31st August Finally saw Rossi at Westcliff. Was present between 7.30am and 8.00am when I left. He was again using his favorite Groyne Posts and coming to bread though he is in mid moult and looks very tatty. Also here were five Mediterranean Gulls.
From here drove along the coast stopping at Uncle Toms cabin where there was a first-winter Mediterranean Gull. Onwards to Wakering Stairs where the Osprey was again out on his post and was seen at one point flying out with a fish. There were otherwise very little in the way of waders, except Oystercatchers and Bar-tailed Godwits, with few small waders present.
Stopped at Fleet Head for an hour but again pretty quiet though 30 odd Yellow Wagtails and two very distant Marsh Harriers were the highlights.
30th August Down at Westcliff Seafront there was again no sign of Rossi the Ring-billed Gull, this is now the sixth visit and failed to find him here. He is around but not for me, yet.
More success was had with the juvenile American Black Tern in Oxfordshire at Farmoor Reservoir. It was was a little breezy here and the the bird a little distant but all of the salient features could easily be scoped. This bird was often seen side by side with juvenile Black and White-winged Black Terns making a unique situation. Also here were around 20 Swifts.
29th August A good day at the local tip today with Pete Livermore resulted in 13 Yellow-legged Gulls, mostly adults at various stages of moult but also a few moulting juveniles and a 3rd year. Depsite Pete success last week with a first-year Caspian Gull there was no sign today. The only other gulls of note however were a couple of Mediterranean Gulls.
19th August Spent a pleasant couple of hours walking around Fleet Head with Sheryl. The water levels were okay on several pools which resulted in a few waders and there were a few passage migrants noted. Of the waders there were seven Green Sandpipers, a snipe, three Black-tailed Godwits, seven Avocets, three Common Sandpipers, 80-100 Golden Plovers, two Ruff, four Greenshanks. An immature male Marsh Harrier was over the north end of the fleet and was then seen over southern Potton Island. wo Wheatears were around Avocet Pool and 20-30 Yellow Wagtails were near here around the cattle. a flock of around 300 hirundines were over the reed fringed pool at the boatyeard, mostly Swallows but with some Sand Martins. A good count of 33 Corn Buntings flew over the MOD road. Finally at dusk the Little Owl was scoped by the barns.
16th August A no show on the recently returned Rossi, seen a few days ago, on the fall of the tide though 5-6 MedGulls present including a couple of juveniles. Rest of day spent gardening though did see Common Blue, a new fresh female, 1+ Holly Blues, two Gatekeeprs and a very fine Slow Worm.
15th August Even slower than usual on the tip today with juvenile Caspian gulls still not appearing. However an adult Yellow-legged gull put on a performace whilst there was also a very fine juvenile Med.Gull and the albino Herring Gull was still around.
14th August Went to Wakering Stairs in the evening to year tick the Osprey that had been lingering around on and off for a week or so. The bird was scoped distantly sat on one of the posts out at sea viewable from the slipway at the end of the MOD road. There was then a flurry of activity as a juvenile Sabines Gull flew upriver past the Osprey showing the typical upperwing pattern and keeping low to the water. It wasn't as far out as the Osprey but still pretty distant and fast moving. There was also 6 uprvier Black Terns followed by a probable Pomerine Skua heading east. Not bad 15minutes but soon came to an end.
9th August Virtually a dawn start at Southend Seafront today. Numbers of MedGulls not as high as the July peak with 162 counted however nearly half of these were juveniles thus showing a continued turn around of birds.
Wakering Stairs had a Wheatear along the MOD approach road whilst two Turtle Doves were in the scrub at the end. Mainly regular species though 168 Golden Plovers at Haven Point with a fly over Green Sandpiper there whilst on Havengore Island there was a female Marsh Harrier and brief Peregrine.
In the late afternoon the Stairs proved worthless with only the female Marsh Harrier seen again. Barling Magna Millennium Park can still boast itself as a great butterfly site with a minimum of 50 Painted Ladies, most on the purple clover by the pond and at least 40 Common Blues and 4+ Brown Argus. I was mainly looking for Wasp Spiders which were out in good numbers here last year but I could only find two today.
Added Speckled Wood to the garden list this afternoon.
8th August A morning visit to a local tip with Pete Livermore resulted in at least 3 juvenile Yellow-legged Gulls and a moulting second to third year Yellow-legged Gull. Only one MedGull was seen and it seemed that fewer gulls in total were present today.
On the rising tide on Canvey Point a small group of us gathered for the high tide and hoped for Kentish Plover which didn't appear though numerous Little Terns were seen as well as two Black Terns and 20+ MedGulls, including many juveniles. A return visit tomorrow I think.
1st August Attempts to find an early juvenile Caspian Gull were fruitless at the local tip today but I didn't go away unrewarded with a fourth-year bird being finally dug out from the crowd and only metres away from an adult Yellow-legged Gull. Many thousands of birds were present but surprisingly only a few juvenile birds were amongst them though this did consist of at least three Yellow-leggeds. Also seen were three adult Mediterranean Gulls including a green rung bird, 3HU4.
The nearby creek had a roosting flock of 20+ Little Egrets and 15+ Grey Herons.