onionbagblog

Image copyright: Richard Allen.

The best bit about attending Richard Allen’s brilliant Wivenhoe birdwalk is of course being guided around the estuary wilds with the aid of an eagle eye that can spot a curlew whilst you are still fiddling away with your scope. A close second highlight is the follow up email, when Richard very helpfully rounds up all the bird news coming out of these parts over the past month.

And so another month, another In Bird News round up:

“A bright, chilly morning after an early frost found us watching a young Heron sheltering in the lee of a bramble bush, hunched up enjoying the sun. The tide was streaming in fast, but there were still some waders by the barrier, including many Lapwings, a few Redshank and Dunlin alongside Black-tailed Godwit and Oystercatcher.”

The heron was the highlight back in December for me. Not wanting to give away too many spoilers, but I know that I should have been getting all gooey eyed at the sight of the Great Northern Diver. But nope - Mr Heron was the star billing just behind the Sailing Club, bill pointing in the direction of the Creek, and also serving our group as something of a birding compass.

Here be… Great Northern Divers.

Blimey.

“The river provided interest with Great-crested and Little Grebes, a young male Goldeneye, and a rather elusive Common Seal which most people managed to see in the end.”

Is there *anyone* that hasn’t seen the Wivenhoe seal? Um… @AnnaJCowen? The location of the little fella is a game of hyperlocal Top Trumps waiting to happen. How far have you seen him up the estuary, so to speak? The Rose and Crown? Opposite Rowhedge? I can trump you with the protruding seal head popping up to say hello just past the Pooh Factory towards the Hythe.

“A Green Woodpecker was watched probing the ant hills, and Marsh Harrier gave a good display with three birds grappling in aerial dispute.”

The green woodpecker was a well-camouflaged little friend. A pigeon is a pigeon is a pigeon. The woodpecker would have been missed by many without the helpful guidance from Richard.

“The tide had rather beaten us at the point with few waders to see, only one Avocet, a few Grey Plover and Curlew, and some Shelduck out on the river. The best sighting however was the Great-Northern Diver which drifted up with the tide, it had been seen earlier in the week and we had good views as it dived for small crabs.”

The Great Northern Diver certainly dived, but to be honest, it wasn’t that great. It was like forking out fifty quid to see Chelsea play, and then having to face another afternoon of facing up to a Fernando Torres flop.

“Walking back we saw Long-tailed Tits and a Yellowhammer, other sightings included Cormorants, Greylag Geese and Little Egrets.

Recent sightings: Rather quiet over the Christmas period in the mild weather, although there are a few Redwings and Fieldfares around, and up to five Goldeneye and a Red-breasted Merganser on the river.”

These are the golden days for anyone that has a scope statched away underneath the bed. Make the most of the winter months, before the birds bugger off back to where they came from. Richard Allen will be guiding folk once again around the estuary on Saturday 14th January from 10am. Bookings can be made over here.

Watch the birdy.