afternoon, it was immediately obvious from tracks in the sand that joy-riders had been at the site recently. They had crisscrossed the foreshore several times before their escapade came to an inglorious end in the middle of the tidal channel. For there was the vehicle, a Mitsubishi pick-up, abandoned mid-stream to leak its noxious fluids into the water. Whomever was to blame, juvenile delinquents high on drink and drugs or otherwise, they may have had a lengthy walk home during which to contemplate their folly. With dog-walkers away to the east, I headed upstream first to see what was utilizing the freshly exposed riverine mudflats. A dozen Lapwing was the answer, along with some Curlew, Oystercatcher and Redshank, plus a pair of Little Egrets and a Grey Heron. A flock of loafing gulls included Common, Black-headed and a couple of young Herring. On the upper shore, there were a few Skylark l...

  Sunny spells and showers, light westerly, low tide 17.45. When I arrived at the parking area about 13.45, there were several other cars there already – dog walkers and a family with young kids. Too much disturbance, so I turned around and went elsewhere until later. It was shortly after 16.00 when I returned and this time I had the place to myself. With the tide reaching its lowest ebb, there was a lot of exposed foreshore. The first thing to catch my eye was a goodly number of Ringed Plovers scampering about, a mixture of juveniles and summer-plumaged adults. My highest count was 55 but there could easily have been quite a few more hidden amongst the hummocks of wrack, certainly an increase since my last visit. A dozen or so Dunlin were also there, mostly with breeding black on their bellies. The influx of 60 Golden Plover from last time were absent, apart from one single bird I spotted. A Whimbrel came to my attention when a Curlew started chasing it towards me along the mu...