The view from the top

The view from Knowlys Road at high tide:

The grey blob in the middle is the Oystercatcher roost which would normally be on the heliport but due to so much disturbance by off-lead dogs and their owners, has had to relocate to a safer roost spot. These fields are fenced off, sometimes grazed by horses and nicely undisturbed by anything else. As you can see, by walking on the promenade path it is possible to get quite close to the birds without disturbing them. Or, if it is raining or very windy, by parking on Knowlys Road you can enjoy a view across all the fields from the comfort of your car........

...........as I did earlier today. From here I could see:

660 Oystercatcher

12 House Sparrows (in the central hedge)

8 Magpies

1 Mistle Thrush (a red-listed species)

20 Black-headed gulls

9 Lesser Black-backed Gulls

5 Woodpigeon

3 Linnet (also red-listed)

 1 Pied Wagtail

2 Goldfinch

20 Starling

 

Next stop was the Near Naze. Six species of bird in this picture:

 

In all there were 70 Redshank, 14 Ringed Plover, 2 Turnstone, 1 Curlew, 350 Oystercatcher, 50 Dunlin, 12 Lapwing and 3 Herring Gulls crammed on the rocks. 

 

At Red Nab there were 41 Wigeon, 500 Oystercatcher, 2 Shelduck, 1 Red-breasted Merganser plus small numbers of gulls.

 

But bird of the day was at the North Harbour Wall feeding station where a lone Twite joined 10 Linnet, 8 Goldfinch and 3 Feral Pigeons.

 

JR.