Two Tree Island

Saturday August 11th

An early morning start, first briefly at Canvey Point before heading round to Two Tree Island to catch the rising tide.

The Marina roost produced 12 Sandwich Terns laying up along with a good number of Common Gulls doing the same, autumn is here.
I only gave it around 30 minutes before heading round to Two Tree Island, as I drove through Hadleigh the Olympic Mountain Bike event was already becoming apparent with personnel and services everywhere.

The Olympic Moutain Bike course from Two Tree Island

Catching the tide right produced an eventual count of 540 Black Tailed Godwits, a lowish tide had them spread out all along the Creek, over a 100 were in the reserve along with 2 Ringed Plovers and 6 roosting Greenshank.
6 Bar Tailed Godwit were on the outer creek before it flooded along with 4 Whimbrel dotted around, like the Bar Tails they did not roost and were still feeding in the muddy margins. Some movement was noted in 8 Yellow Wagtails overhead, a calling Golden Plover and the odd Swift going through.

Curlew, Whimbrel and Redshank

A spectacular sight was a female juvenile Peregrine duffing up the wader roost out on the Salting’s, possibly suggesting local breeding.
A good visit, a hoped for Whinchat or Wheatear never showed, with the cracking weather I expect many migrants are just going straight through but then again it is still early.

Dad?

Juvenile Green Woodpecker in the garden